Local Roundup: Muleshoe teen killed in accident

Nineteen-year-old Tyler Blake Sheets of Muleshoe was killed Thursday afternoon when the truck he was driving hit a tree on U.S. 84 about three miles east of Farwell, according to police.

Dispatcher Kimberly Sherman of the Texas Department of Public Safety, Highway Patrol, said the accident occurred shortly before 4 p.m. CST when Sheets was traveling west and went onto the center median. He overcorrected and his pickup truck slid sideways back into the median, and the right passenger door struck a tree, Sherman said.

Sheets was pronounced dead at 4:30 p.m. CST at Muleshoe Area Medical Center, Sherman said.

Ankle bracelets save county thousands

Ankle bracelet monitoring has saved the county almost $70,000 since the detention center began overseeing the program, according to Audrey Barriga, assistant Curry County Adult Detention Center administrator.

More than two dozen inmates are now enrolled in the monitoring program, and 60 have gone through the program since it began in August, Barriga said.

“At (inmate housing costs of) $39 a day, we have saved $69,480 just in bed space alone,” she explained.

So far 10 inmates have violated terms of the program and been returned to the jail, she said, but overall the program is thriving.

“The (percentage of inmates) that are doing well on the program is higher than the percentage that (have violated),” she said.

Violations have ranged from officers detecting alcohol use to positive drug tests or inmates not being where they are supposed to be, she said. Officers do not give any leniency for violations, she told. Barriga said inmates who commit an infraction go back to jail, no second chances.

Program participants are allowed to live at home so they can work, attend school and take care of necessary personal matters such as shopping and doctors appointments. Their locations are tracked by ankle bracelets that utilize satellite technology.

County manager hospitalized

Curry County Manager Dick Smith remains hospitalized at Plains Regional Medical Center following gall bladder surgery.

Smith was admitted to PRMC Monday night and is in the Intensive Care Unit, according to Assistant Curry County Manager Lance Pyle.

“He is in good spirits,” Pyle said of Smith, “and is recovering well.”

Officials seeking deer poachers

New Mexico Department of Game and Fish officials are seeking information leading to apprehension of a group of poachers who killed a deer near Grady Wednesday, a press release said.

Four males were seen shooting and killing a fork-antlered mule deer on Curry Road 33, approximately 5 miles west of NM Highway 209, a release said.

The men loaded the deer into a late-model Ford Bronco with white front shocks, the release said.

A $500 reward is being offered for information leading to their arrest, the release said. Anybody with information about the incident or suspects can call Operation Game Thief (800) 432-4263. Callers may remain anonymous.

Dumped pheasants legally hunted

New Mexico Department of Game and Fish officials believe suspiciously dumped pheasant carcasses in Clovis were the result of legal hunting.

Wes Robertson, New Mexico Game and Fish warden for Clovis, said Thursday he had received information several dead pheasants reported near the intersection of Brady Street and Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard were legally hunted during pheasant season.

Pheasant season ended Dec. 10, according to department spokesman Dan Williams.

Several Clovis residents contacted authorities Dec. 15 to report 15 to 20 pheasants had been dumped.

Robertson said the breasts had been removed and information he received indicated they were killed appropriately. The method of disposal was undesirable but not illegal, he said.

Anybody with information about violations of game laws can report them to Operation Game Thief by calling (800) 432-4263. Callers may remain anonymous and be eligible for a reward.