Price ChangeSpot $91.82 + 1.02Posted $88.50 + 1.25Sour $88.25 + 1.25N. Gas $3.351 - .118

West Texas intermediate

Inside Today

OIL PRICES

Obituaries ...........................2Fun & Games ......................5Weather ..............................6Mark the date ....................6Sports ..................................7Scoreboard..........................8Classifieds..........................10TV ......................................11

Community News

Anyone interested inrunning as a WRITE-INCANDIDATE inEunice, Hobbs, Jal,Lovington and Tatumschool districts mustfile with the LeaCounty Clerks Officeon Tuesday. The dis-tricts will be holdingschool board electionson Feb. 5. Candidatesmust live in the properschool districts.

The American RedCross REAL HEROESAWARDSBREAKFAST will be7:30-9 a.m. Jan. 10, atthe Lea County EventCenter. Tickets are$25. For more infor-mation or to pur-chase tickets, contactDebra Lyles at theRed Cross at 390-9265or debra.lyles@red-cross.org.

The LEA COUNTYMASTERGARDENERS isannouncing it is timefor anyone interestedin taking the 15-weekclasses to sign up nowas registration for theclasses has started. Youmay call the NewMexico Junior CollegeTraining and Outreachannex at 492-4709 andask for SelmaGranado. All of thetraining classes will beheld on the NewMexico JuniorCollege's campus inthe Caster Annex class-rooms. The first classand orientation willhappen on ThursdayJan. 10, 2013. Classesbegin at 6 p.m. andfinished around 9 p.m.The Master GardenerTraining Classes willrun every Thursdaythrough mid-April2013. The tuition fee is$75 and that pays foryour New MexicoExtension MasterGardener manual.

NNeewwss--SSuunnSince 1927 No. 5 50 cents

JAL EUNICE HOBBS LOVINGTON TATUM SEMINOLE DENVER CITY

TUESDAY, JANUARY 1, 2013

NEWS-SUN PHOTO

New pre-kindergarten classHobbs Head Start plans to add a new pre-kindergarten class in January. For more on the class, seepage 2.

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KIMBERLY RYAN/NEWS-SUN

Guitar programEdison Elementary fourth and fifth graders Manuel Sanchez, Syness Mackey, Celeste Hernandez, Annalissa Hernandez, Jose Rios, Irvin Rodriguez,Luis Santos Jennifer Arzute, Jazmine Lopez prepare for a guitar lesson given by Manuel Sanchez. The guitar lessons are a pilot program started ear-lier this year. At right, Luis Santos prepares for a lesson.

BETH HAHNNEWS-SUN

Visits from two presidential candidates, abooming business atmosphere and goodnews for Lea Countys housing crunch topthe list of big stories for 2012.

Rounding out the top 10 are a pair of statechampionships.

The top 10 storiesof 2012 is a collec-tion of highlightsfrom the past year.Rankings wered e t e r m i n e dthrough an anony-mous ballot ofNews-Sun employ-ees.

1) Obama and Romney visit Hobbs andLea County.

President Barack Obama and Republicanpresidential candidate Mitt Romney bothvisited Lea County during the 2012 campaignseason.

Obama flew on Marine One from Roswell.He spoke to a select crowd of area supportersfrom a drilling site in Maljamar.

Romney visited Hobbs Aug. 23 and touredWatson Truck and Supply. He spoke to acrowd of about 500 before attending afundraiser at the Lea County Event Center.

Both presidential candidates spoke aboutenergy and the policies they proposed for thenation and the industry.

President Barack Obama touched downin Roswell on March 22, then flew via heli-

Candidatesvisits topLea story list

BUCK VANDERMEER FOR THE NEWS-SUN

This week the News-Sun is givingspecial recognition to people whohave appeared in our People of theWeek columns and have been selectedas People of the Year 2012.

At the top of the list are Dale Tuffyand Betty Cooper. In 2011, the News-

Sun published the story, Tuffy andBetty Cooper, Parents andGrandparents of Champions. Since

the publication of this story, theirgrandson Tuf Cooper has won theworld championship of tie down calfroping twice.

There are few instances in the histo-ry of sport where one family hasplayed such a significant role. As ayoung couple Tuffy and Betty enjoyedsuccessful careers in rodeo.

When they began raising a familythey retired from competition to teachthe art of roping to their childrenBetty Gayle, Roy and Tom Clay.

Betty Gayle became a four-timeworld champion roper. Roy Cooperwon eight world championships andmade the national finals 32 times. He

People of 2012 made big contributions to Lea County

FOR THE NEWS-SUNThe Hobbs Chamber of

Commerce ended 2012 on its high-est note in some years, officialssay, having paid off the debt itassumed in 2010 in order to stayafloat.

Chairman Bobby Shaw said theHobbs Chamber settled its nearly$28,000 debt through private

means, a combination of dona-tions, corporate sponsorships,fundraisers and other sources.

We have been very disciplinedto pay down and now pay off thisdebt without mingling moneysderived from our professionalservices contract with the City ofHobbs, Shaw said. This hasbeen a concerted effort of our

members, directors and staff, andwe are grateful to all to be able toput this behind us.

Hobbs Chamber executive GrantTaylor said in a Dec. 9 op-ed in theNews-Sun that when he took thehelm in February of 2011, theHobbs Chamber was insolvent,

Hobbs Chamber starts 2013 debt free

SEE TOP 10, Page 4

What is your New Years resolution?

Amanda Chavezof Hurricane, Utah

My New Years resolution isworking on becoming a veg-etarian and cutting down onmeat to reach my goal.

Katie Gutierrezof Hobbs

My New Years resolution isto accomplish my dream andbecome a police officer.

Olga Peaof Farmington

My New Years resolutionis to live life to the fullestand to make the new yearbetter than ever.

Stephanie Ramirezof Hobbs

My New Years resolutionis to save up and make2013 a better year than2012.

Tammy Fosterof Lovington

My New Years resolutionis to learn to be more play-ful with my kids and toquit smoking.

SEE PEOPLE, Page 2

SEE CHAMBER, Page 6

WEATHER 6HOBBS NEWS-SUN TUESDAY, JANUARY 1, 2013

Fire report

Hobbs Fire Department activityfor 12-30-12

Nine calls for service Two incidents: Electrical emer-

gency at the corner of NorthGrimes Street and West JoeHarvey Boulevard and at the2400 block of North JeffersonStreet.

Two out of town non-emergencytransports

Seven ambulance runs: 1400block of East Linda Lane, 1600block of West Cordoba Lane,3600 block of North LovingtonHighway, 200 block of West VegaDrive, 400 block of West SnyderStreet, at the corner of East LeaStreet and North Turner Streetand at the 2800 block of NorthBensing Road.

Sheriffs report

Lea County SheriffsDepartment activity for 12-30-12

Statistics not available

Police report

Hobbs Police Department activ-ity for 12-30-12

96 calls for service One accident Seven criminal incidents: Criminal

damage to property on the 2000block of West Clinton Street, autoburglary on the 400 block of EastCastle Avenue, larceny at the2100 block of East ConquistadorLane, shoplifting on the 3800block of North LovingtonHighway, criminal damage toproperty on the 1400 block of

East Alston Street, Suspicious sub-ject on the 700 block of North DalPaso Street, fight in progress onthe 3400 block of NorthLovington Highway.

ACCIDENTSMonday, December 17 5:59 a.m. North Lovington

Highway; drivers Louie McNabb,69 of Hobbs and Larry Warford,42, of Lovington. McNabb is citedfor no proof of insurance. Warfordcited for following to close.

ARRESTS Seven arrests 11 misde-

meanors: Possession of a narcoticparaphernalia, possessing oneounce or less of marijuana,shoplifting, resisting, evading orobstructing an officer, speeding,sunscreen on windows, display ofplates, battery against a house-hold member, failure to pay, fail-ure to comply.

FOR THE RECORD

T O D AY

Light Up Lea CountyLight Up Lea County will be at

the Lea County Event Centerfrom noon-6 p.m. with an arti-ficial ice skating rink, a 30 footslide, a snowman bouncehouse and a giant snowglobe.Entry is free.

W E D N E S D AY

Community CoffeeThe Hobbs Police Department

invites the public to a commu-nity coffee at 7 a.m. at HPDheadquarters. Enter through

the north doors.

CDBG hearingThe City of Hobbs will host a

Community DevelopmentBlock Grant meeting at 3 p.m.at City Hall Annex, 200 E.Broadway to discuss past proj-ects and future needs.

T H U R S D AY

CDBG hearingThe City of Hobbs will host a

Community DevelopmentBlock Grant meeting at 6 p.m.at City Hall Annex, 200 E.Broadway to discuss past proj-

ects and future needs.

Utilities BoardThe Hobbs Utilities Board will

meet at 5 p.m. at the UtilitiesDepartment , 1300 S. FifthStreet, in the administrationbuilding. Agenda itemsinclude updates on effluentreuse and water line replace-ment.

Mark the date

GUIDELINESREADERS ARE WELCOME to sub-

mit items to the free Mark theDate calendar. The event shouldhave a local connection, be opento the public and provide contactinformation. E-mail items to edi-tor@hobbsnews.com.

was without funds in the bank, and wascontinuously tapping a line of credit verygenerously financed by First AmericanBank the year before. The line of creditwas the Hobbs Chambers only life support,Taylor said.

In Taylors first year, the board, staff andhe slowed the bleeding and beg