Serving Clovis, Portales and the Surrounding Communities
Serving Clovis, Portales and the Surrounding Communities
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Editor's note: Reporter Landry Sena is a Melrose native and the daughter of former Melrose Superintendent Jamie Widner. Melrose is home to one of the oldest school buildings in New Mexico that's still in operation. But demolition may be drawing near. Superintendent Brian Stacy held a community forum Tuesday evening to discuss the status of the buildings on the school campus and possible monies available from the Public Schools Capital Outlay Council. Area residents expressed...
The Roosevelt County Commission on Tuesday passed an ordinance it says would challenge the governor, should she ever try to enforce a law the county did not want to enforce. “It gives Roosevelt the chance to say we're not going to enforce an unconstitutional mandate,” Roosevelt County Attorney Michael Garcia said. Larry Marker, a Chaves County resident, told commissioners the ordinance means: “If she comes down and challenges the ordinance, then the governor must presume that you guys acted within the law. And then she's...
A new president for Clovis Community College is set to be announced in early April with the help of ACCT Searches, the company that was hired last month to assist CCC trustees in the search. Chair Lora Harlan on Wednesday went over the process outlined by ACCT. “ACCT has been very diligent, and they've done this enough times,” Harlan said. “They know about how long it needs to take to go from one step to another.” Harlan said the next step will be to have a special meeting in mid-October to approve the search committ...
The Clovis City Commission on Thursday approved employee pay increases. City Manager Justin Howalt said the process to make this possible has lasted a couple of years. “We have been working hard to get our compensations within the correct range based off the market,” Howalt said. Over the last several years, the city has increased the ranges for each position, according to Howalt. While this did move each salary forward, Howalt said the downside of increasing pay is that it created some compression within the salary ran...
Clovis Fire Chief Mike Nolen had high praise for firefighters who battled the Sept. 3 blaze at Walmart. “The personnel in my department performed as well as anybody ever has. I am so proud,” Nolen told city commissioners at Thursday’s meeting. Crews from Pleasant Hill, Farwell, Texico, Ranchvale, Grady, Broadview, Melrose, Portales and Bovina also helped extinguish the fire Walmart officials estimated caused $42 million in damages. Nolen said it was a major challenge, and not something anyone could really be prepared for....
Today’s daily fact: my baby’s thumb is the size of a jelly bean. How are we already at 33 weeks? That’s only like … seven more weeks to go. It’s hard to believe this 4-pound baby will be earth side and in my arms so soon. Apparently week 33 of pregnancy is a good time to start packing my hospital bag. Because this is my first time doing this whole thing, I’m not sure what’s really needed and what’s not. Just like everything else, there are a lot of gadgets and gizmos out there that can be overwhelming for a first-time mom. So...
The Portales City Council on Tuesday approved a 50-foot tall electronic billboard to be placed at 1603 W. Second St. The sign will be 10 feet by 32 feet wide. Some council members had concerns with the sign's size, stating they wanted the city to look clean and inviting. Some also were concerned it might distract drivers. Tom Palmer, who was there to represent the Lindmark advertising company, told councilors the city's Planning and Zoning committee had also expressed...
Clovis city commissioners on Thursday named Debbie Zamora to fill the empty seat in District 3. Zamora, Douglas Pettigrew and Christopher Davis all applied to fill the spot after Commissioner David Bryant resigned last month. Bryant submitted his resignation on Aug. 23, after he had stopped attending city commission meetings in June, when Mayor Mike Morris accused him of lying about attending a taxpayer-funded training session in Santa Fe. "I do see the need to serve," Zamora...
Kevin Wilson remembers Professor Sue Strickler's pop quizzes that weren't so fun at the time. It was his freshman year in the fall of 1996 at Eastern New Mexico University. Wilson, a longtime local journalist, was confident he was doing well in his American government class. Strickler thought the class wasn't reading the material. So, she decided to implement a series of pop quizzes. "They (the questions) consistently got harder as it went," Wilson said. "She said, 'if you...
Editor's note: This is one in a continuing series of state-of-the-entity interviews with local officials. Bill Priest is the newly hired hospital chief executive for Plains Regional Medical Center. Q: What is your background in healthcare? Where did you grow up? A: I've been in healthcare for 25 or 30 years now. I have been in healthcare leadership for roughly that length of time, I started off actually doing cardiac rehab. I worked with cardiac patients in the hospital on...
This marks week 31, and I’m happy to report Baby Sena and I passed our glucose test with flying colors. Now that we’re in the home stretch, the nesting and stress is getting more and more intense. Working around the house and trying to get things done is becoming a bit challenging considering my lungs are getting more and more squished in there. I often find myself having a hard time catching my breath. And even though she’s only a little over 3 pounds, I would guess she weighs at least 5 because of how my center of gravi...
A flyer is being circulated reminding Curry County residents that the Melrose Health Cinic is "now open," but the clinic has been in operation since May. Plains Regional Medical Center (PRMC) opened the primary care clinic in Melrose through a partnership with Curry County in May, and providers say it has been a resource well-received by the small community. Curry County Manager Lance Pyle said, however, area residents had told him they were not aware the clinic was open. The...
After six years and nearly $4 million, the new Curry County Extension Office is complete. A ribbon cutting, transfer of keys, and open house was held Tuesday, with County Manager Lance Pyle delivering opening statements. "The County started formal discussions on a new Extension Office in 2017. This was a result of safety concerns with the old office being around the detention center, a congested area and space availability," Pyle said. It was in late 2019 and early 2020 when...
Curry County employees will be making more money after a 2% increase in pay was approved by the county commission Tuesday morning. County Manager Lance Pyle presented the pay raise resolution to the Curry County Commission Tuesday, which read in part that the commission “is committed to retaining its qualified employees and desires to offer competitive pay in order to draw and attract qualified employees as may be needed when vacancies occur.” The resolution also states that the pay raise accounts for inflation and other fac...
Curry County commissioners completed their annual tour and inspection of the Curry County Detention Center (CCDC) Tuesday. Joe Alaniz, an administrator for CCDC walked the commissioners through the jail and went over the process of getting someone booked in. Commissioners addressed different needs for the jail with Alaniz, and also discussed numbers and various updates. Commission chair Robert Thornton told the News, "Mr. Alaniz is doing a very good job in taking over and...
Editor's note: This is one in a continuing series of state-of-the-entity interviews with local officials. Quentin Ray is the district attorney for the ninth judicial district. This interview was conducted before Jimmy Guillen was arrested Wednesday afternoon in Lubbock. Q: How do you prioritize the cases that come across your desk? A: There is a sense of, we have to narrow it down and focus on what can we accomplish. So we try to do that with the more serious crimes. We...
In effect, the Roosevelt County Commission held two meetings, one on Tuesday and one on Friday, to complete a single agenda. On Tuesday, the commission on a 3-2 vote decided not to take action on action items because, as Commissioner Tina Dixon told the board on Tuesday, commissioners had not had time to review meeting packets adequately before the meeting. Dixon moved to suspend action items, and the motion passed with Dixon and commissioners Dennis Lopez and Roy Criswell voting to suspend action and commissioners Paul...
Clovis Municipal Schools leads the state in the number of teacher trainees participating in a program that gives the participants classroom experience while they accumulate college credits to obtain a full-fledged teaching license. The participants are called “ed fellows,” and Clovis Municipal Schools has registered 43 of them, the largest number of ed fellows in the state, through the New Mexico Public Education Department’s Educator Fellows NM program, which is designed to help alleviate the state’s teacher shortag...
The Clovis City Commission will appoint a replacement for District 3 Commissioner David Bryant, the commission decided on Thursday, and on Friday began accepting applications from candidates for Bryant's seat. Applications for the position will be accepted until noon on September 18, in time for the commissioners to make a decision on who should fill the vacancy at their next meeting on September 21, the commission decided on Thursday. Residents of District 3 may apply for...
Editor's note: This is one in a continuing series of state-of-the-entity interviews with local officials. Javier Sanchez is the Roosevelt County sheriff. Q: How are crime numbers right now in Roosevelt County? Anything that sticks out? Is there a crime that's most common? A: Crime has been pretty steady for the last few years. Some of the most common crimes in Roosevelt County are property crimes, which generally go back to narcotics. We have also seen an increase in...
The Clovis Community College (CCC) Board of Trustees on Wednesday voted to hire ACCT Searches to assist them in their search for a new CCC president for a basic fee of $41,250, "They'll be basically doing all the leg work," Secretary Terry Martin said. "The background check, the police check, they're looking at experience." Martin said the firm will not be deciding on a president, but will help the board find the right candidates to select from. ACCT is the same firm that...
It’s week 28, and the sleep just keeps getting more and more uncomfortable. No, I’m not complaining, just adjusting to all of this still. Every week is an adjustment since it’s always something new. Let’s see … this week, in addition to the hard time sleeping, I’ve started to get leg cramps or “charley horses” at night, as some might call them. Those are quite the shock to wake up to when you’re peacefully sleeping. It’s hard to believe we are about 12 weeks out from meeting our baby girl. One thing I have yet to talk ab...
Editor's note: This is one in a continuing series of interviews with local officials. Roy Rice is the chief of police at the Clovis Police Department. Q: The city recently approved a $5,000 sign-on bonus for new hires in the police department. What else are you doing to recruit? A: We still utilize media sources such as Facebook, internet advertising programs and radio advertising. Word of mouth is one of the best methods, and we receive better responses from personal...
A false report of an active shooter in Clovis on Wednesday turned out to be a mental health crisis from the reporting party. Officers were dispatched to K-Bob’s Steakhouse about 9:30 a.m. after a caller claimed someone was shooting people inside. On arrival, police found only employees getting ready to open. Officers located the person who made the call and learned they were experiencing a mental health crisis, according to a news release from police. The incident was turned over to a Mobile Crisis Response Team. There w...
After nine years and $29 million, the Curry County Courthouse renovations are complete. The Curry County Commission and County Manager Lance Pyle introduced the space to the community Thursday at a ribbon cutting and open house. "This was part of a long-term plan, which required a lot of patience and had its fair share of frustrations along the way," Pyle said in his opening statements. Pyle then went on to discuss some of those frustrations, among them that the county was spe...
