The 82nd Annual Lea County Fair & Rodeo was held Aug. 4-12 at the Lea County Fairgrounds in Lovington.

Phil Watson may have been born in the bright lights of Hollywood, but he called Tatum home. He was Tatum’s chief of police from 1989-2008, and died of heart disease in his home on July 31. He was 74 years old. On Monday, family and friends will say goodbye to Phil during a 10 a.m. memorial service at Tatum United Methodist Church. …

New Mexico State Senator Billy Jess McKibben died Friday due to natural causes in Big Spring. McKibben was born June 2, 1936 in Eunice. He was a graduate of Lovington High School, NMMI Junior College in Roswell and New Mexico State University. McKibben served in the U.S. Air Force during Vietnam. McKibben served as a New Mexico State Senator from …

After Hobbs commissioners approved to hire City Manager J.J. Murphy as a special consultant after his city manager’s contract ends on Aug. 23 some commissioners shared why they approved the deal and some Hobbs residents expressed their disappointment via social media. During Monday’s City Commission meeting commissioners approved in a 5-2 vote an employment transition and settlement agreement with Murphy …

J.J. Murphy’s job as Hobbs’ city manager will come to an end on Aug. 23 but the City Commission voted Monday to keep him as a special consultant for 10 months. During Monday’s City Commission meeting, commissioners approved in a 5-2 vote an employment transition and settlement agreement with Murphy where he will transition as a special consultant to the …

George Miller, Eunice resident, kayaks down a flooded Avenue Q in Eunice Tuesday after a rain storm. For more on this story read Thursday’s Hobbs News-Sun.

Lea County lost a “gentle giant” Monday night with the passing of Zeak Lovell Williams Jr. Williams died in his Hobbs home suddenly of a heart attack according to his son, Shawn. He was 73 years old. The praise was for the man who was Hobbs’ first black city commissioner and first black mayor and a man once known as …

Hobbs City Park is currently undergoing a $4.8 million renovation. The project is to be completed by spring of 2018 with a new splash pad, new playground, new basketball courts, volleyball courts, and a walking trail.

Have you been somewhere lately and noticed a brightly painted rock hiding among the thousands of others rocks you see but never notice each day? Did you pick it up and find a strange message on the back? Did it read, “Find Us on Facebook at Tex New Mex Rocks. Post a Picture & Re-Hide Me?” If so, you just …

A Hobbs News-Sun reporter took a helicopter ride over Hobbs Friday with the Employer Support of the Guard and Reserve.