On Friday, October 27, a two-vehicle crash on U.S. Highway 82 near milepost 163 west of Lovington resulted in the death of three individuals. According to a New Mexico State Police (NMSP) press release, the accident happened around 6:00 a.m. Drivers of the two involved vehicles Miguel Angel Delacruz, age 24, of Hagerman, and Emigdio…

Fourteen year veteran of the Hobbs Fire Department (HFD) Mark Doporto has been named the department’s new chief. Chief Doporto assumed his new role on Monday, October 30. A native of Hobbs, Doporto has been with the HFD since he started his career at the age of nineteen. A press release (PDF) issued by Meghan…

The Hobbs Municipal Schools (HMS) district is asking voters to approve its “$50,000,000 Go Bond Election” proposal on Tuesday, November 7. Two major projects – the building of a fourth middle school and the replacement of Heizer Middle School with a “brand new facility” – will become realities with the passage of the bond. Any…

Alexis Avila, the Hobbs teenager who was sentenced to 16 years in prison plus two years on parole for throwing her alive newborn into a dumpster, is being released from prison while appealing her case. The ruling was made on Wednesday, October 18. Avila’s most recent ruling reverses last month’s decision by Fifth Judicial District…

Covent Health Hobbs Hospital tops the list of recipients of grant funds from New Mexico’s newly established Rural Health Care Delivery Fund (RHCDF). Ten other “rural healthcare organizations”, including the The Psychiatric Care Center, LLC, located in Lea, Curry, DeBaca, Quay and Roosevelt counties, will receive grant monies. Covenant Health Hobbs Hospital will use the…

Discussions remain heated about New Mexico’s new congressional redistricting map that was signed into law in 2021 by Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham. The new law, introduced as Senate Bill 1 in 2021 and later passed by state legislators before being signed by the governor, splits Lea County voters, and specifically the town of Hobbs, into…

Hobbs Police Department (HPD) officers have arrested and charged a 17-year-old juvenile on the count of “Murder – (first degree Felony)” in the shooting death of Maharshi Bhakta. The shooting incident took place in Hobbs at the Executive Inn Motel, 200 North Marland Blvd., sometime before 10:00 PM on Saturday, October 7. A HPD press…

New players and a change in direction for a current operator are coming to Lea County’s thriving oil and gas industry in the fourth quarter of 2023. Most recently, LM Energy Holdings, LLC has announced the sale of portions of its Touchdown Crude Oil Gathering System located in Lea and Eddy counties. Multiple buyers are…

Details are few about the death of 19-year-old Brennon Smith of Hobbs, on Monday, September 25. On that day Hobbs police officers responded at about 6:45 PM to the 200 block of West Copper Avenue in Hobbs in response to a vehicle crash.”Officers were informed by dispatch that a vehicle has crashed into a wall…

Update October 4, 2023: The City of Lovington received payment from HF Sinclair for $515,000. Though this is not the full amount currently owed, the city expects additional payments to soon follow, according to the city manager. The City of Lovington is uncertain whether it will receive payment for about $600,000 from the HF Sinclair…