4-H girls hard work earns Lea County Fair sweepstakes buckles   Denise Marquez/News-Sun LOVINGTON — Eager youth and parents crowded around covered showcases Monday at the Lea County Fairgrounds, waiting to see who would take home this year’s sweepstakes titles. The Lea County Fair and Rodeo 4-H Sweepstakes is a multi-project competition for 4-H members covering projects in home economics …

Encore sets ’26-27 concert lineup Andy Brosig/News-Sun Another season of musical entertainment is just around the corner as Encore Entertainment and the Southwest Symphony Orchestra announce the lineup for the 2026-27 symphony season. The entertainment kicks off at 6:30 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 29, in the Western Heritage Museum Theater, 1 Thunderbird Circle, in Hobbs. Featured musicians are the Yu & …

  Memoirs of a former rodeo queen Levi Hill/News-Sun Two seconds. It doesn’t seem like a long time until you are on the back of a bucking steer and holding on for six more. For 75-year-old Meloy Hill of Jal, two seconds was all she needed to know bull riding, in this case steer riding, was not for her. “I …

Fast learner: Mile record setter trained with Hobbs grad PETER STEIN/NEWS-SUN Perhaps you’ve crossed paths with Josh Kerr and didn’t realize it. If you blinked, you may have missed him. Kerr – a native of Edinburgh, Scotland and former University of New Mexico track runner – became the world’s fastest human, at least with regard to running the mile, when …

JF Maddox Foundation unveils vision for downtown development Two-building campus in Hobbs will establish the Foundation’s new headquarters, create a community center and food hall, and serve as a catalyst for continued downtown revitalization For the News-Sun The JF Maddox Foundation today announced plans for a transformative downtown development that will create a new home for the Foundation while establishing …

Mewbourne ranked #2 private producer in US Levi Hill/News-Sun Coming on the heels of the purchase of 22 acres of land to expand its operations in Hobbs, Tyler, Texas-based Mewbourne Oil Company was recently ranked the second most prolific private oil and gas producing company in the country by Enverus Intelligence Research. The list looks at the 100 most prolific …

NMJC to remodel Mansur Hall Levi Hill/News-Sun New Mexico Junior College is committing $6.99 million to renovate Mansur Hall for modernized classroom space. The NMJC Board of Directors unanimously approved the spend for the project in a short meeting Thursday via Zoom. The 15,499-square-foot building was on the school’s list of projects in January with an estimated price tag of …

City works to rebuild HPD Christina Holt/News-Sun As the Hobbs Police Department works through months of leadership upheaval, the City of Hobbs’ immediate focus is to restore stability and leadership within the department. City Manager Manny Gomez said his appointment of interim chief Jimmie Jones this week is intended to place both the community and the department on a positive …

Gas production climbs faster than oil in Permian Levi Hill/News-Sun WASHINGTON, D.C. — Natural gas production in the Permian Basin is growing faster than oil production and it is creating a bottleneck. Solutions are coming, but too slowly. According to a recent report by the U.S. Energy Information Administration, marketed natural gas production in the Permian Basin grew by 60 …

Air Force vet turned airline pilot enjoys soaring for relaxation PETER STEIN/NEWS-SUN As an Air Force Academy graduate and a seasoned commercial airline pilot, Brad Peterson knows about being grounded. So when it happened on Thursday during the Standard Class Nationals soaring competition at the Hobbs Industrial Air Park, and Peterson wasn’t able to take his JS1 glider up for …