Free Republic

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...

Can't access data on PDA Phone, and "all circuits are busy" when I dial my cell provider's cutomer service lines (all of them). Local stations are inaccessible on DishTV. I know there was a major line out of Dallas down on Monday that mucked up air traffic at DFW, among other things, but yesterday everything worked fine for me. I've searched Google News but can find nothing regarding what's going on today.

As Michael Crabtree inbounded the ball during an A.A.U. basketball game in north Texas three summers ago, Texas Tech Coach Bob Knight whispered to him the question that every coach wanted answered: “Football or basketball?” Back then, the question was not as easy to answer as it is today. Crabtree starred in both sports at David W. Carter High School in Dallas. He was a two-year starter at quarterback and the most valuable player of a state all-star basketball game in 2006. Colleges did not care which sport he played as long as he was on their campus. But as...

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 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...

11/29/06Texas Tech Graduate and F-16 Pilot Crashes In Iraq We know the name of the Texas Tech graduate and F-16 Pilot that crashed in Iraq. 34-year-old Major Troy Gilbert was flying near Falluja when his plane went down about 4:30 in the morning, Texas time, on Monday.Military Officials say Major Gilbert was firing on targets at a low altitude. Major Gilbert was flying a jet based out of Cannon Air Force base in New Mexico, which is about 100 miles from Lubbock.DNA samples were taken from the scene and are being tested. Right now, Gilbert's duty status is listed...

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...

Bonilla, Rodriguez Ready For Runoff SAN ANTONIO -- Another U.S. House seat could turn Democratic, now that Republican U.S. Rep. Henry Bonilla is headed for a runoff against a former House colleague. Bonilla received 49 percent of the vote with all precincts reporting on Wednesday. That put him in a runoff with the second top vote-getter, former U.S. Rep. Ciro Rodriguez, who came in with just under 20 percent in an eight-candidate field. Six of the eight were Democrats. Bonilla told reporters Wednesday that he was proud of his campaign team and that he needed to "score one more touchdown."...

(AP) For the first time in a dozen years, Democrats hold a majority of the nation's governorships after taking 20 of 36 races, including contests in battleground states such as Ohio, Pennsylvania and Colorado that will be crucial to the 2008 presidential race. Democrats now possess 28 of the top state jobs, the same majority enjoyed by Republicans going into Tuesday's elections. The mood behind the reversal was no better expressed than in Ohio. No Republican president has ever taken office without winning that state. "I feel like the Republican Party is not my party anymore," Joan Domek, 75, said...

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...

8/17/06Person Of Interest Questioned in Missing Women Case Lubbock PD Several tips helped lead police to a person of interest in the missing women investigation. It was over a week ago when Peggy Merimon and Kay Harrelson went to lunch at the Lubbock State School. Both women were last seen getting into an old gray or white sedan with a man that looked like what police artist sketch. Police did confirm with NewsChannel 11 that the man they interviewed also matched this description. The interview lasted two hours, but the man was let go and is not yet being called a suspect. Police...

Two Lubbock Women Missing & Possibly Endangered     Tonight, two Lubbock women are missing and police say they may be in danger. The two are employees at the Lubbock State School who left for lunch around noon yesterday and never returned. 51-year-old Louetta Kay Harrelson and 61-year-old Peggy Merimon were last seen getting into a car with an unidentified man. NewsChannel 11's Jennifer Vogel spoke with some family members, asking for your help to get their mother and her colleague back home. Peggy Merimon's family tells us she would never go this long without calling her family. They say...

Body of Lubbock Soldier Returns Home The body of fallen soldier Andrew Velez has returned to Lubbock. The military transport plane carrying Velez` body arrived in Lubbock just after 4 p.m. Wednesday. Family members were there to meet the plane, while a hearse transported the body to Resthaven. Meanwhile, members of a radical religious group from Kansas plan to picket Thursday night`s memorial service for Velez. But another group has been invited to help silence the protesters` anti-war message. The Westboro Baptist Church of Topeka, Kansas claims the soldiers are dying because God is punishing America for tolerating homosexuality. As...

Kansas Church to Protest Velez Memorial Church has drawn national attention for signs like "Thank God for IED's". Thursday service will not be peaceful like those held over the past week in Lubbock. Tuesday, August 1, 2006 A group of protesters from the Westboro Baptist Church of Topeka, Kansas, plan to protest a memorial service scheduled for Thursday evening to remember Lubbockite Andrew Velez. 22-year-old Velez died last Monday while serving in Afghanistan. According to a release posted last week on the Defense Department Web site, Velez died of non-combat-related gun fire. His brother, Freddy, died in 2004 while serving...

Fallen brothers gave their all in war and in life BY JASON WOMACKAVALANCHE-JOURNAL The last time Sarah Harris saw Andrew Velez, he was dressed in uniform carrying the casket of his brother. They spoke briefly that day about the war that took Andrew's brother Freddy. "He told me he wanted to go back immediately and finish the job his brother had started," she said. The 22-year-old Army specialist left for Afghanistan in March. On Monday, he was shot and died there. Joe Don Buckner / Staff Velez displays stones that he carried to feel close to his two sons...

(FOX NEWS) - Rabbi Marc Sack drank diet soft drinks, cycled about 70 miles a week, and limited sweets and he struggled with hunger, "a big issue for me was appetite control." But when the weight wasn't coming off, he saw a dietitian who told him to stop the diet soda. "that was a big surprise to me," said Sack. "I thought I was doing something great by only drinking diet coke, and she really caught me off guard with that one." Jennifer Broder Katz is Rabbi Sack's food coach. She says artificial sweeteners like those found in diet sodas...

Mexico's Lopez Obrador loves a good fightMARK STEVENSON Associated Press NACAJUCA, Mexico - The role of a man cheated out of an election comes naturally to Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador. In 1994, after narrowly losing the Tabasco governor's race to Roberto Madrazo, he called on his supporters and governed from the streets, undermining Madrazo's already fragile administration. He at least beat Madrazo this time, in the race for Mexico's president, only to find himself just shy of a victory over ruling party candidate Felipe Calderon. While Calderon begins planning his government, Lopez Obrador is planning what he lives for: a...