Serving Clovis, Portales and the Surrounding Communities

Articles from the February 16, 2020 edition


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  • Municipal elections seem focused on growing government

    David Stevens - Staff|Updated Feb 16, 2020

    A few thoughts on Clovis’ municipal elections: n Where did anyone get the idea crime in Clovis is rising, as several candidates have suggested? Clovis police statistics show calls for service have been dropping steadily since at least 2014. Police received 17.4% fewer calls (that’s more than 6,000 fewer calls) between 2014 and 2018, the most recent year statistics are available. Violent crimes are down as well and the number of burglaries dropped from 736 in 2014 to 375 in 2018. The District Attorney’s Office reports it op... Full story

  • Crowded field at forum

    Kevin Wilson - Staff|Updated Feb 15, 2020

    CLOVIS - It's pretty rare for a political forum to be held for one specific district on the Clovis City Commission. But it's just as rare to have a candidate field as crowded as this District 1. All seven candidates made their case Thursday as the Clovis Rotary Club held its second of three political forums on the March 3 municipal election. The seven candidates are the most for any municipal race since 2002, when 10 people ran for the open municipal judge position. The...

  • CCC board welcomes president, new trustee

    Kevin Wilson - Staff|Updated Feb 15, 2020

    CLOVIS — Plenty of transition was either happening, or about to happen, as the Clovis Community College Board of Trustees convened for the first time in 2020 on Thursday morning. Members welcomed incoming college President Charles Nwankwo, marked the coming end to Robin Kuykendall’s term as interim president, welcomed a new trustee in Carolyn Spence and parted ways with their auditing firm. Nwankwo, scheduled to step into the president’s office on Monday, attended the meeting as a spectator. He said he would take a littl...

  • Senior calendar - Feb. 16

    Updated Feb 15, 2020

    Baxter Curren Senior Center 908 Hickory St., Clovis Monday: Closed. Tuesday: 8 a.m.-4 p.m. exercise equipment, 8 a.m.-4 p.m. 8-ball pool, 8 a.m. quilting, 11 a.m. line dance, 1 p.m. pinochle, 6 p.m. Trivia Mania. Wednesday: 8 a.m.-4 p.m. exercise equipment, 8 a.m.-4 p.m. 8-ball pool, 9 a.m. sew days, 8:30 a.m. exercise class, 1 p.m. needle gang. Thursday: 7:30 a.m. blood pressure, 8 a.m. breakfast, 1 p.m. bingo, 6 p.m. railroad potluck. Friday: 8 a.m.-4 p.m. exercise equipment, 8 a.m.-4 p.m. 8-ball pool, 8:30 a.m. exercise...

  • Furniture arrangements, sewing techniques ahead on show

    Sheryl Borden|Updated Feb 15, 2020

    Information on furniture arrangement and sewing techniques for making a perfect bag will be the featured topics on “Creative Living” 9:30 p.m. Tuesday and noon Thursday (all times Mountain). Interior designer Lee Brown questions why people worry about where to put furniture since we all use our rooms in a different way. She’s going to talk about seasonal furnishings, the need for more light as we get older, as well as the need for less storage as children get older. She says...

  • School menus - Feb. 16

    Updated Feb 15, 2020

    Clovis Elementary Monday: No school. Tuesday: Breakfast — Waffle. Lunch — Hamburger on a bun, baked french fries, sliced cucumbers, ranch dressing, sidekicks, fresh veggies. Wednesday: Breakfast — Sausage biscuit. Lunch — Mini tacos and salsa, lettuce and tomato, mini carrots and ranch, Spanish rice, chilled pears, fresh veggies. Thursday: Breakfast — French toast. Lunch — Pig in a blanket, garden salad & ranch, seasoned green beans, fresh apple, cookie, fresh veggies. Friday: Breakfast — Cinnamon toast crunch filled bar. L...

  • Politics need a little peace, compromise and politeness

    Karl Terry|Updated Feb 15, 2020

    I started pondering Chief Ouray the other day and wondered what he could teach us in this politically charged day in which we’re living. For those of you who never lived on the banks of the Uncompaghre River or worked in downtown Ouray, Colorado, let me explain who I’m talking about. The Native American Ouray was born, probably around 1833, in Taos, the son of a Jicarilla Apache father and a Ute mother. He was raised by a sheepherding Spanish family where he learned Spa...

  • Our people: Single mom striving for healthy life

    Updated Feb 15, 2020

    Elena Flores is a part-time instructor at Eastern New Mexico University, teaching methods and curriculum in physical education and other introductions to health and wellness. Flores obtained a master's degree in 2011. She is a single mother to a 13-year-old son, whose father passed away unexpectedly when he was just 4. Flores also teaches yoga and works part-time as a waitress in Clovis. What is the greatest struggle you've overcome? As a single mom, dealing with the loss of m...

  • 18 heading for forum

    the Staff of The News|Updated Feb 15, 2020

    CLOVIS — A packed candidate field means a packed forum, and likely an extended one on Tuesday night. All 18 candidates from contested Clovis municipal races have accepted invites to attend the KTQM political forum, which will be broadcast starting at 6 p.m. on KTQM 99.9 FM. With so many candidates to make opening and closing statements and answer listener questions, general manager Rick Keefer is confident they’ll need to extend beyond the normal two-hour timeframe. “It’s just simply a numbers issue,” Keefer said. “This yea...

  • Officials grill treasurer about lost interest

    Mathew Brock - Staff|Updated Feb 15, 2020

    CLOVIS — Curry County missed out on about $2,700 in interest earlier this year when it took a month to get excess funds moved into a savings account. County commissioners on Feb. 6 grilled County Treasurer Debbie Spriggs for 30 minutes about the lost interest. After the commission received its latest Investment and Financial Outlook presentation from Rob Burpo on Dec. 19, Spriggs was asked to invest $3 million, but the money wasn’t moved until mid-January, county officials said. County officials estimated the county was mis...

  • Events calendar - Feb. 16

    Updated Feb 15, 2020

    Monday • Presidents’ Day Tuesday • Black History Month Celebration — 11:30 a.m.-2 p.m., Commons, Clovis Community College, 417 Schepps Blvd., Clovis. Experience history of the arts and important figures of African American history while traveling through the Harlem Renaissance and theater stages. Live jazz music from 11:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m. with Richard Schwartz and ENMU Jazz Ensemble. Information: 575-769-2811 • Friends of Clovis-Carver Public Library meeting — 11:30 a.m., Clovis-Carver Public Library, 701 N. Main St., Clovis...

  • Romney last bastion of Republican courage

    Updated Feb 15, 2020

    When historians look for the last, documented instance of Republican political courage in the Trump imperium, they’ll look to one man: Sen. Mitt Romney. In one extraordinary speech on the floor of the United States Senate, the Utah senator made remarks that were both utterly moving in their absolute humanity and totally damning in their vivid rebuttal of GOP capitulation to a bankrupt White House. “I swore an oath before God to exercise impartial justice,” Romney told a nearly empty chamber around 2 p.m. on Feb. 5, two hours...

  • Hoping for lots more people like my dad

    Updated Feb 15, 2020

    “Middlebrow.” I sit typing this column on the 20th anniversary of the massive heart attack that took the life of my father, and “middlebrow” is one of the words that pops into my mind when remembering Dad. Except for learning the skills of a medic during his year in the United States Army and taking a Dale Carnegie “How To Win Friends and Influence People” course while in the insurance business, Dad had no formal education beyond being the salutatorian of the Marshall County (Tennessee) High School class of 1943. But he was...

  • Study shows church keeps you healthy

    Updated Feb 15, 2020

    CNN issued a study a while back that found regularly attending church may increase a Christian’s lifespan, while at the same time help “them stay grounded and (provide) spiritual guidance.” I’m guessing this positive benefit results from the additional sleep gained by snoozing during boring sermons. This column normally takes a dim view of social “science” studies, but an exception will be made in this instance for two reasons. First, no taxpayer dollars appear to have been wasted. Second, there is no evidence of confirmatio...

  • Sanders likely to go way of UK's Labour Party

    Rich Lowry|Updated Feb 15, 2020

    The Democratic Party could soon be taken over by a leftist who has never formally been a member. If it’s any consolation to Democrats, it’s a version of the same wrenching dislocation that has beset the center-left throughout the Western world. One reason Bernie Sanders winning the Democratic nomination is entirely imaginable is that it wouldn’t be a freakish occurrence outside the experience of other advanced democracies, but instead, entirely consistent with the trava...

  • Dems' best bet to vote moderate

    Steve Hansen|Updated Feb 15, 2020

    Some observations on the presidential campaign so far: • Making predictions on the outcome of the Democratic nomination race based on results from two small, non-representative states is like predicting the winner of the Super Bowl based on pre-season games, which are essentially practice days. • In “All the President’s Men,” we learned about the GOP’s “Dirty Tricks Squad,” and its role in assuring the Democrats’ weakest candidate, George McGovern, got the nomination in 1972. Substitute “Russian trolls” for “Dirty Tricks Squ...

  • Suspect jailed in shooting of 69-year-old

    the Staff of The News|Updated Feb 15, 2020

    CLOVIS — A 69-year-old Clovis man was shot Wednesday night and his alleged assailant is in the Curry County jail. Police in a news release said Carlos George Sena reported Iisha Silva shot him at Sena’s residence at 1121 Rencher. The release said Sena was transported to University Medical Center in Lubbock for treatment of his injury. His condition was not released. Silva, 26, who transported Sena to the Clovis hospital after the shooting, is charged with aggravated battery with a deadly weapon. A criminal complaint fil...

  • Commission tables house demolition request

    Kevin Wilson - Staff|Updated Feb 15, 2020

    CLOVIS — City commissioners on Thursday tabled a request to condemn a home on the 900 block of Purdue Street. Building Safety Director Pete Wilt said the home had been without utilities for years, and the person living there had set fires inside and outside of the house to keep warm. Wilt noted two years of attempts to resolve the issues at the home. William Jones Jr. of Houston called into the meeting and said he is the owner of the property and was not aware of the issues until he was sent a letter in January. Curry C...

  • Public record - Feb. 16

    Updated Feb 15, 2020

    The following marriage licenses were recently filed at the Curry County Clerk’s office: • Alvino Lopez III, 36, and Orlinda Ethel Martinez, 35, both of Clovis • Joshua Ray Bryan, 28, and Christina Renee Gallegos, 27, both of Clovis • Joe Tony Moncayo, 57, and Stephanie Lynn Padilla, 33, both of Clovis • Joshua David Phillips, 31, and Monica Yvette Sanchez, 27, both of Clovis • Jayson Mark Urban, 28, and Brittany Albertina Nunez, 25, both of Clovis • Christan Randolph Lockridge, 60, and Connie Lon Ogle, 65, both of Pampa, Tex...

  • Pages past - Feb. 16

    Updated Feb 15, 2020

    On this date ... 1975: Eastern New Mexico awoke to find itself under a blanket of snow. Roads were slick and hazardous and visibility was near zero on the highway between Fort Sumner and Santa Rosa, officials said. The Clovis News-Journal reported it was the first major winter storm of 1975. “It’s just solid ice,” Clovis Police Dispatcher Oneta Black said. “But everyone seems to be pretty cautious.” Pages Past is compiled by David Stevens. Contact: [email protected] For more regional history, see the website: pagespast...

  • Meetings calendar - Feb. 16

    Updated Feb 15, 2020

    Tuesday • Curry County Commission — 9 a.m., Commission Chambers, Curry County Administration Complex, 417 Gidding St., Clovis. Information: Tanya Henderson at 575-763-6016 • Portales City Council — 6:30 p.m., Memorial Building, 200 E. 7th St., Portales. Information: 575-356-6662 Thursday • Curry County Health Council — 12-1 p.m., Commission Room, Curry County Administration Complex, 417 Gidding St., Clovis. Information: 575-763-6009 • Curry County DWI Task Force — 4-5 p.m., Curry County Administration, 417 Gidding St., Su...

  • Curry to take step on juvenile detention center

    the Staff of The News|Updated Feb 15, 2020

    CLOVIS — The Curry County Commission on Tuesday will take the first big step in deciding whether or not it will close its Juvenile Detention Center. The commission will receive a presentation from Grace Philips on the current status of JDCs across the state, the number of which has decreased significantly over the last 10 years. Currently, there are only six JDCs in the state, with Dona Ana and Santa Fe counties also considering closing their facilities alongside Curry. If the facility were closed, Curry and many of the s...

  • No injuries in structure fire

    Kevin Wilson - Staff|Updated Feb 15, 2020

    CLOVIS - Motorists heading south of Clovis had a smoke-filled and possibly detoured drive Friday, as Clovis fire crews spent the morning fighting a blaze just south of the Prince Street Overpass. Clovis Fire Department Battalion Chief Joel Gershon said there were no injuries, but one firefighter was resting at home Friday afternoon after going to the hospital for an asthma attack. Crews got the call for the fire about 7:20 a.m. About 20 minutes in, the fire created what...

  • Jazzoo alcohol variance approved

    Kevin Wilson - Staff|Updated Feb 15, 2020

    CLOVIS — The animals of the Hillcrest Park Zoo have seen plenty from the people who travel the sidewalks of their residences, from Christmas light displays to Halloween crowds of kids. They’re about to get a cocktail party, as the Clovis City Commission approved a variance allowing Red Door Brewing to offer alcoholic beverages as part of the May 2 Jazzoo fundraiser. The evening event was not without its critics, as it passed with a 5-3 vote following an explanation by event organizer Jenni Hanson. The Jazzoo event, Han...

  • Sheriff to ask for gun bill resolution

    the Staff of The News|Updated Feb 15, 2020

    PORTALES — Roosevelt County Sheriff Malin Parker will bring a resolution Tuesday asking the Roosevelt County Commission to oppose the Extreme Risk Protection Order Act — the red-flag gun bill. The regular Roosevelt County Commission meeting for this Tuesday was pushed back a week, but with news of the bill passing the House, a special meeting has been called in its place to consider a declaration to oppose. The controversial measure was passed by the House on Friday by a 39-31 vote. Its next stop will be the desk of Gov. Mic...

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