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
Thursday, October 22, 2026
Today’s lead
Lubbock County's early-vote turnout of 8.56% after two days trails Williamson and Travis counties
Lubbock County Elections Administrator Troy Havard told Lubbock Lights that 17,490 people voted Monday and Tuesday, Oct. 19 and 20, about 8.56% of the county's 204,340 registered voters. Lubbock Lights reported Wednesday that Williamson County reached 11.38% and Travis County 9.59% over the same two days, while Lubbock ran slightly ahead of Harris County's 8.45% and Montgomery County's 6.81%.
Havard said that as of noon Wednesday the county had no major problems affecting anyone's ability to vote. The comparison counties' totals include mail ballots, and Lubbock's mail-ballot count still needs clarification for an equal comparison. Early voting runs through Friday, Oct. 30, and Election Day is Nov. 3.
Sources Lubbock Lights
More Local
Trump's Oct. 27 Lubbock rally is confirmed for the Lubbock Memorial Civic Center
The Lubbock Memorial Civic Center is confirmed as the site of President Donald Trump's Tuesday, Oct. 27, rally in support of Republican U.S. Senate candidate Ken Paxton, Lubbock Lights reported Wednesday, Oct. 21. The venue had been listed as to be announced when registration opened earlier in the week.
Doors open at 11 a.m., the program begins at 1 p.m. and Trump is scheduled to speak at 2:30 p.m. Central. An RSVP is required, the official signup page allows up to four tickets per registration, and attendees must confirm their registration by phone. Democratic Senate candidate James Talarico plans his own rally on the Texas Tech campus that evening.
Sources Lubbock Lights
Part of Buffalo Springs Lake is closed until 5 p.m. Thursday while divers work on the dam
The far east end of Buffalo Springs Lake is closed Thursday, Oct. 22, so divers can work on the dam, KCBD reported Wednesday. The area is scheduled to reopen to the public at 5 p.m. Thursday, and everyone is asked to stay clear of the designated work area so the divers can finish safely.
The work is part of a dam project funded by $8 million in federal American Rescue Plan Act money that Lubbock County received in 2024 to widen the dam and update it.
Sources KCBD
Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, campaigning in Lubbock, told data centers it is their 'Bud Light moment'
Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick made a brief campaign stop in Lubbock on Wednesday morning, Oct. 21, calling the midterms the most important election yet, KCBD reported. Patrick, who presides over the Texas Senate and is seeking a fourth term, said the state needs to regulate bad actors in the data center industry when the Legislature reconvenes in January.
Patrick said companies that do not work with local communities, explain what they are doing and give residents the right to decide whether a project is built will be kicked to the side, like Budweiser, which he said has not recovered. Democrat Vikki Goodwin, an Austin-area state representative challenging Patrick, is campaigning on school funding and restricting AI data center growth.
Sources KCBD
Mullin Hoard & Brown, LLPSave Lubbock is gathering signatures for a petition to ban Flock license plate cameras in the city
For the past 50 days, the group Save Lubbock has been collecting signatures on a petition calling on city leaders to ban Flock Safety cameras and other license plate tracking systems, EverythingLubbock reported Wednesday, Oct. 21. The proposal calls for ending contracts, removing cameras, deleting stored data and permanently banning the technology.
Founder Stephen Sanders said the group wants a public discussion of safeguards and has 17 signing locations. The group submitted a petition for an 18-month data center moratorium in September. The city's police transparency portal lists 103 license plate readers and cameras, 17 of them plate-reading only. Police Chief Seth Herman told the council in September that controls are in place to catch misuse.
Sources EverythingLubbock
A Central Lubbock homeowner says city trash trucks keep damaging his fence; Councilman David Bruegel says the city will repair it
Central Lubbock homeowner Jeremy Bowen says the city's Solid Waste Department has damaged his fence, water valve access and concrete for more than a year, KCBD reported Wednesday, Oct. 21. Bowen said he reported the damage repeatedly, and two fence companies quoted him $2,000 and $3,000 to replace the fence.
The department sent KCBD a list of instructions instead of granting an interview. District 3 Councilman David Bruegel said the city's goal is to repair damage to its original condition, and that crews fixed Bowen's poles and wood and will fix the concrete. Bruegel said the city cannot realistically buy a new fence for everyone and must use the money responsibly.
Sources KCBD
Plainview-Hale County Airport won a $1.5 million federal award for a new terminal and aviation training
The Plainview-Hale County Airport has received a $1.5 million federal award to build a new terminal and expand aviation workforce training, KCBD reported Wednesday, Oct. 21. Plainview is one of 10 cities nationwide to receive the award.
The grant is part of a larger investment of more than $6 million in regional growth. The City of Plainview and Hale County are each contributing $2 million to the effort, and Plainview ISD has also committed $2 million to the initiative, according to the report, which did not give a construction timeline for the new terminal.
Sources KCBD
KCBD posted interviews with Republican Tom Sell and Democrat Kyle Rable in the District 19 congressional race
KCBD on Wednesday, Oct. 21, published its Decision 2026 interviews with both candidates in the race for the U.S. House seat in Texas' 19th Congressional District, which includes Lubbock. Republican Tom Sell faces Democrat Kyle Rable, and the full interviews run in the station's video player and on its free streaming app.
Early voting for the Nov. 3 election is underway, with polls open 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. daily through Oct. 30, except Sunday, when they are open noon to 6 p.m. Lubbock County voters can cast early ballots at any United Supermarkets, Market Street or Amigos location.
Amarillo Tribune: Potter County election workers walk through how every ballot is secured and counted
The Amarillo Tribune on Wednesday, Oct. 21, followed Potter County election workers through training with Elections Administrator Christy Benge and Assistant Elections Administrator Daniel Reyna, who walked about 10 first-time clerks and judges through opening and closing the polls. Machines are locked in cages, their seals are checked for tampering, and the tablets have no internet access and need a physical key and a one-day passcode.
Election worker Jackie Payne said clerks must match the number of physical ballots to the ballots cast in the system every night, and once recounted until the numbers matched. Worker Delores Thompson said anyone who claims fraud has not been through the process because of its many checks.
Sources Amarillo Tribune
Seminole's City Council approved a Safe Haven Baby Box for Gaines County
The Seminole City Council approved installing a Safe Haven Baby Box last week, giving parents in crisis in Gaines County a safe place to surrender an infant to first responders, KCBD reported Wednesday, Oct. 21. Seminole resident Jamie Spears and EMS Chief Carly French are leading the project and have worked with city leaders since January.
Organizers plan fundraisers to cover the cost of the box, its installation and ongoing monitoring. It will be similar to the two boxes already in Lubbock. Under Texas Safe Haven laws, a parent can safely and anonymously surrender an unharmed infant 60 days old or younger.
Sources KCBD
D. Williams & Co., Inc.Frenship and Memorial FFA programs are being honored at the National FFA Convention
Frenship High School and Memorial High School FFA programs are being honored at the National FFA Convention in Indianapolis, KCBD reported Wednesday, Oct. 21. Frenship senior Karter Bowen is one of four national finalists for the Swine Production Proficiency Award and is serving as a national voting delegate for Texas.
Memorial High School's FFA chapter is being named a three-star national chapter in its first year, which places it in the top 5% of chapters nationwide. Memorial agriculture teacher Ryan Pieniazek is receiving the honorary American FFA Degree for his work in agriculture education.
Sources KCBD
No. 19 Texas Tech men's basketball plays No. 23 Kentucky in a Friday exhibition at Rupp Arena
No. 19 Texas Tech will play No. 23 Kentucky in an exhibition at 6 p.m. Central on Friday, Oct. 23, at Rupp Arena in Lexington, Texas Tech Athletics announced Wednesday. SEC Network+ will carry the game, the first chance for fans to see the 2026-27 Red Raiders.
Coach Grant McCasland enters his fourth season at 74-31, and Tech was picked fifth in the Big 12 preseason poll. The season opens Monday, Nov. 2, against Jackson State, with No. 3 Illinois visiting Nov. 10. Separately, former Red Raider Christian Anderson, Charlotte's 18th pick in the June NBA Draft, was set to make his NBA debut Wednesday night.
Sources Texas Tech Athletics · Texas Tech Athletics · KFYO
A Tahoka couple is turning a 1915 mercantile building into an event venue
Brandi Adams and her husband are renovating a former general mercantile building in the center of Tahoka into an event venue they plan to call LouEffie Pearl's, KCBD reported Wednesday, Oct. 21. Adams said the couple asked the previous owners about selling after seeing them move items out of the building, which had been in one family for generations.
Researching old newspapers through Texas Tech's Southwest Collection, Adams found the building was built in 1915 as the Knight and Brashear Building, selling groceries, feed, dry goods and clothing. It has been used for storage since the 1960s. She said the venue will honor their daughter and give their musician son a place to play.
Sources KCBD
Miller Elementary third-graders explored careers at a school event, including UMC's Aero Transport team
Students at Lubbock's Miller Elementary learned about careers beyond common childhood answers during a recent event at the school, KCBD reported Wednesday, Oct. 21. Third-grader Eli Morman said he wants to be a firefighter, and classmate Avery Newton said she wants to be a teacher, but both visited other career stations.
Morman said a member of UMC's Aero Transport team caught his interest. School counselor Lacy Simon said students often mirror the careers they see their parents doing and can get into a bubble, and events like this help them consider jobs they may not have known about.
Sources KCBD
Lubbock ISD student artwork was displayed at Citizens Tower for LP&L's 110th anniversary
Several Lubbock ISD students had their artwork displayed in the Citizens Tower lobby at Avenue K and 14th Street as part of Lubbock Power and Light's 110th anniversary art contest, KCBD reported Wednesday, Oct. 21. The contest was held this month to help the city-owned utility celebrate more than a century of service.
After Wednesday's event at Citizens Tower, families were able to take the students' artwork home with them, according to the report, which did not list the winners or the number of students whose work was chosen for the display.
Sources KCBD
State
TCEQ shut down its online permit filing system after watchdogs found data center permits slipping through
The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality on Wednesday, Oct. 21, temporarily disabled its automated electronic filing system after watchdog groups said it had issued stormwater permits for data center construction despite Gov. Greg Abbott's directive pausing such permits, the Texas Tribune reported. The system, known as STEERS, handles a wide range of air and water permits and lets some be approved automatically.
Agency spokesman Ryan Vise said applications must now be physically delivered so staff can determine whether they relate to data centers. TCEQ said it had suspended the specific permits identified by Public Citizen and the FracTracker Alliance. Abbott ordered the pause a month ago while agencies and the grid operator review data centers.
Sources The Texas Tribune
Action PrintingA Fox News poll has Talarico and Paxton tied at 49% in the Texas Senate race, with Abbott up 5
A Fox News poll released Wednesday, Oct. 21, found Democrat James Talarico and Republican Ken Paxton tied at 49% each among Texas likely voters in the U.S. Senate race, after Talarico led 51% to 49% in September. Fox said Paxton has consolidated support among conservatives, rural voters, suburban women and former Cornyn backers.
Gov. Greg Abbott leads Democrat Gina Hinojosa 52% to 47%, unchanged from September. Paxton's favorability is underwater by 17 points while Talarico's is net positive by 1, and President Trump's Texas job rating stands at 45% approve and 54% disapprove. Texans prefer Republican control of the Senate by 4 points, the poll found.
Sources Fox News
FEMA denied individual aid to Texans hit by the July 2026 floods in Uvalde and Kerr County
The Federal Emergency Management Agency has denied a request for federal aid to individuals hurt by the July 2026 floods in Texas, which swamped homes in Uvalde and damaged property across Kerr County, some for the second time in two years, the Texas Tribune reported Wednesday, Oct. 21. Gov. Greg Abbott's office said the state is reviewing the decision and how to appeal.
Disaster experts said individual assistance helps residents make homes livable, pay for temporary housing and replace belongings. FEMA said it weighs insurance, recent disasters and a state's fiscal capacity, and is focused on empowering states to lead their own recovery, a shift the Trump administration has pushed.
Sources The Texas Tribune
The Trump administration asked the Supreme Court to let Big Bend border wall construction resume
The Trump administration on Wednesday, Oct. 21, filed an emergency appeal asking the U.S. Supreme Court to let it resume building a border wall project through the Big Bend region of Texas, the Texas Tribune reported. U.S. District Judge Kathleen Cardone on Oct. 2 ordered construction stopped across the roughly 500-mile project area while a lawsuit plays out.
Ranchers, residents, business owners and environmentalists argue the mix of walls, vehicle barriers and surveillance technology wastes money in an area of historically low illegal immigration and could harm the landscape. The government argues Big Bend is a high-entry sector and that 1996 law lets the Homeland Security secretary waive environmental rules to build barriers.
Sources The Texas Tribune
Van Zandt County Deputy Adam Sherifi was killed and a Canton officer wounded in a warrant shootout
Van Zandt County sheriff's Deputy Adam Sherifi was killed and Canton police Officer Christopher Watson was wounded late Tuesday, Oct. 20, when shots were fired from a home where officers were serving felony warrants on State Highway 198, KCBD reported, citing KLTV. Sheriff Kevin Bridger said officers returned fire, and the suspect was found dead inside.
County Court at Law Judge Joshua Wintters said Watson is in danger of losing an arm. The Texas Rangers are investigating. Separately, a mother and four children ages 3 to 10 died after a mobile home fire in the same East Texas county early Wednesday, and the Canton school district said some of the children were its students.
Middleton holds a single-digit edge over Johnson in the open race for Texas attorney general
With early voting underway, Republican state Sen. Mayes Middleton of Galveston holds a single-digit lead over Democratic state Sen. Nathan Johnson of Dallas in the race to succeed Ken Paxton as attorney general, The Texan reported Wednesday, Oct. 21. A University of Houston survey of 2,000 likely voters had Middleton up 5 points, with 8% undecided.
The same poll found 50% of respondents did not know enough about Middleton, and 71% about Johnson, to have an opinion. Middleton has pledged to continue Paxton's aggressive conservative litigation and expand the office's power to prosecute, while Johnson promises to refocus on consumer protection, antitrust and corruption cases without regard to party.
Sources The Texan
Comptroller Don Huffines' 'executive orders,' including one on Flock camera funding, are mostly routine rulemaking
Texas Comptroller Don Huffines has issued four directives he calls executive orders in recent weeks, targeting a tax on online marketplace fees, a tax on medical records, funding for Flock surveillance cameras and state dollars for diversity programs, the Texas Tribune reported Wednesday, Oct. 21.
The Tribune found the orders mostly direct comptroller staff to begin the formal process of changing agency rules, something the comptroller can largely do on his own already. Executive orders are a unilateral power that typically rests with a chief executive, such as a county judge, the governor or the president. Huffines' office did not respond to questions or an interview request.
Sources The Texas Tribune
Duffy Law Firm, PCAbandoned and leaking oil wells sit inside new Texas subdivisions, often unknown to homebuyers
Suburbs have spread across old Texas oil fields, and some homebuyers did not know their neighborhoods were built near abandoned wells, the Texas Tribune reported Wednesday, Oct. 21, with Inside Climate News and the San Antonio Express-News. At the Preserve at Medina subdivision in southwest San Antonio, a fenced well plugged in 2006 still leaks gas.
The state has replugged that well five times, and monitoring has detected leaking methane and hydrogen sulfide since homes rose around it in the early 2020s, drawing repeated resident complaints. A sign on its fence warns of flammable gas, and contractors reported to the Railroad Commission, the state's oil and gas regulator, in June.
Sources The Texas Tribune
Rep. Monica De La Cruz and Democrat Bobby Pulido make their final push in South Texas' 15th District
Republican U.S. Rep. Monica De La Cruz and Democrat Bobby Pulido, a Tejano music star since the 1990s, are in the final stretch of the race for Texas' 15th Congressional District, The Texan reported Wednesday, Oct. 21. The heavily Latino district runs from near San Antonio to the Rio Grande Valley.
The Texan's partisan index rates the seat as leaning Republican at 55%. De La Cruz flipped the historically Democratic seat in 2022, and Trump carried it in 2024. Pulido is part of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee's Red to Blue program targeting GOP-held seats, and both candidates are courting voters on heritage, working families, agriculture and small business.
Sources The Texan
U.S. & World
The State Department ordered non-emergency U.S. staff out of Saudi Arabia as Houthi attacks intensify
The State Department on Wednesday, Oct. 21, ordered non-emergency U.S. government employees and their families to leave Saudi Arabia as deadly attacks by Iran-backed Houthis intensify across the kingdom, Fox News reported. Spokesperson Tommy Pigott said the order applies to Saudi Arabia only, pushing back on reports of a wider Gulf evacuation.
Pigott said the Houthis have attacked civilian airports and other critical infrastructure, causing civilian deaths and severe travel disruptions. Fox reported that strikes on Saudi airports earlier this month killed at least 14 people, including an American. President Donald Trump is weighing whether to launch direct U.S. military strikes against the group.
Sources Fox News
Trump announced an $8 billion relief package for farmers facing high fertilizer and diesel costs
President Donald Trump is rolling out an $8 billion package of one-time relief payments for farmers facing rising fertilizer and diesel costs, KCBD's Gray DC bureau reported Wednesday, Oct. 21, ahead of Trump's Thursday rally in Sioux City, Iowa. It follows $12 billion in one-time payments earlier this year and a $14 billion injection two weeks ago.
The report said Iowa has felt the effects of the administration's economic and foreign policies, including recent imports of millions of tons of foreign beef. Republican National Committee Chair Joe Gruters said the midterm strategy is turnout, while New York Times polling put Trump's approval at an all-time low of 36%.
Sources KCBD
Zelenskyy said he is open to freezing the front lines to end the war with Russia
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Wednesday, Oct. 21, that he is open to freezing the front lines of the war with Russia to bring the fighting to an end, telling Fox & Friends that a freeze is a real way to end the war. He called it a ceasefire, or stop killing, as President Donald Trump has put it.
Zelenskyy said a freeze is the minimum Ukraine needs from Russia and that Kyiv would then seek security guarantees from the United States and Europe. He said millions of displaced Ukrainians need to come home. Fox noted Russia has often rejected ceasefire proposals, saying they would give Ukraine time to rearm.
Sources Fox News
Trump's political groups have spent nearly $277 million in the final stretch of the midterms
President Donald Trump's flagship super PAC, MAGA Inc., has reported spending nearly $277 million since the beginning of September to bolster Republicans in the midterm elections, the Associated Press reported Wednesday, Oct. 21, citing new federal campaign finance filings. The AP called it an unprecedented amount for a sitting president.
The total includes transfers of $200 million to No Going Back PAC Inc. and $25 million to Safety & Affordability PAC Inc., two affiliated groups spending millions on advertising. Republican strategist Corry Bliss said it is more than any president has ever spent on the midterms. The election is Nov. 3.
Sources PBS NewsHour (AP)
Advanced GraphixA New Mexico judge ordered Meta to pay $25 billion, its largest fine ever, over Facebook privacy
A judge on Wednesday, Oct. 21, ordered Meta to pay New Mexico $25 billion after a jury found the company liable for deceiving users about privacy, the largest fine ever against Facebook's owner, the Associated Press reported. Meta has said it plans to appeal the September verdict.
New Mexico Attorney General Raúl Torrez called the judgment an unambiguous message to Silicon Valley. Under the state constitution, fines for consumer protection violations go toward education spending, and Torrez said the state may have paid for school construction for the next 100 years, though the money will be tied up during the appeal.
Sources PBS NewsHour (AP)
The Supreme Court refused to let Trump's restrictions on medical care for transgender inmates take effect
The U.S. Supreme Court on Wednesday, Oct. 21, refused to let the Trump administration immediately enforce new medical restrictions for transgender people in federal prison, leaving a lower-court block in place, the Associated Press reported. The brief order did not explain its reasoning.
Justices Samuel Alito and Clarence Thomas would have let the policy take effect while the lawsuit proceeds. The policy followed an executive order from President Donald Trump directing the Bureau of Prisons to revise medical care rules. The court has previously let other administration policies on transgender people move forward for now, including restrictions on military service and passport sex markers.
Sources PBS NewsHour (AP)
Pope Leo XIV needs no further cancer treatment after lung surgery, his doctors said
Pope Leo XIV needs no further treatment for lung cancer after final tests confirmed the disease was localized, his doctors said Wednesday, Oct. 21, Fox News and the Associated Press reported. His physician, Dr. Luigi Carbone, and surgeon, Dr. Stefano Margaritora, said the tumor removed from his right lung was an adenocarcinoma.
Leo, 71, had surgery Oct. 13 at Rome's Gemelli Hospital, the first major health event of his 17-month pontificate. He left the hospital Saturday, four days after the operation and well ahead of the weeklong stay the Vatican had first expected, and has said he will gradually resume his duties.
Sources Fox News · PBS NewsHour (AP)
Country Music Hall of Famer John Anderson, singer of 'Seminole Wind,' has died at 71
Country singer John Anderson has died at 71, his family said in a statement on his official social media pages, KCBD reported Wednesday, Oct. 21, citing WSMV in Nashville. The family said the world knew him as a gifted singer whose songs touched countless lives, but to them he was the heart of the family.
Anderson was known for hits including Straight Tequila Night and Seminole Wind, and opened shows for Merle Haggard, George Jones and Willie Nelson. He won the CMA Horizon Award, the CMA single of the year for Swingin' and the Academy of Country Music's Career Achievement Award, and was inducted into the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2014.
Sources KCBD
