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 27, 2026
Today’s lead
Lubbock County's records show one complaint against County Judge Curtis Parrish since 2019, an August email from a staffer
Lubbock County produced one documented complaint against County Judge Curtis Parrish in response to a Lubbock Lights records request covering his tenure since January 2019, Lubbock Lights reported Monday, Oct. 26. It is an Aug. 5 email in which a Commissioners Court administrative assistant told Human Resources Director Melanie Hall she felt uncomfortable after Parrish turned off her office lights on Aug. 3 and sat silently for about three minutes while she finished working.
The three-page email chain ends with scheduling for an Aug. 11 meeting and shows no findings or discipline. The county withdrew its request for an attorney general ruling in an Oct. 23 letter, saying the documents are not the subject of a pending criminal investigation.
Sources Lubbock Lights
More Local
Downtown streets close for Trump's 6 p.m. Civic Center rally Tuesday, and Talarico's rally moves to the Fiesta Center
President Donald Trump rallies for Ken Paxton at the Civic Center at 6 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 27, and downtown closures are in place, KCBD reported. Mac Davis Lane, Avenue O and 9th Street between Avenue O and Avenue K are closing. The only entrance is on the west side from 8th Street, and pedestrian traffic and parking in the area end at 4 p.m. Mahon Library, the Civic Center offices and Silent Wings Museum are closed.
Protesters have a designated area at the MCM Eleganté. Paxton's Democratic opponent, James Talarico, has moved his rally that night to the Fiesta Center, 1902 E. Fourth St., with doors at 6 p.m. and the program at 7 p.m.
Sources KCBD · KCBD · KCBD · KCBD · KCBD · KFYO · EverythingLubbock · EverythingLubbock · EverythingLubbock
Drizzle ends by midday Tuesday, then sunshine and the 70s before storms return Thursday night
Tuesday, Oct. 27, starts gray in Lubbock with clouds, possible fog and drizzle through mid-morning, but the light rain should end by lunchtime and partial sunshine should push the high to about 72 degrees, the average for the date, KCBD's forecast said.
Wednesday may be the best day of the week, dry and about five degrees above average, and Thursday looks good as well. Tropical moisture from Tropical Storm Vance off Mexico's west coast could combine with a western system to bring rain and thunderstorms back Thursday night into Friday, with a slight chance lingering into Halloween on Saturday. The National Weather Service had no alerts for Lubbock County early Tuesday.
Sources KCBD
Plains Cotton Growers says the $8 billion Harvest Fuel Relief Program will help as local diesel nears $6 a gallon
The Trump administration's $8 billion Harvest Fuel Relief Program will help South Plains farmers absorb rising costs without making them whole, Plains Cotton Growers CEO Kody Bessent told KCBD on Monday, Oct. 26. He said diesel has jumped locally from about $3.50 a gallon to almost $6 after a tough year for every crop, and many farmers were forced to harvest early because of weather.
The program, created by President Donald Trump and Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins, still needs details before farmers can apply. Bessent said the USDA will likely set rates by commodity using its own reports, including the November WASDE report, and said the money will ripple through a Lubbock economy that depends on agriculture.
Sources KCBD
Mullin Hoard & Brown, LLPSemi driver Russell Mabry, 61, has died of injuries from the Oct. 16 rollover off I-27 near Keuka Street
Russell Mabry, 61, has died of injuries he suffered when his semi-truck rolled off Interstate 27 near Keuka Street on Oct. 16, the Lubbock Police Department's Major Crash Unit said Monday, Oct. 26, EverythingLubbock reported.
Officers called to the crash around midnight found Mabry trapped in the truck; he was freed and taken to UMC with serious injuries. Police said Mabry was trying to avoid debris from an earlier wreck when the semi and its trailer broke through the guardrail, rolled down an embankment and came to rest on the access road south of the interstate.
Sources EverythingLubbock
Outgoing Potter County Commissioners Blair Schaffer and Warren Coble reflect on their terms as three seats turn over in January
Potter County Commissioners Blair Schaffer of Precinct Two and Warren Coble Sr. of Precinct Four end their terms in January, and with County Judge Nancy Tanner not seeking reelection, three of the court's five seats will have new officeholders in 2027, the Amarillo Tribune reported Monday, Oct. 26.
Coble, a pastor who worked with Hilltop Senior Citizens Association, said he ran in 2022 after predecessor Alphonso Vaughn urged him to and came to see it as a calling. Schaffer, a Navy veteran, former correctional officer and 20-year firefighter, said he held quarterly town halls and urged the county to share more information online, citing a forum on an Xcel Energy solar farm near Rolling Hill Elementary.
Sources Amarillo Tribune
Lubbock pianist Jarrett Lynch and Jazmin Ortega were crowned Wayland Baptist's Homecoming king and queen
Jarrett Lynch and Jazmin Ortega, both representing the School of Creative Arts, were crowned Wayland Baptist University's 2026 Homecoming king and queen at the Homecoming football game in Plainview on Saturday, Oct. 24, the university announced in a release carried Monday by KCBD.
Lynch is a junior piano performance major from Lubbock, and Ortega is a senior choral music education major from Odessa. The coronation capped a week of festivities marking Wayland's return to a fall Homecoming celebration, which the university said brought current students together with alumni.
Sources KCBD
State
Texas is on pace for record midterm turnout, with 4.5 million ballots cast and Democratic primary voters ahead
About 4.5 million Texans had voted by mid-Monday, Oct. 26, putting the state on track for record midterm turnout, The Texan reported. Voter data specialist Derek Ryan said analysts expect about 10 million voters, roughly 52.6% of the state's 19 million registered voters, compared with 8.1 million in 2022. First-week turnout ran about 45% ahead of 2022.
Ryan's analysis found voters with Democratic primary history leading those with Republican primary history, 35% to 32.7% of ballots cast, but he expects the gap to shrink: 318,000 Republicans who voted in all four recent GOP primaries have not voted yet, against 147,000 such Democrats. Early voting ends Friday, Oct. 30, and Election Day is Nov. 3.
Sources The Texan
James Talarico has raised more than $158 million for his Senate bid, about four times Ken Paxton's total
State Rep. James Talarico (D-Austin) has raised more than $158 million in his U.S. Senate campaign, about four times Attorney General Ken Paxton's nearly $39 million, according to the latest federal filings, The Texan reported Monday, Oct. 26. Talarico's haul includes a record $64 million in the third quarter and would rank second all time, behind Sen. Raphael Warnock's 2022 campaign.
Talarico has about $12 million on hand entering the final week; Paxton's committees have about $6 million. Republican super PACs, underwritten largely by Elon Musk, have poured in outside money, but candidates buy ad time at discounted rates. Talarico holds a 1.5-point lead in the RealClearPolitics average, and forecasters rate the Nov. 3 race a toss-up.
Sources The Texan
Gina Hinojosa is pressing Gov. Abbott on school takeovers and vouchers in the final week of the governor's race
Democratic state Rep. Gina Hinojosa is using Gov. Greg Abbott's education record, including state takeovers of districts such as Fort Worth and Beaumont ISDs, to put him on the defensive before the Nov. 3 election, the Texas Tribune reported Monday, Oct. 26. She has vowed to fire Education Commissioner Mike Morath on her first day in office.
Abbott, seeking a fourth term two years after winning his school voucher program, is centering property tax cuts, border security and public safety instead. A University of Texas poll this month found voters more focused on cost of living, the economy and corruption, and evenly split on which candidate would be better for public schools.
Sources The Texas Tribune
D. Williams & Co., Inc.The federal government may reroute a South Texas border wall through the Santa Ana wildlife refuge after an irrigation district sued
The federal government is considering moving a 2.8-mile section of border wall from a levee beside the Santa Ana National Wildlife Refuge into the refuge itself, the Texas Tribune reported Monday, Oct. 26. Assistant U.S. Attorney Lance Duke told a federal court on Oct. 14 the change was under review and would "probably just create additional litigation."
Hidalgo County Irrigation District No. 2 sued contractors Spencer Construction LLC and Royal Concrete Products LLC in September, alleging they trespassed on land it owns along a canal, and a temporary restraining order first issued July 30 remains in place. U.S. Customs and Border Protection did not confirm the plan but said it remains committed to border security at the refuge.
Sources The Texas Tribune
Thirteen people are charged with running stolen cars through El Paso to Mexican cartels, federal prosecutors say
Thirteen people face federal charges in a scheme that sent cars and trucks stolen from private owners and major rental companies through El Paso and into Mexico to support cartel operations, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Western District of Texas said, Fox News reported Tuesday, Oct. 27. Agents have recovered 29 vehicles worth about $1.14 million in the investigation, called Operation Southbound Takedown, which began in the spring.
U.S. Attorney Justin R. Simmons said the cartels use people looking for a quick payday to support smuggling, extortion, drug trafficking and murder. Eleven of those charged are U.S. citizens and two are Mexican citizens. Recovered vehicles included armored SUVs and an armored pickup.
Sources Fox News
Records show UT-Austin leaders weighed criticism of their slow response to Bo French's post about South Asian students
Records obtained by the Texas Tribune show University of Texas at Austin leaders faced pressure from students and alumni over their slow, indirect response to a September post by Bo French, the Republican nominee for Texas railroad commissioner, the Tribune reported Monday, Oct. 26. After UT's Sept. 12 win over Ohio State, French posted a photo of celebrating South Asian students and suggested their presence was a problem.
President Jim Davis responded nearly 35 hours later by affirming that all students are Longhorns, without naming French. Vice President for Marketing and Communications Patrick Wiseman had told colleagues there was no need for a UT comment, and an Indian American doctoral student emailed Davis asking him to name French.
Sources The Texas Tribune
Plano voters may add public money Nov. 3 for a Dallas Stars arena, while the Mavericks plan to build their own
The Dallas Stars and Dallas Mavericks both plan to leave the city-owned American Airlines Center for sites at defunct malls inside tax increment reinvestment zones, The Texan reported Tuesday, Oct. 27. The Stars are eyeing Plano, where the city and Plano ISD agreed to build an arena with public financing, and voters could approve more public funding on Election Day, Nov. 3.
The Plano City Council created a 900-acre zone around The Shops at Willow Bend on June 8, the school district joined in August, and an Oct. 12 interlocal agreement pools their tax money; the zone lasts until 2052. The Mavericks are moving north but staying in Dallas and plan to pay for their own arena.
Sources The Texan
U.S. & World
The Justice Department filed a third criminal case against former FBI Director James Comey, over a 2016 leak
The Trump administration is trying to prosecute former FBI Director James Comey for an alleged 2016 leak of classified information, according to court documents unsealed Monday, Oct. 26, the Associated Press reported. It is the third criminal case brought against Comey in little more than a year. The charge concerns an October 2016 New York Times story about a secret court order requiring Yahoo to scan emails.
The department filed a criminal information to extend the 10-year statute of limitations. Comey's attorney, Patrick Fitzgerald, called the filing invalid and time-barred and noted that two earlier investigations, including one by then-Special Counsel John Durham, recommended no charges. Comey said he is innocent and not afraid.
Sources PBS NewsHour (AP)
The Justice Department asked Washington state to set aside ballots from more than 400 people it says may be noncitizens
The Trump administration on Monday, Oct. 26, asked Washington state to set aside any midterm ballots cast by more than 400 people it suspects registered to vote without U.S. citizenship, the Associated Press reported. A Justice Department letter said the group had cast 1,500 votes in prior elections, and Acting U.S. Attorney Neil Floyd said the ballots should be held until officials confirm the voters are eligible.
Secretary of State Steve Hobbs was reviewing the demand; his office said it has received about 60 Justice Department subpoenas for voter information since last month. Washington has more than 5 million registered voters. A similar request for about 20,000 California mail ballots is before a federal appeals court.
Sources PBS NewsHour (AP)
Action PrintingIsraelis vote Tuesday in a closely fought election seen as a referendum on Netanyahu and the Oct. 7 failures
Israelis go to the polls Tuesday, Oct. 27, in a closely contested election that could end in another political deadlock and that many voters see as a referendum on accountability for the security failures behind the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas massacre, Fox News reported. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has resisted calls to accept personal responsibility or to form an independent state commission of inquiry.
Bereaved families are divided, some blaming Netanyahu and others crediting him with standing firm through years of war. Two days before the vote, Netanyahu shared an AI-generated image of a nuclear blast over Tel Aviv, warning about Iran. Tens of thousands of Israelis living abroad were expected to fly home to vote, the Associated Press reported.
Sources Fox News · PBS NewsHour (AP)
Nigeria's first Ebola patient was evacuated to Switzerland, and 52 contacts remain under watch
A Swiss woman who was Nigeria's first confirmed Ebola case in the current outbreak was medically evacuated from Abuja to Switzerland with her husband, a Swiss diplomat, on Monday, Oct. 26, the Associated Press reported. Health Minister Muhammad Pate said her condition had improved significantly but warned she may still be infectious.
She is being treated at Geneva University Hospital, and her husband, who has no symptoms, is isolated in Zurich. Nigeria now has no Ebola cases but is monitoring 52 contacts. The first patients in Nigeria and Kenya both traveled through Uganda's Entebbe airport on Oct. 3; Kenya has recorded nine cases, including two deaths.
Sources PBS NewsHour (AP)
Dak Prescott threw three touchdown passes and Javonte Williams ran for 155 yards as the Cowboys beat the Eagles 38-21
The Dallas Cowboys beat the Philadelphia Eagles 38-21 on Monday Night Football, Oct. 26, in Philadelphia, as Dak Prescott threw for 212 yards and three touchdowns, two to CeeDee Lamb, Fox News reported. Javonte Williams ran 25 times for a career-high 155 yards and a touchdown, and Dallas rushed for 204 yards and scored on seven of nine possessions.
Trailing 21-20 late in the third quarter, Prescott hit Lamb for a 16-yard score and ran in the 2-point conversion. Brandon Aubrey kicked three field goals, and DeMarvion Overshown intercepted Tanner McKee in the fourth quarter. The Cowboys improved to 3-4, a game and a half behind the New York Giants in the NFC East, and face Arizona next.
Sources Fox News · Dallas Cowboys · KCBD
The Brewers routed the Rays 10-1 in Game 3 to take a 3-0 World Series lead
The Milwaukee Brewers beat the Tampa Bay Rays 10-1 in Game 3 of the World Series on Monday night, Oct. 26, at Tropicana Field, taking a 3-0 series lead and moving one win from the franchise's first championship, Fox News reported.
Christian Yelich and William Contreras drove in runs on soft bloop singles in the third inning, and Milwaukee broke the game open with a record-setting eight-run fifth. Starter Robert Gasser, who had allowed one run all postseason, threw six shutout innings, giving up one hit with three strikeouts.
Sources Fox News
Walter Koenig, Ensign Chekov on the original 'Star Trek,' died at 90
Actor Walter Koenig, who played Ensign Pavel Chekov, the youthful Russian navigator on the original Star Trek television series and several of its films, died Monday, Oct. 26, at his home in North Hollywood, the Associated Press reported, citing his talent agent, Zachery McGinnis. He was 90.
Chekov was the only Communist-bloc member of the Enterprise's bridge crew, and his friendly presence showed rival nations working together in the show's imagined future. Star Trek ran on NBC from 1966 to 1969 and lived on through decades of devoted fans, films and spinoffs.
Sources PBS NewsHour (AP)
