Gabriele Arsiaga/News-Sun Twenty-four Tatum elementary school students graduated in April from the Lea County Sheriff’s Office’s first Drug Abuse Resistance Education program and fifth grader Lilianna Rojas won first place for the essay portion of the course. According to LCSO Corporal Travis Hobbs, Rojas was selected as the winner of the essay portion of the class because in her essay …

Gabrielle Arsiaga/News-Sun Several weeks after an outbreak of distemper hit the Hobbs Animal Adoption Center, the facility remains closed for dogs. On March 12, the HAAC posted on social media there was an outbreak of distemper cases in the facility. About a month after the first social media post was put up, and the free adoptions were offered, and a …

Andy Brosig/News-Sun Barbara Bistram was visiting her mother in her home town of Wejherowo, Poland, on Feb. 24 when word came Russia had invaded neighboring Ukraine. Wejherowo is about 800 miles from the nearest border with Ukraine, on the Baltic Sea in northern Poland. But that didn’t stop several of Barbara’s childhood friend from loading up vans and trucks with …

Gabrielle Arsiaga/News-Sun Twenty-six student and three community leaders were recognized for outstanding achievements during Saturday night’s NAACP awards banquet held at the Hobbs High School Commons. This year’s theme was “Diversity and Unity: Together for Peace” and speaker Melinda Boateng spoke of the struggles she has seen, or experienced, in the workplace as a result of micro aggression. “Micro aggression is …

Starla Jones/HMS Just like his signature trumpet solo, Rusty Crowe has “Got to Fly Now.” After spending 19 years at the helm, Crowe retires next month as Hobbs High School band director in order to move closer to his daughters and grandchildren. Known during basketball games for his red-faced rendition of the upper-range, ear piercing notes from that Rocky song, …

In less than two weeks, absentee and early voting for the 2022 Primary Election begins in New Mexico. Election day is June 7. On May 10, voters registered as Republican, Democrat, or Libertarian — all recognized as major political parties in the state — may cast their ballots at the Lea County Courthouse in Lovington. Ballots will list candidates for …

As the current Hobbs fiscal year winds down, and the weather warms up, work will pick up at parks and green spaces around Hobbs. Topping the list are plans to rebuild and upgrade the fishing pier on the north shore of Green Meadow Lake off the Lovington Highway in north Hobbs, said Matt Hughes with the city’s Parks and Open …

By SUSAN MONTOYA BRYAN Associated Press ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — The U.S. government’s nuclear waste repository in New Mexico has major issues in fire training and firefighting vehicles, with its fleet in disrepair after years of neglect, according to an investigation by the U.S. Energy Department’s Office of Inspector General. The investigation was spurred by allegations regarding fire protection concerns …

By SUSAN MONTOYA BRYAN Associated Press ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — The U.S. government’s nuclear waste repository in New Mexico has major issues in fire training and firefighting vehicles, with its fleet in disrepair after years of neglect, according to an investigation by the U.S. Energy Department’s Office of Inspector General. The investigation was spurred by allegations regarding fire protection concerns …

The JF Maddox Foundation and University of the Southwest welcome back Mike Rowe, best known as the “dirtiest man on TV,” as the next speaker in the Jack Maddox Distinguished Lecture Series at 7 p.m. on May 5 at R.N. Tydings Auditorium on the Hobbs High School campus. Earlier in the day, at 12 p.m., Rowe will be speaking at …