News

CARLSBAD -- Eddy County is warning the public to be on their guard following a fraudulent phone call that resulted in a resident being scammed. On June 4, a caller with a 615 area code -- associated with the Nashville, Tenn., area -- placed a call to the family member of an Eddy County Detention Center (ECDC) detainee one day after the detainee had been booked into the jail.

ARTESIA -- The State of New Mexico and Eddy County have released the unofficial results of Tuesday’s Primary Election. Locally, a square-off between two Republican candidates for county sheriff was decided, and county residents helped settle a hotly contested race in State Senate District 42.

A decision on the future of the Otis Gym was tabled at the June 4 Eddy County Commission meeting. The Otis Gym, located at 2513 Smedley Road, about three miles south of Carlsbad, was slated for demolition, but that decision was tabled at the April commission meeting after residents expressed concerns.

HOBBS -- A second infant was safely surrendered to Hobbs’ Safe Haven Baby Box late last month. The City of Hobbs reported that, during the week of May 20, a healthy newborn boy was placed in the Baby Box at Hobbs Fire Department’s Station 1.

ALBUQUERQUE -- A Roswell man who used the messaging app Snapchat to groom and eventually sexually exploit two young girls has been sentenced to 235 months in prison after pleading guilty to federal charges of criminal sexual acts against minors.

On a warm, sunny morning in farm country, a group of 40 preschoolers and their parents fanned out across several rows of crops to pluck strawberries from beneath crowns of green leaves. Later, the children sliced the berries they had gathered and added bananas, kale and yogurt to blend into smoothies before heading out to feed chickens and goats.