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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 Clerk’s 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.

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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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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 County’s 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-

Candidates’visits 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 “Tuffy”and 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 Year’s resolution?

Amanda Chavezof Hurricane, Utah

“My New Year’s resolution isworking on becoming a veg-etarian and cutting down onmeat to reach my goal.”

Katie Gutierrezof Hobbs

“My New Year’s resolution isto accomplish my dream andbecome a police officer.”

Olga Peñaof Farmington

“My New Year’s resolutionis to live life to the fullestand to make the new yearbetter than ever.”

Stephanie Ramirezof Hobbs

“My New Year’s resolutionis to save up and make2013 a better year than2012.”

Tammy Fosterof Lovington

“My New Year’s resolutionis to learn to be more play-ful with my kids and toquit smoking.”

SEE PEOPLE, Page 2

SEE CHAMBER, Page 6

copter to Maljamar for a speech on the impor-tance of domestic petroleum production.

Obama said his administration encourageddomestic production.

“Under my administration America is pro-ducing more oil today that at any time in thelast eight years, that's a fact,” he said.

He also addressed critics and said he plans tocontinue to support domestic oil and gas pro-duction.

“If you hear anybody on TV saying thatsomehow we are against drilling for oil, thenyou will know they either don't know whatthey are talking about or they are not tellingyou the truth,” Obama said.

During his Aug. 23 visit, Romney addressedthe crowd for about 20 minutes, focusing oncreating an energy-independent United Statesby 2020.

He outlined a plan to drive energy independ-ence that included: offshore drilling, fracking,using existing sources in Alaska, natural gasliquids, biofuels, building the Keystonepipeline and partnering with Mexico toimprove production south of the border.

Romney said if elected, he will work to speedup the permitting process for drilling oil andgas wells on federal land. He will also seek torelax federal regulations on offshore drilling.

“We shouldn't use the law to stop productionof natural resources,” he said.

2) CITE ghost town announces locationnear Hobbs, then backs out.

Pegasus Global Holdings selected a site nearHobbs to build its Center for InnovationTesting and Evaluation.

The CITE project was estimated to cost about$1 billion and would function as a ghost city —providing tech firms and other companies alife-size city with no residents to test projectsranging from improved wireless Internet serv-ice to traffic control systems.

Pegasus Global Holdings announced agroundbreaking for June, but later reversedits decision and announced they would notlocate in Lea County due to problems withland acquisition.

The company stated it intends to build theghost town in New Mexico — but not in LeaCounty.

3) Hobbs, Lovington, Eunice and Jalreceive record gross receipts tax incomeduring 2012.

Gross receipts taxes are generated by thesale of goods and services in each city.

The record income was attributed to thebustling oilfield and construction throughoutLea County.

Hobbs’ income placed the city in the top fivefor the entire state — even outranking largercities such as Roswell.

Hobbs surpassed its previous monthlyrecord of $6 million in August with a grossreceipts tax income of $6.5 million. The citytopped the $6 million mark three times in2012.

Helping Lea communities bring in recordincome are high wages — Lea County rankedNo. 2 in the state for highest average weeklywage at $939, according to state figures.

August was also a good month for Eunice,which saw a record $376,000 check for grossreceipts taxes.

Eunice’s previous record was about $276,000and was set in August 2011.

Jal’s record jumped from about $75,000 to$110,000 in 2012.

Each of the communities attributed the newrecords to oilfield activity, construction andbrisk business.

4) Several apartment complexes set tobreak ground in 2013.

In 2011, the No. 1 story for the News-Sun wasthe area’s housing crunch.

For 2012, several developers broke ground onnew housing developments and apartmentcomplexes.

Lovington, Eunice, Jal and Lea County allpassed housing incentive ordinances, whileHobbs upped its incentive package to woodevelopers.

By the end of 2012, about a half-dozen apart-ment projects announced construction orbroke ground.

Five housing developments — including onein Eunice and one in Lovington — also brokeground.

More than 300 apartments and townhomesare set for construction in 2013 in Hobbs,Lovington, Eunice and Jal.

At least 50 homes could be built in Hobbs,Eunice and Lovington during 2013.

5) Juan Rivas Jr., 17, is convicted of mur-dering 83-year-old Clara Alvarez.

Alvarez’s murder was the No. 2 story for2011. She was found stabbed to death on Aug. 1,2011.

Rivas’ trial started in December and he wasconvicted after four days of testimony.

During the trial, a video was shown in whichRivas told Hobbs detectives he was not sorryfor killing Alvarez. He told detectives hestabbed her repeatedly because he wanted toget his anger out.

A first-degree murder conviction is an auto-matic life sentence in the state of New Mexico.He has not been sentenced as of Dec. 28, but isscheduled for a sentencing hearing inJanuary.

6) International Isotopes receiveslicense.

International Isotopes, a nuclear deconver-sion facility set for construction west ofHobbs, received its final license approval fromthe Nuclear Regulatory Commission in 2012.

The $125 million first phase of constructionis set to begin in 2013.

Eventually, the plant will use tailings fromenriched uranium to manufacture medical

and industrial equipment. Once open theIdaho Falls-based company expect to employapproximately 150 people in Lea County.

7) Paul Lovett’s conviction for murderingElizabeth Garcia is overturned.

The state Court of Appeals overturned one ofPaul Lovett’s two murder convictions.

Lovett, who is currently in prison, was con-victed of murdering convenience store clerkElizabeth Garcia in 2002 and 35-year-old PattySimon in 2003 during a trial in 2007.

Appellate judges determined Lovett shouldhave been tried for each murder separatelyinstead of in a joint trial.

Garcia, who was 26 at the time of her deathin 2002, was reported missing the morning ofJan. 16, 2002, from a convenience store onLovington Highway near New Mexico JuniorCollege. She was working her first overnightshift alone.

Oilfield workers found her body later thatday in a vacant field near French Drive. Shewas stabbed dozens of times.

Lovett was initially only charged in Simon'sdeath and was not a suspect in Garcia's deathfor several months.

Garcia's death sparked legislative reformsfor convenience stores, including requiring atleast two clerks to work overnight shifts andlimiting the number of posters on windows.

A new trial date for Garcia’s murder has notbeen scheduled.

8) The Sand Dune lizard is not listed asan endangered species.

After months of speculation and fear that thesand dune lizard would be listed as an endan-gered species, the U.S. Fish and WildlifeService decided not to list the lizard under theEndangered Species Act in June.

The decision was a relief for many area busi-nesses and residents because of its potentialimpact on the oilfield.

If it was listed as endangered, there is achance work in the oilfield would have beengreatly reduced to protect the lizard’s habitat.

The Fish and Wildlife Service cited a"unprecedented" commitment to a voluntaryconservation effort between government andprivate industry in its findings.

“State-led voluntary conservation efforts toprotect existing shinnery oak dune habitatand greatly reduce the impact of oil and gasdevelopment across the species' range nowcover over 650,000 acres in New Mexico andTexas, totaling 88 percent of the lizard's habi-tat. These measures also minimize the antici-pated impacts of other threats, such as off-road vehicle traffic, wind and solar develop-ment, and increased predatation caused bydevelopment,” the service said in a pressrelease in June.

The conservation effort along with better sci-ence led to the follow statement: “After a care-ful analysis of the scientific data and the pro-tections provided by the voluntary conserva-tion efforts, Service biologists determined thelizard is no longer in danger of extinction, norlikely to become endangered in the foresee-able future.”

9) Midland plans to drill two dozen waterwells south of Jal, possibly impacting thecity’s water supply.

About 40 years ago, Midland purchased sev-eral acres of land on the New Mexico-Texasstate line called the T-Bar Ranch. The landwas specifically purchased to one day supplyMidland with water.

During a meeting in January 2012, Midlandcity councilors approved the construction ofa $160 million pipeline that will carry waterfrom the T-Bar Ranch 70 miles east to thecity. Construction started this summer.Water should be flowing to Midland by June2013.

The 48-inch pipeline is designed to carrymore than 30 million gallons of water a day,something Jal officials worry will affect thatcity's water supply.

Jal, whose wells are about eight miles fromMidland's proposed drilling sites, uses 600,000to 1.2 million gallons of water a day, accordingto city manager Curtis Schrader.

The two cities are working to reach a solu-tion, but no official announcement was madeduring 2012.

10) (tie) Tatum High School wins a fourthstraight state championship in volleyball,a school record and a Class 1A record forNew Mexico.

Lovington High School girls win a statechampionship in basketball.

The Tatum High School Lady Coyotesbecame the first class 1A school to win fourconsecutive state championships in volleyballin November.

The Lady Coyotes are the fourth volleyballprogram in the state to win at least four statetitles in a row, joining Pojoaque Valley, whichalso won its fourth in a row in November inClass 3A, Texico, which had its run of six con-secutive state titles end at this season's statetournament, and Hot Springs (1987-93).

In the match, University of New Mexico com-mit Devanne Sours led the way with 22 killswhile sophomore Abby Medlin had a career-high 17, including seven in the fourth andfinal game.

Losing the third game during the match withFort Sumner was the first time the LadyCoyotes had lost a game since Sept. 13 againstTexico — a streak of 60 games.

The Lady Coyotes are on a 33-match winningstreak, last losing Oct. 6, 2011, to Texico on theroad.

During the Lady Coyotes’ four-year run asstate champions, Tatum has gone 87-11 — notlosing more than four matches in a season inany of the seasons.

The Lady Coyotes also joined select companywhen it comes to Lea County sports history asonly Hobbs boys basketball (1999-2002), Eunicebaseball (1967-72 and 1962-65), Lovington boystrack (2003-06), Jal boys track (1965-68), andTatum girls track (1983-88) won at least fourconsecutive state titles in their respectivesports.

The Lovington High School Lady Wildcatscompleted a Cinderella story in Albuquerqueon March 10.

Senior Mystica Perez sank two free throwsagainst Santa Fe Indian School with 0.1 sec-onds left on the clock to seal the LadyWildcats’ improbable state championship run.

Ranked No. 12 in the state, Lovington defeat-ed No. 5 Shiprock on the road, knocked off No.4 St. Michael’s and No. 1 Hope Christian enroute to the state championship game againstNo. 2 Santa Fe Indian School, winning 49-48.

The Lady Wildcats became the first team inNew Mexico high school basketball history —

boys or girls — to win a state championshipand finish the season below .500. (The LadyWildcats ended the 2011-12 season with a 13-17record).

The Lady Wildcats finished the regular sea-son 9-17, tied for second in District 4-3A (lastin the three-team district) and lost nine of itslast 10 games heading into the post-season.

On the road to the state title, the Lovingtongirls beat four of the state’s top five seeds —despite having a losing record.

Beth Hahn can be reached at 391-5436 orreporter3@hobbsnews.com.

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FROM THE FRONT PAGE 4HOBBS NEWS-SUN • TUESDAY, JANUARY 1, 2013

TODD BAILEY/HOBBS NEWS-SUNBoth presidential nominees visited Lea County during 2012. Mitt Romney’s visit to Hobbs high-lighted a year where Lea County saw a robust ecomony, something that the rest of the coun-try struggled to achieve and was the topic of much discussion during the election season.

Top 10from PAGE 1