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 4, 2026
The lead · Oct 4
State judicial commission publicly reprimands Lubbock Justice of the Peace Frank Gutierrez
The State Commission on Judicial Conduct has publicly reprimanded Justice of the Peace Francisco "Frank" Gutierrez of Precinct 3, Place 1, in an August 25 order that also requires four hours of mentored instruction. Lubbock Lights reported the sanction Friday. Gutierrez remains in office.
The commission found he converted a May 29, 2024 hearing on a defense motion in an LVNV Funding debt case into a final trial without notifying either party, then entered judgment for the collection company. Both attorneys later filed an agreed motion stating no trial had been scheduled. Gutierrez vacated the judgment that October. The commission also cited his failure to answer inquiries sent from March 2026.
Sources Lubbock Lights
More Local
A Lubbock OB-GYN says she was pushed out as UMC and Texas Tech dispute who employs the city's obstetricians
Dr. Amber Coon, an OB-GYN in Lubbock for 12 years, said Thursday she is closing her practice after a dispute over hospital-employed physicians. Coon and Dr. Amy Richards are the only two OB-GYNs employed by UMC Physicians rather than Texas Tech Physicians, and Coon said the health sciences center's new department chair opposes those positions existing.
UMC Physicians vice president Aaron Davis said UMC shares her concern about access to care in West Texas. TTUHSC said Coon was never its employee, that no threat was made to remove her credentials, and that OB-GYN chair Dr. Sal LoCoco has recruited 15 specialists in two years. Patients report waits into May.
Sources KCBD · EverythingLubbock
Avenues U and P become all-way stops Wednesday as Loop 88 work advances
Avenues U and P, inside the Loop 88 Phase 3C project limits, convert to all-way stop intersections Wednesday, October 7, weather permitting, TxDOT said Friday. Message boards are already up. Northbound Avenue U traffic currently has no access to westbound FM 1585, and the new design connects the two directly.
Crews will also restripe from Avenue P to Avenue U back to two-way traffic and remove eastbound pavement between them. The Avenue U crossover reopens, requiring northbound drivers to stop twice before joining FM 1585. The wider project rebuilds FM 1585 into a six-lane freeway, with Phase 3C finishing in fall 2031.
A Lamesa man is charged with intoxication manslaughter after a pedestrian was killed on U.S. 180
A 39-year-old woman was found dead on U.S. 180 west of Lamesa just before 1:15 a.m. Saturday after she was struck by a driver who left the scene. Lamesa police said the driver continued into town.
Police and the Texas Department of Public Safety located and arrested a 27-year-old man roughly four hours later. He was booked into the Dawson County Detention Center on charges of intoxication manslaughter and failure to render aid resulting in death, and faces two felony counts. His name is withheld under this publication's practice of not naming criminal suspects before conviction. Authorities have not released the name of the woman who died.
Sources KCBD · EverythingLubbock · FOX 34
D. Williams & Co., Inc.No. 12 Texas Tech rides four Colorado turnovers to a 29-7 win in Boulder
Texas Tech beat Colorado 29-7 in Boulder on Saturday night, the program's first trip there since 2010, after trailing 7-3 at halftime. Colorado scored on its opening drive on an Isaac Wilson pass to Joseph Williams, then did not score again.
Cornerback Brice Pollock intercepted Wilson twice and safety Malik Esquerra added another, setting up a Will Hammond touchdown pass to tight end Terrance Carter Jr. that put the Red Raiders ahead 12-7. Linebacker John Curry closed it with a pick-six with about seven minutes left. Kicker Stone Harrington contributed three field goals. Running back Cameron Dickey left in the second quarter with an injury. Tech played without quarterback Thomas Castellanos.
Sources EverythingLubbock · KCBD · FOX 34
A Kentucky court ruling sidelined Texas Tech quarterback Thomas Castellanos before the Colorado game
Texas Tech quarterback Thomas Castellanos was ruled ineligible for Saturday's game at Colorado by a Kentucky Court of Appeals decision issued Friday affecting class of 2022 athletes seeking a fifth year of eligibility. A further hearing in the matter is set for Friday.
Castellanos joined the program in late August after stops at UCF, Boston College and Florida State, and debuted September 12 at Oregon State. He had thrown for two touchdowns and run for two more across three games. The ruling is the second eligibility case in a year to reach a Texas Tech quarterback room, following the litigation over Brendan Sorsby's eligibility earlier in 2026.
Sources EverythingLubbock · KCBD · FOX 34
A Post ISD band director is jailed on a child pornography charge and under state review
A Post ISD band director was arrested Friday and jailed on a charge of possessing child pornography, accused of holding between 10 and 50 images. The Garza County Sheriff's Office and the district attorney's office are handling the case.
Post ISD said on social media it was made aware Thursday of information that led to the employee being placed on administrative leave, and that it notified state and local authorities along with parents. The district referred further questions to the sheriff and the district attorney. Texas Education Agency records show the employee is under review by its Educator Investigations Division. The name is withheld pending the case.
Sources KCBD · EverythingLubbock · FOX 34
Texas Tech police ask for help identifying two men after students reported a sexual assault
The Texas Tech Police Department is investigating a reported sexual assault that occurred shortly after midnight Thursday, October 1, and is asking the public to help identify two people.
According to the university's release, the students accepted a ride from several individuals they did not know, in a black pickup truck, after leaving the Broadway area. The students reported having limited memory of what happened after they got into the vehicle. Police have not said whether the two people sought are suspects or witnesses, and no arrests have been announced. Anyone with information is asked to contact the Texas Tech Police Department at 806-742-3931.
72nd Street closes Monday between Kewanee and Milwaukee for gas line work
A stretch of 72nd Street between Kewanee Avenue and Milwaukee Avenue closes Monday for gas line work, the city said Friday. Drivers in southwest Lubbock should plan an alternate route.
The closure is one of two traffic changes announced in the same 24 hours, alongside the Loop 88 conversion of Avenues U and P to all-way stops on Wednesday. Both fall within the same corridor of southwest Lubbock construction activity, and both are expected to affect weekday commutes. The city asked motorists to watch for crews and equipment and to observe posted speed limits through the work zone.
Sources KCBD · EverythingLubbock · FOX 34
Amarillo wins a federal transit grant for seniors and riders with disabilities after a census reclassification
The Federal Transit Administration has awarded Amarillo a Section 5310 grant for mobility for seniors and people with disabilities, the city told the Amarillo Tribune on Thursday. The agency retroactively qualified the city to 2024, and transit planner Jim Hillwig said the resulting pool holds roughly $700,000.
Amarillo became eligible only because the 2020 census pushed it past 200,000 residents, a reclassification that also cost it about $1.4 million a year in other transit funding. Public meetings identified three priorities: stop accessibility, shopping transportation and cost barriers. Planned uses include shelters, benches, ADA boarding improvements and a fare subsidy program. New bus routes begin in January.
Sources Amarillo Tribune
Action PrintingState
Monday is the last day to register to vote in the November 3 election
Monday, October 5, is the deadline to register to vote in the November 3 general election, the Texas Secretary of State reminded voters in a release issued September 28. Applications must be postmarked or delivered to the county voter registrar by the end of that day.
The Lubbock County ballot carries the open TX-19 congressional seat, Senate District 28, House Districts 83 and 84, county judge, two commissioner precincts, the county clerk's race, the 137th District Court, three High Plains Underground Water Conservation District board seats and the appraisal district board. Early voting runs October 19 through 30. The last day to apply for a mail ballot is October 23.
A federal judge halts border wall construction in the Big Bend region
U.S. District Judge Kathleen Cardone blocked further border barrier construction in the Big Bend region on Friday, granting a preliminary injunction against ground-disturbing activities while the lawsuit proceeds. She read the order aloud from the bench in El Paso, finding the plaintiffs' constitutional claims likely to succeed.
The Center for Biological Diversity sued the Department of Homeland Security in April on behalf of Friends of the Ruidosa Church, which preserves a historic Presidio County church, and a Rio Grande river guide who stands to lose land in Redford. The Big Bend sector covers about a quarter of the border but sees 1% to 3% of apprehensions.
Sources The Texas Tribune · The Hill · Marfa Public Radio · PBS NewsHour
The man charged with shooting a Harris County deputy was out on bond and had skipped court for eight weeks
A 25-year-old man charged with shooting a Harris County sheriff's deputy in the legs Wednesday evening had been free on a $45,000 bond since March and a fugitive since failing to appear in court August 6, The Texan reported Friday. He fled in the deputy's patrol car, prompting a blue alert and a manhunt in Channelview.
Harris County Criminal Court Judge Veronica Nelson had ordered him fitted with a GPS ankle monitor in July, then forfeited his bond and issued a warrant when he missed court. Pretrial Services has not said whether the monitor was removed. Deputy Abigail Gonzalez was shot at but not hit.
Sources The Texan
U.S. & World
Trump says $90 Medicare checks will go to more than 20 million seniors this month
President Trump announced Friday that about $2 billion will go out as one-time $90 payments to more than 20 million Medicare Part B enrollees, drawn from the Medicare Improvement Fund. Most will receive the money by direct deposit in early October, the rest by mailed check.
Most Part B enrollees qualify, except those whose premiums are already paid by Medicaid and those paying income-related adjustment amounts. Trump described the payments as checks of "nearly $100," though the announced figure is $90. The 2026 standard Part B premium is $202.90 a month against a $283 annual deductible. The payments are separate from refunds going to people overcharged for coverage.
Sources Fox Business · The Hill · NBC News
A federal judge rules that states, not Congress, set voter qualifications in federal elections
U.S. District Judge David Leibowitz of the Southern District of Florida ruled Thursday that Congress lacks constitutional authority to bar noncitizens from voting in federal elections, dismissing charges against a person who voted in 2020 while not a citizen.
In a 31-page opinion, Leibowitz held that the Constitution commits the power to set voter qualifications in federal elections to the states alone, striking the relevant provision of the 1996 Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act as applied. Leibowitz was nominated by President Biden in 2024 and confirmed 64-33. Republican critics said Friday the ruling will be overturned on appeal.
Sources Fox News
A jet carrying six from Bermuda to Boston vanished off Nantucket early Saturday
The Coast Guard launched air and surface searches off Nantucket early Saturday after the Federal Aviation Administration lost contact with a Gulfstream G100 carrying six people. The twin-engine jet had left Bermuda International Airport at 11:41 p.m. Eastern Friday, bound for Boston.
The Coast Guard Northeast District was coordinating the search. The FAA and the National Transportation Safety Board had not commented as of Saturday, and no wreckage or survivors had been reported. Authorities have not released the names of those aboard or said whether the crew issued a distress call before contact was lost. The aircraft is a mid-size business jet typically configured for fewer than ten passengers.
Sources Fox News
Duffy Law Firm, PCTennessee's prisons commissioner resigns after the second failed execution since May
Tennessee Department of Correction Commissioner Frank Strada will step down this month after the failed execution of Christa Gail Pike, Gov. Bill Lee said Friday. Pike was left unconscious on life support at a hospital after two doses of pentobarbital were administered Wednesday. It is the state's second failed execution since May.
Lee has halted new executions and appointed former U.S. Attorney Ed Stanton to conduct an independent review; Stanton examined Tennessee's execution procedures in 2022 and found protocol violations. Strada said resigning was in the best interest of Tennesseans during the review. Pike's lawyers said the resignation reflects a systemic failure beyond any one person. Strada previously oversaw corrections in Arizona.
Sources KCBD · The Hill · PBS NewsHour
A $28 billion hemp THC industry has until December 11 to win a reprieve from Congress
The federal ban on intoxicating hemp products now takes effect December 11 rather than November 12, after a government funding bill signed by President Trump last month pushed the date back and gave Congress more time to consider regulating the products instead of ending them.
Sen. Mitch McConnell, who legalized industrial hemp in the 2018 farm bill, closed its loophole late last year by attaching a THC limit of 0.4 milligrams per container to the bill that ended the government shutdown. A Whitney Economics report cited Friday puts the cost at $28.3 billion in retail revenue, 225,000 jobs and $2.1 billion in state sales tax. The industry is lobbying for an age-21 limit instead.
Sources WISH-TV · PBS NewsHour
