Free Republic

The landscape of West Texas is changing. Standing hundreds of feet tall, like alien structures on the featureless plains, fields of shining white towers have sprung up seemingly overnight to harness formidable winds known all too well by those who have made the land home. Call it what you will - alternative energy, a green solution, renewable resources - one thing is certain: like the oil booms of yesteryear, wind harnessing is sweeping across the Plains with the promise of a new tomorrow for the U.S. energy market. Similar to transformations brought by oil and agricultural industries in past decades,...

LUBBOCK, Texas: A hacked electronic highway sign in northern Texas carried a warning not seen much since the American Revolution. On Friday, the sign briefly flashed: "OMG The British R coming. They R watching you." KCBD-TV reported the electronic sign was in a construction area in southwest Lubbock.

SNIPPET: "A North Texas imam is calling on Muslims to take up arms in defense of Palestinians in Gaza. Sheikh Mohamed El-Moctar El-Shinqiti, director of the Islamic Center of South Plains in Lubbock, Texas, participated in an online chat, "Fatwas on Gaza," at the web site IslamOnline.net. El-Shinqiti encouraged readers to fight - or if they can't, to send money to those who are fighting - in response to six out of the eight questions posed to him in the online chat. When asked what can be done to help the people in Gaza, El-Shinqiti emphasized war over sending food...

Texas Tech, local schools cancel Friday classes While Lubbock looked east the past few weeks to see if hurricanes would bring evacuees here, the city was drenched by storms coming from the west as six inches of rain caused numerous problems Thursday. More rain is possible through this weekend, which could cause cancellations or rescheduling for community and sporting events. No high school football games have been canceled yet, but athletic directors across the area said they will monitor the situation to make sure no one will be in danger. Thursday's impact was widespread: • Lubbock, Cooper and Frenship schools...

LUBBOCK, Texas — A former Lubbock pastor convicted of pocketing more than $500,000 in federal funds meant for needy children over summer breaks was sentenced to nearly 20 years in prison Monday. James Cornell Clark, former pastor of Mount Vernon United Methodist Church, was convicted in January on 41 counts of fraud, laundering and other charges. Five business entities created by Clark were also convicted of money laundering charges. Prosecutors say Clark created the businesses to receive funds for the Summer Food Program, created by the U.S. Department of Agriculture to provide nutritious meals for children when school is closed....

This is a video of the Cactus Cuties, Young ladies ranging in age from 8 to 13 singing The Star Spangled Banner. The performance was at the Texas Tech vs Texas basketball game January 20, 2008 in front of over 11,000 people. These young girls can REALLY sing!

AUSTIN - When it comes to road improvement and maintenance, by most accounts, the South Plains and Panhandle are fortunate. Despite a $1.1 billion accounting error, the Texas Department of Transportation recently reported no projects in the region have been canceled or delayed while cities like Dallas, Houston and Laredo had at least a half dozen highway projects delayed. But the $1.1 billion-error, which occurred because TxDOT inadvertently counted some bond money twice and consequently allocated more funding than it had, is just the latest problem plaguing the beleaguered agency. For months, TxDOT executive director Amadeo Saenz and other transportation...

Lubbock Hispanic Chamber of Commerce officials say a proposed merger with the Lubbock Chamber of Commerce will fix the Hispanic group's financial problems and allow it to better serve its members. But some residents and members are concerned that merging could mean Hispanics will lose their voice, allowing their needs and interests to disappear in the system. The Hispanic chamber held a public forum Saturday morning to discuss the pros and cons of a merger, which has to be approved by members and accepted by the Lubbock chamber to happen. If the two chambers merge, the Hispanic chamber, which has...

Austin, Tex. – The Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) announced it will form a working group to develop a financial master plan a Ports-to-Plains Corridor, which would create new jobs and economic opportunity for West Texas. Ports-to-Plains is a proposed divided highway corridor stretching from Laredo on the Mexican border, through Midland/Odessa, Lubbock, and Amarillo in West Texas north to Denver, Colorado. Designated as a High Priority Corridor by Congress in 1998, the Ports-to-Plains corridor is intended to expand economic opportunity and serve international trade from Mexico to Canada. Despite the congressional designation, adequate federal funding has not been provided...

WILLIAMSPORT, Pa. - The game will be played in the northern part of the country, but the Little League U.S. Championship will unofficially be decided in the south. When the Southeast (Warner Robins, Ga.) meets the Southwest (Lubbock) today in the U.S. final, baseball purists might get a chance to see if good pitching beats good hitting. The Lubbock Western All-Stars have talked about their pitching depth throughout the tournament. Garrett Williams, Zane Ancell, Taylor Bridges, Bryndan Arredondo and Tyler Thorne have each spent time on the mound during the World Series. Little League World Series TODAY'S GAMES International championship...

WILLIAMSPORT, Pa.— Garrett Williams has pitched just one game in the Little League World Series, but opponents already have given him a nickname. When Williams walks by the team from Maracaibo, Venezuela, the team shouts, “El Diablo.” The nickname, meaning the devil, is a playful tribute to Williams’ 17-strikeout performance in Lubbock Western’s first game of the Series. While many of the Western players said prior to arriving that they were looking forward to meeting the other players, it seems the Texans have developed a special bond with the Venezuelans. “We share a dorm with them, so we share a...

A bulk purchase of disposable cell phones across The South Plains is turning into a federal investigation. Muleshoe authorities have questioned a man, who according to police reports, confesses to buying 60 pre-paid cell phones that might later be used to detonate bombs in the Middle East. The man reportedly bought the phones from stores like Dollar General, Family Dollar and even Wal-mart's across the region. Lubbock is included in the towns he confessed to buying the phones in. Again, in police reports he admits to a store manager the cell phones would eventually be used as bomb detonators in...

THERE'S GOOD NEWS in the latest Ports-to-Plains progress report for Lubbock and West Texas residents who recognize the evolving trade route's potential economic benefit to our area. Extending from the most active U.S.-Mexico border port, Laredo, through Lubbock and West Texas, New Mexico, Oklahoma and Colorado, the Ports-to-Plains Corridor links the nation's plains states to the border centers of commerce. The Texas Department of Transportation is analyzing funding alternatives including opportunities for private investment and partnerships to pay for moving freight and utilities along the trade route. Using Ports-to-Plains as a case study, TxDOT will research the best potential applications...

Michael Kubosh, a former Democratic Texas Senate candidate, deliberately ran a red light at a intersection in Houston.  He got a $75 ticket in the mail and nearly six months later, he has filed a lawsuit against the city of Houston. "I've been telling the mayor that if they put these cameras up in Houston, I'm going to take them out of Houston.  Then I am going to Dallas, I'm going to Garland and San Antonio.  If you put them up in Lubbock, I am coming there," said Kubosh.But before his red light camera tour of Texas, he is focusing on a...

BUDDYHOLLYLIVES

A man who police say used wires, broken bottles and nails to wage an eco-terrorism campaign against Lubbock cyclists could spend time in prison. David G. Knape, 62, of Lubbock staged at least a year-long campaign against unsuspecting cyclists, according to police reports. He stretched wires between trees at "neck level" and put nails and glass in the pathway of cyclists. "This could kill someone," said Dewayne Wallace, an avid cyclist whose friend was flung from his bicycle and cut across the neck by one of the wires. Wallace spent months looking for Knape, who now faces two felony charges...

Texas Tech coach Bob Knight gets win No. 880 JAIME ARON | AP Sports Writer - publication data - Posted: Monday, January 1, 2007Updated: Monday, January 1, 2007 8:06 p.m. LUBBOCK, Texas - Bob Knight won 880 games doing things his way. And he sure celebrated it his way. Long appreciated for his strategy and long questioned for his methods, Knight added the crowning achievement to his Hall of Fame career by becoming the leader in Division I men's basketball victories when Texas Tech beat New Mexico 70-68 on Monday. Having finally reached the pinnacle he's long insisted didn't...

1st Lt. James Larry Hull will be buried with full military honors at 9 a.m. today in Arlington National Cemetery. He died in 1971 during the Vietnam War when a North Vietnamese anti-aircraft gun shot down the reconnaissance plane he was flying behind enemy lines along the border with Laos. But U.S. forces were unable to recover his body because of hostile fire, and negotiations after the war took until this year to gain full access to the crash site that was inside Laos. At the time of his death, he was fulfilling his dream to be a pilot in...

Four face charges of torturing boys Police say pair burned, starved, forced to sleep in closet BY JASON WOMACK The Lubbock County Criminal District Attorney's Office filed criminal charges on Monday against four people who police said systematically tortured, beat and starved two boys. Police said the boys' stepmother and father - 37-year-old Melissa D. Lively and 40-year-old Steve A. Lively - routinely burned the boys with a battery charger, forced them to sleep in a closet and fed them habanero peppers. They each face four counts of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon. Each charge carries a maximum punishment...

10/18/06- Updated 11:14amBREAKING NEWS: Explosion Rocks Northeast Lubbock, Injures At Least Three Courtesy: Jacky Rigney, Lubbock Breaking News from the NewsChannel 11 newsroom. NewsChannel 11 is on the scene of an apparent tank explosion in northeast Lubbock. The Lubbock Fire Department tells NewsChannel 11 that the explosion happened at Harmon Tank Company, at 1800 East Broadway. Reports are that at least three people are injured. But emergency crews are working to account for all Harmon employees.We are told an explosion inside a building has also damaged at least three other surrounding buildings. Parts of a tank are confirmed several...