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Daily Ledger
Daily digest straight from the source
Thursday, October 29, 2026
Today’s lead
A Flood Watch covers Lubbock and 23 other counties from Thursday afternoon through Friday evening
The National Weather Service in Lubbock issued a Flood Watch early Thursday, Oct. 29, for Lubbock County and 23 other South Plains and southern Panhandle counties, in effect from 4 p.m. Thursday until 8 p.m. Friday. Widespread showers are expected to develop Thursday afternoon and persist through much of Friday, heavy at times late Thursday into early Friday, and may cause flash flooding.
The watch covers counties including Hockley, Lynn, Crosby, Hale, Lamb, Terry, Garza, Floyd and Swisher. KCBD said the rain is driven by moisture from Tropical Storm Vance moving in from the south. Forecasters urged people in flood-prone areas to be ready to act and to watch for possible Flood Warnings.
Sources National Weather Service · KCBD
More Local
Chancellor Brandon Creighton is positioning Texas Tech as a national model for his higher-education overhaul, the Tribune reports
Nearly a year into his tenure as Texas Tech chancellor, former state Sen. Brandon Creighton is going further than the higher-education laws he wrote, positioning Tech as a model for other universities, The Texas Tribune reported Thursday, Oct. 29. One of his first acts required faculty across Tech's five universities to seek approval before teaching lessons involving gender identity, sexual orientation or certain ideas about race and sex.
Creighton has touted ties to Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick and a partnership with Nvidia. Supporters such as former Abbott adviser John Colyandro praise the reset. Critics including AAUP Texas President Teresa Klein say it is driving faculty away; faculty groups are suing Creighton and the regents over alleged censorship.
Sources The Texas Tribune
South Plains College broke ground Wednesday on a $2.95 million workforce training center in Levelland
South Plains College broke ground Wednesday, Oct. 28, on a new workforce training center at the Levelland Industrial Rail Park off Highway 114, KCBD reported. College leaders and the Levelland Economic Development Corporation celebrated the project at the site.
The center is funded by a $1.45 million federal Economic Development Administration grant and another $1.5 million from the Levelland EDC. It will house the college's truck driving courses, police vehicle training and other workforce development programs.
Sources KCBD · EverythingLubbock
Amarillo will pause late fees, shutoffs and an 11% water increase while it sorts out disputed utility bills
The Amarillo City Council on Tuesday, Oct. 27, directed staff to create a dispute status for customers with anomalous water bills, bringing late-fee waivers, free meter testing, payment plans and no service interruptions, the Amarillo Tribune reported Wednesday. The 11% water fee increase set to begin on November bills is paused until the problem is resolved.
An outside review by NewGen Strategies and Solutions found 0.10% of sampled bills were wrong and blamed most increases on dry weather and rate steps, but it did not field-test meters. Utility Billing Director Jennifer Gonzalez said the department gets about 1,400 calls a week. Councilmember Les Simpson pushed for relief, and staff will bring an action item to the next meeting.
Sources Amarillo Tribune
Action PrintingFive arrested in Operation Trick or Trap, a multi-agency sting on online child exploitation in Lubbock
Five people were arrested in Operation "Trick or Trap," an undercover operation against online child exploitation and solicitation conducted Friday, Oct. 23, the Lubbock Police Department announced Wednesday, KCBD reported. Charges include online solicitation of a minor, online solicitation of prostitution and drug possession.
LPD's Special Operations Unit worked with the FBI, Homeland Security Investigations, the Texas Department of Public Safety and the Lubbock and Collin county sheriff's offices. Police said the operation followed an increase in suspected predators in the area, including cases in which children were targeted on social media and transported to Lubbock. Online solicitation of a minor is a third-degree felony, or second-degree if the child is under 14.
Sources KCBD · KFYO · EverythingLubbock
Police Chief Seth Herman calls Tuesday's Trump and Talarico security operation a success after a week of planning
Lubbock Police Chief Seth Herman said Wednesday, Oct. 28, that the department's security operation for Tuesday's events by President Donald Trump and Democratic Senate nominee James Talarico was a success, EverythingLubbock reported. He said LPD had about a week to prepare, coordinating with state and federal agencies.
Some personnel worked 12- to 15-hour days, Herman said, while the department balanced security with everyday police service and traffic management across the city. "I think that our people really did an outstanding job of minimizing those negative impacts," he said. The department will review the operation to identify improvements before future large-scale events.
Sources EverythingLubbock
Friends remember former Councilman Randy Christian, whose celebration of life is Thursday at Monterey Church of Christ
Former Lubbock City Councilman Randy Christian died earlier this month, two days before his 75th birthday, after a lifetime of cancers tied to Lynch syndrome, KCBD reported Wednesday. A celebration of life is set for 2 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 29, at Monterey Church of Christ.
On the council, Christian pushed to create Source to Solution, a regional addiction and recovery symposium that continues seven years later, and he persuaded legislators to name March 22 Lynch Syndrome Awareness Day. A career advertising and public relations man, he revived the "Lucky Me I Live in Lubbock" campaign. Friends Richard Bowles, Bill Miller and radio host Benji Snead remembered his steady, grateful outlook.
Sources KCBD
A Midland man, Carlos Luis Lara Rosales, 46, was killed in a two-vehicle crash in Dawson County on Monday
Carlos Luis Lara Rosales, 46, of Midland was killed in a two-vehicle crash just before 4 p.m. Monday, Oct. 26, at State Highway 349 and FM 829 in Dawson County, KCBD reported Wednesday, citing the Texas Department of Public Safety.
Troopers said the driver of an SUV towing a trailer northwest on SH 349 slowed to turn left onto FM 829 when Rosales, driving a passenger car, failed to slow and struck the trailer from behind. Rosales died at the scene. The SUV driver was not injured.
Sources KCBD
Lubbock Fire Rescue contained a Wednesday night kitchen fire at an apartment complex on Milwaukee Avenue
Lubbock Fire Rescue responded Wednesday night, Oct. 28, to an apartment fire in the 900 block of Milwaukee Avenue after a neighbor reported hearing alarms from a unit, EverythingLubbock reported.
Crews found a confirmed structure fire, and because the building is a multi-family residence the incident commander called for more resources as a precaution. Firefighters contained the fire to the kitchen area, and the backup units were cancelled. The Fire Marshal's Office is investigating the cause of the fire.
Sources EverythingLubbock
Lubbock police urge reflective costumes, small groups and earlier trick-or-treating on a Texas Tech game day Saturday
Families trick-or-treating Saturday, Oct. 31, should wear bright or reflective costumes or carry a glow stick or flashlight so drivers can see them, Lubbock Police Department spokeswoman Kasie Davis told KCBD on Wednesday.
Davis recommended traveling in groups of five or six, looking both ways before crossing, picking a meeting spot in case children get separated and checking every piece of candy before anyone eats it. Because Texas Tech also plays Saturday, she suggested trick-or-treating earlier in the evening. Several trunk-or-treat events are planned around town.
Sources KCBD
Duffy Law Firm, PCThe United Family and Cheez-It gave $25,000 in classroom grants to South Plains teachers Wednesday
The United Family and Cheez-It donated $25,000 to South Plains educators on Wednesday, Oct. 28, through the College Football Playoff Foundation's Extra Yard for Teachers initiative, KCBD reported. Teachers were chosen through DonorsChoose, where they request money for specific classroom needs.
The donation was followed by a free tailgate at the Market Street near 19th Street and Quaker Avenue with the College Football Playoff national championship trophy on display. "Teachers play a vital role in the success of our communities," said Chris James, The United Family's vice president of operations.
Sources KCBD
State
The Potter County GOP asked a federal judge in Amarillo to order a hand count of every Texas ballot before certification
The Potter County Republican Party filed a lawsuit Tuesday, Oct. 27, in Amarillo federal court asking that every Texas ballot be hand counted before results of the Nov. 3 election are certified, The Texas Tribune reported Wednesday. The case was assigned to U.S. District Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk.
The 27-page suit names Potter County's election administrator and seeks to include officials in every county as a class action. It argues voting machines could be vulnerable to artificial intelligence or components made by foreign adversaries such as China, but offers no proof of vulnerabilities and says it is not alleging past results were altered. Texans cast 8.1 million ballots in the 2022 midterms.
Sources The Texas Tribune
Trump promised more FEMA aid for Texas flood victims as the state appealed the agency's denial of individual assistance
President Donald Trump pledged at a Corpus Christi rally Tuesday, Oct. 27, to open more federal recovery money for victims of July's floods in southwest Texas and the Hill Country, The Texas Tribune reported Wednesday. "We'll work that out on Monday," he said, crediting requests from Sen. Ted Cruz and Attorney General Ken Paxton.
The same day, Texas Division of Emergency Management chief Nim Kidd formally appealed FEMA's denial of individual assistance for 20 of 30 counties, including Kerr and Uvalde, and its denial of hazard mitigation grants. The state counts 2,944 homes and small businesses damaged, 132 destroyed, and at least three deaths from the flooding.
Sources The Texas Tribune
Speaker Dustin Burrows of Lubbock is spending millions and riding a bus tour to defend the GOP's Texas House majority
House Speaker Dustin Burrows, a sixth-term Lubbock Republican, has waged an expensive and unusually visible campaign to protect the GOP's Texas House majority ahead of the Nov. 3 election, deploying millions to vulnerable members and stumping on an ongoing bus tour, The Texas Tribune reported Wednesday, Oct. 28.
Republicans hold 86 seats to Democrats' 62, with two vacancies; Democrats would need to flip 14 to take the chamber. "He's transformed what a speaker does," said state Rep. Matt Shaheen of Plano. The size of the majority will shape next session's agenda and could decide how secure Burrows' own hold on the gavel is.
Sources The Texas Tribune
Comptroller Don Huffines did not disclose his leadership of a firm that invests in SpaceX, the Tribune reports
Texas Comptroller Don Huffines did not list his role leading Huffines Enterprises Science & Technology, a Dallas private equity firm that touts SpaceX as a portfolio company, on the personal financial disclosure he filed in February, The Texas Tribune reported Wednesday, Oct. 28. State law requires candidates to disclose executive roles in businesses.
A state filing signed in September lists Huffines as the firm's manager, along with his son Colin Huffines. His office administers two tax breaks worth more than $1 billion to SpaceX and an affiliate, awarded before he took office. His campaign did not respond to questions. Huffines faces Democrat Sarah Eckhardt on Nov. 3.
Sources The Texas Tribune
A Travis County judge ordered the group behind Texas transgender-youth mailers to answer questions under oath
Travis County District Judge Jan Soifer late Tuesday, Oct. 27, ordered a representative of the Texas Transgender Student Union to sit for a deposition this week, siding with an effort to learn who is behind mailers sent to homes across Texas offering support to transgender youths, The Texas Tribune reported Wednesday.
The Transgender Education Network of Texas requested the deposition, saying the mailers were worded to look like they came from TENT and set off threats of violence. Soifer also ordered messaging company Infobip to answer written questions about texts that began Oct. 12 and linked to TENT's website. The student union registered last month in Wyoming with a Houston post office box.
Sources The Texas Tribune
Advanced GraphixA Grand Prairie senior sued after the district barred her from a male lead role, citing the state's SB 12
Ana Mota, a 17-year-old Grand Prairie ISD senior, sued her school district alleging sex discrimination after administrators told theater faculty a week into rehearsals that she could not play Seymour, the male lead in "Little Shop of Horrors," The Texas Tribune reported Wednesday, Oct. 28.
District officials attributed the decision to Senate Bill 12, the 2025 law banning diversity, equity and inclusion practices and LGBTQ+ student clubs in public schools. The production was canceled after Mota declined a shared reassignment. The suit asks a federal judge to bar the district from discriminating against her and to restore the musical, which had been scheduled for Dec. 10.
Sources The Texas Tribune
U.S. & World
The Fed held rates at 3.75% to 4% Wednesday in a 10-2 vote, after September's hike, as inflation stays elevated
The Federal Reserve on Wednesday, Oct. 28, held its benchmark federal funds rate at a target range of 3.75% to 4%, opting to wait for more data after raising rates in September for the first time since July 2023, Fox Business reported. Policymakers voted 10-2; Cleveland Fed President Beth Hammack and Governor Lisa Cook wanted another quarter-point hike.
The Fed's statement said the economy is expanding at a strong pace and unemployment has changed little, but inflation remains elevated. Chair Kevin Warsh said Americans have dealt with inflation above the Fed's 2% goal for close to six years: "It's our responsibility to get inflation down."
Sources Fox Business
The Iran war's cost to U.S. taxpayers has reached an estimated $47.1 billion, Pentagon figures show
The cost of the Iran war to American taxpayers has grown to $47.1 billion as of Oct. 16, according to a U.S. Central Command estimate the Pentagon provided to Congress and the Associated Press obtained this week, PBS NewsHour reported Wednesday, Oct. 28.
That is $3.5 billion more than the roughly $43.6 billion estimated in early September for the conflict the United States and Israel launched in late February. The AP said the cost and its effect on energy prices have become a midterm issue, and President Trump has said new strikes on Iran remain an option after the election.
Sources PBS NewsHour (AP)
Trump called for prosecuting Alaska Democrat Mary Peltola over a report her campaign recruited a second Dan Sullivan
President Donald Trump on Wednesday, Oct. 28, called for criminal prosecution of Mary Peltola, the Democrat challenging Alaska Republican Sen. Dan Sullivan, after The New York Times reported her campaign helped recruit a retired Petersburg schoolteacher named Dan J. Sullivan to run in the race, the Associated Press reported.
Sen. Sullivan told Fox News it was "a scandal at the highest order," saying Peltola's team and Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee aides schemed for over a year to confuse voters. Both Sullivans appear on next Tuesday's ranked-choice ballot, and the Justice Department is moving to delay certification of the race.
Sources Fox News · PBS NewsHour (AP)
DHS is investigating a breach that may have exposed about 40,000 employees, including ICE and Border Patrol agents
The Department of Homeland Security is investigating a suspected data breach that may have exposed the names, titles, locations and in some cases phone numbers and emails of about 40,000 employees and contractors, Fox News reported Thursday, Oct. 29, citing sources. They include roughly 10,000 ICE personnel and more than 20,000 Customs and Border Protection employees.
The leak site Distributed Denial of Secrets said Wednesday it had released the information, and Fox confirmed the records include names of several undercover ICE agents. A hacking group calling itself the "Department of Peace" claimed responsibility. DHS said it is aware of a potential breach and working to address it.
Sources Fox News
A lab fire prompted a four-hour emergency at the Savannah River Site Wednesday; no contamination was found
The Savannah River Site, a Department of Energy nuclear complex near Aiken, South Carolina, declared a Site Area Emergency at 5:39 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 28, after a fire broke out at the Savannah River National Laboratory, Fox News reported. One employee was taken to a hospital with minor injuries.
The emergency ended at 9:45 p.m. after the fire was put out and radiological surveys found no detectable contamination, the site said. Shift workers who had sheltered in place were released, rail, river and air restrictions were lifted, and employees were told to report as scheduled Thursday.
Sources Fox News
Mullin Hoard & Brown, LLPThe U.N. condemned the U.S. embargo of Cuba for a 34th year Wednesday, but support fell sharply under U.S. pressure
The U.N. General Assembly voted 130-17 with 25 abstentions on Wednesday, Oct. 28, to condemn the U.S. economic embargo of Cuba for the 34th straight year, the Associated Press reported. Last year more than 160 nations backed the measure and only 12 abstained.
For the first time, Germany, Italy and Latvia were among those not voting, and countries including Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Paraguay and Morocco voted no, most for the first time, after a Trump administration campaign to sway the outcome. The resolutions are not legally binding. President Trump last week again raised the prospect of U.S. military intervention in Cuba.
Sources PBS NewsHour (AP)
Dolores Huerta, the farmworker advocate who coined "Sí, se puede," died Wednesday at 96
Dolores Huerta, the civil rights activist who spent her life fighting for better conditions for farmworkers and coined the rallying cry "Sí, se puede," died in California on Wednesday, Oct. 28, at 96, The Texas Tribune reported. Her family said she died of cancer.
Huerta worked for farmworkers from California's grape fields to South Texas citrus groves and was a prominent leader of the Chicano movement with deep roots in Texas. Her family asked for privacy and said plans to celebrate her life and legacy would follow.
Sources The Texas Tribune
Federal Judge Alvin Hellerstein, who handled cases involving Trump, Maduro and 9/11, died Wednesday at 92
Alvin K. Hellerstein, a Manhattan federal judge for nearly three decades, died Wednesday morning, Oct. 28, at 92, surrounded by his family, Chief Judge Laura Taylor Swain said, according to the Associated Press. His funeral is Thursday.
Hellerstein presided over cases involving President Donald Trump, the 9/11 attacks and former Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro. Two weeks ago he entered a not-guilty plea on Maduro's behalf after Maduro twice refused to enter one at his arraignment on added torture charges. Swain called him a "distinguished jurist" whose service continued until his death.
Sources PBS NewsHour (AP)
The Brewers won their first World Series Wednesday, beating the Rays 4-1 in Game 5
The Milwaukee Brewers won the first World Series title in franchise history Wednesday night, Oct. 28, beating the Tampa Bay Rays 4-1 in Game 5 to take the series four games to one, Fox News reported.
Rookie Cooper Pratt, 22, drove in the first run with a second-inning single off Drew Rasmussen, a night after his 13th-inning homer was erased by a Rays walk-off. Jacob Misiorowski dominated with triple-digit fastballs. It was Milwaukee's first trip to the Fall Classic in 44 years, since losing to the St. Louis Cardinals in 1982.
Sources Fox News
