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The body of a Lubbock airman is coming home, 35-years after North Vietnamese troops shot down his plane.  First Lieutenant James Larry Hull was a Texas Tech graduate and trained to be a pilot at Reese Air Force Base.  His plane went down over Laos on February 19th, 1971.  Heavy gunfire made it impossible to recover his body, but after 13-years of negotiating with the Laotion government, members of the joint POW/MIA Accounting Command received permission to excavate a known crash site in the mountains.  In May of this year, they found Hull's remains.  Next month the remains will be returned.NewsChannel 11 spoke with Hull's...

Is Natalie Maines betraying her roots with her recent comment about Lubbock, Texas? Yes No

[snip] The lead singer spoke to the Vancouver Sun recently, saying, "but if you live in Lubbock, Texas, where I'm from -- you just have one paper and one radio station and unless you're savvy on the Internet, that's it for you. If Bush said get a gun and kill an Arab, they would do that." It's a comment that isn't sitting well with some Lubbockites.

The city council in Lubbock has called another "Day of Prayer," but this time it's not to seek God's blessing, it's to say thank you. The council had declared a day of prayer and fasting on July 30 to seek God's gift of rain for the region, which had had just 5.71 inches since Jan. 1, according to a report in the Avalanche-Journal. Since then, 6.55 inches of rain has fallen, even triggering some flooding. And now the council has declared Sunday a day of prayer and thanksgiving. "It's not hocus pocus," Mayor David Miller told the newspaper. "It's not...

Who should be governor of Texas? 8:30 CDT Sept. 8, 2006 Carole Keeton Strayhorn --31 percent Richard Friedman -- 43 percent Rick Perry -- 26 percent Democrat Chris Bell not included in the poll

As city expands into their space, prairie dogs find backyard homes Meet the Neighbors BY ROBIN BRISCOE AVALANCHE-JOURNAL A prairie dog peeks his head from his home while hundreds of his friends and family are cozy within a dirt mound below the earth. "We have got hundreds of them right now," Jim Gerlt, executive pastor at Bacon Heights Baptist Church, said, referring to the prairie dog town spanning 33 acres on the land reserved for the church's new building at 110th Street and Slide Road. "Any time you buy land you're going to have prairie dogs," Gerlt said. "That's just...

Prayers for rain answered in West Texas – and how! Reservoirs overflowing 1 month after officials made case to God Posted: September 4, 2006 10:39 p.m. Eastern © 2006 WorldNetDaily.com Heavy rains impact Lubbock, Texas (courtesy KCBD-TV) There was some snickering in certain parts of the country when city officials in the drought-stricken West Texas towns of Lubbock and Rockwall took their case for rain to God in the form of resolutions calling for prayer. While the votes made national news – sometimes in the "quirky" sections of big-city dailies and news services – the results didn't, until now. Within...

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...

The Department of Defense announced Thursday that it is investigating the circumstances surrounding the death of Andrew Velez, a 22-year-old Army specialist from Lubbock. According to a statement issued by Fort Irwin in California, Velez died of a non-combat-related gunshot wound early Monday morning. Velez is the second of two brothers who have died while serving their country. Jose "Freddy" Velez, a 23-year-old Army corporal, was shot and killed in 2004 while fighting in Iraq. He received two Purple Hearts and a Silver and Bronze Star for his bravery. John Wagstaffe, a spokesman for Fort Irwin, said that it may...

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...

LUBBOCK -- Less than two years ago, Roy Velez got the worst news a father could get: His oldest son was dead, killed during combat in Iraq. This week, his pain only deepened with news that his youngest son had died in Afghanistan. Military officials notified the Velez family Tuesday of the death of Army Pfc. Andrew Velez, 22. His brother, Army Spc. Jose A. Velez, 23, died in November 2004 in Fallujah when his unit came under fire while clearing an enemy stronghold. "I can't be angry. I feel like my heart's been pulled out," Roy Velez said Tuesday....

LUBBOCK, Texas, July 24 (UPI) -- Public officials in Lubbock, Texas, are organizing a day to pray for rain. "Nobody is going to tell God what to do and what not to do, but we are in a serious drought in West Texas and since he is the man who controls the rain clouds, we're asking him for his mercy and his help," Mayor David Miller told the Lubbock Avalanche-Journal. The City Council and the Lubbock County commissioners are expected to adopt resolutions this week asking local residents to both pray and fast for rain this Sunday. So far this...

Gubernatorial candidate Bell pays visit to Hub City BY BETH AARON AVALANCHE-JOURNAL Texas schools focus too much on standardized testing, and teacher salaries should be increased, gubernatorial candidate Chris Bell said. Speaking before members of the Texas Sheriff's Association on Monday, Bell, D-Houston, said the state needs to focus on reforming public education and health care and discussed why he supports stem cell research. "We do live in a big state with big dreams, but right now we face big challenges, he said from a podium in the Lubbock Memorial Civic Center Theater. "It's about a new way versus an...

Candidate Kinky holds court at Bleacher's Cafe RUTH BRADLEY AVALANCHE-JOURNAL When Kinky Friedman walked into Bleacher's Sports Cafe Sunday afternoon, a cigar in his mouth, he stopped for a moment to take a picture with a constituent before taking his place on stage next to a sign reading "Keep Austin weird, make Lubbock Kinky." This is not your typical gubernatorial candidate. And that's the way Friedman wants it. "I think that most of us have come to the conclusion that we could use a non-politician to run the state of Texas," he said, a cigar in one hand and a...

Billy Briggs was uncertain how people would respond when he and his wife of 10 years, Katie, wrote "Trouble in the Henhouse," a song which suggests that the Dixie Chicks can find hypocrisy in a mirror. He calls it a response to the Dixie Chicks' "Lubbock or Leave It," a tune the trio described as a musical attack on the "hypocrisy of small towns" - most notably Lubbock. "I don't write novelty songs," said Briggs, 29, whose most recent compositions were for "29 Reasons to Run," an independent film on the festival circuit. "I didn't write 'Trouble in the Henhouse'...

6/13/06 Songwriter Responds to Dixie Chicks 'Lubbock or Leave It'   Get More on KCBD.com   It's no secret the Dixie Chicks have ruffled some tail feathers since their 2003 comment about President Bush. And their latest album 'Taking the Long Way' is targeting Lubbock. You'll recall some radio stations in Lubbock still aren't playing the chicks or their new song, 'Lubbock or Leave It.' Now one singer, songwriter is putting his reaction to the song to music.Billy Briggs is a Lubbock native who now lives in the Dallas area. After reading the lyrics to 'Lubbock or Leave It',...

An amber alert has been issued after a Lubbock police say a four-day old child was taken from her parents. Priscilla Nicole Maldonado was taken from her home around 1 p.m. Sunday afternoon in the 2200 block of 46th Street by a woman who claimed she was a nurse. Priscilla was born Wednesday at UMC. While at the hospital, a woman identifying herself as Lisa Stewart came by the room several times and checked on the baby and visited with the child`s mother, Erica Ysasaga. According to the mother, Stewart was wearing scrubs and gave the appearance of being either...