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
Sunday, November 8, 2026
Today’s lead
Sundown City Council votes to join talks on a possible data center on Mallet Ranch land
The Sundown City Council voted unanimously to take part in discussions about a potential data center on land owned by Mallet Ranch east of the Hockley County town, KCBD reported Saturday, Nov. 7. The vote came at a special meeting that began at 8 a.m. and followed more than an hour of public comment. No concrete plans for a project exist.
The ranch's owners contacted the city and asked whether officials wanted a role if development moved forward. Mayor Jonathan Strickland said residents raised concerns about water, electricity and roads, noting the aquifer is very low after years of drought. He said the Texas Department of Transportation also wants to be involved because heavy equipment could damage pavement.
Sources KCBD
More Local
Special Crimes Unit investigating a death in North Lubbock
The Lubbock Metropolitan Special Crimes Unit is investigating a death in North Lubbock after a call came in at 5:41 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 7, sending officers to the 5700 block of Auburn Street, the Lubbock Police Department said, according to EverythingLubbock and KCBD.
KCBD reported the scene was near Auburn Street and North Elkhart Avenue, just east of North Frankford Avenue, and that crews there saw officers searching the ground nearby. Police have not released the name of the person who died, a cause of death or any other details, and both outlets said their stories would be updated as information becomes available.
Sources EverythingLubbock · KCBD
No. 15 Texas Tech rallies late to outlast West Virginia 53-48 behind five Castellanos touchdown passes
Thomas Castellanos threw for a career-high 362 yards and five touchdowns, including a 5-yard go-ahead pass to Kenny Johnson with 2:44 left, as Texas Tech beat West Virginia 53-48 in a game that kicked off at 8:30 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 7, at Galaxy Stadium and ended early Sunday. The Red Raiders, 8-1 and 5-1 in the Big 12, won their 14th straight home game.
Tech led 41-27 at halftime, but West Virginia opened the second half with 21 straight points to lead 48-41. Castellanos also ran for 102 yards, J'Koby Williams had a 75-yard touchdown run among his 160 rushing yards, and a late safety sealed it. Tech plays at Oklahoma State on Saturday, Nov. 14.
Sources Texas Tech Athletics · KCBD · EverythingLubbock
State
Texas' new school voucher program faces deep changes or repeal under Democrats, lawmakers and officials say
Texas' $1 billion school voucher program, which this year let roughly 110,000 students attend private school with taxpayer dollars, faces major changes after Democrats won the governor's office and the Texas House, the Texas Tribune and ProPublica reported Saturday, Nov. 7. Gov.-elect Gina Hinojosa has pledged to undo it, though eliminating it would take legislation, and Republicans kept the Senate.
Rep. Diego Bernal of San Antonio, the education committee's Democratic vice chair, said the program will be "unrecognizable, if not extinct" when lawmakers finish. Former state Sen. Sarah Eckhardt, who will lead the office that runs it, said she will push for accountability and transparency. At least 13 Abbott-backed voucher supporters lost or trailed this week.
Sources Texas Tribune
Action PrintingU.S. & World
U.S. forces disable a cargo ship trying to leave the Iran blockade as Iran says two tankers hit mines near Hormuz
U.S. Central Command said late Saturday, Nov. 7, that it disabled a St. Kitts-flagged ship in the Gulf of Oman after it ignored multiple warnings and tried to leave the region following a visit to an Iranian port, the Associated Press reported. U.S. forces have enforced a naval blockade of Iran in and around the Strait of Hormuz for months.
It was the first confirmed U.S. strike on a cargo vessel in nearly a month. Iranian state media reported explosions Saturday evening on Qeshm Island and at the port of Jask, and the Iranian military said two tankers hit mines in the Hormuz area and caught fire, without naming their flags or destinations.
Sources EverythingLubbock (AP) · EverythingLubbock
Iran's Revolutionary Guard says it has lifted its self-imposed 1,200-mile limit on missile ranges
Iran's Revolutionary Guard said Saturday, Nov. 7, that it has lifted a self-imposed limit of 2,000 kilometers, about 1,200 miles, on the range of its ballistic missiles, suggesting Iran may seek missiles able to reach more distant targets, the Associated Press reported. Guard spokesman Gen. Hossein Mohebbi said at a Tehran news conference, "That restriction has been lifted for us."
The statement came days after Supreme Leader Ayatollah Mojtaba Khomeini warned that any threat from the United States or Israel would draw a response without geographic limits. Iran is not known to have missiles that can fly beyond the old limit, but U.S. officials have said technology from its space program could be repurposed to build them.
Sources EverythingLubbock (AP)
Saudi Arabia intercepts missiles aimed at Riyadh; falling debris damages an Aramco building
Saudi Arabia intercepted missiles targeting Riyadh and other regions on Sunday, Nov. 8, and falling debris damaged an Aramco building in the capital's King Abdullah Financial District, the Associated Press reported. The Saudi energy ministry said the shrapnel caused minor damage and no casualties, and no group immediately claimed the attack.
The Saudi-led coalition also said it intercepted a ballistic missile overnight aimed at the kingdom's southern region along the Yemen border, an area Yemen's Iran-backed Houthi rebels have repeatedly attacked. The attacks followed Saudi airstrikes Saturday near Sanaa that Houthi officials said killed at least 27 people.
Sources EverythingLubbock (AP)
Israel's president gives Netanyahu rival Gadi Eisenkot the first chance to form a government
Israeli President Isaac Herzog said Saturday night, Nov. 7, that he is giving opposition candidate Gadi Eisenkot, a former military chief, the first opportunity to form a governing coalition after the Oct. 27 elections, the Associated Press reported. Representatives of most of Israel's main parties had recommended Eisenkot this week.
Eisenkot has up to six weeks to build a majority. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his allies lost their parliamentary majority, but Eisenkot's bloc did not win one either, so any coalition will require hard compromises. Eisenkot said on X that it is time to establish a national emergency government.
Sources EverythingLubbock (AP) · PBS NewsHour
Trump offers UFC chief Dana White the White House press secretary job; White says they will meet Monday
President Donald Trump said Saturday, Nov. 7, that he has offered the job of White House press secretary to UFC chief Dana White, posting the offer on social media from his golf club in Florida, the Associated Press reported. White, in London for a boxing event, said he plans to meet Trump at the White House on Monday, Nov. 9.
Asked how he would balance the job with his roles in combat sports, White said he already has a lot of jobs and declined to describe his conversations with Trump. He later shared an image of himself at the briefing-room podium on Instagram. The White House and the UFC did not respond to requests for comment.
Sources Fox News · EverythingLubbock (AP) · PBS NewsHour
Judge plans to appoint a former U.S. attorney to probe whether officials misled her in the East Potomac golf course case
U.S. District Judge Ana Reyes said Saturday, Nov. 7, that she intends to appoint Jessie Liu, a former U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia, to investigate whether Interior Department, National Park Service and Justice Department officials misled her in a lawsuit over the Trump administration's plan to rebuild Washington's East Potomac Golf Course, the Associated Press reported.
The administration plans to close the public course and park on Nov. 15 to build a championship-level course. An injunction Reyes issued last month bars removing more trees. Both sides may respond in writing to her plan by Friday, Nov. 13, when the next hearing is set. The suit was filed in February by the DC Preservation League and two golfers.
Sources EverythingLubbock (AP) · PBS NewsHour
Duffy Law Firm, PCRussian drone hits rescuers at the Ukrainian village where Monday's bombing killed at least 55
A Russian drone struck emergency workers on Sunday, Nov. 8, at the site in Komyshuvakha, in Ukraine's Zaporizhzhia region, where a guided-bomb attack on Monday killed at least 55 people waiting for humanitarian aid, Ukrainian authorities said, according to the Associated Press. No one was hurt Sunday, but specialized rescue equipment was damaged.
About 50 people remain missing, Ukraine's military intelligence agency said, adding that it had identified some of the Russian service members involved in Monday's strike. Many recovered bodies have not been identified, and DNA testing is underway. Resident Mykola Krasnov, 72, told the AP he was still searching for his wife, who went to collect aid.
Sources EverythingLubbock (AP)
Poland begins two days of mourning; authorities say the Krakow gunman holds far-right views
Poland began two days of national mourning Sunday, Nov. 8, after a 24-year-old man with far-right views drove into Krakow's Main Square on Saturday and opened fire, killing six people and wounding 15 before police shot and wounded him, the Associated Press reported. The square remained partly closed Sunday as the investigation continued.
Mourners left candles in the Old Town square, and the hourly trumpet call from St. Mary's Basilica was paused overnight in tribute, the first time it has been missed since World War II. Poland's defense minister called it an act of terror. A Belgian visitor wrote on Facebook that her family survived by lying on a shop floor as bullets flew.
Sources EverythingLubbock (AP)
Magnitude 5.7 earthquake shakes central Japan, injuring at least 22
A strong earthquake shook central Japan at 1:04 a.m. Sunday, Nov. 8, local time, shattering store windows, sending people fleeing buildings and injuring at least 22, according to local media, the Associated Press reported. Japan's Meteorological Agency put the magnitude at 5.7; the U.S. Geological Survey measured 5.5.
The quake was centered about 25 miles underground in Shizuoka Prefecture, with the strongest shaking in neighboring Aichi, and was felt in Hamamatsu, Kyoto and Nara but not in Tokyo. Some of the injured fell on stairs while fleeing. The agency warned residents to brace for possible strong quakes in the coming week, especially the next two to three days.
Sources EverythingLubbock (AP)
Paraguay charges ousted President Santiago Peña over a bank collapse and orders him held at a military base
Prosecutors in Paraguay on Saturday, Nov. 7, charged former President Santiago Peña, removed by Congress on Friday night, with breach of trust and administration for personal gain in the collapse of Ueno Bank, the Associated Press reported. Chief anti-corruption prosecutor Nancy Salomón said he could face up to 20 years in prison if convicted on both counts.
Judge Humberto Otazu granted prosecutors' request to freeze Peña's assets and ordered him held at a military base during the investigation. Regulators intervened in the bank on Tuesday, freezing the accounts of nearly 3 million customers and setting off the country's biggest political crisis in a decade.
Sources EverythingLubbock (AP) · PBS NewsHour
