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Is Lubbock ready to hear the Dixie Chicks? Two Lubbock country stations disagree over the controversy. Tonight, NewsChannel 11 wants to hear from you. Vote on our online poll, and tonight we'll show the lyrics to their new single.

Story last updated at 4:36 a.m. Saturday, March 4, 2006 Early voting wraps up, draws 'strong turnout' BY ELLIOTT BLACKBURN AVALANCHE-JOURNAL Turnout for Lubbock County early voting was higher than normal but not record-setting, according to numbers released Friday night. Just under 12,000 voters had cast ballots at early election polling stations before voting ended at 7 p.m. Friday. That accounts for less than 8 percent of the 155,000 registered voters in Lubbock County. Those were good numbers, Lubbock County Republican Party Chairman Robert Pratt said. "It's a good, strong turnout," Pratt said. "But it's not a record for the...

There has been some sort of explosion near 82nd and I-27 at a propane station. NewsChannel 11 is continuing to unravel the details right now. We know that traffic is being diverted on the interstate right now and it is urged that you avoid that area. Authorities tell us that people need to stay inside their cars and not to approach the fire. NewsChannel 11 currently has multiple crews on the scene looking for answers as to what caused the explosions and if there has been any injuries. We will have the latest on this developing news story tonight on...

Brother of Fallen Soldier Called To Iraq "Greater love hath no man than this that a man lay down his life for his friends.," says Roy Velez. More than a year after burying his oldest son, Roy is dealing with a new heartache. He says, "Andrew called and said 'Dad, I've got some news you're not gonna like.' He said 'I'm going back Daddy.'"The U.S. Military once again called on the service of his son army specialist Andrew Velez. Roy says, "My reaction was, it sucks during his first tour of duty in Iraq Andrew had to bring home a...

School finance issue at root of Jones challenge BY ELLIOTT BLACKBURN AVALANCHE-JOURNAL Challengers are assailing one local incumbent for his support of several bills last legislative session, but it is one issue in particular that has the veteran legislator on the chopping block, according to political observers throughout the state. State Rep. Delwin Jones, R-Lubbock, broke ranks last year to vote against a tax bill changing the school finance structure. The bill was supported by the rest of the Lubbock legislative delegation and most Republicans. He voted in support of a Democratic alternative to the bill. That sealed it for...

Laney put off by today's Texas politics BY D. LANCE LUNSFORD AVALANCHE-JOURNAL Former Texas House Speaker Pete Laney, D-Hale Center, spent more than 30 years engaged in the daily wrangling and haggling over legislation, but his last years to serve have never been more contentious, he said Wednesday. Political campaigns waging war on the South Plains show the growing political partisanship in Austin throughout the last few years, said Laney. "It didn't used to be that way," he said. "We take pride in the fact that we handled our business in Texas differently than they did in other states." Noting...

A Lubbock state representative has been called up to deploy to the Middle East. Rep. Carl Isett, R-Lubbock, will serve as part of Operation Iraqi Freedom and "assume a leadership role" in the creation of a new U.S. Navy logistics battalion, according to a statement from his office. Isett is a commissioned officer in the U.S. Navy Reserve. He will serve as executive officer of a new 445 Navy Reserve Logistics battalion that will operate in several locations in Kuwait and Iraq, according to the statement. The representative will deploy within the "next several weeks" and is expected to spend...

1959: Buddy Holly killed in air crash Three young rock 'n' roll stars have been killed in a plane crash in the United States. Buddy Holly, 22, Jiles P Richardson - known as the Big Bopper - 28, and Ritchie Valens, 17, died in a crash shortly after take-off from Clear Lake, Iowa at 0100 local time. The pilot of the single-engined Beechcraft Bonanza plane was also killed. Early reports from the scene suggest the aircraft spun out of control during a light snowstorm. Only the pilot's body was found inside the wreckage as the performers were thrown clear on...

The Dixie Chicks are raising a rukus again. This time they are using Lubbock's name.The Chicks new album contains a song called 'Lubbock or Lave It.' It criticizes local radio stations who boycotted their music after the trio made anti-Bush remarks at a concert three years ago.Another song called 'Not Ready to Make Nice' is about the backlash they recieved from the Bush comments.The album is due out in April.

Perry talks up conservatism in campaign kickoff BY JOHN REYNOLDS AVALANCHE-JOURNAL Gov. Rick Perry kicked off his re-election campaign in the Hub City on Tuesday morning, saying he's the only conservative in the race for governor. "My friends, there will be only one conservative on the ballot this November," he told an enthusiastic crowd of about 100 on the Texas Tech campus. "The promise I have kept, and that I renew to you today is this - I will not only campaign as a conservative, I will continue to govern as a conservative," he said. Perry is seeking a second...

Laney plans end of distinguished political career BY JOHN REYNOLDS AVALANCHE-JOURNAL State Rep. Pete Laney, D-Hale Center, won't run for re-election next year, closing the curtain on a 33-year legislative career that included a record-tying 10 years as House speaker. He didn't go into specifics Friday on his decision to leave. "I think it was time, there's no particular reason," he said. "There are other things I may want to do with my life." The 62-year-old cotton farmer and grandfather of four has spent more than half his life as a state representative. He was first elected in 1972, knocking...

Three people are in custody Wednesday morning after Lubbock police discovered the possible makings of a meth lab and explosive devices. NewsChannel 11's Suleika Acosta uncovers the details.At around 7:30 Tuesday night officers stopped a truck near the Driftwood Apartments located at 5800 Toledo. They searched the vehicle and found what looked like a mobile meth lab. That's not all officers found. They also discovered what appeared to be two pipe bombs, one in the bed and one behind the seat of the truck. Officers called in the bomb squad to assist. The squad removed the devices with a special...

WASHINGTON - David Miller looked relieved. After weeks of preparing slides, videos and speeches for this moment, the work was finally done - at least for now. In front of President Bush's chief of staff, Andrew Card, advisers Karl Rove and Harriet Miers and even the president's brother Marvin, Miller and 19 West Texas representatives finally had the opportunity on Wednesday morning to make the case about why Texas Tech should be home to the George W. Bush Presidential Library. In the 21/2-hour presentation at the prominent Washington hotel The Mayflower, Tech Chancellor David Smith, President Jon Whitmore and others...

A personal diary can be powerful reading and Wednesday at Texas Tech, the Tram family was moved to tears. A U.S. soldier saved Doctor Dang Thuy Tram's diaries after she was killed in the Vietnam War and, after all these years, her family read them for the first time Wednesday. Thuy's Sister Kim describes her sister saying, "My sister was a very gentle girl and liked music and painting." Thuy was a Vietnamese physician in her late twenties when she left for her country's war-torn jungles in winter of 1966. Her sister Phuong recalls it was a very cold winter...

Police Looking for Suspected "Peeping Tom" Police say he's been looking in windows across Lubbock and they need your help in finding him. Police are calling Pedro Gonzales a "peeping Tom." He's accused of looking through windows. He is 6' tall and weighs 260 pounds. He has black hair and brown eyes. Gonzales has the letter "P" tattooed on his left thumb. He also has a spider tattooed on his left wrist, and a cat on his right. One Lubbock family has been on the lookout for this suspected "Peeping Tom" since May. "We walked out around 6 a.m. and...

City officials learned early Thursday morning that the state plans to fly as many 2,000 Hurricane Rita evacuees to Lubbock some time today. The first plane, believed to be a Boeing 737 carrying about 130 people from Beaumont, is expected to land between 2 p.m. and 3 p.m. today at the Lubbock Preston Smith International Airport. City officials do not yet have an exact arrival time. Aviation Director James Loomis said the airport's control tower will give city officials at least 30 minutes notice of the plane's arrival. Mayor Pro Tem Tom Martin said the city expects most of the...

It`s an effort others have taken on before. Now a Texas Tech student has started a website about the latest efforts to bring alcohol into the city limits. So how is this effort different from past ones? Well, instead of going after a city-wide vote, this group is targeting individual precincts. Royce Watson, 21, created the "Make Lubbock Wet" website. He says it all started out as a site where people could voice their opinions but now has gained momentum and has become a movement. This is the latest of several attempts to bring alcohol sales into the city limits....

LUBBOCK — Desmond Bemiss stood at the open doors of the yellow school bus and watched three of his children get aboard for their first day of school. Bemiss had been up since 5 a.m. His 5-year-old daughter, Dachannice, woke him as she often did in their home on Urseline Street in New Orleans. None of the Bemisses, 20 of them in all, had slept much the night before or the nights before that. Even when some of the lights were turned out, the conversations, televisions and boom boxes made the old Air Force hangar roar again into the early...

Storm survivors are quickly becoming Lubbock residents. The city and Worksource held a job and apartment fair today to try and get a more stable living condition for survivors planning on staying in the area. NewsChannel 11 was at the job fair and spoke with families moving into Lubbock for shelter, and now making it their homes. Day five, and spirits were high. "I'm having fun, I'm enjoying myself in Lubbock, Texas." When Keith Kelsey got to Reese Center on Sunday, he didn't even know what city he was in. "They said we were going to Texas. I said Dallas?...

For many victims of Hurricane Katrina, an exodus from Lubbock may be days away. A fourth of about 400 New Orleans residents driven here by Hurricane Katrina will be reunited with their families through donated Southwest Airlines tickets. "The Southwest tickets have allowed us to take care of people that need immediate attention," Lubbock American Red Cross Chairman Greg Bruce said. Volunteers identified the residents - who could join family members or who had medical needs - as candidates for the tickets. Already 20 residents have left Lubbock on the tickets: Six left by 1 p.m. Wednesday and another 14...