Serving Clovis, Portales and the Surrounding Communities
Serving Clovis, Portales and the Surrounding Communities
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CLOVIS - There will be a Draggin' Main celebration this year, but what kind of event will it be? Concerts and nostalgia are usually the main entrées. But this is a most unusual year because of COVID-19, so the concerts are out. Organizers will try to squeeze in as much nostalgia as they can, with as much socializing as a still largely socially distant culture will allow. The Main Street Cruise is on, starting at 5 p.m. Saturday. That's it as far as anything official. "We're...
A Roosevelt County woman has died from complications related to COVID-19, state health officials announced Monday afternoon. And the virus numbers are spiking in several area counties, records show. Roosevelt General Hospital CEO Kaye Green on Monday said the Portales woman who died was in her 60s and had underlying health conditions. She had been hospitalized in Lubbock the past several weeks, Green said in a video posted to Facebook. She’s just the second COVID-19-related fatality from eastern New Mexico. A Quay County m...
PORTALES - Though the wind wasn't too cooperative, a protest about the death of George Floyd otherwise came off smoothly and peacefully Thursday night in front of the Roosevelt County Courthouse. A planned candlelight vigil was ruined by gusty winds; a few gusts even knocked a box of candles off a bench. But the rally went on, with African-American, Hispanic and white voices heard through speeches and readings, as protests of Floyd's death neared the end of their third week....
CLOVIS — For Darrel Ray, it’s back to the future. Ray is now both the former and present head coach of Clovis High’s varsity volleyball team. His program was the class of District 4-5A when he coached its varsity from 2000-2010, and this past week it was announced that he would return to that position this upcoming season. Ray succeeds Ruth Chavez, who spent 28 years in Portales’ volleyball program — 14 as head coach — and served as Clovis’ head volleyball coach from 2017-20 before returning to the Rams this offseason to...
CLOVIS - The chants and the signs and the honking car horns will not magically bring George Floyd back to life. The purpose was to keep his memory alive. Hundreds of area residents on Friday came out to the Clovis-Carver Public Library parking lot to peacefully protest the May 25 death of Floyd, an African-American, at the hands of Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin, who is white. Chauvin has since been fired, arrested, and charged with second-degree murder, but even an...
PORTALES — Six days after New Mexicans voted in their primary, Roosevelt County’s election results were certified on Monday. County Clerk Stephanie Hicks said the seven provisional ballots were also OK, and the Board of Commissioners approved her findings and those of the board of canvass. In other business, the board approved: • The minutes of both the May 19 budget workshop and May 26 regular meeting. • A Type III-A summary review of a replat of Block D of the K.G. Flatt. • Removing signatory officials Mickie Algire an...
PORTALES - Ruth Chavez knew when it was time to come home. Chavez, a Fort Sumner native, had been living in Portales since her college days spent at Eastern New Mexico University. She had taught at Portales, coached in the Lady Rams volleyball program for 29 years, was head coach for 15. She raised a family in Portales. For the past three years, though, Chavez had been head coach of Clovis' volleyball team, a change she knew would do her good. But this spring came the...
PORTALES — Help is on the way. At Tuesday night’s Portales City Council meeting, a resolution was approved granting COVID-19 relief funds to local businesses hurt by the pandemic and the economic freefall resulting from it. Two dozen businesses applied for $180,800 of grant money, with 14 selected by two committees — one that reviewed the applications, and the Economic Development Finance Review Committee that reviewed the first committee’s findings and made recommendations accordingly. The 14 businesses selected to divide th...
PORTALES — Call it a silver lining for some involved in Eastern New Mexico University athletics. For others, it isn’t all that relevant. When the NCAA announced an extra year of eligibility for seniors who lost their final collegiate seasons due to COVID-19, it was big for some involved with Greyhound spring sports. The ENMU women’s basketball team plays of course in the winter, and even though the team had its scheduled Division II tournament appearance in mid-March canceled due to the coronavirus, the eligibility rule...
A new public health order has allowed mourners to come inside houses of worships for funeral services. But social distancing is still imperative. Churches in general are mandated to go no higher than 25 percent capacity. “Funerals are pretty much the same thing,” said Bill Vallie, senior funeral director for Legacy Funeral Group, to which Clovis’ Steed-Todd Funeral Home belongs. Prior to the new order, mourners were limited to a maximum five to a funeral home room, and had to be appropriately distanced. People were not allow...
Even a deadly virus couldn't stop democracy on Tuesday. Despite COVID-19 fears and restrictions, Tuesday was primary day in New Mexico and thousands of local voters turned out to exercise one of their intrinsic rights as citizens. "Think of what many countries would give to be able to vote, to have a say-so," Robin Montano, a poll worker at Colonial Park Golf Course's voting center in Clovis, said Tuesday morning. "It's our way to speak out." The coronavirus has taken over...
Editor's note: This is the final in a recurring series on local teachers trying to maintain normalcy during the COVID-19 pandemic. CLOVIS - The coronavirus' effect on teaching has shown how far the profession has come, with educators able to reach their students through the internet. In some cases, though, the best way to communicate can be old-fashioned. Take Elizabeth Hita-Ledezma, for instance. Before school ended for the summer, the Yucca Middle School math teacher was...
CLOVIS — The annual Draggin’ Main festival has become as much a part of Clovis as Wildcat football, windy springs and friendly people. Every year’s festival brings out the locals and brings in the visitors, and they come together to celebrate Clovis’ heritage along with some great music. Last year, Loverboy highlighted an array of performers, the year before, Warrant. But 2020 is not at all like “every year.” COVID-19 has seen to that, with schools and some businesses closing, and yes, even good ol’ Draggin Main being af...
Court will soon be in session. An order issued by the New Mexico Supreme Court on Thursday lifted the suspension of jury trials in criminal and civil cases that had been in effect since March. Courts are permitted to resume jury trials between June 15 and July 15. “As our state gradually reopens, courts can safely resume jury trials as local conditions permit,” State Chief Justice Judith K. Nakamura stated. “Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, New Mexico courts have worked diligently to protect the health of people enter...
High school sports in New Mexico will start to re-surface this summer after grinding to a halt in March due to the COVID-19 pandemic. And it appears athletics will initially look a lot different than when they were last permitted in late winter. Thursday, the New Mexico Activities Association released its guidance for a Phase 1 return to play, beginning June 15. “That gives us a couple of weeks to get ready for what we need to get ready for in regard to getting all the PPE (personal protection equipment) that we need and so f...
CLOVIS - The 2019-20 Clovis High School sports season was humming right along. The Wildcats' football team reached the 6A semifinals. Jerrick Maldonado finished second at the state cross country meet. The Clovis boys basketball team hosted a state playoff game for the first time since 2013. And then came the second week of March. Everything came to a screeching halt because of the coronavirus, ending Clovis' spring sports season just a couple of weeks in. So, when the top...
As New Mexico and states around the country gradually re-open, there’s been much talk of a “new normal.” People certainly miss the old normal, but that may be gone, if not forever, then at least for the foreseeable future. Plains Regional Medical Center Administrator Drew Dostal sees changes in routine medical visits that may last a while. “That’s a broad subject,” Dostal said. “I’m not sure that going forward it’ll be routine in the sense of what it used to look like. It was very clinical based. We really want to keep safe...
COVID-19 shut down just about every aspect of normal life. But good will in the community has continued on, under restrictions. The local not-for-profits, though being somewhat curtailed by social distancing guidelines, have kept providing meals, clothing, even essential bills. Neediness didn't take a COVID break. "For us it didn't slow down. In fact, it accelerated at a high rate of speed," said Sheila Savitz of Consigning Women-Angel Ministries in Portales. Savitz said her... Full story
As Phase 2 of Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham’s re-opening plan looms, restaurants, bars, movie theaters and casinos may be allowed to unlock their doors Monday. There’s no doubt sanitation and social-distancing guidelines will be part of any reopening. And for the restaurants, part of those guidelines could be strict and might raise more than a few eyebrows. There is talk of a mandate requiring restaurant owners and managers to maintain a daily log of customers who patronize their establishments. The log would be for use in con... Full story
CLOVIS - Quarterbacks have to see the whole field, sometimes anticipate things that aren't there yet. That's what Chance Harris has been doing for about 10 years, and not just on the field. From the time he started playing organized football in the second grade, he could see himself someday wearing a Clovis High football uniform, and someday after that playing Division I college ball. Even when it wasn't there yet, Harris anticipated it. The above goals can now be considered d...
Recruitment is an exciting time for high school athletes. No exception locally, as Clovis High’s Chance Harris and Jaden Phillips committed to play Division I football during the past week. Harris will play quarterback for Colorado State; Phillips will be a defensive lineman or linebacker for the University of New Mexico. In the strange days of COVID-19, the commitments of Harris and Phillips seem like a break in the gloom, even more exciting than usual under the circumstances. “Oh, extremely, extremely, man. It’s a huge...
CLOVIS - Jaden Phillips is a New Mexico native. And his residence status isn't expected to change until at least mid-decade. Late last week, the Clovis High defensive end/wide receiver announced that he had committed to playing for the University of New Mexico. Climbing the football ladder up to Division I will involve a 3 1/2-hour car ride to Albuquerque. Phillips, who will be a Clovis High senior in August, was recruited by UNM as a defensive athlete, and will play either...
The weekend was a dark one for eastern New Mexico in its battle against the COVID-19 pandemic. On Saturday, the region set a one-day record for new cases and two local nursing homes reported confirmed cases. But officials said there is little reason to suspect eastern New Mexico is becoming a hot spot for the virus. “No ... the data isn’t supporting that,” Roosevelt County Manager Amber Hamilton said. “Our community is doing a great job of combating this.” Roosevelt County had 12 new cases reported Saturday, increasin...
It's certainly not time to rejoice, but it's something. Dee Madrid is happy to be back to work. This weekend, after being closed for two months, she was able to re-open her sports memorabilia store in Clovis, bringing her fan favorite Pomeranians "Genesis" and "Montana" back with her along with Kansas City Chiefs hats, New York Yankees shirts, and all her other merchandise. "I've never been off two months from closing the store," said Madrid, who had been running Sports...
CLOVIS - When most of us were children, our only masks were of the Halloween variety. Surely no one could have imagined a future that involved being required to wear masks - the surgical kind or bandanas or any type of face covering - to protect us and others from a virus engulfing the world. Texico soon-to-be-seventh-grader Kye Conley, 12, couldn't imagine wearing masks just weeks ago. But now Kye and every New Mexican has been instructed to wear a face covering in public, pe...
