Serving Clovis, Portales and the Surrounding Communities
Serving Clovis, Portales and the Surrounding Communities
Editor's note: This is the last in a series of reports recapping news events from 2015.
Editor
News, by definition, is unusual. So we can all agree 2015 was full of news. Some of it was a little more unusual than usual.
• Paranormal investigations became available in eastern New Mexico.
Clovis’ Jeff Conner said he started Grave Concerns Paranormal for educational purposes.
He said sometimes spirits attach to objects so they can stay with loved ones longer.
Sometimes, he said, homeowners are OK with a spirit’s presence, so no attempt is made to remove it.
• Dragging Main became popular again.
Organizers estimated close to 10,000 people participated in the second annual gathering in June on Clovis’ Main Street. Co-organizer Gene Porter said police even got involved, just like they sometimes did when dragging Main was a right of passage in the 1960s and ’70s.
“The police department did a fine job late in the evening,” Porter said. “They were dispatched out due to a lot of silliness going on, like tires burning, kids hanging out of cars and standing up in trucks. The law still applied there.”
• A Portales resident in April was featured on an episode of the television reality series “Strange Inheritance.”
John Wall talked about his mother’s collection of 5,000 dolls that he inherited.
• A Curry County commissioner attended a taxpayer-funded seminar in Hawaii and soon found herself facing a contempt of court charge.
Angelina Baca, a private-practice attorney, was due in court to represent a client for a jury trial on May 27. She didn’t show because she was still on the trip she termed a “mini vacation.”
Magistrate Judge Richard Hollis ultimately ruled Baca was not in contempt of court after she explained her absence.
“I’m not stupid. I’m not irresponsible,” Baca told the Clovis News Journal. “I did everything in my power to let the court know I would be unavailable in ‘X’ amount of time. My only error was I did not make my notice of unavailability through May 27.”
• A man convicted of catching too many trout — Clovis’ Bounchanh Bounsombath had 1,612 over the limit — in April was fined $8,110 and sentenced to five years probation.
• Curry County commissioners in October excused themselves from their public meeting, huddled in a corner of the meeting room, and conducted a private meeting with their attorney.
County Attorney Steve Doerr said the unusual discussion was allowed under “attorney-client privilege.”
Susan Boe, the executive director for New Mexico Foundation for Open Government, said the impromptu gathering violated the state’s Open Meetings Act.
• Portales MainStreet and the Dawg Houze Sports Bar teamed up to bring Extreme Midget Wrestling to the Yam Theatre in Portales.
A full house of about 200 people came out to watch.
“I think it’s a great experience that many people don’t get to see,” said Chad Heflin, owner of the Dawg Houze. “… It’s something people will remember for years.”
• And Jade Helm, which some feared would lead to martial law, turned out to be a routine military exercise. … As far we know.
