Tatum first grader rings bell after cancer battle Denise Marquez/News-Sun Forget Santa’s sleigh bells.  For one Tatum first-grader, the most meaningful Christmas sound was a bell she rung signaling the end of her cancer battle. Adalee Torrez, age 7 of Lovington and a first grader at Tatum Elementary School, rang the bell at the Joe Arrington Cancer Center in Lubbock, …

I see stupid people And Their Anti-Science Fearmongering Could Cost This State Everything John R. Grizz Deal/CEO, IX Water I see stupid people. Not the harmless kind who get lost in the Walmart parking lot, but the ones who descend on public hearings like a flock of caffeinated pigeons, clutching reusable water bottles and muttering dark omens about “produced water” …

AG targeting oilfield crime Levi Hill/News-Sun Oilfield crime is an organized and booming business and it has caught the eye of New Mexico Attorney General Raul Torrez, who was in Hobbs Tuesday to meet with local and Texas law enforcement to look at ways of protecting the life blood of the region. In September, five suspects were arrested in an …

Tatum Elementary playground upgrade 60 years overdue Denise Marquez/News-Sun Tatum Elementary students braved the cold weather Thursday morning to attend a groundbreaking and ribbon cutting ceremony for a new playground. When Tatum Elementary Principal Robn Hogue cut the ribbon during the ceremony the Tatum Elementary jumped and cheered. Several students were given shovels and were asked to break ground on …

A barrel of history Watson Truck and Supply in Hobbs unearths 25-year-old time capsule Andy Brosig/News-Sun A bushel of old newspapers. Logo caps vacuum-sealed in plastic. Dozens of photographs. Vintage Beanie Babies. A broken socket from a well-used wrench set. These are just a few of the items unearthed last week when a crew of long-time employees at Watson Truck …

3 million tortillas and counting Feeding people is Nora Avila’s calling Levi Hill/News-Sun Every morning for 40 years, Nora Avila, 67, wakes up at 2:30 in the morning and by 3 a.m. she’s at her restaurant making tortillas. At a rate of an average 300 tortillas a day for 40 years, Avila has made an estimated 3.1 million giant, fluffy …

A reason to be thankful Moms grateful to be parents of first baby surrendered in Baby Box Andy Brosig/News-Sun For a time, two years ago, he was arguably the most-known baby in Lea County. Dubbed only Baby John Doe at the time, he was the first infant surrendered via the then just weeks-old Safe Haven Baby Box, located at Hobbs …

NMJC enrollment on the rise Levi Hill/News-Sun Enrollment is booming at New Mexico Junior College, so much so the college is looking at building a new on-campus student housing facility. The NMJC Board of Directors voted unanimously Oct. 16 to select Dekker Limited as the vendor to design and oversee construction of the new student housing facility on the campus. …

Solar power surging in Lea Christina Holt/News-Sun Lea County is shining bright as it will soon have 10 solar farms providing nearly 1,600-megawatts of power, expanding the county’s role in renewable energy and diversifying an oil and gas driven economy. “Lea County is a great location for solar development and the number of utility-scale solar projects under development in Lea …

Mill levies, GO bonds on November ballot   Denise Marquez/News-Sun In addition to the candidates seeking a variety of offices across the county, some Lea County school districts are seeking voter approval to continue funding mill levies and general obligation bonds to support their work in the coming year. Hobbs voters are being asked for an up-or-down vote on a …