The plan to store radioactive nuclear waste in an uninhabited area of Lea County has been on the drawing board since 2018. In August of that year, Lea County Commissioners passed a resolution (PDF) supporting Holtec International’s efforts to build its Consolidated Interim Storage Facility (CISF) in a remote region of the county. Then again…

The story of Hobbs teenager Alexia Avila allegedly throwing her alive newborn into a trash bin located behind Rig Outfitters and Home Store in Hobbs on January 7 of last year was covered by news outlets all across New Mexico, the entire nation and even overseas. Now that her trial, scheduled to take place in…

Earlier this month, Hobbs Police Chief August Fons presented a summary of his 2022–2023 Hobbs Police Department (HPD) Annual Report to commissioners and the public at the February regular meeting of the Hobbs City Commission. Chief Fons reported that since 2021 statistically crime has risen in Hobbs (population 42,425) 9%. Chief Fons also remarked that…

State Representatives Cathrynn N. Brown and Jimmy Mason, who both represent Lea County, have come together with Rep. Greg Nibert, Rep. Candy Spence Ezzell and Rep. Jim Townsend to introduce House Bill 223 – the funding of certain highway projects in Lea, Chaves and Eddy counties. The five legislators, all Republicans, represent the New Mexico…

Three bills, if passed, by New Mexico’s legislators during their 2023 regular session will reform the almost 90-year-old New Mexico Oil and Gas Act.  The sole goal of the Act since its inception in 1935 has been to protect the state’s oil and gas resources for the benefit of the Land of Enchantment. The well…

On Friday evening, February 3, a fatal hit and run accident took the lives of 33-year-old Joshua Jackson, of Hobbs, and Californian Octavia Throssel, age 27. According to a Hobbs Police Department (HPD) press release, the incident took place just after 6:00 pm, on West Apache Drive in Hobbs. The press release states that an…

On Saturday, January 28, around 7:00 pm, a fatal crash involving three vehicles took the life of Melinda Kay Shaw, age 58, of Melrose, New Mexico. Five people were also injured in the accident. The incident happened northeast of Lovington at the intersection of Prairieview Road and US Highway 82. New Mexico State Police (NMSP)…

Matador Resources is expanding its presence in Lea County in a big way. The independent energy giant, through its wholly-owned subsidiary Pronto Midstream, “…has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Advance Energy Partners Holdings, LLC, including certain oil and natural gas producing properties and undeveloped acreage located in Lea County, New Mexico and Ward…

With the 2023 regular session of the New Mexico legislature in full swing, Democratic lawmakers want stricter gun control laws, a position being echoed across the country as mass shootings continue to be a regular occurrence in the US. New Mexico’s Republican lawmakers remain cautious about supporting stricter legislation, arguing that “such bans won’t make…

On Monday, January 23, New Mexico’s newly elected Attorney General Raúl Torrez “…filed an extraordinary writ in the New Mexico Supreme Court against Roosevelt County, Lea County, and the Cities of Hobbs and Clovis for unlawfully passing ordinances that restrict access to reproductive healthcare in their communities,” states a press release issued by AG Torrez’s…