Fiscal spending keeps cash reserves around 48 percent Predicting a volatile local economy, as well state legislation that has potential to cause a decrease in the city’s annual funding, the Hobbs City Commission unanimously approved the final budget for the 2021-22 fiscal year. The general fund of the 2021-22 budget begins with a restricted/unrestricted amount of $79.6 million and ends …

Lea County Sheriff Office deputies arrested four men for credit card fraud after they allegedly charged approximately $42,408.78 worth of unauthorized transactions to a fuel card for an oilfield business. Fernando Esparza-Gonzales, 35, of Loving-ton; Ruben Rios-Alvidrez, 45, of Hobbs; Saul Hernandez, 40, of Eunice; and Juan Lozano-Plascencia, 38, of Lovington, were all arrested on July 13 and charged with …

Barbara Dunford has a passion for art, one she’s shared with Hobbs residents for more than 40 years through regular art classes offered by the city. Growing up in Chicago the oldest of eight children, Dunford didn’t have a lot of time for art, she said. But she always had a love of the arts, taking whatever opportunities she could …

They are the unsung heroes of every football game. The players who do the work, but never get the glory. They don’t score the touchdowns or get the interceptions, but without them, they game would be unrecognizable. They are the men up front who make it possible for the skill players to do their things. They are the linemen. Tuesday …

Pickup schedule in Hobbs runs Aug. 14 – Nov. 6 The City of Hobbs announces the kickoff of the 2021 Large Item Pickup, formerly known as the Citywide Cleanup. The Large Item Pickup is an opportunity for residents of Hobbs to have their unwanted large household items picked up and carried away by the City of Hobbs at no charge! …

Helen Houston believes it was nothing short of divine intervention that led her to start a new non-profit targeting social injustice in all its forms in Hobbs. The former president of the now-defunct Black Chamber of Commerce in Hobbs said after that body dissolved around 2019, she’d had her fill of non-profit work. But God, it seems, had other plans …

The City of Hobbs is about to tear up a busy part of Hobbs. It’s necessary. It’s needed and it’s going to be messy for a while. During its July 6 meeting, the Hobbs City Commission unamimously approved a contract with Smith Engineering, of Albuquerque for the phase design of the Trunk F Sewer replacement in the amount of $155,375, …

It was time. Tharon Drake’s body told him so, although it took him some time to really believe it. He eventually listened and made the tough decision to retire from competitive swimming. The 2011 Hobbs High graduate and two-time 2016 Rio Paralympian Games silver medalist called it a career in competitive swimming, something he has done since he was a …

With the energy only 5-month-old puppies possess Ginny — named for the character in the Harry Potter books and movies — bounds around the yard Thursday, pausing occasionally to sniff new and familiar smells, outside Ashley Johnson’s Grooming and Boarding north of Hobbs. Dashing around with Zeus, an adult longhaired German shepherd, and Makenah Smith Baker, Johnson’s 11-year-old daughter, Ginny’s …

Lea County’s 4-H Muzzleloader team is New Mexico’s team. The Lea team won its 4-H state title competition in April and competed last month, representing all of New Mexico, at the National level. The four members of the team come from three of Lea County’s seven 4-H Clubs. Danni George and Sadie Savage, both of Hobbs, are members of the …