Hobbsan pleads guilty in drug, weapons case A Hobbs man faces a potential 15-year prison sentence after pleading guilty Wednesday to federal drug and weapons related charges. Louis Garcia, 31, plead guilty at federal court in Las Cruces, to drug trafficking and firearms charges. Garcia entered the guilty plea under a plea agreement that recommends a 15-year prison sentence followed by …

Ten Commandment supporters: Don’t move it A unified group of religious members filled the Hobbs City Commission Chambers for Tuesday’s Hobbs City Commission. Their mission was simple: Don’t remove the Ten Commandments located at the Hobbs City Hall. Of the 236 people who attended the meeting, 16 came before the commission to express their support on keeping the monument in …

Teacher’s CPR skills save a life While a packed house awaited the next act at a recent National Dance Institute performance in Tydings Auditorium, an intense real life drama was taking place backstage. College Lane Elementary third-grade teacher Amanda White was performing chest compressions on a colleague who collapsed just before some volunteer teachers were set to perform on stage. While she and several other teachers worked to …

Additional lawsuits eyed in priest sex abuse case Las Cruces attorney Connie Flores is planning additional lawsuits in the sex abuse case involving former St. Helena Catholic Church priest Ricardo Bauza on behalf of two ex-church employees. The lawsuits would involve issues like sexual harassment and retaliation. Earlier this month, two lawfirms — Flores, Tawney & Acosta P.C. of Las …

BLM backtracks on flaring rule The U.S. Bureau of Land Management announced Monday a proposal to revise the 2016 final Waste Prevention Rule, also known as the venting and flaring rule. The proposed reversal would eliminate duplicative regulatory requirements and re-establish long-standing requirements that the 2016 final rule sought to replace, according to a BLM press release. The oil and …

Jury deadlocked in murder trial of Puente LOVINGTON — Fifth Judicial District Judge Gary Clingman declared a mistrial Thursday afternoon in the murder trial of Hobbsan Joshua Puente regarding the April 2016 shooting of Hobbsan Darrell Griffin. The mistrial came after more than eight hours of deliberation that started Wednesday and ended Thursday after jurors couldn’t reach a verdict. Starting …

Pam Acevedo speaks to a crowd of nearly 60 people covering the topic of a request to remove the Ten Commandments from city owned property in Hobbs, N.M. Acevedo began a Facebook group called Freedom FOR Religion that has grown to more than 1,000 members in two days. The group peacefully marched around City Hall, stopping at all four corners …

LOVINGTON — Patsy Cunningham learned Thursday, while in Dallas, that she’d been named Lovington Chamber’s 2017 Citizen of the Year and the news left her surprised and “very honored.” A large crowd packed into the city’s youth center Thursday night for Lovington Chamber of Commerce’s annual awards banquet, where 2018 plans were discussed, dinner was served, board members named and …

Hobbs celebrates Ornelas opening insurance agency A couple dozen people welcomed the Armando Ornelas State Farm Agency to its new location in the Dal Paso Mall on Wednesday. Located at 2827 N. Dal Paso St. Suite 115, the agency celebrated an open house and ribbon cutting ceremony in the company of representatives of the Hobbs Chamber of Commerce, the Hobbs …

Foundation asks city, NMJC to take down, remove religious items NEWS-SUN STAFF REPORT Local members of the Freedom From Religion Foundation have requested religious items removed from local government buildings in Lea County and sent a complaint regarding the City of Hobbs’ involvement in a recent community event. A member of the group complained to New Mexico Junior College recently …