HOUSTON (AP) — After riding out Hurricane Harvey in a motel and waiting an agonizing week for the waist-high waters to recede, 71-year-old Bob Janak returned to his wrecked home for the first time to find it swarming with people. They weren’t thieves or looters. They were volunteers who took it upon themselves to clean out the modest ranch house …

CLOVIS, N.M. (AP) — The teenager suspected of killing two people and injuring four others in a public library had been searching for “inner peace” shortly before the shooting, the youth’s pastor said. Nathaniel Jouett, 16, started attending Living Word Church of God three months ago and appeared to be turning his life around after having contemplated suicide several months …

CLOVIS, N.M. (AP) — A shooting inside a public library that killed two people and wounded four has deeply shaken an eastern New Mexico community. The gunman surrendered after the shooting Monday and was taken into custody without incident after police entered the Clovis-Carver Public Library, authorities and elected officials with the city of Clovis said during a news conference. …

  Former Hobbs Mayor Monty Newman announced Monday he is running for Congress a second time to represent New Mexico’s Second Congressional District. Newman, a Republican, is hoping to take the U.S. House of Representatives seat being vacated by Steve Pearce, R-N.M., who announced last month he is running for the office of New Mexico’s governorship. “Congress has a courage problem,” …

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 …

PORTALES, N.M. (AP) — The eastern New Mexico home daycare where a small child died this week after being left in a hot car had been commended in a past inspection by state officials, according to public documents. But the state Children, Youth and Families Department has now revoked the license of the daycare in Portales after two young children …

Federal safety regulators are investigating the death of Madison Coe, the Lubbock teen who died in Lovington early Sunday morning in a bathtub after it’s believed her plugged-in cellphone slipped into the tub and electrocuted her. The United States Consumer Product Safety Commission told the News-Sun Wednesday it is investigating the incident to find out if any products played a role in …

A 14-year-old Lubbock girl died in an accident Saturday in Lovington after her cellphone slipped into the bathtub she was bathing in, electrocuted her and drowned. Madison Coe is the daughter of Lovington Firefighter Logan Coe and step-daughter of Felisha Owen. Carl Christensen, Lovington EMS coordinator, and his wife Crystal started a gofundme account to help the Coe family with …

SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — Republican Congressman Steve Pearce kicked off his campaign for governor of New Mexico on Monday, giving up a firm hold on a vast congressional district along the U.S.-Mexico border. He is the first to seek the GOP nomination to succeed second-term Republican Gov. Susana Martinez, who by law cannot seek re-election in 2018. Pearce will …

  Oil and gas companies need water to drill and produce, but State Land Commissioner Aubrey Dunn has taken action to cut back usage of fresh water from the Ogallala aquifer. That aquifer is the source of drinking water serving Hobbs and other cities in southeastern New Mexico. In a letter distributed late last month, Dunn announced his decision to …