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
Tuesday, October 6, 2026
Today’s lead
The Seventh Court of Appeals dismissed Mark Meurer's Precinct 2 appeal and ordered him to pay the costs
The Seventh Court of Appeals in Amarillo granted Mark Meurer's agreed motion to dismiss his appeal against Jason Corley on September 30 and assessed court costs against him. The order was filed October 1 in Lubbock County's 237th District Court, and Lubbock Lights reported it Monday.
The ruling did not reach the merits, and the court said it would entertain no motion for rehearing. Meurer said September 16 he would withdraw the appeal and repay his salary. The dismissal is separate from the criminal inquiry into roughly $70,000 in county salary paid while Corley held the seat, which District Attorney Sunshine Stanek referred to Midland County.
Sources Lubbock Lights
More Local
Lubbock County opens free property fraud alerts for anyone whose name is on a recorded document
County Clerk Kelly Pinion announced Monday that Lubbock County has adopted Fraud Notify, a free service from Tyler Technologies that emails an alert whenever a document is recorded under a registered name.
The alerts cover deeds, deeds of trust, liens and notices, and begin only for documents recorded after a person signs up; court case filings are excluded. An alert does not by itself mean fraud, so subscribers review the document at the County Clerk's Office, 904 Broadway Room 207, or buy a copy. Registration runs through lubbockcounty.gov, and questions go to countyclerk@lubbockcounty.gov or 806-775-1076.
Sources Lubbock Lights · KFYO
A federal judge keeps Ferrum Capital's Joshua Allen and Michael Cox jailed until they report to prison
A federal judge in San Antonio ordered Monday that Joshua Allen and Michael Cox stay in custody until they are moved to federal prison, denying their request to be released on bond and to surrender themselves after their conviction in a Ponzi scheme conspiracy.
The order notes the two showed no grace or mercy to clients whose faith they used against them while stealing millions, and says the court will show them none in return; the judge quoted scripture. Allen and Cox are back in court December 10, where they face up to 70 years.
Sources KCBD · EverythingLubbock
A 22-year-old woman died early Sunday in a single-vehicle motorcycle crash at US 84 and CR 1900 in north Lubbock
A 22-year-old woman from Mansfield was killed early Sunday when her northbound motorcycle left US Highway 84, crossed onto County Road 1900 and struck a utility pole near the intersection in north Lubbock, Texas Department of Public Safety troopers said. FOX34 reported the crash occurred at approximately 3 a.m. She was transported to University Medical Center, where she was pronounced dead.
No other vehicles were involved. TxDPS crash investigators documented the scene and the investigation is ongoing.
Sources FOX34
Advanced GraphixTexas Tech's health sciences center says it did not employ the two obstetricians at the center of the dispute
Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center answered public comments about obstetric care in Lubbock on Monday, saying it did not employ the two physicians referenced in those comments.
The center said West Texas faces a shortage of maternity care providers and that it is working to improve appointment availability. Its physician group lists 24 general obstetricians taking new patients, 12 of them in Lubbock, working alongside hospital laborists, maternal-fetal medicine specialists, nurse practitioners and advanced practice registered nurses. Its scheduling line is 806-743-2669.
Sources KFYO · EverythingLubbock
Gannett laid off the Amarillo Globe-News editorial staff, leaving the paper without local news reporters
The Amarillo Tribune reported Monday that Gannett, part of the USA Today Network, laid off the Amarillo Globe-News editorial staff late last week with no warning. The Globe-News is Amarillo's paper of record and, by its own website, still employs a sports reporter.
Monday's Globe-News coverage carried bylines from a Lubbock Avalanche-Journal employee or from USA Today Network journalists outside the market. The Tribune said it has asked USA Today's corporate offices for details and has not heard back. Northwestern University's Medill School estimates about 50 million Americans now have limited access to local news.
Sources Amarillo Tribune
The FBI and the Texas Rangers are assisting the Garza County investigation of a jailed Post ISD band director
The Garza County Sheriff's Office said Monday that the FBI's Lubbock office and the Texas Department of Public Safety Rangers Division are helping with its investigation of the Post ISD band director arrested last week.
An affidavit obtained by EverythingLubbock says Post ISD contacted the sheriff's office on October 1 over an allegation the director inappropriately touched a juvenile student at a Post football game, which opened the criminal investigation. He was charged October 2 with possession or promotion of child pornography and is held on a $150,000 bond. The sheriff's office said it takes allegations of harm to children seriously.
Sources EverythingLubbock
A Lubbock man is charged with assaulting a woman who is seven months pregnant
A 24-year-old Lubbock man was arrested Friday evening and charged with assault of a pregnant person after a domestic disturbance near the 5700 block of 50th Street, EverythingLubbock reported Monday.
An affidavit says the woman told officers she is seven months pregnant and that he hit her repeatedly in the stomach, kicked her twice there and struck her in the face and head, and that he had called threatening to come home and shoot her. Two witnesses supported her account and officers noted marks and bruising. He told officers he was jumped. His bond is $50,000.
Sources EverythingLubbock
Ports-to-Plains corridor construction nearly doubled in value this year despite a smaller statewide transportation funding forecast
The Ports-to-Plains corridor grew from 34 to 41 projects in the past year, with total estimated construction costs rising from $8.7 billion to $10.72 billion, FOX34 reported Tuesday. Projects begun on the corridor nearly doubled in value — from $803.5 million to $1.524 billion — even as Texas's 2027 Unified Transportation Program cut $6.6 billion from the state's previous ten-year forecast.
Officials said the funding reduction reflects lower federal forecasts and reduced bond issuance, not a retreat from the corridor. Fully funded interstate-upgrade projects on the route grew from three to eight, with estimated costs rising from $113.7 million to $658 million.
Sources FOX34
Lubbock's 11th annual Veterans Day Parade is set for November 14 and is looking for World War II veterans
The 11th annual Lubbock Veterans Day Parade steps off at 10 a.m. Saturday, November 14, with setup at 8 a.m., KCBD reported Monday. Entry is free but requires registration.
The route starts at Avenue A, runs east on Broadway and ends at the American Windmill Museum, 1701 Canyon Lake Drive. This year's theme is 250 Years of Freedom. The Veterans Parade Committee and Purple Hearts of the South Plains 0900 will name World War II veterans as grand marshals, and are taking names and contact information at loshermanosfamilia@gmail.com.
Sources KCBD
Mullin Hoard & Brown, LLPThe Parenting Cottage gives a free car seat per child to families that finish its safety class
The Parenting Cottage, a nonprofit near 50th and Memphis, holds car seat safety classes twice a month and runs a Car Seat Assistance Program that provides one free seat per child to parents facing financial hardship and to expecting parents, KCBD reported Monday.
Project manager Dianne Milford said each class runs 45 minutes to an hour and covers installation, how to secure a child properly and how to spot an expired seat, and that staff will install the seat if the family brings the vehicle. Texas requires a seat or booster for any child under 8 who is shorter than four feet nine inches.
Sources KCBD
A satellite water monitor built for ranchers is now part of Texas Tech's ranch management course
Ranchbot, a company founded in Australia and now headquartered in Fort Worth, is working with Texas Tech to put its satellite-connected water monitors into the university's ranch management course, KCBD reported Monday.
Co-founder and chief executive Andrew Coppin said the devices let an operator check wells, pumps, tanks and troughs from a phone instead of driving to them, and are in use on more than 5,000 operations worldwide. He said managing drought is about knowing your water, and called the equipment the technology for ranching of the future.
Sources KCBD
State
A Fort Worth suburb billed an open records requester $2.3 million for its Flock camera records
North Richland Hills invoiced an anti-surveillance group $2.3 million for public records on its police use of Flock Safety cameras, The Texas Tribune reported Monday, pricing a search of about a terabyte of communications at $15 an hour of staff time.
The requester, who writes under the pseudonym Phil Mynona for the Texas Privacy Coalition, has sent near-identical requests to roughly 200 Texas agencies and called the bill ludicrous. Victoria quoted $5,000, Irving $70,000 and the Harris County Sheriff's Office $121,000, while Sealy and Carrollton charged nothing. Of about 13,000 Flock cameras statewide, 59 agencies run transparency portals.
Sources The Texas Tribune
A Texas House hearing praised the screwworm response at home and warned about the outbreak in Mexico
The House Agriculture and Livestock Committee took testimony on the New World screwworm on October 2, The Texan reported Monday. The USDA counts 52 U.S. cases since June, 51 of them in Texas and most in Val Verde, Edwards and Crockett counties.
Cases fell after July to four in August, three in September and one in October, a dog in Brewster County. Thomas Lansford of the Texas Animal Health Commission praised the summer response but said conditions across the border are dire. State veterinarian Dr. Lewis R. Bud Dinges said the work continues until the pest is pushed back into Mexico. USDA has released more than 1.4 billion sterile flies.
Sources The Texan
Physicians told a Texas House subcommittee that menopause care is hard to find and poorly covered
The House Subcommittee on Maternal Health, Menopause and Access to Evidence-Based Medicine met Monday in Austin to examine early detection of hormone imbalance, hormone replacement therapy and gaps in insurance coverage.
Chair Rep. Katrina Pierson said too many women spend years going from appointment to appointment with symptoms dismissed or treated one at a time. Dr. Mary Claire Haver, an OB-GYN and certified menopause specialist, said perimenopause can run for years and that patients often see several clinicians before a diagnosis. Dr. Karen Horst of Texas Children's Hospital said residency programs do not train for it.
Texas opened applications for $31 million in Fund for Veterans' Assistance grants, closing December 2
Gov. Greg Abbott announced Monday that applications are open for an estimated $31 million in Fund for Veterans' Assistance grants, administered by the Texas Veterans Commission. Nonprofits and local government agencies that provide direct services to veterans may apply.
The portal opened at 5 p.m. Central on October 2 and closes at 5 p.m. Central on December 2. Grant terms run 24 months and awards range from $50,000 to $600,000; an applicant may hold up to three grants and a county government up to four. Commission Chairwoman Laura Koerner said the agency recently presented more than $40 million to 160 organizations from El Paso to Beaumont.
Sources Office of the Governor
D. Williams & Co., Inc.The Fifth Circuit will decide whether Texas' campus protest law survives a First Amendment challenge
Students at the University of Texas at Austin and UT Dallas are challenging Senate Bill 2972, the Campus Protection Act, which bars expressive activity on public campuses from 10 p.m. to 8 a.m. and bans invited speakers, amplified sound and drums in the last two weeks of a semester.
The Texas Tribune reported Tuesday that U.S. District Judge David Alan Ezra blocked the contested provisions in October 2025 and the state appealed to the Fifth Circuit. Sen. Brandon Creighton wrote the law, which took effect September 1, 2025. The Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression represents the students; Solicitor General William Peterson's office is defending it.
Sources The Texas Tribune
A federal judge left Harris County's cashless misdemeanor bail system in place
U.S. District Judge Lee H. Rosenthal on Monday denied requests by Attorney General Ken Paxton and four Harris County criminal court-at-law judges to undo the 2019 ODonnell consent decree, which lets most people charged with misdemeanors go free without paying cash bail.
Rosenthal ruled the challenge came years too late, well after a 2023 appeals court decision. Paxton argued the decree conflicts with state bail laws passed in 2021 and 2025, and filed days after a presidential order targeting cashless bail. Sheriff Ed Gonzalez, District Attorney Sean Teare and the county's twelve other misdemeanor judges backed the decree.
Sources The Texas Tribune
Ken Paxton raised $18 million in the third quarter, his best yet in the U.S. Senate race
Attorney General Ken Paxton raised $18 million between July 1 and September 30, more than double his second-quarter total, The Texas Tribune reported Monday. More than 160,000 individual donors gave, and he made a $20 million statewide media buy last week.
His Democratic opponent, Austin state Rep. James Talarico, raised $30 million in the second quarter and $27 million in the first, and has spent nearly $67 million on general election advertising against Paxton's $20 million. Republican super PACs have put more than $175 million behind Paxton. Senior adviser Nick Maddux said Republicans across Texas know what is at stake.
Sources The Texas Tribune
With a month to go, Republicans are still running on social issues while Democrats steer to prices
A month before the November 3 election, The Texan reported Tuesday that Republican candidates are still campaigning on gender policy, abortion and religion while Democrats push an economic message.
At the Republican convention in Dallas, U.S. Rep. Brandon Gill cast the contest as the mainstream against the extreme. Gov. Greg Abbott has attacked his Democratic opponent, Gina Hinojosa, over gender votes; Hinojosa said her campaign is not doing the culture wars and is talking about delivering for Texans. House Democratic Caucus leader Gene Wu said social issues cost the party in 2024. Early voting runs October 19-30.
Sources The Texan
U.S. & World
Trump's order lets anyone buy tax-free red dye diesel and defers the federal diesel tax through December
President Trump signed an executive order Monday waiving the off-road-only requirement on dyed diesel, so truckers, farmers and freight haulers can buy it for highway use, the White House said.
The order also defers the federal diesel excise tax of 24.4 cents a gallon on that fuel through the end of 2026, with no interest or penalties on the deferred amount, which the White House puts at roughly $60 on a 250-gallon fill. Texas waived its own dyed-diesel restrictions and load limits in late September under Gov. Greg Abbott's diesel disaster declaration.
Sources The White House · The Hill
The Supreme Court heard Boulder's climate damages case and sounded skeptical of letting it go forward
The justices heard argument Monday in Suncor v. Boulder, No. 25-170, on whether Colorado local governments may sue Exxon Mobil and Suncor Energy in state court for the costs of climate-driven disasters.
Chief Justice John Roberts asked what would stop a municipality in every state from filing the next day. Justice Brett Kavanaugh said precedent makes interstate pollution a federal question, and Justice Elena Kagan compared the claims to tobacco and opioid suits. Justice Samuel Alito recused himself over oil stock, leaving eight justices; a 4-4 split would leave the Colorado ruling standing. More than 30 similar cases are pending.
Sources Colorado Newsline · PBS NewsHour
Action PrintingFive states will raise their minimum wages above $15 on January 1, and Seattle's floor goes to $22.14
Washington's minimum wage rises to $17.73 an hour on January 1, 2027, with Connecticut at $17.48, California at $17.40, New Jersey at $16.48 and Michigan at $15, Fox News reported Tuesday.
Seattle's local floor goes to $22.14. Republican-led states are raising theirs too: Florida reaches $15 by the end of 2027, Missouri is at $15 and Nebraska moves to $15.26 on January 1. The federal minimum stays at $7.25 an hour, and Texas, which uses the federal rate, is not affected by any of the increases.
Sources Fox News
Jim Bakker, the PTL televangelist who went to federal prison for fraud, died at 86
Jim Bakker died Monday evening at 86, his wife Lori Bakker announced on Instagram, writing that he went home to be with the Lord that evening.
Bakker built the PTL Club and the PTL Satellite Network and opened the Heritage USA theme park, now closed. He resigned his ministry in 1987 after allegations he paid hush money to a church secretary, was indicted in 1988 on mail fraud, wire fraud and conspiracy over PTL finances, sentenced to 45 years and paroled in 1994. He later hosted The Jim Bakker Show.
Dennis Hastert, the longest-serving Republican House speaker and a convicted sex offender, died at 84
Dennis Hastert died of natural causes over the weekend at 84, the Kendall County, Illinois, coroner's office confirmed, Fox News reported Monday. He was speaker of the U.S. House from 1999 to 2007.
Hastert pleaded guilty to bank charges tied to concealing the sexual abuse of teenage boys he coached in the 1960s and 1970s. Federal banking regulators flagged his cash withdrawals in 2015, which led to charges in 2016. He served 13 months of a 15-month sentence in Rochester, Minnesota, and was the highest-ranking U.S. official ever to serve jail time.
Sources Fox News
A Massachusetts man pleaded guilty to importing plutonium and selling it to about 67 customers
A 44-year-old Massachusetts man pleaded guilty Tuesday to five federal counts, among them importing nuclear material without lawful authority, mailing hazardous materials, and being a felon in possession of ammunition and explosive materials.
The Justice Department says he sold plutonium to about 67 customers in the United States and abroad between December 2020 and March 2025 through a business called Collect The Periodic Table and the online retailer Bonanza, and sold thallium to roughly 71 customers between 2017 and 2025. He was arrested in April 2025 and is to be sentenced January 21, 2027.
Sources Fox News
A lab worker's death at a Russian anti-plague institute set off speculation about pneumonic plague
An employee of the Irkutsk Anti-Plague Institute of Siberia and the Far East died this month at Shelekhovsky District Hospital, roughly 3,000 miles east of Moscow, PBS NewsHour reported Monday.
Russia's health agency, Rospotrebnadzor, called it pneumonia of unknown origin, while a local official said it was possibly plague. Gov. Kobzev later said microorganisms associated with her professional work were not detected in her samples. Independent Russian outlets identified her as a 28-year-old lab technician, which officials have not confirmed, and have not confirmed her age either.
Sources The Hill · PBS NewsHour
Thom Tillis calls his vote to confirm Pete Hegseth the biggest regret of his career
Sen. Thom Tillis writes in a memoir publishing Tuesday, How to Lose Friends and Antagonize Presidents, that his January 2025 vote to confirm Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth was the biggest regret of his career, PBS NewsHour reported Monday.
That confirmation ended 50-50 and was decided by the vice president's tie-breaking vote. Tillis writes that other Republicans privately share his doubts, saying he knows for a fact there are others like him, and that his quarrel is less with Hegseth than with the people working for him. He predicts a bloodbath for his party in the midterms.
Sources The Hill · PBS NewsHour
Duffy Law Firm, PCFour Yankees errors hand Tampa Bay a 5-2 win and a 2-0 lead in the division series
Tampa Bay beat the New York Yankees 5-2 on Monday in St. Petersburg to take a 2-0 lead in the American League Division Series, Fox News reported.
New York committed four errors, three of them in the first inning, and the defense undid a start by Cam Schlittler. Ben Rice hit two home runs for the Yankees and Junior Caminero drove in a run for Tampa Bay. The series moves to New York, where the Yankees must win to keep their season going.
Sources Fox News
