Bull riding tour back in Hobbs

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EUNICE
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No. 27
Community News
The Hobbs Chamber of
Commerce’s WINNING
WORKSHOP will be
“Life is a Bowl of
Choices: Choose to
Inform, Influence and
Entertain through
Public Speaking,” at 2
p.m. Jan. 30 at the
Hobbs City Hall Annex.
The program, focusing
on planning delivery
of speech and mastering anxiety in giving a
speech, will be taught
by organizational consultant, coach and
trainer Lynda Lakin of
Hobbs.
HOBBS
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LOVINGTON
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TATUM
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SEMINOLE
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DENVER CITY
SATURDAY, JANUARY 26, 2013
50 cents
Bull riding tour back in Hobbs
NEWS-SUN STAFF REPORT
The Tuff Hedeman Championship
Bull Riding tour will make its fourth
trip to Hobbs since 2010 when it takes
over the Lea County Event Center at
7:30 p.m. tonight.
Prior to the bullriding, children can
participate in stick bull riding for
area
youth
prior
to
event.
Registration is from 4-5 p.m.
“It’s a great area and we get tremendous support,” Hedeman said about
some of his reasoning behind a fourth
trip to Hobbs with CBR. “It’s a great
venue.”
The approximately two hour event
will feature 24 riders during the first
round. During the second round, the
top 12 riders will have a go and the
final short round will feature the top
four riders.
Doors open at 6 p.m. and the bull riding starts at 7:30 p.m.
The CBR here will be the third of the
2013 CBR circuit as the riders stopped
in Bossier City, La., on Jan. 12 and had
a two-night performance in Jackson,
Tenn., last weekend.
Cody Teel, the 2012 PRCA bull riding
world champion, has a commanding
lead in the early-season CBR standings after sweeping the CBR’s first
two stops.
“He’s the guy,” Hedeman said of
Teel’s ability and continuing to rack
up wins. “He’s the reigning world
champion.”
Teel rode all three of his bulls during a CBR performance in Tennessee,
capping off the win with an 87.5-point
LEVI HILL
NEWS-SUN
TYLER FLETCHER/NEWS-SUN
From left to right, Jared Sloan, keynote speaker Christopher Kennedy Lawford, Stewart Sroufe, Sara Sroufe,
and Sue Wallach pose for a photo during PDAP’s 30th anniversary banquet Thursday night at the Lea
County Event Center.
Speaker tells audience about his moment of grace
PDAP marks 30th anniversary
ALMA OLIVAS-POSADAS
NEWS-SUN
SOUTHWEST
SYMPHONY presents
the Tommy Dorsey
Orchestra at 7 p.m.
Feb. 11 at Tydings
Auditorium. For information and ticket
information, call 7381041.
Inside Today
Obituaries ...........................2
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Mark the date ....................3
Fun & Games ......................7
Weather ..............................8
Sports ..................................9
Classifieds..........................14
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SEE BULL RIDING, Page 6
Grant
sought for
southeast
Hobbs
Eunice Chamber of
Commerce is seeking
nominees for the
EUNICE VALENTINE
COUPLE OF THE
YEAR. The winning
couple will be honored at the Valentine
Dessert and Dance at
6:30 p.m. Feb. 15 at
the Eunice Community
Center. For more information, contact Eunice
Chamber at 394-2755.
Hobbs photographer
BRYANT BULLARD
won honorable mention in the outdoor
scene category in the
New Mexico
Magazine’s annual
photography contest.
Bullard captured aspens
after a snowfall in
Cloudcroft. His photo
can be seen in the
February 2013 edition.
ride on California Roll in the final
round. He won the Louisiana tour
stop with a 90-point ride on Evil Twin
in the final round.
The 20-year-old Kountze, Texas,
native leads the standings with 531.5
points while Ardie Maier is second
with 355.5.
Teel is also the defending champion
of the Hobbs CBR event as he won the
2012 tour stop after posting an 89point ride on Cinch Red Label in the
championship round.
He tied eventual 2012 CBR champion
The Palmer Drug Abuse Program
of Lea County celebrated 30 years of
service Thursday.
Approximately 300 people attended
a banquet at the Lea County Event
Center in which PDAP staff and
board members were recognized for
their service with the non-profit
organization whose purpose is to
help individuals live a life free of
substance abuse.
The keynote speaker of the night
was Christopher Kennedy Lawford
who battled drug and substance
abuse for may years and has been
sober for about 26 years.
Lawford is an actor, writer, lawyer,
activist and public speaker who
travels throughout the world sharing his experience of battling and
recovering from alcohol and drug
addiction.
He told the crowd there is not
enough knowledge about recovery
and shared his story about growing
up in a family where drinking alcohol and doing drugs was normal.
“I was born in a family where alcohol doesn’t run, it gallops,” he said.
After using drugs at a young age,
Lawford said he went through many
years of his life convincing doctors
to prescribe him legal narcotics to
feed his addiction. He said his family didn’t understand his problem
and was just concerned with mak-
Keynote Speaker Christopher
Kennedy Lawford meets Betty
during PDAP’s 30th anniversary
banquet Thursday night at the
Lea County Event Center.
ing everything seem OK.
“I was dying on the inside, but as
long as the résumé was looking
good, we were good,” Lawford said.
He said his moment of grace came
on Feb. 17, 1986 in Boston, after he
put a gun in his mouth.
He remembers it was the coldest
night in Boston, but it was the night
he started his recovery journey.
“This will be hard, some say it will
be too hard,” he said. “But as my
uncle President Kennedy said about
our commitment to go to the moon
‘we don’t do these things because
they are easy, we do them because
they are hard’.”
Lawford said his decision to
change has helped break the addiction chain in his family.
“I have three children who only
know me as a father in recovery, I
have broken the chain of addiction
in my family and learned how to be a
committed and present father,” said
Lawford. “I’ve made movies, I am a
best selling author, speak all over the
world. After a lifetime of trying to be
what I though everybody wanted me
to be ... I have found myself.”
Naomi Browning of Hobbs who
has been involved with PDAP for
more than 20 years said the loving
atmosphere she has received has
allowed her to recover from alcohol
and drug abuse. Browning has been
sober since 1988.
Thursday evening at the banquet,
she said she is grateful for PDAP
because it has allowed her to be
present on the lives of her 15-yearold son and 18-year-old daughter.
Alma Olivas-Posadas can be reached at
courts@hobbsnews.com or call her at 3915446.
The City of Hobbs has selected
neighborhoods in southeast Hobbs
to apply for federal grant money to
add curb, gutters and sidewalks.
Tuesday night the Hobbs City
Commission approved the city
application
to
the
state’s
Community Development Block
Grant program to seek $500,000 for
the project.
City engineer Todd Randall said
the project won’t be awarded until
August if the city receives the
grant. The city’s last award was in
2011 when it received $250,000. The
city didn’t apply for funds in 2012,
which will give this submission
more points.
Sheila Baker, senior staff engineer, said the area of southeast
Hobbs chosen for upgrades was
picked after a series of community
input meetings and it will fill in
areas not completed in past CDBG
projects.
The streets chosen were Childers
Street, East Marland Street,
Humble Street from 4th to 8th
Street, 4th Street from Humble to
Main Street and 5th Street from
Humble to Main Street.
“These were brought to us by the
community,” Baker said. “They do
meet the low to moderate income of
51 percent.”
In order for the streets to meet the
requirements for the CDBG grant
funds, more than 51 percent of the
residents in the project area must
be of low to moderate income.
Baker said the city had chosen
another area of Hobbs — West
Humble and Roxana — but
switched to the current proposed
project after community input.
“This area had a higher percentage of low to moderate income,”
she said.
She said the city will submit an
application for $500,000 and a
phased proposal for $250,000 for a
smaller portion as required by the
state of New Mexico’s review committee.
The city will add a match of as
much as $200,000 in funding and inkind services for the project if the
city is selected for the funds. Only
about $8 million in CDBG funds are
available to the entire state each
year. The area selected will be fitted with curb, gutter and sidewalks
and pavement rehabilitation,
Baker said.
NMJC investing in new equine science program
BETH HAHN
NEWS-SUN
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New Mexico Junior College is
investing $400,000 in a classroom and
livestock area for its equine science
program.
The equine science program is
scheduled to begin during the 2013 fall
semester.
NMJC Board members approved
using $400,000 of building fund money
for the construction, which will complete a classroom, bathroom, office
and livestock pen space on campus.
“The idea is that the instructor does
a lecture in the classroom setting and
then the students go out to the lab
area, if you will, to implement what
they talked about,” NMJC president
Steve
McCleery
said
during
Thursday’s board meeting.
The livestock pens are designed for
horses and horse-handling. McCleery
said.
Board members previewed the
equine science program, which will
provide students with two possible
pathways — horse training or equine
business — as well as some certificate
options.
NMJC professor Clay Hardin spent
much of 2011-12 studying similar
equine science programs in Colorado
and Texas before designing curriculum.
Hardin said during a previous meeting that students could potentially
find jobs as trainers, in equine insurance, product sales or marketing.
McCleery said he hopes the program
will add about 70 students to NMJC’s
enrollment.
The equine science curriculum
must be approved by the state before
NMJC can begin recruiting and
enrolling students in the program.
Hardin said the equine science pro-
gram will not compete with the
school's existing rodeo program,
although the two will share space at
the Dan Berry Arena.
McCleery said an equine science
program is unique for the area and
gives NMJC an opportunity to recruit
students who might otherwise choose
a college in Colorado or Texas.
Construction of the new classroom
space should be completed before the
fall semester begins.
Beth Hahn can be reached at 391-5436 or
reporter3@hobbsnews.com.