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Obituaries ...........................2Mark the date ....................3Lottery.................................4Fun & Games ......................5Weather ..............................6Sports ..................................7Classifieds..........................10TV ......................................12

Community News

MYPOWER INC. islooking for energetic,friendly and motivatedwomen to be mentorsin our MyPowerCircles, working withfifth and sixth gradegirls. If you are inter-ested in this opportu-nity to be involved in agroup mentoring pro-gram, contact MeganArmstrong at 575-631-7029.

THE HOBBS POLICEDEPARTMENTreceives informationdaily concerning scamsthat are conducted viamail, email and tele-phone. Many scamsspecifically target sen-ior citizens. Currentlyseveral senior citizensin Hobbs have report-ed they have beencontacted severaltimes via telephoneadvising them thatthey should have anew medical card inorder to continue toreceive benefits suchas Medicare andMedicaid.

The caller asks for verifi-cation of the person’sname, address andphone number. Thenthe caller asks for fur-ther identification suchas social security num-ber and bank accountnumbers. Do not givethis type of informationto anyone.

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TRUCKING NEEDS!

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LOGRA TU META AHORAVISITENOS EN NUESTRAS DOS DIRECCIONES

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119 W. Broadway Al Lado de Sun Loan

(575) 691-6537

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(575) 318-7567

A NO NUEVO ~ CUERPO NUEVO�

Monday-Friday 10:00 am - 5:00 pmSaturday 10:00 am - 2:00 pm

Closed Sunday 575-397-6239114 West Snyder • Hobbs, NM

Owners Billy & Karen Cummingscall toll free 877-224-8142

Come see our new merchandise, we have uniforms by Cherokee, Peaches, Med-Couture

and Landau.

Just in timefor the Holidays!Merry Christmas!

~ Gift Cards Available ~Come see our new Holiday

Scrub uniforms!

We also haveBoojee necklaces andLittman Stethoscopes!

KIMBERLY RYAN/NEWS-SUN

Broadmoor Elementary Christmas programThird graders sing festive songs during a Christmas program Tuesday at Broadmoor Elementary.

ALMA OLIVAS-POSADASNEWS-SUN

When considering pets as a Christmasgift there are some precautions to con-sider to make pet adoptions successful.

Hobbs Animal Adoption Center man-ager Willie Stone said about 40 animalsare waiting for a home, but she said ifsomeone is interested in adopting ananimal as a gift for a family member orfriend, to make sure they include therecipient in the process and make aplanned adoption.

“We are seeing an increase in highlyplanned adoptions,” Stone said.

Spontaneous adoptions are more like-ly to result in the animal coming backto the facility, Stone said.

“Sit down and pick the pet that fits,”she said.

The facility has a special room wherefamilies or individuals can interactwith the animal before making a deci-sion. Stone said people are allowed to

Pets for Christmas? Plan ahead

HELENA RODRIGUEZNEWS-SUN

Diego Hernandez, 12, doesn’t mindskating on thin ice, or rather, synthet-ic ice, although his rented ice skatesdon’t have brakes like traditionalroller blades.

“Ice skating is something my boyshave never done, and so they askedme to bring them out here,” saidHernandez’s mother, Casey Fierro, on

Tuesday as she took her three sonsout to the Light Up Lea County eventat the Lea County Event Center.

The ice skating winter wonderland— featuring a small ice rink, a giantSnowzilla slide and an oversized snowglobe — ends tonight. Local childrenand adults will have one last opportu-nity today, from 1-9 p.m., to enjoy the

Where’s the brakes?

HELENA RODRIGUEZNEWS-SUN

In a split vote of 4-to-3 Mondaynight, the Hobbs CityCommission approved a contro-versial amendment to theLodgers’ Tax Ordinance, whichmore specifically defines “pro-motion” of an event and movesto a request for proposals systemon an annu-al basis.

Commiss-ioners Gar-ry A. Buie,J o n a t h a nSena and JoeCalderon vo-ted againstthe amend-ment.

Following alengthy pu-blic comme-nt session,Mayor GaryDon Reaganstressed thatthe changesare simplyamendmentsand said theamendmentswill not“limit whatlodgers’ tax is designed to do.” Hesaid it will just require event plan-ners to not wait until the last

Councilsplit overchange

ALMA OLIVAS-POSADASNEWS-SUN

First American Bank organ-ized a golf tournament andraised $27,000 to benefit theNew Mexico Junior CollegeThunderbird booster club.

The check was presentedjust in time for Christmas.

President of theThunderbird booster clubPhillip Roybal said the clubhas been up and running forabout a year.

Zane Ber-gman, pres-ident ofFirst Ame-rican Bankand chair-man of thebooster cl-ub’s fund-raising co-m m i t t e e ,said the bankhas been do-ing the tournament for thepast few years as a way to give

back to the community. He saida beneficiary is periodicallychosen.

“All businesses should begood corporate citizens ... oursponsors are so generous,”Bergman said. “Lea County isa really giving communityand very supportive.”

NMJC athletics directorDon Worth said he is pleasedthe booster club is active andthriving because the studentathletes benefit.

“The booster club is to helpand assist the kids we cur-rently have in athletics,”Worth said.

Worth said he is grateful forthe staff at First AmericanBank in Hobbs and hopes tocontinue working with thebusiness.

“We hope that we are able tokeep the partnership withFirst American Bank,” Worthsaid. “We hope for the boosterclub to really have a great

year ... we feel good about themomentum that we havegoing on not only with thebooster club but with allsports as well.”

Roybal said the funds willbe directly used for the ben-efit of student athletes inthe form of scholarshipsand meeting the needs thatarise.

“They do a tremendous joband give back of themselvesalso,” Roybal said.

Bank-hosted tournament nets $27,000 for booster club

� LODGERS’ TAXES

� Critics questionhaving fewer meetingsto make requests

‘I think there needs to

be more wiggle

room in the

quarterly

meetings.’

GeniCavanaughExecutivedirector of theSouthwestSymphony

SEE LODGERS, Page 4

Bergman

HOBBS ANIMAL ADOPTION CENTER

MelissaDominguezhelps herson Israel.

KIMBERLY RYAN/NEWS-SUNJordan Luker and Jason Johnson trytheir luck at the skating rink.

Kids raised on roller blades find skating, evenon synthetic ice, can be a slippery experience

SEE SKATING, Page 4

SEE PETS, Page 4