Rodney Paris, park manager at Ute Lake in Logan, reports the lake's elevation is at 3,781 feet - about 4 feet below "ideal" conditions, but plenty healthy for water skiing, fishing and multiple other recreational activities if we can get a warm weekend.

The next big event at Ute Lake is a chuck-wagon cookoff set to begin at 11 a.m. on April 26.

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After countless minutes of painstaking research and dozens of cents worth of long-distance telephone calls, Editor David Stevens reports we have a home-town favorite competing on "The Bachelor" TV show.

Check out his Web log:

http://fallingwithstyle.freedomblogging.com/

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Want to participate in Project: Reader Reaction? It's a great way to share your opinions with the world ... or at least our part of the world.

Send us an e-mail:

david_stevens@link.freedom.com

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Portales City Council members have called a special meeting for 5:30 p.m. today to hear a report from city staff on the most recent water main break.

Looking for a first-hand account of why some Portales residents couldn't take a bath on Monday night?

The meeting is open to the public. City Hall is at 100 W. First.

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Joe Heller draws editorial cartoons for the Clovis News Journal, Portales News-Tribune and about 350 other newspapers across the country.

Here's a profile on the artist from the Green Bay Press Gazette:

http://www.greenbaypressgazette.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080409/GPG04/804090638/1250Heller