The COVID-19 pandemic has brought challenges many people couldn’t have anticipated, but it also brought forward people who could overcome those challenges, like Francis Shaw, this year’s Lovington Chamber of Commerce Citizen of the year. Shaw was able to sew and organize others to sew more than 16,000 masks for healthcare workers and patients at Nor-Lea Hospital when personal protective …

Teachers in the Hobbs Municipal School District may not have had children physically in the classroom for most of the year, or gone to conferences, meetings or educational get-togethers, but they will be getting a bonus for the year’s exceptional work environment. “This really has come about just because of the … we have changed the way teachers have taught, …

They turned Lea County red and have been credited with helping hand a presidential election to the victor. And now, the Lea County Republican Party has a new leader. Carol Parish a self-described “life-long Republican” and immediate past president of the Lea County Federated Republican Women, brings her flair to the county party. “I’ve been a conservative all my life,” …

Lea County Correctional Facility/GEO Prison saw an increase of 192 COVID-19 cases on Friday. The New Mexico Department of Health news released  announced the LCCF has over 100 positive cases today, this bring the prison’s total positive cases to 673 since the pandemic began and more than half the amount of inmates the prison can hold. However, Eric Harrison, public …

Lea County Correctional Facility/GEO Prison saw an increase of 192 COVID-19 cases on Friday. The New Mexico Department of Health news released  announced the LCCF has over 100 positive cases today, this bring the prison’s total positive cases to 673 since the pandemic began and more than half the amount of inmates the prison can hold. However, Eric Harrison, public …

Wells Fargo announced a second Lea County branch permanent closure in Lovington. On May 19, Wells Fargo will be closing its only Lovington branch. Forcing customers to travel 20 miles away to Hobbs for in-person services. The bank is conducting “site searches” to place an ATM location in Lovington, according to Franchesca Pancham, Wells Fargo communications advisor for New Mexico. …

More counties reach Yellow, Green Levels Only 4 counties at highest-risk Red Level, down from 14 two weeks past SANTA FE – The New Mexico Department of Health on Wednesday announced the updated statewide COVID-19 map for the two-week period beginning Feb. 24, with 19 New Mexico counties at the Yellow Level and six at the Green Level, at which …

Black History Month. A bittersweet 28 days of honoring, remembering, and celebrating the legacy of all African Americans. Exhale fear. Inhale courage. These two short sentences are measurable, impactful ways the Hobbs Branch NAACP is moving forward in initiating conversations throughout the community to address justice and equality. The org feels it cannot be fearful of the past in challenging …

James Quevedo is a family man. A husband, father of six and one of 10 siblings – he understands the value of family. And it is that family that might be able to save his life. Quevedo has faced struggles with diabetes and high blood pressure for years, but now he has an even bigger fight – kidney disease. “I …

JAL — The southern Lea County community of Jal budgeted wisely when oil prices crashed and the novel coronavirus pandemic began last spring. If the Jal City Council had used data from previous years to plan its budget for fiscal 2021, which began July 1, 2020, things would have been much different today. “In fiscal year 2020, GRT monthly average …