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Daily Ledger
Daily digest straight from the source
Tuesday, November 3, 2026
Today’s lead
Election Day: Lubbock County polls are open 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. at 36 vote centers after record midterm early voting
Polls are open 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 3, at 36 vote centers across Lubbock County, including Texas Tech's Student Union Building, and anyone in line at 7 p.m. may vote, KCBD reported. Nearly 81,000 people voted early, the most for a midterm in at least 20 years, and Elections Administrator Troy Havard expects as many or more today.
Any vote center works, so Havard suggests trying another if a line is long. Early-vote totals usually post just after 7 p.m., with Election Day results once every location is counted, he told EverythingLubbock. Republican Tom Sell and Democrat Kyle Rable meet for the open 19th Congressional District seat. Expect a cool, breezy day, highs in the mid 60s.
Sources KCBD · KCBD · EverythingLubbock · KCBD
More Local
Youth league volunteers ask the city to rethink opening sports-complex concession stands to outside bidders
Longtime volunteers who run concession stands at Lubbock's youth sports complexes asked the city Monday, Nov. 2, to reconsider opening the stands to outside bidders, EverythingLubbock reported. Karen Moeller, a longtime volunteer at Burl Huffman Athletic Complex, said the city wants to charge volunteers about $2,000 a month to run the stand, money she said would come out of a softball league serving about 700 children.
They also questioned the city's revenue projections and said losing that income, along with higher facility fees, could force leagues to raise registration costs for families. They want one more season to run the stands while both sides work toward an agreement. The city had not responded to a request for comment.
Sources EverythingLubbock
Texas Tech veterinary researchers in Amarillo are developing new tools against New World screwworm as U.S. cases reach 25
With 25 active cases of New World screwworm in the U.S., researchers at the Texas Tech School of Veterinary Medicine in Amarillo are working on new ways to trap, detect and identify the parasite, KCBD reported Monday, Nov. 2. Chad Cross, who joined the team in 2025 instead of retiring, said the projects use modern genetic technology to get ahead of a historic livestock pest that may become a new problem.
Jennifer Koziol, a veterinarian on the faculty, said the disease is very painful and the larvae can burrow deep into an animal. For nearly two years she has focused on teaching students and the public about its impact, since veterinarians are often trusted sources of information in their communities.
Sources KCBD
No. 19 Texas Tech opens its men's basketball season with a 76-42 rout of Jackson State
No. 19 Texas Tech beat Jackson State 76-42 in its season opener Monday, Nov. 2, at United Supermarkets Arena, extending its non-conference home winning streak to 47 games, Texas Tech Athletics reported. Wyoming transfer Damarion Dennis scored a career-high 22 points off the bench, and Cruz Davis had 15 points and a career-best six steals, one shy of the program record.
Tech forced 24 turnovers, held the Tigers to 29.2% shooting and outscored them 36-12 in the paint. Josiah Moseley added 13 points and eight rebounds, and Dra Gibbs-Lawhorn passed 1,000 career points. The Red Raiders host Bethune-Cookman at 8 p.m. Thursday.
Sources Texas Tech Athletics
Action PrintingThree Potter County election workers with more than 120 years of combined service staff the polls again today
Piedad Arebalo first worked a Potter County election in 1972, hired partly because she could interpret for Spanish-speaking neighbors, and this year completes a 54-year streak with more than 100 elections behind her, the Amarillo Tribune reported Monday, Nov. 2, ahead of Tuesday's vote.
Abel Bosquez has worked the polls off and on since 1980, inspired by a Hispanic clerk he saw when he first voted in Amarillo, and Bill Briggs has served since 2004. Potter County Elections Administrator Christy Benge said experienced returning workers are valuable and the county is always looking for new ones. Anyone in line at 7 p.m. can still vote.
Sources Amarillo Tribune
Three South Plains women who took up running together finish the Detroit international marathon
Angela Temple, Monica Kidder and Gina Collins of the South Plains are resting after finishing the Detroit Free Press International Marathon, a race that crosses from Michigan into Canada, KCBD reported Monday, Nov. 2. A few years ago the three did not know each other and were not runners.
They signed up in January and trained together all year with a marathon coach. They did not cross the line together but waited for one another to celebrate, and Temple said she cried when she saw Kidder at the finish. The group's next goal is qualifying for the Boston Marathon. Their advice to anyone thinking of running is simply to start.
Sources KCBD
State
Texans vote today in a tight Paxton-Talarico Senate race, with every statewide office and five redrawn congressional seats on the ballot
Polls are open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 3, as Texans choose between Republican Attorney General Ken Paxton and Democratic state Rep. James Talarico for U.S. Senate, The Texan reported. Polls have given Talarico a narrow lead, and no Democrat has won statewide in Texas since 1994. Gov. Greg Abbott faces state Rep. Gina Hinojosa, and Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick faces state Rep. Vikki Goodwin.
More than 7.7 million Texans, about 40.7% of registered voters, voted early. Five congressional districts redrawn in 2025 to favor Republicans are also on the ballot. Paxton closed Monday in Collin County, and Talarico ended his campaign before about 1,800 supporters in Austin, the Texas Tribune reported.
Sources The Texan · The Texas Tribune · EverythingLubbock
Voters fill the open 23rd Congressional District seat today, vacated when Tony Gonzales resigned amid scandal
Voters across a long stretch of the Texas-Mexico border choose a new representative Tuesday, Nov. 3, in the 23rd Congressional District, the seat left vacant when Republican Tony Gonzales resigned April 14 after acknowledging an affair with an employee amid a House ethics investigation, Border Report reported via EverythingLubbock.
Republican Brandon Herrera, who challenged Gonzales in the primary, Democrat Katy Padilla Stout and independent Ben Mendoza are running. The district stretches from parts of El Paso County toward San Antonio and includes Big Bend. Republicans have held it since 2014, and the 2025 map made it friendlier to them. Herrera wants more Border Patrol agents and technology; Padilla Stout is promising an El Paso-area district office.
Sources EverythingLubbock
Smuggling ring leader known as 'Ironman' gets life in prison in El Paso over a migrant's death
Juan Carlos Lara-Quezada, 33, a Mexican national known as "Ironman," was sentenced Monday, Nov. 2, in federal court in El Paso to life in prison for leading a smuggling organization tied to a migrant's death, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Western District of Texas said, KTSM reported via EverythingLubbock.
Prosecutors said the group smuggled hundreds of migrants through the desert near Santa Teresa, New Mexico, to an El Paso stash house. In 2024, a woman who fell ill on an eight-hour desert crossing was to be taken to an El Paso hospital, but the foot guide and driver abandoned her instead. Lara-Quezada was convicted at trial.
Sources EverythingLubbock
U.S. & World
Americans vote today with control of Congress at stake after record midterm early voting
Voters decide control of the House and Senate on Tuesday, Nov. 3, after more than 54 million early ballots, nearly 9 million more than in 2022, Fox News reported. Republicans hold 219 House seats and a 53-47 Senate edge; President Donald Trump predicts the GOP will keep both, while the party in power traditionally loses midterm seats.
Voting has gone relatively smoothly despite Trump's fraud claims, and the Justice Department planned its largest-ever poll-monitoring effort, the Associated Press reported. Voters in several states also decide 145 ballot measures, including a Missouri abortion ban. Results could take days: the AP called the House eight days after the 2022 election.
Sources Fox News · EverythingLubbock (AP) · EverythingLubbock (AP) · EverythingLubbock (AP)
Duffy Law Firm, PCThe U.S. struck Iranian targets in the Strait of Hormuz on the eve of the midterms after Iran fired on U.S. aircraft
The United States struck Iranian targets in the Strait of Hormuz on Monday, Nov. 2, in what appeared to be a limited operation, a U.S. official told the Associated Press, with explosions reported on Qeshm and Hengam islands and near Bandar Abbas. The official said the strikes targeted Iranians firing surface-to-air missiles at U.S. forces; Fox News reported the strike followed Iranian fire at a U.S. aircraft.
Trump had said there would be no strikes before the midterms. He called the conflict a "very soft war" on Fox News Monday night, and Vice President JD Vance said both feel good about a negotiated settlement. Iran said it has a two-day plan to reopen the strait and resume nuclear talks.
Sources Fox News · EverythingLubbock (AP) · PBS NewsHour (AP)
The Supreme Court rejected the administration's bid to make California set aside 20,000 ballots
The Supreme Court on Monday, Nov. 2, rejected the Trump administration's emergency request to force California to set aside about 20,000 ballots from people the federal government flagged as likely noncitizens, hours before Election Day, The Hill and the Associated Press reported. The one-sentence order gave no explanation and had no noted dissents.
Lower courts had already ruled against the Justice Department, and a judge separately dismissed its Alaska certification suit. California Gov. Gavin Newsom said the court rejected the request without even asking the other side to respond. The lawsuit technically continues, but election officials say ballots cannot be separated once processed, making the order the final word before the vote.
Sources EverythingLubbock · EverythingLubbock (AP)
A Russian strike on a Ukrainian aid site killed at least 31, as the U.S. sets new peace talks for Nov. 10-11
The death toll from Monday's Russian strike on a humanitarian aid site and shelter in Komyushuvakha, in Ukraine's Zaporizhzhia region, rose to 31 on Tuesday, Nov. 3, with more than 45 people still missing, the Associated Press reported. Overnight, Russia launched 289 drones and 76 missiles at power plants across nine regions, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said.
Zelenskyy said the barrage was timed to the U.S. elections and urged help defending Ukraine's skies. U.S. Special Envoy Steve Witkoff said Monday that the United States will mediate working-level talks between Ukraine and Russia on Nov. 10 and 11 in Abu Dhabi, Fox News reported, after meetings this week in Brussels with European allies and NATO.
Sources Fox News · EverythingLubbock (AP)
A judge tossed charges against two ex-FBI officials accused of lying about Hunter Biden, citing 'weaponization'
U.S. Magistrate Judge Zia Faruqui on Monday, Nov. 2, dismissed a criminal complaint against two former FBI officials accused of lying to Congress about Hunter Biden, saying the rushed case amounted to "weaponization" of the Justice Department before the midterms, the Associated Press reported.
In an hourlong ruling from the bench, Faruqui said the investigation was conducted at the behest of President Donald Trump and FBI Director Kash Patel and was dogged by critical mistakes. He noted the department chose a complaint instead of seeking an indictment just before the vote. Prosecutors could still seek an indictment.
Sources EverythingLubbock (AP)
The former head of the FBI's Chicago office sued the Justice Department, saying he was ousted over a failed protester case
Douglas DePodesta, a 24-year FBI veteran who led the bureau's Chicago field office, sued top Justice Department officials Monday, Nov. 2, saying he was forced out this summer after being blamed for the collapse of the "Broadview Six" prosecution of immigration-crackdown protesters, Fox News and the Associated Press reported.
He accused U.S. Attorney Andrew Boutros of pushing politically motivated prosecutions before evidence was gathered and said superiors told him FBI Director Kash Patel wanted him fired. Hours later, U.S. District Judge April Perry ordered Boutros and three assistants to testify under oath Nov. 16 about the failed case. Boutros' office declined to comment.
Sources Fox News · EverythingLubbock (AP)
A Washington state dairy-exposed resident died of bird flu, the first U.S. death in a year
A Yakima County, Washington, resident with underlying health conditions has died of H5N1 bird flu after exposure at a dairy with infected cattle, the first U.S. bird flu death in a year, the Associated Press reported Monday, Nov. 2. County officials said the person died Sunday.
Thirty-three dairy herds in the county have recently tested positive, and three human infections have been linked to dairy exposure. Health officials are tracing close contacts. More than 70 human infections have been reported in the U.S. since 2024, with no known person-to-person spread, and the CDC says the risk to the general public remains low.
Sources EverythingLubbock (AP)
Advanced GraphixA child's measles death in New York is the state's first in more than 30 years
A child in New York's Lewis County has died in the state's first known measles-associated death in more than 30 years, amid an ongoing outbreak, officials announced Monday, Nov. 2, Fox News reported. Gov. Kathy Hochul said she was "heartbroken" and urged vaccination as the best protection.
Hochul blamed Washington for eroding public health protections. The Trump administration has revised the childhood immunization schedule and is reviewing how vaccines are recommended, but the CDC still recommends two doses of the measles, mumps and rubella vaccine for children.
Sources Fox News
A federal judge dismissed the Justice Department's suit demanding Harvard's admissions data
U.S. District Judge Myong Joun on Monday, Nov. 2, dismissed the Justice Department's lawsuit accusing Harvard University of refusing to hand over admissions records sought to confirm it stopped using affirmative action, the Associated Press reported.
Joun ruled the department failed to take required procedural steps, including notifying Harvard and seeking voluntary compliance, before suing. He said the decision does not settle whether Harvard discriminated or whether it may ultimately have to provide the data. It is the latest court setback for the administration in its fight with Harvard, which has included billions in funding cuts. Neither side commented.
Sources EverythingLubbock (AP)
Detentions and resignations shake Serbia as Aleksandar Vucic's power system collapses after his election defeat
Detentions, resignations and investigations have swept Serbia in the week since a student movement defeated longtime strongman Aleksandar Vucic in the Oct. 25 parliamentary election, the Associated Press reported Tuesday, Nov. 3. A bank believed linked to his Serbian Progressive Party has closed, and students reported a principal trying to destroy documents.
The Students' List winners have not yet taken over the government, security agencies or army. Vucic, now leader of the opposition, has accused the movement of "revolutionary terror" and said he is not afraid of arrest because nothing will be found against him.
Sources EverythingLubbock (AP)
Anthropic's updated IPO filing shows $17 billion in quarterly revenue, a continuing loss and $895 billion in computing commitments
Anthropic, the San Francisco company behind the Claude chatbot, reported $17 billion in revenue and a $23.3 billion net loss for its latest quarter in an updated IPO filing released Monday, Nov. 2, the Associated Press reported.
The filing shows revenue grew 13-fold to $33.2 billion in the first nine months of the year, with a $104 billion net loss that includes a $94 billion accounting charge tied to financing agreements. The company disclosed $895.4 billion in commitments for AI computing and data centers, $70 billion of it due within 12 months. It plans to list on Nasdaq under the ticker ANT later this month.
Sources EverythingLubbock (AP)
Saudi Aramco's profit jumped 35% as the Iran war kept oil near $95 a barrel
Saudi Aramco on Tuesday, Nov. 3, reported a 35% jump in third-quarter net profit to $36.3 billion, helped by higher oil prices and the sale of a stake in a Malaysian refining company, the Associated Press reported. It sold oil at an average of $95.20 a barrel, up from $70.10 a year earlier.
Prices surged after the Iran war began in February and disrupted tanker traffic through the Strait of Hormuz. Aramco kept exports moving through its East-West pipeline to the Red Sea, which was attacked Sept. 10 but resumed flows, and is now also shipping through a U.S.-protected corridor near Oman. Adjusted profit rose 9%.
Sources EverythingLubbock (AP)
Trump will cut South Africa and Rwanda from the AGOA duty-free trade program Jan. 1
President Donald Trump will remove South Africa and Rwanda from the African Growth and Opportunity Act trade program effective Jan. 1, 2027, U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer said Monday, Nov. 2, the Associated Press reported. The quarter-century-old program gives eligible African countries duty-free access to the U.S. market for some goods.
Greer cited trade barriers and practices he said threaten U.S. national security and foreign policy. For South Africa, it is the latest sanction from the administration, which last week excluded the country from a G20 foreign ministers' meeting in Atlanta. More than 30 African nations remain in the program.
Sources EverythingLubbock (AP)
Mullin Hoard & Brown, LLPProsecutors released video of National Guard troops holding guns on a dying man after a Memphis shooting
Shelby County prosecutors on Monday, Nov. 2, released video showing Tennessee National Guard troops in Memphis training handguns on Tyrin Johnson, 20, as he lay dying on a sidewalk after a guard member shot him July 5, the Associated Press reported. A police officer is heard calling for an ambulance and asking the troops for a medical kit.
An autopsy shared by Johnson's family found he was shot in the back, contradicting accounts that he faced the guard members with a gun; he had been armed. The troops were part of a federal task force involved in four fatal shootings between May and July. District Attorney Steve Mulroy has not decided on charges.
Sources EverythingLubbock (AP)
A judge set tight notice deadlines on Trump's memorial arch project as construction could start Nov. 5
U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan on Monday, Nov. 2, ordered the administration to notify the court within an hour of any decision by the National Capital Planning Commission, the National Park Service or the Interior Department on President Donald Trump's planned memorial arch, the Associated Press reported.
She also required notice within 30 minutes of any preparatory activity at Memorial Circle, warning that work before final approval or without 14 days' notice would violate earlier orders. The government told the court the planning commission could approve the project Nov. 5 and that construction could begin the same day. Chutkan is weighing a preliminary injunction in the lawsuit.
Sources EverythingLubbock (AP)
