Federal, state and local firefighters and area ranch owners are gearing up for a day of extremely critical wildfire danger as hot, dry winds sweep across West Texas this afternoon. The forecast appears similar to the dry, windy conditions on Feb. 27, said Timothy Evans, a U.S. Forest Service employee working as a prevention and public information officer for the Texas Forest Service. That day, fast-moving wildfires charred about 40,000 acres in Motley County and portions of Garza and Hockley counties, destroyed structures and incurred expensive ranch losses.

Despite early estimates of record cotton production, reports show the 2010 cotton crop was the third-largest in history for the Texas High Plains and Lubbock County. The High Plains produced about 5.33 million bales, 456,100 of which came from Lubbock County last year, according to U.S. Department of Agriculture National Agricultural Statistics Service reports. Lubbock County came in as the second-highest cotton-producing county in 2010 for the fourth consecutive year. Hale County was first for the third year in a row with 475,500 bales last year.

  LITTLEFIELD - The white Discus 2B glider fights against the strong winds and blowing dust as the tow plane pulls the glider up into the West Texas sky. From his laptop, Lt. Col. Mark Matticola of the U.S. Army Reserve tracks the flight of his cadet as he soars and practices his gliding skills over the South Plains. That was how Matticola, a civilian squadron instructor, and his U.S. Air Force Academy cross-country soaring team spent the past two weeks during their annual spring cross-country camp at the Littlefield Municipal Airport.

The passage of the hot-button voter identification legislation in the Texas House on Monday stirred up strong feelings not only in Austin, but also in the South Plains. The Texas House passed the bill, 98-46, that would require registered voters to show valid photo identification before casting their ballots. Gov. Rick Perry’s signature will mark a victory for Republicans on an issue that has split along partisan lines for years.