Price ChangeSpot $79.76 + 1.56Posted $76.25 + 1.75Sour $70.75 + 1.75N. Gas $2.625 + .043

West Texas intermediate

Inside Today

OIL PRICES

Obituaries ...........................2Lottery.................................2Mark the date ....................3Fun & Games ......................5Sports ..................................7Classifieds............................9TV ......................................11Weather ............................12

Community News

LARRY WHITE will holda book signing andpresentation at 2 p.m.today at the WesternHeritage Museum. Herecently wrote thebook, “Eagles OnceSoared,” a memoir ofthe Hobbs High Schoolfootball program inthe late 1940s andearly 1950s.

HILLCREST BAPTISTCHURCH, 220 W.Ave. I in Lovington,will hold a VacationBible School prereg-istration carnivalwith food and gameson Wednesday from6-7 p.m. The VBS isfor those who havecompleted kinder-garten through sixthgrade.

NNeewwss--SSuunnSince 1927 � No. 157 50 cents

JAL � EUNICE � HOBBS � LOVINGTON � TATUM � SEMINOLE � DENVER CITY

SATURDAY, JUNE 23, 2012

KIMBERLY RYAN/NEWS-SUN

Young thespiansThirty-one children ranging from the ages of 9 to 19 attend a five week Summer Youth TheaterWorkshop at the Playhouse. They will perform the musical “Aladdin” in July.

Rebuild TurnerFollow the progress at

www.RebuildTurner.com

Certified Dell Partner

CCoommppuutteerr TTuunnee--uupp && rreeppaaiirr

VViirruuss RReemmoovvaall&& DDaattaa RReeccoovveerryy

CCeerrttiiffiieedd DDeellll PPaarrttnneerr

11002211 EE.. BBeennddeerr,, HHoobbbbss,, NNMM

((557755)) 339911--NNOOTTEE ((66668833))

LEVI HILLNEWS-SUN

If one thing is clear about the latestlabor statistics for Lea County it isthat housing takes time and isn’t ableto meet the growing population in thearea.

Recent numbers from the NewMexico Department of WorkforceSolutions show the county’s work-force increased by 64 in May and hasgrown 4.3 percent, 1,229 people, in thelast year.

Such growth is causing the county’s

unemployment rate to increase asonly three more employed peoplejoined the ranks in May, showing that

jobs seekers may be outpacing jobfinders in Lea County.

The county’s unemployment rate

climbed slightly to 3.8 percent in May,up from a yearly low of 3.6 percent inApril.

The lure of the county is evident tothose who focus on finding workersfor the many jobs in the area.

Holly Lathrop, director of SOSStaffing, said new workers from out-side the area are in her office dailylooking for work.

“I talked to two men the other daywho came here from Kansas because

Job seekers coming to county

ALMA OLIVAS-POSADASNEWS-SUN

A Hobbs man is wanted in Texas forcapital murder charges in GainesCounty.

According to a press release from theGaines CountySheriff ’s Depart-ment, Thursday agrand jury indictedNicomedes DanielSosa II, also knownas Dan Dan, on onefelony count of capi-tal murder and onefelony count of mur-der in connectionwith a double homi-cide in westernGaines County in May.

A $5,000 reward is being offered forinformation leading to Sosa’s arrest. Heis described as a 34-year-old Hispanicmale, five feet and eight inches inheight, weighs 185 pounds, black hairand brown eyes.

Gaines County Sheriff Jon Key saidthe investigations on ongoing andexpects more indictments in connectionwith the double homicide. The GainesCounty Sheriff ’s Department, TexasRangers, Hobbs Police Department, LeaCounty Sheriff ’s Department and NewMexico State Police are investigatingthe case.

On May 10, the bodies of John Allen,30, and Jay Doyal, 29, were found atabout 3:30 p.m. in Gaines County in ahome near the New Mexico and Texasstateline after an individual fromHobbs told police she had gone to afriend’s residence and found the dooropen and a male subject lying inside.

According to court records, Sosa pledguilty to second degree murder andshooting from a vehicle in 2005 in con-nection with the shooting death of 29-year-old Thomas Manes of Hobbs.

On Dec. 13, 2005, Sosa was sentenced tosix years in prison followed by twoyears parole and five years supervisedprobation to run concurrent withparole.

Doublemurdersuspectsought

HELENA RODRIGUEZNEWS-SUN

Green Meadow Lake in north Hobbs isalready a popular family fishing and picnicspot with its recently added playground andother improvements. Now the city wants tohelp draw people out further into the water.

On Monday night, the Hobbs CityCommission gave the city’s Parks andRecreations department the green light to

Fountains, piers among upgradesFountains,piers, pavil-ions andextended traillighting areamong theimprovementsset for GreenMeadow Lake.

KIMBERLY RYANNEWS-SUN

BETH HAHNNEWS-SUN

A lengthy list of indictmentsagainst three former employees ofa Eunice oilfield company grewlonger this week.

Donna Roach, Kelly Roach andformer Eunice resident MikePatterson now face an additionaleight counts of wire fraud and two

new counts of concealing financialtransactions.

The trio were indicted on 82 feder-al charges by a federal grand jurylast month.

Brian Watson, a spokesman forthe Federal Bureau ofInvestigation’s office in Tucson,said the 10 new charges are the

result of the ongoing investigationinto the Roach/Patterson case.

“The case is still the same,” hesaid Friday. “It’s just a way for theU.S. Attorney’s office to improvetheir case.”

The case is being investigated by acombination of the FBI and the

New indictments filed in Sundance case

LEA LABOR STATISTICSLabor Force Employed Jobless Rate

May 2012 29,802 28,673 1,129 3.8%

April 2012 29,738 28,670 1,068 3.6%

May 2011 28,573 27,177 1,396 4.9%

GREEN MEADOW LAKE

Sosa

SEE JOBS, Page 4

SEE MURDER, Page 4

SEE LAKE, Page 4

SEE SUNDANCE, Page 3

CAPROCK COMMUNICATIONS

3116 S. EUNICE HIGHWAYHOBBS, NM

(575) 397-2483LEACO CELLULAR AGENTCaprock Communications is a LeacoCellular Agent. Come see us for yournew activation or cellular replacementphone. Caprock also has AT&Treplacement phones in stock. We alsocan place a specialty order for thatphone you need or want. We have carkits, boosters and accessories.Complete professional installationavailable. Give us a call or come by3116 S. Eunice Highway from 7:00am to 5:00pm.

COOKCONSTRUCTION

AND MAINTENANCE, LLC

Need a Roof? Call us 1stWe offer fast and reliable service

� FREE ESTIMATES� WARRANTY� WE HAVE REFERENCES

IIIInnnnssssuuuurrrreeeedddd •••• LLLL iiii cccceeeennnnsssseeeedddd •••• BBBBoooonnnnddddeeeeddddWe also do commercial and

residential building, additions and remodels

John Cook(575) 885-2222If busy call and leave message

cookconstruction2@windstream.net

Voted #1 in Eddy County for 2010 and 2011

By Dr. Larry W. White, DDS, MSD

Book Signing Saturday, June 23 • 2:00 pm

Western Heritage Museum Complex& Lea County Cowboy Hall of Fame

On the campus of New Mexico Junior College • 5317 Lovington Hwy • Hobbs, NM • 575-392-6730

Eagles Once Soared is a memoir of Hobbs High School’s footballprogram in the late 1940’s and early 1950s. Dr. White’s bookrecounts the many life lessons he and his teammates learned on the gridiron that sustained and nourished them long after they hung up their cleats.

Join Dr. WhiteSaturday, June 23 at 2:00 pm

Reception to follow presentation

FROM THE FRONT PAGE 4HOBBS NEWS-SUN • SATURDAY, JUNE 23, 2012

they heard there are jobs here,” she said.Lathrop said many of her clients are spouses of

workers in the oilfield, construction and otherbudding industries in Lea County who havemoved to the area with their families and areseeking work as well.

However, Lathrop said the state’s labor num-bers don’t jive with what she is seeing on theground.

“I know everyone we have been seeing we havebeen able to get them jobs,” she said. “We haveput a lot of people to work.”

Tracy Shaleen, economist for the state, said thecounty’s numbers indeed show an influx of newworkers as the usual jump in unemployed due tosummer break and an influx of students lookingfor temporary work and school workers getting laidoff for the summer, doesn’t hit until June’s report.

“The influx of the young workers into the laborforce is not typically sufficient to accommodateall those people coming in,” Shaleen said of thecounty’s statistic. “Right now we won’t see thatinflux. We won’t see it until June.”

The constant influx of workers lured to one ofthe few areas of the nation really recoveringfrom the economic collapse poses a large problemfor the companies seeking workers and for theworkers themselves.

“It is still slow going on finding homes,”Lathrop said. “We are not seeing a breakthroughon that problem yet. We hear of new apartmentcomplexes coming, but I have not seen any beingbuilt. A lot of the workers we are talking to aregetting corporate apartments with their spouseor staying in the hotels, but I talked to two peoplewho were staying in cars. We definitely don’twant Hobbs to go the route where people are hav-ing to live in tents to work.”

Lorrie Tramell, general manager for theFairfield Inn, doesn’t see a lot of the unemployedworkers who have come to the area looking forjobs, but her hotel and many in the area are filled

to capacity with workers who can’t find rentalhomes or apartments.

“Monday-Thursday just about everybody in LeaCounty is full,” she said. “We have had to sendpeople to Carlsbad and even Roswell becausethere is nothing available here.”

Tramell said she has seen a huge increase in thenumber of RVs at area RV parks and has sees atleast three people a day looking for work.

“We give out about three applications a day forpeople looking for work, but we just don’t haveany jobs right now,” she said.

She said she is also catching a glimpse of whatmay be the people who have come to the arealooking for work, but can’t find housing.

“I know we have had a few homeless people run-ning around this area that looked real clean cut,but didn’t have a place to live,” she said. “I hate tosay they are bums because they are clean cut andwearing clean clothes.”

Paul Waddell, owner of Phoenix PropertyManagement and property manager forRanchView Estates, said rental vacancy is a prob-lem.

“We manage 400 units and today I had one avail-able,” he said. “I have units rented before they areeven vacated.”

At Ranchview, the company is building its sev-enth and eighth four-plex units and those arealready rented out, Waddell said.

With International Isotopes slated to breakground soon and the Intercontinental Potashproject gaining ground and even the CITE facili-ty likely to start some work in the area, Waddellsaid things could get worse, before they get better.

“I am worried about what is going to happen,”he said. “We are working on numerous things onthe loop with apartment builders and commer-cial projects, but it is going to be a real pain forthe next year before we get any relief. Even if webroke ground on some (rental) housing now, itwould be nine months before we would havesomething ready to go.”

Jobsfrom PAGE 1

The Gaines County CrimeLine is offering a $5,000 rewardfor information leading to

Sosa’s arrest. If you haveinformation leading to thearrest, you may contact any ofthe following agencies:

� Gaines County Sheriff ’sdepartment at 432-758-9871

� Hobbs Police Department

at 575-397-9265� Hobbs Crime Stoppers 575-

393-8005� Lea County Sheriff ’s

Department at 575-396-3611 Callers may remain anony-

mous.

Murderfrom PAGE 1

send out bids for phase II of conceptual designplans for Green Meadow. That means the pondwill soon have five fountains, with a largergeyser shooting up in the middle, and foursmaller ones. Wayne Cooper, an architect withHalf and Associates, said the fountains willhelp aerate or oxygenate the water.

Cooper also says there will be one main pierthat extends out into the water, with a narrowdock that then forms a circular end to accom-modate fishing. There will also be several othersmaller piers.

“Almost any time of the year, folks are outthere fishing,” said Cooper, who said he hasgone out there multiple times to do observa-tions and been pleased to see people out thereon any given day.

Mia Russell, director of Parks and Recreation,said it was her goal for many years for the cityto acquire control of the lake from the state.The city took over the lake about four or five

years ago.Cooper said phase II will include expansion of

seating areas and pavilions and the addition ofcurbs to be able to better distinguish parkingfrom sidewalks. There will also be extendedpedestrian lighting around the walking trail.

Russell said there is currently $1.7 millionthat has been budgeted from this phase II proj-ect and the estimated cost is currently at $1.5million.

“So many people are out there using that lakenow, for picnics and fishing,” said CityCommissioner Jonathan Sena. “I like to seesomething that is such a big part of Hobbs getbetter.”

Phase I was completed about a year ago. Inaddition to the playground and better definedwalking trail, it included irrigation work.

Russell said the city has drawn out additionalplans for other future possibilities for the lake,which could include such things as paddleboats. Those additional plans have not been pro-posed at this point but are available to be con-sidered in the future.

Lakefrom PAGE 1

ALBUQUERQUE (AP) — TheNew Mexico Racing Commissionis adopting new regulations fordrug-testing horses.

The commission on Thursdayunanimously approved stan-dards modeled after theAssociation of RacingCommissioners International.

The new rules will go intoeffect July 31.

Commission officials say thenew regulations will call forheavier penalties than whatthe state has enforced when itcomes to drug cases.

The commission says it wasalready considering changesin its drug policies before theNew York Times published astory describing New Mexicoas having the worst horse safe-ty record in the United States.

ALBUQUERQUE (AP) — New Mexico Gov.Susana Martinez has spent the last few weekstouring fire-ravaged parts of the state. Witheach stop, she has been urging people to be care-ful as the Fourth of July approaches.

That’s all she can do. State law prevents herfrom imposing a statewide ban on the sale anduse of fireworks.

“Of course, it’s political,” she told TheAssociated Press of the battle with state law-makers over banning fireworks.

Martinez and fire officials gathered inAlbuquerque’s foothills on Friday to urge NewMexicans to refrain from using fireworks.

Martinez said she plans to push legislationagain during the 2013 session that would estab-lish a system by which cities, counties and thestate can tailor temporary bans during extremedroughts.

“We should all be able to agree that preventingfires that could devastate our communities is apriority that transcends politics,” Martinezsaid. “New Mexico has already seen two devas-tating, record-setting fires this year and it isstill early in the season.”

Efforts to change the law have met resistancefrom vendors, who say their businesses wouldsuffer while sales would be allowed to continueon sovereign tribal lands.

Some critics also argue that the state foresteralready has discretion to impose fire restric-tions on state lands.

Under state law, local jurisdictions have thepower to restrict the use of fireworks and to bancertain fireworks during droughts. However,local officials must hold a public hearing andissue a proclamation for a ban at least 20 daysbefore a holiday for which fireworks can besold.

Even though only a fraction of New Mexico’sfires are sparked by fireworks, Martinez sent aletter last week to municipal leaders around thestate asking that they impose bans. More thanhalf of the state’s 33 counties already have.

New Mexico has been struggling with dry con-ditions in recent years and the last two fire sea-sons have been record-breakers in terms of thenumber of acres charred.

Experts say it’s not rocket science. With fuelsas dry as they are, one spark can result in sev-eral square miles of blackened vegetation.

State Forestry spokesman Dan Ware saidthere were seven confirmed fireworks-relatedfires on state and private land in New Mexicolast year. That doesn’t include any fires handledby municipalities. Most were small, but morethan 3,000 acres were burned in GuadalupeCounty in March 2011, thanks to fireworks.

In the state’s largest city, Albuquerque fire-fighters responded to seven fires last year thatwere caused by fireworks. Fire Departmentspokeswoman Melissa Romero said she wassure the city had many others that were eithertoo small to report or couldn’t be confirmed ashaving been started by fireworks.

Governor urging municipalleaders to impose fireworks bans

Racing panel OKsdrug-testing rules

Museum director retirement partyCalvin Smith examines artwork presented to him by Burt Madera Thursday during Smith’sretirement party Thursday night at the Western Heritage Museum. Smith is retiring asexecutive director of the museum.