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
Saturday, October 24, 2026
The lead · Oct 24
Jason Corley says his text to Kent Hance led to his 'illegal' removal from the Precinct 2 seat
Lubbock County Commissioner Jason Corley told Lubbock Lights on Friday, Oct. 23, that a Nov. 14, 2025, text he sent former Texas Tech Chancellor Kent Hance led County Judge Curtis Parrish to remove him and appoint Mark Meurer last December. Corley says Hance forwarded the message, in which Corley said he was running for Congress, to Parrish. Lubbock Lights has not verified that it was forwarded and has asked Hance for comment.
The dispute turns on timing under the Texas Constitution's resign-to-run rule. On Nov. 14 more than a year and 30 days remained in Corley's term; by his public announcement Dec. 2, there was not. Parrish declared the seat vacant Dec. 8, and Corley sued Meurer that day.
Sources Lubbock Lights
More Local
Gov. Greg Abbott will hold a get-out-the-vote event in Lubbock on Friday, Oct. 30
Gov. Greg Abbott will visit Lubbock on Friday, Oct. 30, the last day of early voting, for a get-out-the-vote event, a source close to the governor's office told Lubbock Lights on Friday. An online invitation lists a 12:15 p.m. start at The Funky Door Bistro & Wine Room, 6801 Milwaukee Ave. Abbott's campaign had not independently confirmed the appearance.
The TicketLeap listing names Texans for Greg Abbott as the organizer and describes a free, family-friendly event with food and light refreshments, where Abbott will discuss the election and encourage Republican turnout. It was not immediately clear whether attendance is by invitation only. Election Day is Tuesday, Nov. 3.
Sources Lubbock Lights
Los Hermanos Familia is seeking Flock camera footage after thieves cut through security to take its fishing-event trailer
Los Hermanos Familia is working with Lubbock police and collecting neighbors' surveillance video after thieves cut through its security to steal a trailer of equipment for its free "Vamos a Pescar, Let's Go Fishing" event, Christy Martinez-Garcia told Lubbock Lights in a story published Friday, Oct. 23. Footage indicates the theft happened around 3:30 a.m., but no readable license plate has turned up, and the group hopes the city's Flock cameras caught something.
The trailer held about 200 fishing poles, tents, tables and a World War II tent used since the event began 18 years ago. Replacing it would cost an estimated $18,000 to $20,000. The nonprofit's board will discuss insurance and whether to seek donations.
Sources Lubbock Lights · KCBD
Storms move in Saturday night, with the best rain chances Sunday and Monday
Saturday should stay mostly dry and reach the mid to upper 70s before showers and storms developing near the Texas-New Mexico border spread east into the South Plains Saturday night, KCBD's forecast said Friday evening, Oct. 23. A slow-moving storm system over Arizona is pulling moisture into the region.
The severe threat is low, but a few storms could produce locally heavy rain. Sunday and Monday bring the best chances for widespread storms, along with cooler temperatures. The National Weather Service had no active alerts for Lubbock County early Saturday. Weather should not be a factor for Texas Tech's 11 a.m. kickoff at Cincinnati, forecast to start sunny and 61 degrees.
Sources KCBD
Duffy Law Firm, PCFormer Texas Tech professor Daniel Taylor was sentenced to 40 years for making and selling fentanyl, including 'pink flamingo'
Daniel Taylor, 51, a former assistant professor of supply chain management at Texas Tech's Rawls College of Business, was sentenced Friday, Oct. 23, to 40 years in federal prison for manufacturing and distributing fentanyl, KCBD reported. U.S. District Judge James Wesley Hendrix imposed the 480-month sentence.
Taylor pleaded guilty July 1 to conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute 40 grams or more of fentanyl. Court documents say he began distributing fentanyl powder in the Lubbock area while on the faculty, including a pink-dyed mixture he branded "pink flamingo." U.S. Attorney Ryan Raybould thanked the agents and prosecutors who worked the case.
Sources KCBD · EverythingLubbock
The Red Steagall Institute at Texas Tech's ranching heritage center has raised $22 million and opened fundraising to the public
The Ranching Heritage Association said Friday, Oct. 23, it has raised more than $22 million from more than 150 donors, 75% of the $28 million needed to build the Red Steagall Institute for Traditional Western Arts at Texas Tech's National Ranching Heritage Center, and is now opening fundraising to the public. Groundbreaking is planned for summer 2027.
The institute will offer hands-on instruction from master artists in leatherwork, metalworking, painting, sculpture, songwriting and poetry. About $6 million remains to be raised before construction can begin. Jim Bret Campbell, executive director of the center and the association, thanked the donors who carried the effort's leadership phase.
Sources KCBD
Canyon's bond-funded animal shelter and fire station will cost more than planned, while the police station remodel comes in $2 million under
Canyon City Commission members heard updated cost estimates Tuesday, Oct. 20, for projects in the $14 million public safety bond voters passed in 2025, the Amarillo Tribune reported Friday. The police station renovation is now estimated at just over $2.2 million, about $2 million below the original estimate, because its mechanical systems are in excellent condition.
The animal shelter is now estimated at $1.6 million, up from $600,000, and the fire station remodel at $5.7 million, more than $1.5 million over the original figure, with $1.4 million from a USDA grant. The police and shelter projects begin immediately; the fire station work starts next spring. The fire department already unveiled a new $1.1 million engine this month.
Sources Amarillo Tribune
Levelland office manager Lori Ann Vega-Bermea was sentenced to 46 months for taking $380,000 from an oil company
Lori Ann Vega-Bermea, 50, was sentenced Friday, Oct. 23, to 46 months in federal prison for bank fraud and unauthorized transactions with an access device after embezzling from a Levelland oil and gas company, EverythingLubbock reported. Court documents say R.E. Bullin Operating hired her as office manager and gave her access to its bank account and debit cards in January 2025.
She used company money for rent, utilities, checks to her husband and children, and casinos and resorts in other states, about $380,373 in all, and admitted it when confronted, according to the documents. Levelland police arrested her in December 2025. She must pay $711,752.62 in restitution.
Sources EverythingLubbock
Amarillo police are asking for information after Bradley Thompson, 48, was shot and killed Thursday night
Amarillo police found Bradley Thompson, 48, with multiple gunshot wounds in the 4000 block of South Polk Street around 9 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 22, and he was pronounced dead at the scene, the Amarillo Tribune reported Friday. Officers learned a small SUV of unknown color was seen leaving the area.
No suspect had been identified, and the investigation is continuing. Police ask anyone with information, including surveillance or video footage from the surrounding area, to call the Amarillo Police Department's Homicide Unit at 806-378-9468.
Sources Amarillo Tribune
Frenship High School associate principal Elisha Reese was named Texas' top high school assistant principal
Elisha Reese, associate principal at Frenship High School, has been named the Texas Association of Secondary School Principals' Overall High School Assistant Principal of the Year, KCBD reported Friday, Oct. 23. The statewide award puts her in consideration for the national high school assistant principal of the year honor.
Reese began at Frenship in 2003 as a classroom teacher and has spent her whole career in the district, serving in several roles. She called the recognition humbling and said she owes it to the colleagues who shaped her as an educator and leader. TASSP selects its winners from finalists representing the state's 20 regions.
Sources KCBD
Advanced GraphixTexas Tech men's basketball lost 76-65 to Kentucky in its final exhibition before the season
No. 19 Texas Tech fell 76-65 to No. 23 Kentucky in an exhibition Friday night, Oct. 23, at Rupp Arena in Lexington, its last preseason game before the 2026-27 season. Damarion Dennis and Donovan Atwell led the Red Raiders with 11 points each, Cruz Davis had 10 points and seven assists, Bassala Bagayoko added 10 points and Josiah Moseley grabbed 10 rebounds.
Tech shot 8 of 30 from 3-point range and went 5 of 6 at the free-throw line while Kentucky made 19 of 22. Five Wildcats scored in double figures, led by Milan Momcilovic with 15. Coach Grant McCasland said Kentucky's length bothered his team and the emphasis now is staying connected when things go bad.
Sources Texas Tech Athletics
No. 8 Texas Tech plays at Cincinnati at 11 a.m. Saturday, chasing a 12th straight regular-season win
Unbeaten No. 8 Texas Tech (6-0, 3-0 Big 12) plays Cincinnati (4-2, 1-2) at 11 a.m. Central on Saturday, Oct. 24, at Nippert Stadium on FS1, its first trip to the city, KCBD reported. The Red Raiders bring an 11-game regular-season winning streak.
Coach Joey McGuire said running for 150-plus yards would let Tech control the clock, and he praised Cincinnati's offensive line and fifth-year quarterback JC French IV. Defensive coordinator Shiel Wood said the Bearcats lean on runs, play action and bootlegs on early downs. The programs share an offseason storyline: former Cincinnati quarterback Brendan Sorsby transferred to Tech before leaving for the NFL supplemental draft, which the league declined to hold.
Sources KCBD
High school football: No. 3 Lubbock-Cooper Liberty routed Estacado 63-18, and Lubbock High beat Frenship Memorial
Unbeaten No. 3 Lubbock-Cooper Liberty (8-0, 2-0 district) beat Estacado (8-1, 2-1) 63-18 before a sellout crowd Friday night, Oct. 23, KCBD reported. Liberty visits Levelland next week; Estacado is off before hosting Levelland. Lubbock High (3-5) won its second straight, 45-31 over Frenship Memorial (1-7), with Nathan Johnson and JD Morton scoring for the Westerners, who face first-place Amarillo next Friday.
Monterey (3-5) lost its third straight, 48-28 to Abilene, and visits Frenship next week in a game with playoff implications. Lubbock-Cooper fell 42-3 at Abilene Wylie for its seventh loss and hosts Wichita Falls Memorial on Senior Night next Friday.
State
The 5th Circuit ruled 10-7 that immigrants who entered illegally have no right to bond while in ICE custody
Immigrants who entered the country illegally have no right to seek bond while detained in deportation proceedings, even if they have put down roots in the U.S., the full 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled 10-7 Friday, Oct. 23, the Texas Tribune reported. The court covers Texas.
Judge Cory Wilson wrote that people not legally admitted are entitled only to the rights Congress grants in immigration law, and that detainees can be free "at any moment by agreeing to leave the country." Judge Andrew Oldham concurred. In dissent, Judge Leslie Southwick said the ruling walls off long-term residents from the Constitution. Rebecca Cassler of the American Immigration Council, who argued the case, called it an attack on due process.
Sources The Texas Tribune
Attorney General Ken Paxton sued OpenAI and Sam Altman, alleging ChatGPT has harmed Texans
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton filed a lawsuit Friday, Oct. 23, in Collin County district court against OpenAI and its CEO, Sam Altman, alleging the company has deceived Texans and failed to protect users, including children, from harms of its ChatGPT chatbot. The suit says the AI industry's gains came from a "web of deceit and the exploitation of users."
Paxton, the Republican nominee for U.S. Senate, is seeking a broad injunction that would require OpenAI to block minors from the product and get approval from a court-appointed evaluator before releasing new models. In the past year his office has sued or settled with Meta, TikTok, Snapchat and Roblox under state consumer protection laws.
Sources The Texan · The Texas Tribune
Records show Ken and Angela Paxton's blind trust put $600,000 into a convicted fraudster's business
A blind trust meant to separate Attorney General Ken Paxton and state Sen. Angela Paxton from their investments put $600,000 into a construction materials business run by North Texas home builder Scott Sherman four years after he finished a federal prison sentence for mortgage fraud, the Texas Tribune and ProPublica reported Friday, Oct. 23, citing previously unreleased records from the 2023 impeachment investigation.
The records show the trust was far from blind, the outlets reported. Sherman's companies, Wildcatter Sand Services and Grayson County Sand and Gravel, later stopped paying some local taxes, including to school districts, while wiring the Paxtons tens of thousands of dollars around his impeachment. Paxton was acquitted and faces Democrat James Talarico for U.S. Senate.
Sources The Texas Tribune
Mullin Hoard & Brown, LLPTexas SNAP enrollment fell to 2.8 million, a 17-year low, as federal rules tighten and the state falls behind on applications
About 2.8 million Texans were enrolled in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program in September, the fewest since August 2009 and down 20.8% from a year earlier, the steepest annual drop in two decades, the Texas Tribune reported Friday, Oct. 23, citing Texas Health and Human Services Commission data. Experts tie the drop to new federal work requirements and error-rate penalties.
The state processed only 64% of SNAP applications on time in September, down from 91% a year earlier; federal rules require 95% or the state risks losing funding. Celia Cole, CEO of Feeding Texas, said people are not leaving because they no longer need help, and that food banks are seeing record need.
Sources The Texas Tribune
Texas Juvenile Justice Department Executive Director Shandra Carter resigned
Shandra Carter stepped down Friday, Oct. 23, as executive director of the Texas Juvenile Justice Department, which runs the state's five youth prisons, a role she had held since 2022, the Texas Tribune reported. Her reason was not immediately clear; the move came about two months after the agency put all its youth prisons on extended lockdown following an assault on a correctional officer in August.
Deputy Executive Director Sean Grove will serve as interim leader while the board plans a search, Board Chair Manny Ramirez said, thanking Carter for her service. Carter took the job on an interim basis in April 2022, when the troubled agency was losing staff and briefly halted intake.
Sources The Texas Tribune
U.S. & World
U.S. intelligence warns Iran has sharply increased plots to kill Americans abroad
Iran has "substantially increased" efforts to target U.S. personnel abroad, with plots to kill Americans reaching advanced stages in the Middle East and other countries, according to an unclassified memo Director of National Intelligence Jay Clayton sent Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Friday, Oct. 23, Fox News reported. U.S. officials confirmed the memo, first reported by Axios.
It comes days after the State Department ordered non-emergency government employees and their families out of Saudi Arabia over escalating attacks by Iran-backed Houthi rebels. A U.S. official said threats of Houthi attacks and Iranian plots are shaping embassy staffing decisions, and the memo says some intelligence will be downgraded so it can be shared with State Department staff.
Sources Fox News
A federal appeals court ordered California to answer by Saturday noon on 20,000 ballots DOJ says went to suspected noncitizens
The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals late Friday, Oct. 23, ordered California to respond by noon Saturday to the Justice Department's emergency request over roughly 20,000 mail-in ballots sent to people DOJ suspects are noncitizens, Fox News reported. DOJ went to the appeals court after U.S. District Judge David Carter did not rule by its requested deadline.
The department wants California officials to set those ballots aside while eligibility is reviewed rather than process them with other votes. "This is an emergency," said the filing signed by Attorney General Todd Blanche and First Assistant U.S. Attorney Bill Essayli. A hearing before Carter remains set for Tuesday.
Sources Fox News
Gunmen killed at least seven people at a Christian funeral in Jordan, and King Abdullah II vowed retaliation
Gunmen opened fire Friday, Oct. 23, during a funeral at a Greek Orthodox church in Karak, Jordan, about 110 miles south of Amman, killing at least seven people and wounding 34, Fox News reported. Karak is home to a minority Christian population. King Abdullah II called it a terrorist attack and said it "will be met with the harshest retaliation."
Jordanian state television showed two gunmen with pistols and a third with a semiautomatic rifle firing before running toward the church, according to the Associated Press. A government statement attributed the attack to unknown assailants and did not say whether any were captured or killed.
Sources Fox News
Two former FBI officials were charged with lying to Congress about the Hunter Biden investigations
The Justice Department charged two former FBI officials on Friday, Oct. 23, with lying to Congress by denying any involvement in FBI investigations of Hunter Biden, including matters involving his laptop, Fox News reported. Both surrendered on arrest warrants Friday.
DOJ says it has evidence one discussed the laptop story inside the FBI despite testifying he learned of it from Wikipedia, and that the other discussed Hunter Biden with the bureau's Foreign Influence Task Force despite denying it to the House Judiciary Committee in 2023. U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro said when senior agents lie to Congress "it's time to bring the hammer of justice down." The two have not been convicted.
Sources Fox News
D. Williams & Co., Inc.Defense lawyers in the Charlie Kirk assassination case proposed a 2029 trial, and a Friday hearing ended without a date
Attorneys for the man accused of assassinating conservative activist Charlie Kirk proposed a 2029 trial date, saying they need that long to prepare, and Erika Kirk's attorneys called the schedule "absurd" and an attempt to delay, PBS NewsHour reported. Utah District Court Judge Tony Graf's hearing Friday, Oct. 23, ended without a trial date, Fox News reported.
The 23-year-old defendant has pleaded not guilty to aggravated murder in Kirk's killing last year at Utah Valley University and could face the death penalty if convicted. President Trump said before the hearing that the case should be tried quickly and accused the judge of desecrating Kirk's memory.
Sources Fox News · Fox News · PBS NewsHour (AP)
Trump exempted plywood, packing crates and some machinery from his 50% tariffs on Canadian goods, a move aimed at helping Sen. Susan Collins
President Trump is exempting some imports, including plywood sheets, packing crates and some machinery, from the 50% tariffs he placed on $20 billion of Canadian products over the summer, the Associated Press reported Friday, Oct. 23. The changes take effect Oct. 30. The White House said the move would offset "the burden to U.S. commerce."
The relief is aimed at helping Republican Sen. Susan Collins in her tight Maine race against Democrat Troy Jackson. Collins said she had pressed trade negotiator Jamieson Greer and Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick about the toll tariffs take on Maine farmers, growers and businesses that rely on Canadian equipment and packaging.
Sources PBS NewsHour (AP)
Rubio urged Cubans to work with the CIA, and Trump said Cuba would come after Iran
Secretary of State Marco Rubio urged Cubans seeking political change to enter "a discrete partnership with the CIA" in a post on X on Friday, Oct. 23, Fox News reported. He did not describe a specific operation or what cooperation would involve.
The same day, at a midterm rally in Fort Myers, Florida, President Trump floated U.S. ships stopping near Cuba and told the crowd the U.S. would deal with Cuba on the way back from Iran, while separately suggesting he might send Rubio, the son of Cuban immigrants, to the island to negotiate a deal. Rubio has long opposed normalizing relations with Havana without political reforms.
Sources Fox News
Nearly 1,000 were arrested as more than 400,000 protested across France, with clashes at the end of the Paris march
Nearly 1,000 people were arrested Saturday, Oct. 24, as more than 400,000 protested across France over school funding and living costs, Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez said, Fox News and the AP reported. Clashes broke out near the end of the Paris march, where police counted 110,000 marchers and answered masked protesters' fireworks with tear gas and water cannons.
Nuñez said the 70,000-officer deployment, backed by helicopters and armored vehicles, helped prevent a repeat of last weekend's looting, when more than 2,700 were arrested. Unions put nationwide turnout near 800,000. Police also used tear gas in Lyon, Clermont-Ferrand and other cities. The unrest, now more than a month old, is testing President Emmanuel Macron before France chooses his successor in May.
Sources Fox News · Fox News · PBS NewsHour (AP)
An appeals court removed a federal judge from Mississippi's anti-DEI case, calling his rulings a 'botch job' with an apparent AI-invented citation
The 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals vacated U.S. District Judge Henry Wingate's injunction blocking Mississippi's law restricting DEI practices in public schools and universities and ordered the case reassigned, Fox News reported Friday, Oct. 23. Judge Jerry Smith's opinion cited factual errors, an apparently AI-hallucinated case citation and misapplied Supreme Court precedent.
"This district judge carelessly exercised his Article III power by issuing sloppy edicts based on falsehoods and fabrications," Smith wrote. Wingate's July restraining order had listed 11 plaintiffs who were never in the case and wrongly named two defendants before he replaced it two days later.
Sources Fox News
The Oregon father who killed the Bend school gunman says he regrets the children he could not save
Kaylub Giamanco, the father who fatally shot a 16-year-old gunman to end the Oct. 15 attack at Silver Rail Elementary in Bend, Oregon, told Oregon Public Broadcasting in an interview published Friday, Oct. 23, that he was the children's "last line of defense" and wants to apologize for not saving them all, the Associated Press reported.
Three children, ages 5, 8 and 11, and a teacher were killed when the former student blasted through locked doors with a shotgun and attacked a special needs classroom. Another student was critically injured. Police say a teacher threw her phone at the attacker and wrestled him before Giamanco, whose two daughters attend the school, followed him inside.
Sources PBS NewsHour (AP) · KCBD
Action PrintingThe Milwaukee Brewers won their first World Series game since 1982, beating Tampa Bay 3-2 in Game 1
The Milwaukee Brewers beat the Tampa Bay Rays 3-2 in Game 1 of the World Series on Friday night, Oct. 23, the franchise's first World Series win since 1982, Fox News' OutKick reported. Christian Yelich's RBI triple and a William Contreras single put Milwaukee up 2-0 in the first, and Jacob Misiorowski held the Rays to one run over five innings.
The ending was chaotic: a ninth-inning double play that appeared to end the game was overturned on replay after the Brewers had already set off fireworks, leaving the tying runs in scoring position. Johnny DeLuca then struck out to finish it.
Sources Fox News
