J A L

EUNICE

CITY OF JAL RESIDENTS

are invited to a tour of
the elementary school at
5 p.m. Monday in regard
to the upcoming Jal
schools obligation bond
issue that will be on the
Feb. 3 election ballot.
Outer north and south
bound lanes on North Dal
Paso Street from E. Bender Blvd. to E. Llano Drive
via North Dal Paso Street
will continue to be closed
for the ongoing DAL
PASO REHABILITATION
PROJECT until further
notice. For more information, contact Constructors,
Inc. at 392-0524.

HOBBS

LOVINGTON

TATUM

SEMINOLE

D E N V E R C I T Y

Farmington state senators proposal targets anti-oil and gas counties

ROB NIKOLEWSKI
WATCHDOG.ORG

No fracking, no tax money

SANTA FE New Mexico receives

about $2 billion a year in direct revenue
from oil and gas production through severance taxes, property taxes and royalty
and rental income. At the same time,
a number of communities in the state
have passed ordinances restricting oil
and gas development.
Now, as lawmakers start their 60-day
legislative session, here comes a bill

thats sure to spark plenty of arguments.

A state senator has introduced legislation that would strip severance
tax bonds from communities that
impose 25 percent or more in costs to
mining as well as oil and natural gas
production.
By extension, the legislation would
include bans on hydraulic fracturing.
The reality is, we need to send a Sharer

message to counties and

let them understand that
the money that builds
their public buildings
comes from (the) oil and
gas industry, said state
Sen. William Sharer,
R-Farmington, who has
represented one of the
most energy-rich areas in
New Mexico during his 15
years in the Roundhouse.

Inside Today
Obituaries........................ 2
Lottery.............................. 2
Viewpoint........................ 6
Hill Country..................... 18

KIMBERLY RYAN/NEWS-SUN PHOTOS

A large crowd gathers to look at the different bugs on display Friday at the opening of Bugs Outside The Box
at Western Heritage Museum.

W E S T E R N H E R I TA G E M U S E U M

Bugs exhibition
opens to big crowds
SEAN CZARNECKI
NEWS-SUN

575.392.0664

Cell: 575.631.8789

4220 Lovington Highway

Hobbs, New Mexico 88240
email: htsrrh@yahoo.com
website: www.hobbstrailersnm.com

If they really hate it that much, then

let them find some other source of revenue. Thats what they need to do. Im
okay with that but dont ask one group
of people to build your buildings if you
want to beat up that group of people in
the same breath.
Environmentalists, many who had not
heard of Sharers bill before Watchdog.
org contacted them, reacted angrily.

SEE TAX MONEY, Page 4

HPD officer
involved in
shooting
identified

KINDERGARTEN
ROUNDUP begins at all
Hobbs elementary schools
Jan. 26 and continues
through Friday. Be sure
to register any child who
will be a kindergartner in
August. Also, necessary
immunizations will be
administered free of charge
at the districts administration building (1515 E.
Sanger) from 9 a.m.-12 p.m.
Monday through Friday.

Eagles take on Artesia

Page 9

$1.25

SUNDAY, JANUARY 25, 2015

Since 1927

Community News

News-Sun

In the Western Heritage

Museum a ragged circle of
children formed around Judy
Taylor and the beetle she was
dissecting four feet long,
black and fuzzy as she
peeled open its chest like a
big clam.
When you step on a bug
and you hear a crunch, thats
the sound of their bones,
explained Taylor, an assistant educator. Their bones
are different from ours. Their
bones are on the outside.
The museums latest exhibit Bugs: Outside the Box
opened Friday to a crowd
numbering some 120 people
within the first half-hour,
according to Executive Director Darrell Beauchamp.
Despite having to delay the
opening night, which had
been scheduled for Thursday,
Beauchamp said the event
worked out well and he antic-

ipated 500 people to visit the

exhibit that night.
In the museum world, its
really interesting, Beauchamp said. Dinosaurs are
huge draws. Bugs are a very
close second they hold a
fascination for us because
theyre everywhere we (live).
We have to coexist. A lot of
people in the world eat bugs,
but those in the Americas,
especially North Americans,
are squeamish.
On the walls of the exhibit
hang pictures of bugs, some
labeled as dangerous, others terrible. But there are
bugs too that are innocuous
and helpful, Beauchamp said,
that humans can use and
learn from.
We dont like bugs, we try to
kill them, Beauchamp went
on to say. And yet we have
beneficial bugs, we have pest
bugs, and we have to learn
how to co-exist.
In the belly of the museum,

stands today an assortment of

herculean insects, as though
to boast to the crowds of
their mighty wingspans, their
multi-jointed legs. They are
sculptures by Italian science
artist Lorenzo Possenti.
The job of dissecting one

(like bugs); theyre fascinated

by them.
Ethan Kneese, 10, took a
particular interest and asked
Taylor questions as she presented the beetles digestive
system, nervous system,
lungs and heart.

Mario Negrete, Milliana Negrete and Marko Negrete

look through a glass case filled with different types of
beetles Friday at the opening of Bugs Outside the Box
at Western Heritage Museum.
of the beetles fell to Taylor,
and through the night, she
educated passersby on its
insides.
Most of the kids present
seemed immune to the nasties, the creepy-crawlies, and
instead took an interest in
them.
They love them, theyre
fascinated, Taylor said.
We usually teach them to
be afraid of things. Theyre
not naturally afraid of things

HOBBS (AP) New Mexico

State Police have identified the
Hobbs police officer involved in
a shooting that injured two men.
State Police said Saturday that
they are still investigating the
incident that led Officer Royal
Hopper to fire his weapon, injuring 21-year-old Kyle Laughrin and
25-year-old Nathan Trujillo.
Authorities say Hobbs police
responded Jan. 17 shortly after
1:30 a.m. to a report of shots fired
at Diamond Lils Bar.
They say Laughrin and Trujillo
were struggling for control of a
rifle and Hopper ordered them
to drop it. Hopper fired his weapon after the rifle was allegedly
directed toward him.
Authorities recovered a pistol
and a rifle from the scene.
Both men, who live in Lovington, have since been treated for
their injuries and released.
Police are still waiting to interview them.

Possible bust
adds import
to job fair
SEAN CZARNECKI
NEWS-SUN

At home Kneese keeps his

own collection of insects. He
said he took up the interest
from his father.
To me, bugs are just cool
and they always have something funny going on about
them, Kneese said.
He went on to describe
the peculiarities of different insects, like the Praying
Mantis during mating season,
where hungry females fre-

For nine years the Jobs in Hobbs

job fair has helped fill employment gaps in an oil town where
booms and busts come natural.
And once again an edgy oil industry is shifting gears and laying off
workers.
Saturday, at the Lea County
Event Center, the 10th annual job
fair opened its doors to hundreds
looking for work, hoping for the
best.
Its strictly for people who are
looking for a better career, or
just basic job opportunity, said
one of the events coordinators,
Aaron Forrister. Because theres
a lot in Lea County and our surrounding area that have great

SEE BUGS, Page 4

SEE JOBS, Page 4

David Moghaddam - Owner

Well follow you Anywhere!

Murdered Florida doctor had killed Hobbs dentist

LEVI HILL
NEWS-SUN

They say what goes around, comes

around. In the east they call it karma,
some call it destiny or fate, but whatever
you call it, the murder of a Florida doctor may be proof it exists.
On May 28, 2014 Dr. Steven Patlin
Schwartz was found murdered in his
home in Tarpon Springs, Fla.. The doctor, 74, was shot and killed in an apparent home invasion robbery gone wrong.

If it was karma that

led to Schwartzs
death, then karma
has an affinity for the
number 53, because
just shy of 53 years
before Schwartz was
killed, he killed a
53-year-old
Hobbs
dentist. Schwartz left
behind a 53-year-old
widow.
Schwartz

The story begins on Nov. 22, 1961 when

a patient found Dr. V.G. Cook, a 26-year
resident and pioneer dentist of Hobbs,
dead in his office from a single gunshot
wound to the head.
The discovery sparked a manhunt that
within days led to the arrests of more
than half a dozen people, including the
then 22-year-old Schwartz.
Schwartz, according to newspapers at
the time, was a pre-med dropout from
the University of New Mexico, a New

York native and a recent transplant to

Hobbs, where he came after being arrested in a gambling ring sting in Corrales,
north of Albuquerque.
The young Schwartz was apprehended
in days and eventually plead guilty to the
murder of Cook along with three other
men who also plead to lesser charges.
A fifth defendant, a woman who owned
the home where Schwartz was living at
the time of the murder, was charged as

SEE MURDER, Page 4

Warning Signs That Your Parents May Need Help at Home

575-393-9281
1508 N. Dal Paso

- Dirty house, extreme clutter & dirty laundry

piling up.
- Loss of interest in hobbies and activities.
- Diagnosis of dementia or early onset
Alzheimer's.
- Difficulty with walking, balance and mobility.
- Unpleasant body odor.
- Not taking medications or
taking more than the prescribed dosage.

- Noticeable decline in grooming habits

& personal care.
- Poor diet or weight loss.
- Missing important appointments.
- Trouble getting up from a seated position.
- Uncertainty & confusion when performing
once-familiar tasks.
- Infrequent showering and bathing.
- Increased forgetfulness.

Elite
Private
Care
Can
Help! elite-homehealth.com