Serving Clovis, Portales and the Surrounding Communities
Serving Clovis, Portales and the Surrounding Communities
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CLOVIS — Clovis Community College was one of seven colleges selected nationwide to participate in a rural workforce initiative. Building Resiliency in Rural Communities for the Future of Work is a program run by Achieving the Dream, a non-governmental nonprofit that helps reform institutions of higher education. This rural initiative is designed to buildup colleges’ existing career readiness programs to help prepare students for success. “Building Resiliency in Rural Communities for the Future of Work capitalizes on the local...
Power was lost and water lines burst, but officials say that last week's frigid temperatures and snow could have caused more damage. The most severe impacts occurred on Tuesday when the Southwest Power Pool instructed local energy entities to implement controlled interruptions of electrical service in Curry and Roosevelt counties. Officials on Monday had asked customers to cut back on energy use, warning demand was exceeding availability. "So much of our issue this time was be...
CLOVIS — A campaign against domestic violence was launched by the Ninth Judicial District Attorney's office last week. “Break the Cycle” is an effort headed by Ninth Judicial District Attorney Andrea Reeb to help men and women get out of and stay out of abusive relationships. “We noticed through the pandemic an increase in domestic violence crimes,” Reeb said. “This is not totally surprising due to people being home, struggling economically, and all the other stresses that the pandemic has brought forth. We wanted to t... Full story
CLOVIS — Winter decided to stick around for another weekend in eastern New Mexico as the area was placed in a winter storm watch on Friday. The National Weather Service in Albuquerque has predicted six inches of snow as the most likely scenario for Clovis and Portales, with a 90% chance of more than four inches. “Widespread snow is expected through Sunday night, along with record cold temperatures and gusty winds. Cold temperatures will linger Monday before the final winter storm arrives on Tuesday through Wednesday, bri...
CLOVIS — Over the last few months, a “Let Them Play” movement built steam in support of prep athletics, and indications are those will soon be starting again. However, a different group is also looking to play again, as music programs continue to fight for the opportunities to perform in public during the COVID-19 pandemic. “I am so happy and tickled that the athletics are having the opportunity to play and do their passion,” Clovis High Band Director Bill Allred said. “These kids need it, and kids are suffering in this sit...
CLOVIS - The New Mexico State Police division in Clovis, through a donut sale, raised $15,000 for the family of fallen police officer Darian Jarrott Wednesday. The NMSP sold the donuts in the Hobby Lobby/Harbor Freight parking lot surrounded by over a dozen squad cars with flashing lights. From a folding table officers exchanged their stock of 1,200 donuts for however much people wanted to give. Officer Jack Carpenter of the CPD said the sale started at 10 a.m. and the donuts...
With more than half of the state moving out of the “red” designation on COVID-19 gating criteria, Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham expressed optimism in a Wednesday pandemic update. Curry County was one of 15 counties in New Mexico that moved to the yellow designation under the state’s Red to Green reopening plan. The plan evaluates counties every week based on meeting the metrics of 8 daily cases per 100,000 individuals and test positivity of 5% or lower. Green counties meet both, yellow counties meet one and red counties meet...
There is a chance of snow heading this way, along with freezing temperatures, fog, and gusty winds. Predicted are some of the coldest temperatures for the state since 2011, according to the National Weather Service. “Widespread winter weather is looking more likely across the region Friday through Sunday,” a hazardous weather outlook warning from the National Weather Service on Tuesday said. Today and tomorrow an arctic airmass will move into eastern New Mexico, causing decreasing temperatures through Monday. High tem...
CLOVIS — The pandemic has been hard on small businesses. Even so, there has been an emergence of young entrepreneurs fighting the odds. Cassandra Hovious of Clovis, Cydnee Widner of Melrose, and April and Jason Roberts of Clovis have all planned or recently opened new business ventures this last year. Hovious, 22, launched her online shop Created Candle Co. on Feb. 1, with a variety of home-poured candles and wax melts. Inspiration for the name came from Revelation 4:11 (NLT), but her motivation for starting the business w...
New Mexico is vaccinating approximately 9,000 people per day, a pace nearly double what the state was doing three weeks ago. This increase is due to a federal vaccine distribution increase of 6% this week on top of a 16% increase last week. The data is according to Dr. Tracie Collins, New Mexico’s Department of Health secretary-designate, and Dr. David Scrase, NM Human Services Department secretary, who gave a vaccine update webinar on Wednesday. On top of the vaccine distribution increase, Collins said a number of new v...
A Clovis High School alum has thrown his hat in the ring for New Mexico’s 1st Congressional District, should Rep. Deb Haaland be confirmed as Interior Secretary. Jared Vander Dussen, now of Albuquerque, is one of six Republicans to express interest in the potential special election. Democratic candidates have not yet been disclosed, and a date for Haaland’s confirmation hearing has not yet been set. Vander Dussen’s first run for public office came in 2019 when he announced a bid for the same seat. He did not make it past the...
CLOVIS — The fall semester concluded nearly two months ago at Clovis Community College. But its graduating class has kept growing. The college’s board of trustees on Wednesday approved a list of 27 additional students eligible for graduation, bringing the fall total to 277. The additional 27 students received 14 associate degrees and 13 certificates of achievement. The list of students was submitted separately from the primary list, due to either a late application on the student’s part or because Institutional Resea...
CLOVIS — A community celebration of local healthcare workers is set to take place Thursday evening outside of Plains Regional Medical Center. Hearts for Healthcare Workers is being organized by the Clovis/Curry County Chamber of Commerce, the City of Clovis, Curry County, and Rooney Moon Broadcasting to show support for healthcare workers and staff who have provided care for the community throughout the pandemic. A driving parade will begin to form at 5:30 p.m. on West 21st Street. Programming related to the event, and the 6...
PORTALES — Two resolutions regarding Roosevelt County’s support and opposition for bills introduced in the current legislative session were discussed during its commission meeting on Tuesday. The commission voted unanimously to support House Bill 33 regarding the Livestock Board and Meat Inspection and to oppose House Bill 4 the New Mexico Civil Rights Act. On the agenda for the meeting the item submitted by Roosevelt County Manager Amber Hamilton read, “Urging the New Mexico Legislature to provide more resources for behav...
PORTALES — Roosevelt General Hospital officials are administering about 100 COVID-19 Pfizer vaccinations per day, with 928 doses delivered so far. RGH Chief Executive Officer Kaye Green also told Roosevelt County commissioners on Tuesday that officials are “being liberal” with state guidelines to ensure no vaccines go to waste. Those who qualify for the vaccine are ages 75 and up and those 16 and up with underlying conditions, plus frontline essential workers. “We did start vaccinating teachers because we felt that they fe...
CLOVIS - Jewelry, Gail Tarson said, is almost always connected to some special event. On Tuesday, the owner of Clovis' Diamonds Evermore was honored for her 10-year connection with local small business development. The Clovis Community College branch of New Mexico's Small Business Development Center named Diamonds Evermore as its Star Client. Tarson has worked with SBDC since 2011 when she began the process of opening her store. Unlike past years in which awards recipients...
Local lawmakers are getting into the swing of things as New Mexico's 2021 regular 60-day legislative session rounds the two-week mark. The session, which is operating mostly over Zoom with few in-person meetings in Santa Fe, has 354 bills introduced from the House and Senate. “This session is very different from past sessions. There's no public access allowed so that's very different. We're totally working off of our computers, so we're working off of a Zoom call with a voting app attached,” said Rep. Jack Chatfield, R-M...
A pair of businesses concluded operations at their Clovis locations this week, with one relocating and another concentrating on its flagship location. The owners of Yo-Tea-Go are staying in Clovis, but are rebranding and moving into a new building on North Prince Street called The Haven Coffee and Tea Lounge. The new location will no longer sell frozen yogurt. “We’ll have everything we have now, the bubble tea, the protein shakes, dispenser tea, but we’re expanding more on the espresso based drinks and hot teas. It’s going to...
Preliminary data from the 2020 Census indicates that redistricting in New Mexico might not conclude until December, compared to September when the decennial process wrapped up in 2011. The Census data used for redistricting is usually delivered to the president at the close of the year. However, due to various delays largely related to the COVID-19 pandemic, that information will not be delivered until March at the earliest. As a consequence population redistricting data would not be delivered to the state until April, and a...
The 2021 Regular Session for New Mexico’s 55th Legislature began on January 19. As part of that session, local lawmakers for Curry and Roosevelt Counties have put their support behind 17 different bills. Those bills have been summarized below to help familiarize the community with their legislators efforts, but the full official transcriptions for each bill can be found at: www.nmlegis.gov House Bills sponsored by local Legislators: HB33 Livestock Board and Meat Inspection What it is: An amendment to existing board powers a...
Wind gusts in the early hours of Saturday morning until mid-afternoon reached 55 to 60 mph. The High Wind Warning which included “damaging winds” was issued for both Curry and Roosevelt Counties. The National Weather Service anticipated the winds would start to calm down today. Though strong, the wind gusts did not bring much cooler temperatures to the area due to what the NSW called downslope winds. Wind from a western winter storm moving over the state's central mountain ranges accelerated and compressed as it des...
CLOVIS — Owners of the Crafters Mall and Brick Street Warehouse in Clovis are opening a new store in Farwell after facing difficulties running their businesses in New Mexico during the pandemic. Ernie Kos, executive director of the Curry County/Clovis Chamber of Commerce, was not aware of businesses that have closed permanently due to Covid-related issues. But many if not all, she said, have been forced to adapt. While introducing online sales or curbside shopping have been more common changes businesses have made, this m...
CLOVIS — As of Monday Clovis' vaccine clinic administered all of the COVID-19 vaccine doses allocated to Roden Smith and Clovis Family Healthcare last week. The clinic will continue to run this week as the state has allocated another 2,500 doses. “Last week it went really well. It wasn't the ideal scheduling system doing it internally trying to schedule 2,500 people in a couple days notice, so we are happy we're set up on the state's system now,” Dr. Micah Lansford, owner and head of Roden Smith Pharmacy said. The clini...
CANNON AIR FORCE BASE — Cannon Air Force Base began rolling out COVID-19 vaccines to personnel in mid-January. Like the rest of the country, they are administering it in phases. “Medical personnel who are providing direct medical care, security forces and first responders will be the first to receive the vaccine. The next phase will be national critical capabilities personnel, then mission essential personnel and essential support personnel. The DoD is following the CDC’s prioritization guidelines for distribution,” Staff S...
Local institutions of higher education began classes for their spring semester this past week. Both Eastern New Mexico University and Clovis Community College will hold some in-person classes as well as continue with many online classes. Professors at both entities weighed in on the complexities of teaching during a pandemic and returning to their in-person classes. Students approached by The News declined interview requests. Question: How do you feel about how the college campus has changed in the past year? What do you...
