LOVINGTON — Lovington City Commission meetings have been animated lately, and the specially called meeting Thursday night was no exception. Commissioners, several of whom had been in various meetings most of the day at city hall prior to the scheduled meeting, greeted a standing-room-only gallery of people in commission chambers. Only commissioner Bernard Butcher, District 3, was not in attendance …

In addition to forgery and fraud three additional charges have been filed against a local attorney. On July 28 local Hobbs defense attorney Ross Bettis was charged with forgery, a fourth-degree felony; and fraud, a misdemeanor after allegedly forging a probate document. On Monday three additional charges were filed alleging he made several ATM transfers to his own personal bank …

LOVINGTON — For about 25 minutes the Lovington City Commission debated the pros and cons to letting the county take over the responsibility, and cost, of the city’s trash collection facility. The discussion-only item to transfer the seven acres of the convenience station to Lea County, where in turn the county would build a new transfer facility and waste station …

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission grants license to facility just across the Texas state line near Eunice; opposition from both states sure to follow The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission announced Monday it has issued a license for spent nuclear fuel storage in Andrews County, Texas. Interim Storage Partners (ISP), a joint venture of Waste Control Specialists LLC (WCS) and Orano USA, …

Hobbs Police Department officers have arrested a Hobbs man for murder after he allegedly shot his wife in the chest on Friday. Lonnie Byram, 48, of Hobbs was arrested on Sept. 10 and charged with murder, a first-degree felony. HPD officers responded to the 900 block West Iron for a call of a gunshot wound to the chest. When officers …

Originally filed in the three counties of the 5th Judicial District — Lea, Eddy, and Chaves — a total of 21 New Mexico counties are currently circulating or have filed similar citizen petitions to convene a grand jury, to investigate Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham’s actions during the pandemic The pandemic has changed daily life, and now one more thing can …

A citizen petition asking the District Court in Lovington to form a grand jury to investigate Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham was filed Friday over the governor’s public health orders on COVID-19 restrictions since 2020. The sponsor, N.M. Sen. David Gallegos, R-Eunice, along with Larry Marker of Roswell, filed the petition in the Fifth Judicial Court with approximately 1,000 signatures from …

Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham signs order as part of 30×30 environmental agenda   What started at the federal and global level has made its way to the state level — at least in New Mexico. On Wednesday New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham signed executive order 2021-052 officially making New Mexico the first state to implement the environmental agenda 30 …

A flood of COVID patients in Lea County is stretching local hospitals to the breaking point. “The scenario we’re facing is a disaster,” said Dan Springer, CEO of Covenant Health Hobbs Hospital. “We have done everything possible to accommodate patients. We’re just completely overwhelmed.” As of midday Tuesday, Covenant Hobbs was “beyond capacity,” Springer told the News-Sun, with 19 patients …

LOVINGTON — In a bid for local control of pandemic restrictions, Lea County Commissioners unanimously supported the authority of elected school boards Thursday. Recent New Mexico Public Education Department (PED) mandates threaten punitive actions for local officials’ failure to comply with state rules, such as those involving masking, vaccinating, social distancing and closures due to COVID-19 cases. Commissioner Gary Eidson, …