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, October 12, 2026
The lead · Oct 12
Storms, some possibly severe, are forecast for Tuesday evening on the South Plains, and a Friday cold front will bring highs in the 60s
Thunderstorms are expected to develop across the South Plains by Tuesday evening, Oct. 13, and some could be severe, with hail, high winds and localized flooding possible, according to the KCBD First Alert forecast issued Sunday night. Storms could continue overnight into Wednesday.
Monday is expected to stay warm and breezy, well above normal for mid-October. Rain chances linger through much of the week as temperatures fall, with highs in the 70s by Thursday. A cold front arriving Friday, Oct. 16, is forecast to bring the season's first real fall feel, with afternoon highs in the 60s, lows in the mid to upper 40s and colder air into the weekend.
More Local
Police identified Delton Lewis, 28, as the man killed in Sunday's east Lubbock shooting; an 18-year-old was also wounded
The Lubbock Metropolitan Special Crimes Unit on Sunday, Oct. 11, identified Delton Lewis, 28, as the man killed in a shooting near East 26th Street and Ivory Avenue early that morning, and said a second person, 18-year-old Yundi Inthisan-Johnson, was wounded, EverythingLubbock reported.
Police said officers answering a 2:37 a.m. shots-fired call heard more gunfire nearby and found Lewis inside a vehicle that had struck a parked car; he died at the scene. Inthisan-Johnson arrived at University Medical Center with moderate injuries. Detectives believe someone walked up to the pair's vehicle as they arrived in the area and fired multiple shots. No arrests had been made.
Sources EverythingLubbock · KCBD
Texas Tech climbed to No. 10 in the AP poll, its first top-10 ranking this season, ahead of Saturday's homecoming game with Arizona State
Texas Tech moved up one spot to No. 10 in the Associated Press Top 25 released Sunday, Oct. 11, its first appearance in the AP top 10 this season, coming off an open week. The Red Raiders held at No. 9 in the coaches poll, KCBD reported.
Tech is 5-0 overall and 2-0 in Big 12 play. The Red Raiders return to action Saturday, Oct. 17, when they host Arizona State in the homecoming game, with a 2:30 p.m. kickoff on FOX34.
Sources KCBD · EverythingLubbock
State
Texas appealed a federal order to air-condition every state prison by 2030 and asked the judge to pause it
Texas has appealed U.S. District Judge Robert Pitman's Sept. 22 order requiring air conditioning in all 104 state prison facilities by the end of 2029 to the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, and on Oct. 8 asked Pitman to put the order on hold during the appeal, The Texas Tribune reported Monday, Oct. 12.
State lawyers argue the deadline would drain money from contraband detection, inmate health care and population growth. About a third of prisons were fully cooled as of Oct. 1, leaving roughly 90,000 people without air conditioning; the prison agency puts the full cost at $1.5 billion. Pitman found at least nine inmates died of heat from 2023 to 2025, which the state disputes.
Sources The Texas Tribune
Mullin Hoard & Brown, LLPTexas' health agency has proposed ending state funding for the Children's Autism Program, which served 583 children last year
The Texas Health and Human Services Commission's budget request for 2028-29 proposes eliminating all funding for the Children's Autism Program, The Texas Tribune reported Monday, Oct. 12. The program, started in 2008, pays 16 providers statewide for reduced-cost applied behavior analysis therapy and served 583 children in fiscal 2026, with at least 1,000 more on waitlists.
The proposal follows a July directive from Gov. Greg Abbott, Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick and House Speaker Dustin Burrows that agencies cut spending 3%. The commission said it aimed its cuts at the lowest direct impact to clients. The state spent $13.7 million on the program over two years. If lawmakers agree, services would end after August 2027.
Sources The Texas Tribune
U.S. & World
Houthi attacks hit Saudi airports again Sunday, striking a Riyadh terminal and the airport in Dammam
Another projectile struck a passenger terminal at Riyadh's King Khalid International Airport on Sunday, Oct. 11, the Saudi-led coalition said, and Saudi Arabia's civil aviation authority confirmed an attack on King Fahd International Airport in Dammam. Saudi authorities said a Pakistani resident was killed and 11 people were injured Sunday, and the Riyadh airport stayed closed.
Houthi military spokesman Yahya Saree said the group had carried out at least four operations against the Riyadh airport since Saturday and warned travelers that Saudi airports and airspace are potential targets. Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Pakistan and Turkey jointly condemned the attacks, and Iran's Mohsen Rezaei called the latest U.S. response to stalled talks insufficient.
A federal judge ordered the Trump administration to stop airing $20 million in taxpayer-funded TV ads promoting the president
U.S. District Judge Jennifer Rochon in New York issued a two-week temporary restraining order Sunday night, Oct. 11, barring the administration from using Department of Homeland Security funds for TV ads that promote President Donald Trump and echo his midterm messaging, and ordering remaining spots canceled, including ads set to air that night.
The suit was brought by a coalition led by the watchdog group Common Cause; the Democratic National Committee has filed a separate suit. DHS set aside $20 million for the campaign, and about $12 million had aired as of last week. The Justice Department argued the ads were ending anyway. Rochon found the plaintiffs likely to succeed on the merits.
Hurricane Simon skirted Mexico's Pacific coast through Monday morning without making landfall, still a Category 3 storm as heavy rain flooded coastal towns
Hurricane Simon remained just offshore Mexico's west-central coast Monday, Oct. 12, moving north-northwest at about 3 mph as a Category 3 storm with maximum sustained winds of 110 mph, the National Hurricane Center said in its 8 a.m. MST advisory. The storm was expected to continue skirting the coastline through Monday with its eventual path inland still uncertain, CNN reported.
Heavy rain had already caused flooding along the coast, including in Manzanillo, where the Mexican Navy helped pump water from homes. Puerto Vallarta's airport was closed through Monday morning. No deaths had been reported. Power outages had affected some coastal areas, including Acapulco.
At least 139 migrants died, including 15 children, when an overcrowded boat capsized off Djibouti, the UN migration agency said Sunday
At least 139 people, including 15 children, died and 84 were missing after an overcrowded boat carrying 305 migrants capsized north of Obock, Djibouti, on the night of Oct. 8-9, shortly after setting out for Yemen, the International Organization for Migration said in a statement Sunday, Oct. 11.
The agency said more than 80 survivors, all Ethiopian, were taken to its center in Obock, and that the toll counts only victims buried by authorities and could rise. Its Djibouti chief, Alexandre Coissac, said survivors described the boat sinking as soon as they boarded. More than 900 migrants died or went missing on the route last year, the agency said.
Sources Fox News · South China Morning Post
The Brewers beat the Dodgers 2-1 in Game 1 of the National League Championship Series in Milwaukee
The Milwaukee Brewers beat the Los Angeles Dodgers 2-1 in Game 1 of the National League Championship Series on Sunday, Oct. 11, at American Family Field. Brice Turang tied the game with a fourth-inning solo home run, and 21-year-old Luis Lara singled in Garrett Mitchell in the fifth for the go-ahead run.
Los Angeles went 1-for-5 with runners in scoring position. Trevor Megill walked two batters in the ninth before getting Mookie Betts to fly out to end it. Jacob Misiorowski allowed one run in 4 1/3 innings for Milwaukee, while Tarik Skubal gave up two runs in five innings for the Dodgers. Yoshinobu Yamamoto is set to start Game 2.
Sources Fox News
D. Williams & Co., Inc.