New Mexico Junior College and Texas Tech University have signed a memorandum of understanding to help students transfer more easily to Texas Tech. Kelvin Sharp, president of NMJC, and Lawrence Schovanec, president of Texas Tech University, met in Lubbock to sign the historic agreement. The institutions also signed an animal sciences agreement that will allow students at NMJC to feed …

U.S. Rep. Steve Pearce, whose term in Congress ends in January, has anounced his candidacy for chairman of the Republican Party of New Mexico, while not ruling out the possibility that he could run in two years for the congressional seat he forfeited to run for governor. If elected by the Republican Party’s State Central Committee on Dec. 8, Pearce …

A group of motorcyclists surrounded a driver’s vehicle Thursday and pulled a gun on the driver while the group was on their way to a funeral, according to a Hobbs Police report. A driver got out of his car when bikers blocked the intersection at Turner and Sanger Streets and bikers immediately surrounded him, according to a Hobbs Police Department …

Woman accused of embezzling from employer An employee at a storage unit company in Hobbs allegedly embezzled more than $4,400 from the company. Shannon M. Cates, 43, of Hobbs, allegedly stole $4 to $700 from 21 different bank deposits she made for her employer over a period of four months. According to a Hobbs police arrest report, Cates reported an …

Broadmoor students, teachers and staff were feeling blue Monday, and that was a good thing. The Hobbs elementary school was recognized as the only New Mexico public school to receive a National Blue Ribbon School honor for its work in making “notable improvements in closing the achievement gap,” according to U.S. Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos. That work took place …

A mobile photo gallery showing the diversity of New Mexico makes its stop in Lea County and its artists are looking for participants. In 2012, the Axle artist-collaborators, Jerry Wellman and Matthew Chase-Daniel, began a photographic portrait project, E Pluribus Unum. This ongoing biennial project enlivens and documents communities throughout the state, with a mobile photographic portrait studio built inside …

At the beginning of 2018, the National Cancer Institute estimated as many as 10,590 children between the ages of birth and 15 years would be diagnosed with some form of cancer. Most of the cancers would fall into the categories encompassed by leukemias, brain and other central nervous system tumors and lymphoma. Because the disease is rare in children, many …

Hobbs celebrates City Park reopening About 15 minutes before the official re-opening of the Hobbs City Park, Bentley Hicks was already smiling. The 4-year old from Hobbs had his shirt and shoes off as he danced around the new water features of Hobbs’ latest splash pad. A half an hour later, a group of kids from Hobbs Head Start found …

Property taxes going down for many in Lea County LOVINGTON — With a 35 percent increase in Lea County’s assessed valuation for the 2018 tax year over 2017, most Hobbs residents will pay less in property taxes. The Lea County Commission certified tax rates set by the New Mexico Taxation and Revenue Department in a special meeting Friday, issuing a …

Phony cash spreads in Lea County Counterfeit cash marked “for motion picture use only” is circulating, not only in customers’ pockets but maybe in the cash drawers of unknowing local businesses in Lea County. In a law incident report Wednesday, the Hobbs Police Department issued counterfeit charges at the100 block of East Marland Boulevard and the 400 block of North …