The Ledger is Lubbock Lights’ daily digest of the news that matters to Lubbock and the South Plains — our reporting first, then short summaries of stories reported by other newsrooms, each linked to its source. How we build it →
Daily Ledger
Daily digest straight from the source
Sunday, October 18, 2026
The lead · Oct 18
New Lubbock Lights guide shows Lubbock County voters their exact ballot and lets them mark and print it for the polls
Lubbock Lights on Sunday, Oct. 18, launched a free Elections 2026 guide that shows Lubbock County voters the official sample ballot for their voting precinct, lets them mark their choices and prints a copy to carry into the booth. Voters find their ballot by home address or three-digit precinct number, and Lubbock Lights says it never sees the address.
The guide maps all 21 early voting sites and 36 Election Day vote centers, lists the acceptable forms of photo ID and sends one Election Day reminder by email. Early voting runs Monday, Oct. 19, through Friday, Oct. 30, and Election Day is Tuesday, Nov. 3. Lubbock Lights, a nonprofit newsroom, endorses no candidate or proposition.
Sources Lubbock Lights
More Local
Early voting in the Nov. 3 election opens Monday at 21 Lubbock County sites, including 12 grocery stores
Early voting for the Nov. 3 general election runs Monday, Oct. 19, through Friday, Oct. 30, at 21 Lubbock County locations, according to the county elections office's official notice, which Lubbock Lights' voter guide lists in full. Hours are 8 a.m. to 8 p.m., except noon to 6 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 25.
The main site is the Lubbock County Elections Office at 1308 Crickets Ave. Other sites include eight United Supermarkets, an Amigos and three Market Street stores in Lubbock; community sites in Abernathy, Idalou, New Deal, Shallowater and Slaton; the Casey Administration Building in Wolfforth; the Roosevelt ISD gym; and Texas Tech's Student Recreation Center. Mail-ballot applications are due Friday, Oct. 23.
Sources Lubbock Lights
Texas Tech climbed to No. 8 in the AP poll after its 53-25 homecoming rout of Arizona State
Texas Tech rose two spots to No. 8 in the AP poll released Sunday, Oct. 18, and four spots to No. 5 in the coaches poll, a day after its 53-25 homecoming win over Arizona State, KCBD reported. The Red Raiders (6-0, 3-0 Big 12) led 43-10 at halftime Saturday and drew one first-place AP vote in a week when five top-seven teams lost.
Tech plays at Cincinnati on Saturday, Oct. 24, at 11 a.m. Central on FS1, its first trip to Nippert Stadium. The Red Raiders' 12 straight home wins set up a chance to match the program record, set from 1939 to 1942, against Arizona in Lubbock on Oct. 31.
Sources Texas Tech Athletics · KCBD · KCBD
One person was seriously hurt in a crash near 34th Street and Loop 289 on Saturday afternoon
Two people were injured, one seriously, in a crash near 34th Street and Loop 289 in Lubbock on Saturday afternoon, Oct. 17, KCBD reported. Emergency crews were called to the scene at about 4:21 p.m., and the second person's injuries were described as minor.
Crews worked to clear the roadway, and drivers were urged to use caution in the area while it was blocked. The cause of the crash had not been released Saturday evening, and KCBD said the story was still developing; it did not identify those involved.
Sources KCBD
Action PrintingA 22-year-old Lubbock coach was arrested on child indecency and online solicitation charges
A 22-year-old Lubbock coach was arrested Thursday, Oct. 15, by the U.S. Marshals and charged with indecency with a child and online solicitation of a minor, EverythingLubbock reported Sunday, citing court documents. Lubbock police received a third-party report Sept. 24 from a friend of the juvenile victim about an inappropriate relationship.
According to the affidavit, contact that began in July with calls and texts moved from basketball to personal and sexual conversations and included an encounter at Bill and Ann Miller Park around July 22. The man denied being more than a mentor. He was held on a $150,000 bond and has since bonded out.
Sources EverythingLubbock
Lamesa-born actor Barry Corbin was honored by Lubbock, Lamesa and Sen. Charles Perry during Texas Tech homecoming
Actor Barry Corbin, a Lamesa native and Lubbock Monterey High School graduate, was honored with proclamations from Lubbock Mayor Mark McBrayer, Lamesa Mayor Hayden Davis and state Sen. Charles Perry while in Lubbock this weekend for Texas Tech's homecoming, KCBD reported Saturday night. Corbin is known for playing Maurice Minnifield on Northern Exposure, Bob Davis in Urban Cowboy and Coach Whitey on One Tree Hill.
Corbin studied theater arts at Texas Tech, left for two years of service in the U.S. Marine Corps and returned before starting his career as a Shakespearean actor on Broadway and in regional theater in the 1960s. He called the hometown recognition the ultimate compliment and said the South Plains will always be home.
Sources KCBD
State
Texas schools referred children ages 10 to 13 for prosecution more than 47,000 times since 2014, an investigation found
Texas school districts referred children ages 10 to 13 for prosecution more than 47,000 times since 2014, including about 4,800 in 2024-25 alone, a third more than a decade earlier, according to a New York Times and San Antonio Express-News analysis the Texas Tribune published Sunday, Oct. 18. Most of the children were accused of minor offenses such as threats, vaping or lashing out at classmates or teachers.
About 60 districts drove the increase, many after adding officers following the 2022 Uvalde shooting. State Rep. Joe Moody, an El Paso Democrat who cosponsored the 2023 law requiring an officer at every school, called the trend alarming and said he will push for limits when the Legislature convenes in January.
Sources The Texas Tribune · KPRC (Click2Houston)
Paxton and Talarico both pitch relief from rising energy prices and data-center costs in the Senate race's final weeks
With early voting opening Monday, Oct. 19, Republican Ken Paxton and Democrat James Talarico are both campaigning on lowering energy costs in their close U.S. Senate race, according to a Capital & Main report co-published Sunday by The Texas Tribune. Both back making data centers pay for their own power infrastructure and repealing their sales tax exemptions, and both would end the federal gas tax, Talarico temporarily and Paxton permanently.
Talarico's campaign noted that Paxton voted for the data-center exemptions as a state senator in 2013. Talarico also wants local say over data-center permits. Paxton's campaign did not respond to requests for comment on his energy positions.
Sources The Texas Tribune
U.S. & World
Trump waived the new Russia sanctions days before they took effect, drawing criticism from Cruz, Haley and both parties in Congress
President Donald Trump signed an executive order late Friday, Oct. 16, waiving sanctions and tariffs on Russia under the Graham Act, a law he signed last month that authorized tariffs of up to 100% on goods from major buyers of Russian oil and gas and was due to take effect Sunday. Trump said the waiver serves U.S. national interests and called it "a very good decision."
On Saturday, Texas Sen. Ted Cruz said on Fox News that the waiver was a mistake, Nikki Haley called it a terrible misjudgment of Putin, and Sens. Thom Tillis and Rick Scott and Democratic leader Chuck Schumer also criticized it. Congress is out until after the Nov. 3 election.
Sources Fox Business · PBS NewsHour (AP)
People were killed and injured in an incident that set off a major fire at Canada's CFB Wainwright military base
An incident at Canadian Forces Base Wainwright in Alberta, one of Canada's busiest military training bases, killed and injured an unspecified number of people and sparked a major fire Saturday, Oct. 17, Defense Minister David McGuinty said. The fire spread beyond the base into the surrounding area, driven by high winds, and was still burning Saturday evening, though local officials issued no evacuation orders.
McGuinty said he could not recall an incident like it and that an investigation would be launched; the military said casualty numbers would not be released until next of kin were told. Prime Minister Mark Carney and Alberta Premier Danielle Smith offered condolences. The base sits about 130 miles east of Edmonton.
Duffy Law Firm, PCA 6-year-old boy and a man were killed when a truck drove onto a youth soccer field in Wichita, Kansas
A 6-year-old boy and a 35-year-old man, both from McPherson, Kansas, were killed and 11 other people were taken to hospitals, including five children, when a truck drove onto a soccer field during a game at Wichita's Stryker Sports Complex on Saturday afternoon, Oct. 17, police said. The two killed were not related.
Wichita Police Capt. Aaron Moses said the driver, a 34-year-old Garden City woman with a child playing at the complex on another field, was taken into custody. Police have not said whether the crash was intentional or caused by a medical emergency or other factor. The state high school association suspended its girls flag football championship being played nearby.
Sources Fox News · KCBD (Gray News)
'No Kings' rallies across the country Saturday urged voters to cast ballots early, though some protesters defied nonpartisan rules
Rallies organized by the No Kings network opposed to President Donald Trump were held Saturday, Oct. 17, in hundreds of cities, with organizers urging people to vote early in the Nov. 3 midterm elections. Events billed as nonpartisan drew crowds at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, in Atlanta, in New York and elsewhere.
Fox News found protesters in Alexandria, Virginia, openly urging people to vote for Democrats despite the national organizers' written rules against partisan messages, which are tied to federal laws governing the nonprofits funding the events. In Atlanta, City Councilman Michael Julian Bond told the crowd that voting is the one power the Constitution gives everyone and urged them to use it.
Sources Fox News · PBS NewsHour (AP)
Rioters burned the 1883 Limoges town hall as France's cost-of-living protests entered a fourth week
Rioters set fire to the historic town hall in Limoges, France, on Saturday, Oct. 17, leaving the 1883 building "largely lost," with its roof collapsed, according to local prefect Maurice Barate, who called it a deliberate act and a catastrophe for heritage. More than half a million people joined more than 100 marches across France over the cost of living, and about 400 were arrested, Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez said.
Masked groups also tried to break into city halls in Lille and Calais and a police station in Brest. President Emmanuel Macron, who leaves office in six months, said there is no place for violence and that those who attacked prefectures, businesses and town halls will be prosecuted.
Sources Fox News
Masked settlers attacked European diplomats in the West Bank village of Taybeh during the olive harvest
Masked Israeli settlers wielding metal bars attacked a group of European diplomats visiting the Christian village of Taybeh in the occupied West Bank on Saturday, Oct. 17, the second straight day of violence during the olive harvest. Belgian Foreign Minister Maxime Prevot said Belgium's consul general, French and Polish diplomats and Catholic representatives were targeted, and he pledged to push for more European Union sanctions.
Bernard Baudoux, a French mayor visiting to formalize a twinning agreement, said he was struck and kicked but was fine. The Palestinian Health Ministry says at least four people have been killed and more than 100 injured since the harvest began this month.
Sources PBS NewsHour (AP)
