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
Wednesday, September 16, 2026
The lead · Sep 16
Meurer says he will return the double Precinct 2 salary and drop his fight to remove Corley
Mark Meurer issued a statement Wednesday saying he will return the roughly $70,000 in Precinct 2 salary he received for duties he says he did not perform, and is withdrawing his legal effort to remove Commissioner Jason Corley. He noted he is entering the hospital for a procedure.
Sources Lubbock Lights · KCBD · EverythingLubbock
More Local
Police identify the pedestrian killed by a semi-truck on Marsha Sharp Freeway
Lubbock police identified the pedestrian struck and killed Tuesday just after 10 a.m. on the Marsha Sharp Freeway over Avenue Q as Larry Frazier, 57. Police say Frazier was crossing north, then ran back south before the collision. The semi driver was not hurt; eastbound lanes reopened Tuesday afternoon.
Sources KCBD
Ralls is under a boil water notice with no restoration estimate
The City of Ralls issued a boil water notice for all residents Tuesday at 1:36 p.m. after a main line break cut off service. City officials said there is no estimated time for full restoration and residents must keep boiling water until further notice, even after service returns.
Sources KCBD
South Plains counties press the state to reshape a rural EMS grant program
Texas EMS Alliance chief Carly French and Lamb County Judge James DeLoach told the House State Affairs Committee on September 10 that counties using a single ambulance provider are shut out of a rural EMS grant program now worth $63.9 million. Hale, Lubbock and Borden counties got nothing.
Sources KCBD
Mullin Hoard & Brown, LLPAmarillo ISD sends stadium naming-rights policy to committee after a heated board debate
Amarillo ISD trustees voted 6-1 Monday to send a facility renaming policy to committee rather than act on it. Board President Jon Mark Beilue argued naming rights could ease funding pressure at Dick Bivins Stadium; trustees Don Powell, Tom Warren II and Steve Trafton objected. Warren voted no.
Sources Amarillo Tribune
Councilwoman Christy Martinez-Garcia marks 20 years of Latino Lubbock
City Councilwoman Christy Martinez-Garcia was highlighted Tuesday for Hispanic Heritage Month, which began Sept. 15. The Lubbock native has published Latino Lubbock magazine for 20 years and founded the nonprofit Los Hermanos Familias, the Cinco de Mayo Parade and Vamos a Pescar. She urged young people onto city boards.
Sources KCBD
Texas Tech will wear Patrick Mahomes-designed all-black 'Let's Ride' uniforms Friday against Houston
Texas Tech unveiled an all-black ‘Let’s Ride’ uniform collection Wednesday, created with Adidas, State Farm and Patrick Mahomes, to debut Friday when the Red Raiders host Houston at Jones AT&T Stadium at 7 p.m. Admission is on a ticket basis; the game airs on FOX.
Sources KFYO
Texas Tech women's golf hosts a 12-team Red Raider Invitational next week
Texas Tech hosts the Red Raider Invitational on Tuesday, September 22 and Wednesday, September 23 at The Rawls Course, with a practice round Monday. Twelve schools are entered, among them Abilene Christian, BYU, Prairie View A&M, Sam Houston and UT Arlington. Admission and parking are free.
Sources KFYO
A United Way clinic manager wins Lubbock Christian's first full-tuition partnership scholarship
Lubbock Christian University announced Tuesday that Kennedy Johnson, practice manager at Lubbock Children's Health Clinic, won the full-tuition Presidential Scholarship created with Lubbock Area United Way. Johnson will finish a managerial leadership degree online. United Way CEO Amanda McAfee and LCU President Scott McDowell announced the partnership.
Sources KCBD
State
Roblox skips a Texas House hearing on children's online safety; Burrows says the absence speaks
Roblox sent five pages of written testimony instead of a witness to the House State Affairs Committee on Tuesday, citing pending litigation. Speaker Dustin Burrows, who ordered the interim study, said one must assume the company stayed away because what happens on its platform is indefensible.
Sources The Texan
D. Williams & Co., Inc.A Texas Senate panel weighs whether prediction markets are simply sports betting
The Senate State Affairs Committee heard testimony Tuesday on whether prediction market platforms amount to gambling under Texas law. The American Gaming Association called them disguised sports betting; platform representatives called themselves regulated financial exchanges. Senators raised election integrity, sports integrity and teenage gambling addiction.
Sources KCBD
Big Bend landowners sue over the border's 'high illegal entry' designation
Conserve Big Bend and regional landowners sued the Department of Homeland Security and Customs and Border Protection on Monday, announcing the case at the Presidio County Courthouse in Marfa. They argue the high illegal entry designation authorizing wall construction is unsound: sector apprehensions fell 74 percent between 2023 and 2025.
Sources The Texan
Fifth Circuit orders a jury trial for a Texas City homeowner awarded one dollar
The Fifth Circuit ruled Tuesday that U.S. District Judge Jeff Brown wrongly denied a jury trial to a homeowner whose house Texas City demolished on May 9, 2023, awarding him one dollar. Judge Leslie Southwick wrote that the right of jury trial is fundamental. The case returns for trial.
Sources The Texan
Young Texas outdoor workers are turning up in kidney failure with no known cause
Fox News reported Tuesday that Houston hospitals including Ben Taub are treating men in their 20s and 30s for chronic kidney disease of unknown cause, with about one in six emergency dialysis cases unexplained. Dr. Richard Johnson ties it to heat stress and repeated dehydration in outdoor trades.
Sources Fox News
U.S. & World
The Federal Reserve raised interest rates Wednesday for the first time in three years
The Federal Reserve raised its benchmark interest rate a quarter point Wednesday to 3.75–4 percent — its first increase in more than three years. The Fed cited inflation running at 3.4 percent annually in August. Projections show one more increase possible by year-end, with no hikes expected in 2027.
Sources The Epoch Times · NPR
The Air Force secretary says the United States has weapons deployed in orbit
Air Force Secretary Troy Meink told the Air, Space and Cyber Conference at National Harbor, Maryland on Monday that the Space Force has on-orbit space control weapons capable of defending the joint force. It is the Pentagon's most explicit acknowledgment yet. Meink declined to say whether the systems are kinetic.
Sources Air and Space Forces Magazine · NPR
Action PrintingSaudi Arabia calls an intercepted drone aimed at Mecca a 'red line'; the Houthis deny it
A Saudi-led coalition said it intercepted a drone headed for Mecca on Tuesday evening and blamed the Houthis, calling Islam's holiest city a red line. A Houthi military source categorically denied any threat from Yemen toward Mecca and called the claim misinformation.
Sources Al Jazeera · NPR
A news helicopter crash near a deadly Los Angeles bus collision kills three
An NBC Los Angeles helicopter crashed just before 7 p.m. Tuesday in the Chatsworth neighborhood while crews covered a bus collision about 1.5 miles away, killing three. The bus crash killed at least two more. More than 50 firefighters responded; the NTSB and FAA will investigate.
Sources CBS News Los Angeles · NPR
A House bill would count only citizens when dividing up House seats
Rep. Andrew Clyde, R-Georgia, is pushing the Make Apportionment Great Again Act, reported Tuesday, which would count only citizens in apportioning House seats and force reapportionment by 2027 using existing census records. The 14th Amendment directs counting the whole number of persons, setting up a constitutional fight.
Sources Fox News
Fox News says a Smithsonian exhibit calls George Washington a 'town destroyer'
Fox News Digital reported Tuesday that a Smithsonian museum in Manhattan displays text noting the Haudenosaunee call George Washington Hanadahguyus, meaning town destroyer, and student videos describing colonists as trespassers and squatters. The museum did not answer a request for comment Monday. The Trump administration has ordered exhibit reviews.
Sources Fox News
