Serving Eastern New Mexico and West Texas
Clovis Community College student Gina Martinez fills out a class form Thursday. CCC and Wayland Baptist University campuses expect record enrollment for the upcoming school year. Photo by Eric Kluth. By Gary Mitchell Interest in higher learning is on the rise. All four area colleges anticipate higher enrollment figures for the upcoming fall semester. Officials […]
By Dave Wagner Coming off a 20-8 season and a run to the program’s first Lone Star Conference South Division championship, Eastern New Mexico University men’s basketball coach Shawn Scanlan and assistant coach Mark Murdock have been busy trying to supplement the Greyhounds’ returning talent. While the Hounds have a solid returning base, signing players […]
By Mike Linn Portales is hosting a workshop this week on examining ways to slow the rapidly declining water supply in the Ogallala Aquifer. In areas north of Portales, water from the Ogallala declines four times as fast as it is replenished, conservation officials explain, and even with modern farming irrigation systems the extended future […]
Reports from those who follow congressional wrangling suggest that President Bush’s desire to sign legislation that can plausibly be called a prescription drug benefit within Medicare might be stymied. That would be good news. The differences between popular catch phrases and the actual details of this proposal are quite striking. What might trip up legislation […]
By Mona Charen Last week’s news contained a couple of nuggets that stand conventional wisdom on its head. Among the things everybody knows is that Democrats, being the party of the little people, raise money in small contributions, whereas Republicans, being the party of fat cats, raise funds in huge basketfuls from wealthy corporate types. […]
By Jack King Curry County commissioners Tuesday approved a line item budget change that will make it possible to fund a 1 percent pay increase for county employees for one year. The vote was 3-2. Commissioners Pete Hulder and Kathrynn Tate voted against the budget cut, following a debate that highlighted an on-going debate about […]
By Jack King Curry County commissioners are expecting a large turnout for today’s discussion of plans for a county special events center — so large, they’ve moved part of the meeting from the commission chamber to the courtroom of District Judge Teddy L. Hartley on the second floor of the Curry County Courthouse. The commission […]
By Jack King Federal and state officials raised questions Wednesday about some eastern New Mexico communities’ ability to pay for their share of the renewable water delivery system proposed by the Eastern New Mexico Rural Water Authority. The authority has been created to develop a pipeline project to distribute water from Ute Reservoir to communities […]
By Jack King Curry County probably will not be able to give Burlington Northern Santa Fe railroad a property tax abatement in order to fund an overpass over State Road 467, County Assessor Randy Williams told county commissioners Tuesday. Under an agreement signed by the county and the railroad May 20, Burlington Northern will provide […]
By Gary Mitchell After juggling figures for several days and trying to trim jobs in the school district, Clovis school administrators presented what they described as a “lean, mean” budget of $58 million to school board members Tuesday. Board members agreed, approving the budget unanimously. The budget had to be cut back as a result […]
CNJ Staff In Bailey and Parmer counties, Randy Neugebauer, a Lubbock land developer, defeated Mike Conaway, a Midland accountant, in a run-off election Tuesday night for the U.S. 19th Congressional District formerly held by Larry Combest, a Lubbock Republican who retired Saturday. Statewide, Neugebauer held a 4.8 percent lead over Conaway, with 96.6 percent of […]
President Bush’s tax cut should be just what the economy needs to get moving again. As passed by Congress, the plan to cut $350 billion over 10 years is less than half what the president originally called for. But it’s still a significant reduction in the burdens borne by citizens and businesses. The tax package’s […]
By Walter Williams How many times have we applauded those who “made a difference in the lives of others” and been admonished to do the same? On the face of it, that has to be one of the more mindless generalities of our modern era. After all, didn’t Hitler, Stalin, Pol Pot and Castro also […]
By Jack King Curry County commissioners voted 3-2 Tuesday to ask voters to approve an increase in gross receipts taxes to cover a county budget shortfall estimated at between $200,000 and $400,000. A majority of the commissioners approved creating an ordinance authorizing a one-eighth percent increase in county gross receipts taxes that would be placed […]
By Leonard Pitts A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away, I was a music critic. In fact, I spent 18 years reviewing and interviewing everybody from Gladys Knight and Dolly Parton to Paul Simon and Stevie Wonder. I left the beat (no pun intended) almost 10 years ago, driven by the realization […]
By Jack King Curry County is facing a projected budget shortfall that could reach as high as $400,000, County Manager Geneva Cooper said Monday. The amount of the shortfall between spending and revenue in the county’s 2003-04 budget has varied between $200,000 and $400,000 during the budget development process, Cooper said. The county commission is […]
There’s still a lot of work for Congress to do on President Bush’s proposed $550 billion tax cut. Because of objections by liberal Republican Sen. Olympia Snow of Maine, the president’s original proposal to entirely end the double tax on dividends may be gone for now. “The Senate’s Republican tax writers struck on an agreement […]
By Tony Farkas Agriculture is the foundation for eastern New Mexico’s economy. The cotton gins that didn’t stop production even on Thanksgiving Day, the farm implements seen along the roads and highways every spring and fall, and the aroma from the local feedlots and dairies offer plenty of physical evidence to support the statement. Statistics […]
By Jack King The special election to replace U.S. Rep. Larry Combest, R-Lubbock, in Texas, seemed likely to go into a run off at press time Saturday. Although there were clear leaders, none of the 17 candidates in the race had the “50 percent plus one vote” needed to win, according to the Texas Secretary […]
