Using outside interests to move New Mexico ‘forward’ is not the answer As we begin a new year – an election year – already, some New Mexico politicians are distorting the facts and using misinformation against oil and gas producers to score political points. Rather than producing any real change, some of these political proposals look less like sound policy …

The railroad bridge caught fire Sunday night near Eunice. Eunice Fire Department was on the scene Sunday, Jan. 28, 2018. For more information, see Tuesday’s News-Sun.

Aranda takes over as Hispano chamber president The Hobbs Hispano Chamber of Commerce (HHCC) welcomes Rosa Aranda as its new board president. Aranda replaces Saul Villarreal who just completed his second term as president. Aranda, whose first day as president was Jan. 2, is an entrepreneur at heart. She is the owner of Got Safety? LLC, and has been in …

Hobbsan an extra in 12 Strong movie Kudos for Marcus Sparenberg of Hobbs who hit social media this month for two good reasons. Not only did he show up in the hit movie “12 Strong” which opened on Jan. 19 to the second-highest box office of its opening weekend, but he accepted appointment to the board of directors of the …

Miracle baby Padilla beating the odds Conventional wisdom would have said that Melanie Kassandra Padilla had a small chance of surviving when she was born Sept. 16, 2016, weighing just one pound, six ounces. Her mother, Elizabeth Padilla developed pre-eclampsia, a potentially fatal condition, early during her pregnancy, and the condition became severe enough during the 29th week that physicians …

The deadly flu of 1918 Stories from the Buckboard New Mexico, Texas and all of the lower 48 states are now suffering a flu epidemic. It is a dominant news story for 2018 which bears the unfortunate distinction of being the 100th anniversary of the outbreak of what became known as Spanish Influenza. In the early months of 1918 the …

Dora school district closes because of illness among staff DORA, N.M. (AP) — A small eastern New Mexico school district is closed due to illness among its staff. Interim Superintendent Brandon Hays of Dora Consolidated Schools says schools are closed until Monday because illness among regular staff members and substitutes means the district can’t adequate cover its classrooms. Hays says …

Hobbs firefighters train near Hobbs on how to deal with grass fires.

McMurray wins best in show at Lea photo exhibit Although the doors didn’t open officially until 6 p.m. on Friday, people began to gather at the Lea County Center for the Arts shortly after 5 p.m. to look at the 175 photographs hanging on the gallery walls. The photos were part of the Lea County Photography Show that is on …

Three Lea County students qualify for state spelling bee Sawyer Bishop hesitated before he spelled the word “tomatillo.” “I was a little put off by that word,” Bishop said after winning the Lea County spelling bee Wednesday night. “I wasn’t sure what it was until I heard the definition.” He managed to spell that word correctly, as well as the …