The Lea County Annex building is my new favorite place to vote…read more It's a pretty seamless process to vote here... Park in the lot in the back. Also enter through the back side. You'll see signs that guide you into a rectangular room. Check in with the friendly staff member there. Find a desk with a chair and a black pen. Fill out your ballot. Turn it in & out the door you may go. The place is not busy at all for early primary ballot voting on 5/21/2024. I hope that's not an indication of more recent voter turnout...

So we New Mexicans know the bad rap that Children Youth & Family Department (CYFD) gets statewide,…read morebut hear me out... The location on Calle Sur Street in Hobbs, NM, was nothing but welcoming and friendly to me on 9.18.2025. My friend had posted a flyer about "Hold onto Hope 2025 Suitcase Drive." This applies to all NM CYFD offices statewide, however, I think it's a brilliant idea. The idea is that "every child deserves to carry their STORY in a bag of dignity not a trash bag." My daughters had these really small suitcases that they quickly grew out of, but I explained to the nice receptionist that they were gently used and perfect for babies, toddlers and younger children. Donations are still being accepted through October. Thank you to my local CYFD office for doing this! These kids matter so much!

If you can find the MVD office on Jack Gomez Boulevard in Hobbs, NM, then you can find the…read more"Fortress on the Plains." About a 1/2 mile northwest of the MVD lies the metal sculpture of Brian Norwood, a local artist. It's back off of the Lovington Highway. You can certainly see it from the highway, but there are a couple of ways to drive closer to it too... What stands out immediately and can be seen as your zipping along on Highway 18 is the silouhette of a Boeing B-17, which is also referred to as the "Flying Fortress." The heavy massive planes were "four-engined bomber" planes that helped provide remarkable and highly accurate capabilities for attacking our enemies. It also depicts pilots-in-training who flew these Boeing B-17s at the former nearby Hobbs Army Air Field which was a prevalent training base during the Second World War. To my knowledge, there is no plaque or highway sign informing of said historical piece. I hope that someday soon this would change. My oldest daughter and I parked on a caliche road as close to it as we could and walked up to it to take photos. If you choose to do this, just be careful of wildlife holes - prairie dogs and snakes live here as do mesquite bushes and all the desert weeds and prickly flora! Lol. Norwood's website states that the structure is "19 feet tall at the tail and stretches for 82 feet from end-to-end." The sculpture was funded by the City of Hobbs and dedicated "at the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month -- Veteran's Day 2008." As I always say, history - no matter our opinion - should always be remembered so the good may be repeated and the bad shall not! Please make a point of viewing this artwork as it is free and rich with history if you know how and where to look for it. TIP: The sun sets behind the "Fortress." New Mexico's sunsets are stunning! Works Cited http://briannorwoodart.com/fortress_on_the_plains https://www.britannica.com/technology/B-17

Village MVD is a third party full-service Motor Vehicle Department with a... wait for it... drive…read morethru! In addition to this Hobbs location, there are Village MVDs in Artesia and Ruidoso Downs. This particular place took over an old bank - they still have the tube canisters... minus the lollipops they'd send my mom over when they'd ask how many children were in her vehicle. Lol. There are two reasons why I knocked off a star: - they charge $22 cost recovery/registration renewal fee - they do NOT offer driver's licenses or IDs, handicap placards, driving records, or DOT physicals. Their bread and butter are the following: + Registrations + Titles + VIN Inspections I came here on 10/31/2023 which was the day my vehicle registration expired (lol) and was met with friendly, speedy service. Good to know I can get my new tags on the day that my old one expires without the wait or possible bad attitudes of my old MVD office. For more info, go to https://www.villagemvd.com or follow them on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/VillageMVDHobbs.

I traveled to Denver City with some work mail that needed to go out soon on Jul 1, 2025…read more Of course I used the trusty Yelp app to search up United States Postal Service. For a small town post office, this place is nice! Several entrances to the parking lot due to the building being on the corner. No typical old musty government building smell when I walked in (because I don't trust the outdoor drop boxes lol). I'm jealous because my hometown USPS building sucks.

Isn't it so that every time I move, I am summoned to jury duty?…read more When I entered this court into Yelp, I named it what the building had on it: "NM 5th District Court." The powers that be renamed it to "Lea County District Court." While this is quite confusing, the entire county and local newspaper also seem to use these titles interchangably. Back on March 27, 2023, I entered this new-to-me building to report for jury duty. First off, parking was free. The staff was mostly friendly and assistive. The deputies who facilitated the metal detector and security area were surprisingly high-spirited and amicable. This court assists individuals who had Spanish as a first language with headphones and devices. There were two translators present during all times. The process is a bit lackadasical for this, though. The women's restroom was mostly clean. There were no electronic devices allowed. This includes phones, smart watches, and tablets. We also weren't allowed to bring our own bottled water which I think is absolute horse s***. They don't offer water for patrons except from the most disgusting water fountain ever. The bailiff would announce, "Just run the water for a few seconds and it will taste better." Pfft! It's a nice newish modern building. The only thing that absolutely sucked was the room that they used for the potential jurors had this huge column that obstructed the view for everyone involved. All-in-all I wish Judge Shoobridge who oversaw most of the jury duty selections that I attended a nice retirement towards the end of this month. All you need to bring are your keys and something to read because you will be waiting a while... unless you're the sort who can strike up a conversation with strangers. Some days were longer waits than others.

I'm a huge fan of United Way of Lea County…read more They are the largest non-profit organization in this area of the state of New Mexico. Many people don't realize how poor our state is, however, Lea County prospers in the oil, gas and energy industries. On the other side of the coin is the amount of folks who believe in service and community. Two of my favorite events that this charitable federation hosts are: 1) Chili Fest - held annually at the Event Center towards the end of September 2) Paint the County Pink which is a breast cancer awareness event. I'm pretty passionate about this since my aunt, (former) mother-in-law, and cousin's wife have survived and/or are fighting this terrible disease. United Way is highly active on social media. Keep up with all of their missions, events, and good deeds at: https://www.facebook.com/unitedwayleacounty or their website: uwolc.org Love the people who work here and their board members. Thank you for doing greatness!

Fun place if your visiting and collecting badges like we do when we visit towns and cities, if your…read moreon the unpleasant side, it may not seem as nice. Tho the men and women here were super nice. Entering inside there wasn't a maned visitors desk. We had to use the intercom to announce us and our intentions. Then it went over dispatch, we heard it. Then someone came to the door to let us in. Great place inside. Building seems somewhat newish. Very clean. We were able to get the badge to add to our collection. Very happy!