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
Monday, September 14, 2026
Today’s lead
Lubbock Lights: County paid two commissioners for the same Precinct 2 seat
Lubbock Lights reported Sunday that Lubbock County kept paying Mark Meurer for the Precinct 2 commissioner's job — $90,686 a year plus a $4,800 allowance — after Jason Corley was restored in December; County Judge Curtis Parrish never signed Meurer's termination paperwork. Commissioners take it up Monday.
Sources Lubbock Lights
More Local
Wrong-way crash on US 62 in Terry County kills one, injures two
A wrong-way driver's SUV hit a pickup head-on about 3:30 a.m. Saturday on US 62 near County Road 670 in Terry County, DPS said; one person died at the scene and two were taken to UMC, one with serious injuries. Names have not been released.
Sources KCBD · EverythingLubbock
Texas Tech dismisses volleyball coach Tony Graystone
Texas Tech fired volleyball head coach Tony Graystone on Sunday, athletics director Kirby Hocutt announced; associate head coach Alisa Blair is interim head coach for the rest of 2026 with assistant Mikayla Ell elevated. Blair debuts Tuesday against Tarleton State at United Supermarkets Arena.
Sources KCBD · EverythingLubbock
Texas Tech holds at No. 13 ahead of Friday's Big 12 opener at Houston
Texas Tech stayed No. 13 in Sunday's AP poll and rose to No. 12 among coaches after Saturday's 35-24 win at Oregon State; the 2-0 Red Raiders open Big 12 play Friday at 7 p.m. at No. 22 Houston. Texas is the new No. 1.
Sources KCBD · EverythingLubbock
Action PrintingHockley County extends election office hours for National Voter Registration Day
Hockley County's election office at 710 Avenue H in Levelland runs extended hours Tuesday, 9 a.m. to 6 p.m., for National Voter Registration Day, plus a Saturday session Sept. 19; Texans must register by Oct. 5 to vote Nov. 3. Status checks: votetexas.gov.
Sources KCBD
Texas Tech opens remote access to its Skyview Observatory telescopes
Texas Tech said Sunday that students, faculty and staff can begin scheduling remote sessions Monday on the Preston Gott Skyview Observatory telescopes near Shallowater, selecting targets online and downloading real-time images. Assistant professor Elias Aydi ties the program to the New Milky Way Survey.
Sources KCBD
DPS to dedicate a Midland monument to Trooper Kevin Ramirez Vasquez on Thursday
Texas DPS said Sunday it will dedicate a granite monument Thursday at 10 a.m. at its Midland office honoring Trooper Kevin Ramirez Vasquez, struck by a speeding, phone-using driver at an Ector County crash scene in September 2024; he later died at a Lubbock hospital.
Sources KCBD
Lubbock Heart Walk returns Oct. 3 at Texas Tech's Frazier Alumni Pavilion
The American Heart Association said Sunday its Lubbock Heart Walk returns Saturday, Oct. 3 at the Frazier Alumni Pavilion, 2680 Drive of Champions — festivities at 8:30 a.m., ceremonies at 9 — with 5K and one-mile routes and a $100,000 fundraising goal. Registration is open online.
Sources EverythingLubbock
State
Cornyn, Burrows among Texas Republicans condemning Bo French's posts on Asian students
Republican Railroad Commission nominee Bo French drew condemnation Sunday from U.S. Sen. John Cornyn, House Speaker Dustin Burrows, former Speaker Dade Phelan and other Texas Republicans after he posted photos of South Asian UT students and complained Americans are being 'displaced by foreigners.'
Sources The Texas Tribune
U.S. & World
Trump urges Ukraine to stop refinery strikes as U.S. diesel tops $6 a gallon
President Trump called on Ukraine Sunday to halt strikes on Russian refineries — 'don't hit diesel fuel, because that's hurting the world' — after average U.S. diesel passed $6 a gallon Friday; months of attacks have forced fuel rationing and export bans inside Russia.
Sources The Hill · PBS NewsHour
Duffy Law Firm, PC129 missing after Indonesian ferry capsizes in the Java Sea
The ferry Virgo Transport 8, carrying 243 people and 89 vehicles from Surabaya to Banjarmasin, capsized in rough seas early Sunday in the Java Sea; at least six people died, 108 were rescued and 129 remain missing as 17 ships and aircraft searched Monday.
Sweden's parliamentary election ends in a near-tie
Swedes elected a new 349-seat Riksdag Sunday, with partial returns showing the governing center-right bloc — reliant on Jimmie Akesson's hard-right Sweden Democrats — nearly tied with the Social Democrat-led left after exit polls first favored the left. Migration, gang crime and the economy dominated.
Sources Fox News · PBS NewsHour
Trump downplays AI slowdown calls as lawmakers press for safeguards
President Trump said Sunday in Dublin the U.S. won't slow AI development — 'whoever wins with AI wins' — a day after Anthropic and OpenAI's chiefs urged a more careful pace; lawmakers from both parties called for Congress to take up AI safety when it returns.
Sources The Hill · NPR · PBS NewsHour
Trump insists the $5,000 dividend will happen; Johnson says Congress must act
President Trump said Sunday his proposed $5,000-per-adult dividend is 'going to happen, 100%,' while House Speaker Mike Johnson said the more-than-$1-trillion payout needs congressional approval; no legislation exists, and the federal deficit runs near $1.8 trillion a year.
Sources The Hill · PBS NewsHour
Iran-Gulf talks on Hormuz are postponed as Houthis press attacks on Saudi Arabia
Talks between Iran and Gulf states in Oman over Strait of Hormuz shipping were postponed Sunday, while Iran-backed Houthis — who seized Yemeni Red Sea ports last week — claimed fresh attacks on Saudi Arabia and vowed a larger Red Sea presence.
Sources NPR · PBS NewsHour
Pennsylvania reports its third measles death of the year
A 40-year-old unvaccinated Jefferson County woman died Saturday of measles complications, coroner Greg Furlong confirmed — Pennsylvania's third measles death of 2026, with 676 cases statewide as of Friday and more than 3,200 nationally per the CDC. No other state has reported one this year.
Advanced GraphixAmazon pauses flights with 21 Air after the fatal Miami runway crash
Amazon said Sunday it is pausing operations with 21 Air, the cargo carrier whose Boeing 767 overran a Miami International Airport runway Sept. 6 and struck a van, killing five people; the NTSB is examining the 32-year-old jet's speed, maintenance and ownership.
Russian drone hits a Ukrainian train minutes after Western dignitaries passed through
A Russian drone struck a train Sunday at Yahodyn station on Ukraine's border with Poland shortly after a diplomatic train carrying Boris Johnson, Carl Bildt and EU security advisers departed; the hit train had been evacuated and no one was hurt.
