Lakota Ranch owner Arby Little Soldier says he found the buffalo, named Lightning Medicine Cloud, dead Monday. The buffalo's mother was found dead the next day.

Thousands attended a naming ceremony last year to celebrate the unusual calf's May 12 birth.

According to Lakota Sioux lore, the goddess of peace once appeared in the form of a white buffalo calf.

Arby Little Soldier says the calf "was the hope of all nations." He said a birthday celebration planned this month will be a memorial instead.

Hunt County sheriff's officials didn't immediately return calls seeking comment.

Arby Little Soldier says a $5,000 reward for information is being offered.

And on another subject....

Deion Sanders, former wide receiver for the Dallas Cowboys, and his wife Pilar are currently locked in a nasty divorce trial in Collin County.  The couple have lived in Plano, an affluent Dallas suburb, for a number of years.

Dr. Lisa Cheryl Thomas testified today about an April 23 altercation at the couple's house. She said she was there for the children's piano lessons. She said the oldest boy let her into the house and as they stood in the doorway, Thomas said she heard a loud scream from Pilar Sanders in the area of the master bedroom. She said the boy immediately became upset and told her this wasn't a good day for lessons.

Thomas said she heard glass breaking and scuffling in the hallway. "Deion was screaming over and over 'Get out of my house! Get out of my house!' " Thomas testified.

Thomas said she didn't see either Deion or Pilar Sanders in the house while she at door with the boy. "I just kept standing there, and he kept begging me to go," she testified.  

Evidently not the first time something like this had happened.

More good news:  A social worker has filed suit against Parkland Hospital--you may remember it's the hospital where JFK was taken after being shot --for wrongful termination.  The hospital has been beset with problems in recent months, with lawsuits and warnings from the Texas Department of Health to upgrade its patient care or face being shut  down.

Longtime social worker Sandra Palmer says her bosses told her last fall "to start transcribing medication vouchers," "discussing medication options with doctors," "identifying low-price generics" and discussing drug interactions with patients. "Not being a nurse, Palmer questioned whether this practice is outside the scope of her certification" and unsafe. She asked supervisors for documentation from state regulators "that it is okay for a social worker to transcribe prescription vouchers." The bosses "were unable to produce any document" and ordered her to do the work.

The Texas Department of State Health Services says social workers aren't allowed to do what Palmer's suit describes.

"It's never appropriate for a social worker to transcribe medication vouchers or to make recommendations regarding medication options or dosages," DSHS spokeswoman Christine Mann told me in an email. "It is not within the scope of practice."

Palmer's suit says that on Dec. 20, she complained in writing to Dr. Thomas Royer (above right), Parkland's interim CEO. "Royer responded that Palmer should not engage in any activities that could endanger patients' lives and that his senior management team would immediately look into Palmer's concerns." 

That same day, four managers allegedly met with her, including associate chief nursing officer John Wood III and Miriam Sibley, who was on her way out as chief nursing officer. "At the end of the meeting, Palmer was directed to continue transcribing prescription vouchers."

The next day, Palmer filed complaints with state regulators and the Joint Commission, an accreditation agency. Afterward, she was fired -- in violation, her suit says, of the state law that prohibits retaliation against "a public employee who in good faith reports a violation of law."

Parkland officials declined to answer questions about the Palmer case or any other litigation. But they did issue a statement saying that "we have confidence in the justice system" and expect courts "will arrive at the right result."

At least two other Parkland employees have recently  filed suit against the hospital for either wrongful termination or discrimination.  The same day Palmer's attorney filed her suit, a wrongful death suit also hit the hospital involving care for a Dallas County inmate sent there, where he expired.

Finally, if you still haven't had enough good news in my Friday report, the Dallas Mavericks are now down 0-3 in the playoffs to the OKC Thunder.  Course, I can't lose on that deal!