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
Friday, October 23, 2026
Today’s lead
Rain and cooler weather arrive Sunday after a warm, sunny Friday and Saturday
Lubbock's run of warm, sunny weather lasts through Saturday before rain chances and cooler temperatures move in Sunday and stay for much of next week, KCBD's forecast said Friday morning, Oct. 23. Friday should reach the mid 70s with breezy winds of 10 to 20 mph, and Saturday the low to mid 70s with gusts up to 25 mph and rain possibly developing late Saturday night.
Sunday's rain chance is about 60%, with highs falling into the upper 60s under heavy cloud cover. Rain chances persist into the first half of next week with highs mostly in the 60s. The National Weather Service had no active alerts for Lubbock County early Friday.
Sources KCBD
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KCBD interviewed Sen. Charles Perry and Democrat Riley Rodriquez in the Senate District 28 race
KCBD posted interviews Thursday, Oct. 22, with both candidates for Texas Senate District 28, which includes Lubbock: Republican Sen. Charles Perry, the incumbent, and his Democratic challenger, Riley Rodriquez. The full interviews are available in KCBD's video players and on its free streaming app, with a second part of the Perry interview posted separately.
Early voting in Lubbock County runs through Friday, Oct. 30, from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. daily except Sunday, when polls are open from noon to 6 p.m. Voters may cast ballots early at any United Supermarkets, Market Street or Amigos location in the county. Election Day is Tuesday, Nov. 3.
Amarillo City Council will consider hiring Rodney Rhoades as interim city manager Tuesday
The Amarillo City Council's agenda for Tuesday, Oct. 27, includes appointing Rodney Rhoades as interim city manager, the Amarillo Tribune reported Thursday. Under the agenda, Rhoades would be paid $175 an hour plus a housing stipend, starting Oct. 27 and serving until a permanent city manager takes over. The council accepted Grayson Path's resignation as city manager on Sept. 22.
Rhoades has more than 35 years in Texas government, including as Travis County executive, Collin County's director of finance and operations, and interim executive director of the North Texas Municipal Water District. Mayor Cole Stanley said the search firm sent five resumes, the council interviewed three, and Rhoades was the strongest.
Sources Amarillo Tribune
Food for Thought: O'Hana Japanese Steakhouse had 64 health violations and a repeat-violation fee
O'Hana Japanese Steakhouse at 5217 82nd St. had 64 violations in its latest city health inspection, KCBD's weekly Food for Thought report said Thursday, Oct. 22. The inspector found a lack of active managerial control and major cleaning issues, issued a $175 repeat-violation fee because of violations found in prior inspections, and scheduled a follow-up inspection to check cleaning progress.
Also among the week's low performers, Poliberto's Taco Shop at 107 Beech Ave. had 25 violations and John's Tech Cafe at 6810 Milwaukee had 15. Inspection reports show most violations at those two restaurants were corrected at the time of the inspection. KCBD's report also lists the week's top performers.
Sources KCBD
D. Williams & Co., Inc.Lubbock ISD confirms a fight between students at one of its high schools after a video went viral
Lubbock ISD confirmed Thursday, Oct. 22, that a physical altercation between students happened earlier this week at one of its high schools, after a video of the fight circulated widely on social media, EverythingLubbock reported. The district said campus staff stepped in to de-escalate the incident and that schools follow established protocols and the law in handling such cases.
The district did not name the campus and said privacy laws protecting students and staff prevent it from sharing more. It asked the public to keep in mind that information spreading online may be unverified, incomplete or incorrect, which the district said causes confusion and frustration.
Sources EverythingLubbock
A South Plains winery says an early grape harvest and a slump in alcohol sales made 2026 a hard year
Dry weather and late rain pushed the South Plains grape harvest into September instead of the usual October this year, Steve Newsom, owner of English Newsom Cellars, told KCBD in a story published Thursday, Oct. 22. Newsom said it felt like the weather went the wrong way at every turn all year.
Newsom said falling alcohol sales have also cut into the winery's revenue, citing reports of some of the lowest sales in 20 years and declines of as much as 20%. He urged consumers to support local family-owned vineyards, saying everything his winery does happens on the South Plains, from the seed to the glass.
Sources KCBD
Tahoka Police Chief Jeff Parker honored for a school-zone traffic stop that found nine possible trafficking victims
The City of Tahoka gave Police Chief Jeff Parker a life-saving award for a traffic stop last month in which he found nine people believed to be victims of human trafficking, KCBD reported Thursday, Oct. 22, airing body camera footage of the stop. Parker said he pulled over a van doing 33 in a 20 mph school zone on Highway 380.
Parker said the driver had no license, offered a Guatemalan passport and spoke only Spanish, and the van held eight other people. The passport and the number of passengers raised red flags, he said, and the City of Tahoka later honored him for saving the nine people in the van.
Sources KCBD
Mayor Mark McBrayer hosts Coffee with the Mayor for all council districts Thursday, Oct. 29
Lubbock Mayor Mark McBrayer will host Coffee with the Mayor for residents of all council districts at 7 a.m. Thursday, Oct. 29, at the Maxey Community Center, 4020 30th St., the City of Lubbock announced in a release KCBD published Thursday. The city's Destiny agenda system lists the gathering as a called special meeting of the City Council.
The city said the event lets residents meet one-on-one with the mayor and their council representative to discuss issues and concerns, and the public is invited. The council's next regular meeting is Tuesday, Oct. 27, and a called special meeting with the Lubbock Economic Development Alliance is posted for Oct. 28.
Sources KCBD · City of Lubbock (agenda calendar)
A trailer loaded with $18,000 in gear for a free kids' fishing event was stolen from Los Hermanos Familia
Los Hermanos Familia, a Lubbock nonprofit, is asking for help finding a trailer stolen around 3:30 a.m. Wednesday, Oct. 21, from a storage facility near North Ash Avenue and Interstate 27, KCBD reported Thursday. The trailer was loaded with gear for the group's annual Vamos a Pescar, Let's Go Fishing event.
The group said the trailer held about 200 fishing poles plus tents, tables and games, and estimated the trailer and its contents are worth about $18,000. A police report has been filed, and anyone with information is asked to call the Lubbock Police Department at 806-775-2865.
Sources KCBD · EverythingLubbock
High school football: Amarillo High beat Frenship 41-14, and Wichita Falls Legacy routed Coronado 63-7
Frenship fell to 4-4 overall and 3-2 in district with a 41-14 loss at Amarillo High on Thursday night, Oct. 22, KCBD reported, as early Sandies scores paved the way. The Tigers remain in playoff contention but their path is now harder, and they host Monterey next Friday in a game that could carry postseason stakes.
In Thursday's other game involving a Lubbock team, Coronado lost 63-7 to Wichita Falls Legacy on KCBD's Thursday Night Throwdown and dropped to 1-8, 0-5 in district. Running back Ethan Tobias scored the Mustangs' touchdown late in the first half. Coronado closes its season Friday, Nov. 6, at Abilene Cooper.
Action PrintingState
A West Texas DA opened a forgery investigation into transgender-rights mailers sent to Texas homes
Sarah Stogner, the Republican district attorney for Loving, Reeves and Ward counties west of Odessa, has opened a criminal investigation into pamphlets mailed to homes across Texas that claim to come from a transgender rights group, the Texas Tribune reported Thursday, Oct. 22. Stogner said she is investigating them as a potential forgery, a state jail felony, and the scope could grow.
The mailers, addressed to the student of each household, list a Texas Transgender Student Union formed as a Wyoming LLC in September. The Transgender Education Network of Texas, which they repeatedly cite, says it had nothing to do with them. Stogner called the mailers an obvious bid to agitate voters before the midterms.
Sources The Texas Tribune
Texas educator misconduct reports tripled to 19,766 last school year, the TEA says
The Texas Education Agency recorded 19,766 reports of educator misconduct from Sept. 1, 2025, through Aug. 31, 2026, three times the 6,455 reports of the year before, KCBD reported Thursday, Oct. 22, citing the agency's misconduct dashboard. Of that year's investigations, 53.9% involved violence or abuse toward students and 15.3% inappropriate relationships between educators and students.
Levi Fuller, the TEA's inspector general for educator misconduct, told KCBD the agency is prioritizing grooming, which he said typically begins as a special friendship and can include texting outside school hours. Fuller, a public school parent, said the trend is very scary and that the agency will widen its focus once that number is under control.
Sources KCBD
Rising costs will push about 14,000 more Texas children onto child care subsidy waitlists
The Texas Workforce Commission is cutting the number of children its federally funded Child Care Services program will serve in 2027 by a little under 10%, adding about 14,000 children to a waitlist that already tops 100,000, the Texas Tribune reported Thursday, Oct. 22. The program pays all or part of child care tuition for low-income families.
The Legislative Budget Board blamed inflation and more providers qualifying for higher payments. A 2021 law requires providers that take subsidized children to join the Texas Rising Star quality program, and the number of qualifying providers more than doubled from 2021 to 2025, with nearly 2,000 joining between 2024 and 2025 alone.
Sources The Texas Tribune
Nate Sheets leads Democrat Clayton Tucker in the race for Texas agriculture commissioner
Republican Nate Sheets, who beat Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller in the March primary, leads Democrat Clayton Tucker 46% to 40% in an Oct. 19 University of Houston Hobby School poll, The Texan reported Thursday, Oct. 22, in a piece where both candidates answered questions on how they would run the Texas Department of Agriculture and handle the New World screwworm.
From July 1 to Sept. 24, Sheets raised about $587,000, including $50,000 from Drayton McLane, while Tucker raised about $260,000 and had $276,000 on hand. The Texan cited Texas A&M AgriLife figures showing agriculture-linked activity contributed $186.1 billion, or 9.1%, of the state's economy in 2021.
Sources The Texan
A North Texas teenager is accused of plotting to kill U.S. Rep. Keith Self and of planning an ISIS attack
A 17-year-old in North Texas is in federal custody, accused of planning to assassinate U.S. Rep. Keith Self, R-Texas, and of plotting a terrorist attack on behalf of ISIS, The Texan reported Thursday, Oct. 22, following first reports by WFAA. The teen, who is not named, was arrested Oct. 5 after buying a firearm.
Self, who founded the Sharia Free America Caucus with U.S. Rep. Chip Roy, suggested on social media that his work against what he called radical Islam was the motive. He wrote that preserving the constitutional republic means accepting costs that include name-calling, threats and worse.
Sources The Texan
TCU Chancellor Daniel Pullin resigned Thursday, and former Chancellor Victor Boschini returns
Daniel Pullin resigned as chancellor of Texas Christian University on Thursday, Oct. 22, effective immediately, less than 17 months after taking the job, the Texas Tribune reported, citing a university statement first obtained by the Fort Worth Report. The statement gave no reason and no details about separation terms.
Trustees immediately named Victor Boschini Jr., who led TCU for 22 years before Pullin, as chancellor without an interim title. Board chair Kit Moncrief said Boschini will carry out the university's strategic plan, which calls for enrolling thousands more students, building housing and raising TCU's research profile. Pullin had joined TCU in 2019 as business school dean.
Sources The Texas Tribune
Duffy Law Firm, PCU.S. & World
Iran says seven oil tankers were hit by attacks or mines in the Strait of Hormuz overnight
Iranian state television reported Thursday, Oct. 22, that seven oil tankers were struck by attacks or hit naval mines in the Strait of Hormuz overnight, which would be the largest single-day number of ships damaged in the waterway since the Iran war began Feb. 28, the Associated Press reported via PBS NewsHour.
Quoting the Revolutionary Guard's navy, the report said four tankers were transferring oil when they were targeted and caught fire, and three more were immobilized by mines. It gave no details on casualties or the tankers' flags. Lloyd's List Intelligence said tankers still making the run move at night through a U.S. military-protected lane near Oman with tracking systems off.
Sources PBS NewsHour (AP)
The Supreme Court let New Hampshire reject student IDs at the polls in next month's election
The U.S. Supreme Court on Thursday, Oct. 22, allowed New Hampshire officials to reject student IDs as voter identification in the Nov. 3 midterm elections, Fox News reported. A lower court judge had ruled that officials went beyond a new state law limiting student IDs and still had to consider them alongside other evidence when voters lacked another way to verify identity.
The majority said the judge intervened too close to an election, citing the Purcell principle that late court orders can confuse voters, and pointed to recent litigation over Missouri's maps. Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson dissented, arguing the rule did not apply because the lower court was helping ensure accurate public information.
Sources Fox News
Trump is holding back new Russia sanctions from Congress, drawing criticism from Republican allies
President Donald Trump is holding in reserve the sweeping new sanctions and tariffs on Russia that Congress gave him last month, betting the threat will bring Vladimir Putin to the negotiating table, Fox News reported Friday, Oct. 23. Over about a week, the administration waived most of the new penalties and separately eased restrictions on Russian diesel exports.
Hal Brands of the American Enterprise Institute told Fox News Digital it is probably the administration's biggest effort yet to unwind the sanctions built since 2022. Some Republican allies warn that repeatedly holding back punishment risks convincing Putin that Washington will never use the pressure it has.
Sources Fox News
Russian missiles hit Kyiv hours after Putin agreed in principle to three-way peace talks
Russia bombarded Kyiv with ballistic missiles overnight into Thursday, Oct. 22, killing at least four people across Ukraine and wounding dozens, while Russia's military said it intercepted more than 800 Ukrainian drones aimed at Moscow and other cities, the Associated Press reported via PBS NewsHour.
The attacks came hours after Vladimir Putin agreed in principle Wednesday, in St. Petersburg talks with U.S. envoy Steve Witkoff, to resume negotiations among Russia, Ukraine and the United States. No date was set. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Russia has not changed how it wages the war and is taking no steps that show a real desire to end it.
Sources PBS NewsHour (AP)
Attorney General Todd Blanche won't rule out the Justice Department intervening in election certification
Attorney General Todd Blanche declined Thursday, Oct. 22, to rule out the Justice Department seeking to intervene in states' certification of midterm election results, saying extreme scenarios could prompt federal action, Fox News reported. Speaking to reporters in Virginia, Blanche said he does not intend to improperly interfere with elections.
Blanche said hypothetical doomsday scenarios exist and he would not make conclusory statements about the future, but said he is not planning his days around refusing to certify. Fox noted that the department's role in elections is limited under the Constitution and federal law, mainly to protecting civil rights and prosecuting election-law violations.
Sources Fox News
A federal judge ordered Homeland Security to halt some investigations into suspected noncitizen voting
U.S. District Judge Araceli Martinez-Olguin in California ruled Wednesday, Oct. 21, that the Department of Homeland Security must stop certain investigations into suspected illegal voting, finding the groups suing DHS are likely to show the probes amount to intimidation barred by the Voting Rights Act, Fox News reported Thursday.
The judge, nominated by President Joe Biden in 2022, wrote that the public's interest in elections free from interference or intimidation far exceeds the government's stated interest in combating noncitizen voting. The Trump administration maintains that noncitizen voting in federal elections is a crime and that DHS has the legal authority to investigate it.
Sources Fox News
Advanced GraphixU.S. jobless claims fell to 194,000 last week, the fewest in three months
Applications for U.S. unemployment benefits fell to 194,000 last week from 200,000 the week before, the fewest in three months, the Labor Department reported Thursday, Oct. 22, according to the Associated Press via PBS NewsHour. The four-week average, which smooths out weekly swings, dipped to 197,750.
Claims, a proxy for layoffs, have not topped 230,000 in any week this year. The AP said the job market has stayed sturdy even as higher energy prices since the Iran war began Feb. 28 have squeezed businesses and consumers, though hiring has slowed, with employers adding a disappointing 29,000 jobs in September.
Sources PBS NewsHour (AP)
A Fox News poll has Sen. Susan Collins and Democrat Troy Jackson tied at 49% in Maine
Republican Sen. Susan Collins and Democratic challenger Troy Jackson are tied at 49% among likely Maine voters, according to a Fox News poll released Thursday, Oct. 22, with all interviews completed after their Oct. 15 debate. Collins, seeking a sixth term, is the only GOP senator on the ballot this year from a state Trump lost in 2024.
Only 12% of Maine voters say their family is better off than two years ago, and more than 6 in 10 disapprove of Trump's job performance. Fifty-three percent worry Collins votes with Trump too much, while 46% worry Jackson is too liberal. Democrats see Maine as a must-win seat in their push for the Senate.
Sources Fox News
Kansas Sen. Roger Marshall blamed Ukraine's war, not Iran's, for high diesel prices in a debate
Republican Sen. Roger Marshall of Kansas said in a debate Wednesday, Oct. 21, that Russia's war with Ukraine, not the U.S. war with Iran, is to blame for high diesel prices, the Associated Press reported via PBS NewsHour. Marshall called Trump's idea of importing Russian diesel not a great idea, but said he would back it if it ended the war.
His Democratic challenger, pastor Adam Hamilton, is trying to become the first Democrat elected to the Senate from Kansas since 1932, Fox News reported. The hourlong debate also covered immigration, transgender athletes and a New York Times review finding Marshall's former medical practice sued more than 700 patients over unpaid bills.
Sources Fox News · PBS NewsHour (AP)
Calley Means, a top adviser to Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., resigned Thursday
Calley Means, a top adviser to Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and a leading voice of the Make America Healthy Again movement, resigned Thursday, Oct. 22, the Associated Press reported via PBS NewsHour. Means did not say why he was leaving and said he leaves with tremendous respect for President Donald Trump and Kennedy.
His departure comes as prominent MAHA figures complain about what they call the administration's lack of progress on issues including food security and regulation of the weed killer glyphosate. Means said the past two years brought historic change in confronting chronic disease, and that the movement is only in its first inning.
Sources PBS NewsHour (AP)
A judge ordered Trump to sit for a deposition by Dec. 11 in his $10 billion lawsuit against the BBC
A federal magistrate judge in Miami on Thursday, Oct. 22, ordered President Donald Trump to sit for a deposition by Dec. 11 in his $10 billion defamation lawsuit against the BBC, or face sanctions that could include dismissal of the case, the Associated Press reported via PBS NewsHour. Magistrate Judge Enjolique Lett issued the order after the BBC complained of delays.
BBC attorney Charles Tobin said Trump canceled an agreed Oct. 16 deposition for a matter of national importance but was campaigning in Georgia that day. With two months left in discovery, Tobin said, the broadcaster still had not been able to depose the plaintiff. The case is set for trial in 2027.
Sources PBS NewsHour (AP)
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth told weapons makers to build more and faster under 'Arsenal of Freedom'
Secretary of War Pete Hegseth put weapons manufacturers on notice Thursday, Oct. 22, in a video promoting the Trump administration's Arsenal of Freedom initiative to cut Pentagon red tape, widen competition and speed production of missiles, interceptors and hypersonic weapons, Fox News reported. He said performance, not a contractor's name, will decide who supplies the military.
Hegseth said the mandate from President Trump is to build more and build faster, and that he does not care what company is on the side of the rocket. The video features missile launches, naval weapons firing and ammunition production lines, and it frames the effort as achieving peace through strength.
Sources Fox News
Mullin Hoard & Brown, LLPFive Israelis were wounded and two gunmen killed in a shooting in the southern West Bank
Five Israelis were wounded, two of them critically, in a shooting Friday, Oct. 23, in the Judea Junction area of the southern West Bank, and Israeli forces killed two suspected gunmen, Fox News reported, citing the Israel Defense Forces, Magen David Adom and the Times of Israel. The IDF set up a blockade while it searched the area.
Three of the wounded were in light-to-moderate condition, first responders said. The identities of the suspected gunmen were not immediately released. Fox News described the situation as a developing story, with Israeli authorities continuing to search the area after the attack.
Sources Fox News
Tom Skerritt, Emmy-winning star of 'Top Gun,' 'Alien' and 'Picket Fences,' has died at 93
Actor Tom Skerritt, who played the flight instructor in Top Gun, the doomed captain in Alien and the sheriff on TV's Picket Fences, died Wednesday, Oct. 21, of natural causes at 93, his family said, the Associated Press reported via PBS NewsHour. His family said he cared deeply about storytelling, service, veterans and the natural world.
Skerritt won the Emmy for outstanding lead actor in a drama series in 1993 for Picket Fences, one of two nominations for the role. His other films included The Turning Point, Steel Magnolias, in which he played Sally Field's husband, and Contact, opposite Jodie Foster.
Sources PBS NewsHour (AP)
