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Daily Ledger
Daily digest straight from the source
Saturday, November 14, 2026
The lead · Nov 14
Lubbock County civil filing names God as the defendant
A handwritten civil petition filed in Lubbock County on Nov. 6 lists one word on the defendant line, "God," Lubbock Lights reported Friday. Britani Taylor filed it without an attorney, 18 minutes after filing a separate petition naming the Longview Police Department.
The case naming God went to Judge Les Hatch in the 237th District Court, and the Longview case went to Judge John Grace in the 72nd District Court. Taylor wrote $900,000 on the damages line, though the total she is seeking is unclear. District Clerk Sara Smith said Friday that neither case had a hearing scheduled, and the case summaries show no service, response or ruling.
Sources Lubbock Lights
More Local
Nationwide FAA ground stop halts Lubbock flights Friday afternoon; Texas Tech reaches Oklahoma in time for Saturday's game
Lubbock Preston Smith International Airport was caught in Friday's nationwide FAA ground stop, Executive Director Kelly Campbell said Friday, Nov. 13, EverythingLubbock reported. The airport's website showed the last plane left about 2:22 p.m., and passengers were told to check with their airlines about delays and cancellations. Lubbock Aerocare said its emergency medical flights were not affected.
Texas Tech's football team landed in Oklahoma Friday afternoon before the stop, KCBD reported, and the No. 12 Red Raiders' game at Oklahoma State remains set for 8:30 p.m. Saturday on ESPN even as the Big 12 shifted other kickoffs. The FAA lifted the ground stop Friday evening, but airlines warned recovery could take days.
Sources EverythingLubbock · KCBD
Sen. Charles Perry files bill to cap data center tax breaks at 50% and require water reporting
State Sen. Charles Perry, R-Lubbock, co-authored Senate Bill 338, filed Thursday, Nov. 12, which would cap tax abatements for large data centers at 50%, require water-efficient cooling such as closed-loop or air systems, and make annual water-use reporting to the state mandatory, EverythingLubbock reported Friday. Perry said the bill largely puts what the industry already does into statute.
The bill would also hold data center operators responsible for cleanup costs, including lithium batteries, if they leave, and give the Public Utility Commission more power over light and noise pollution. Perry said 15 other senators have signed on, and that follow-up work on data centers' effect on the ERCOT grid is expected in the 2027 session.
Sources EverythingLubbock
Pedestrian killed in collision at 66th Street and Milwaukee Avenue Friday evening
A pedestrian was struck and killed by a car at the intersection of 66th Street and Milwaukee Avenue at about 6:05 p.m. Friday, Nov. 13, the Lubbock Police Department said, according to EverythingLubbock and KCBD. The pedestrian was pronounced dead at the scene.
LPD's Major Crash Unit is investigating. Police had not released the victim's name or details of how the collision happened as of Friday night, and both outlets said they would update the story as more information becomes available.
Sources EverythingLubbock · KCBD
Advanced GraphixLady Raiders rally from 13 down to beat Auburn 73-71 and move to 3-0
Texas Tech's women's basketball team erased a 13-point deficit to beat Auburn 73-71 Friday night, Nov. 13, at United Supermarkets Arena, KCBD reported. Senior Jalynn Bristow recorded her second straight double-double with 13 points and 10 rebounds, hitting two three-pointers in the final two minutes to lift the Lady Raiders to 3-0.
Destinee Hooks added 13 points, and Ambrosia Cole and Martina Anyango scored 11 each. Cole led the team with five assists. Rhema Collins scored nine points in her Lady Raider debut. Texas Tech went 20 of 33 at the free-throw line and edged Auburn on the boards, 32-29.
Sources KCBD
Frenship, Liberty, Idalou and New Deal advance in Friday's playoffs; Estacado and Lubbock Christian see seasons end
Frenship (7-4) opened the playoffs Friday night, Nov. 13, with a 44-39 win over El Paso El Dorado, sealed when linebacker Cannon Richardson sacked the Aztecs' quarterback as time expired, KCBD reported. The Tigers next face Denton Ryan. No. 3 Lubbock-Cooper Liberty rolled past Burkburnett 42-7 to reach 11-0, and No. 1 Idalou beat Dimmitt 60-6.
Fourth-place New Deal upset district champion Sonora 38-6 and was named KCBD's End Zone Team of the Week. Estacado's season ended with a 49-22 loss to Graham. In the TAPPS Division 3 semifinals, Lubbock Christian fell to Dallas Christian 35-30 in a rematch of last year's state final, finishing 9-2.
Salvation Army of Amarillo's new leaders aim for $160,000 in their first Red Kettle season
Majs. Robert and Shannon Winters, who took over the Salvation Army of Amarillo this summer after Majs. Tex and Andrea Ellis were reassigned to Texarkana, are leading their first holiday campaign in the city, the Amarillo Tribune reported Friday, Nov. 13. Bell ringers are already at Red Kettles, and Angel Trees will soon go up in stores.
Last year the Amarillo corps raised $148,000, and this year's goal is $160,000, Robert Winters said. Shannon Winters said kettle donations pay for staffing, shelter and pantry programs all year. The couple came to Amarillo from Pasadena, California; Robert has served with the Salvation Army for 43 years.
Sources Amarillo Tribune
UMC neurosurgeon warns holiday decorating brings an uptick in head and spine injuries
Dr. J.D. Day, chairman of neurosurgery at UMC, said Friday, Nov. 13, that the holiday season brings a rise in head and spine trauma as people climb ladders and reach high places to decorate, along with more car crashes from added travel, EverythingLubbock reported.
Day urged families to slow down, know their physical limits, ask for help instead of decorating alone and avoid alcohol until the work is done. He said a fall from a ladder can cause injuries far more serious than a broken bone, sending people to the emergency room during the holidays.
Sources EverythingLubbock
Hale Center football featured in the first episode of a YouTube docuseries on small-town Texas teams
Hale Center's football program is the subject of the first episode of 'Beyond the Game,' a YouTube docuseries about rural Texas football and the towns behind it, KCBD reported Friday, Nov. 13. The series comes from Deep in the Heart Athletics, a company founder Steven Firmin started this year to highlight small-town football.
Firmin said the company lets each town tell its own story rather than following a script. He praised head coach Marc Puente, a Hale Center alumnus, for leading the program in a town of about 2,000 people, saying the community has a heartbeat of its own.
Sources KCBD
Lubbock personal trainer turns celiac diagnosis into a sugar-free, gluten-free protein baking business
Lubbock personal trainer Hailey Whitton has started Muscle Munch Sweets, a baking business making sugar-free, gluten-free, high-protein treats, after she was diagnosed with celiac disease, KCBD reported Friday, Nov. 13. She said she could not find a product at the store that met all three needs, so she made her own.
Whitton runs the business out of her apartment, which she said is now filled with storage shelves and baking supplies instead of furniture. She hopes to save enough to open a commercial kitchen or a food truck.
Sources KCBD
Mullin Hoard & Brown, LLPRopes ISD breaks ground on a new softball complex for its second-year Lady Eagles program
Ropes ISD broke ground Monday, Nov. 2, on a new softball complex next to its campus, KCBD reported Saturday. The district is building it with construction manager McNeill Sport Turf LLC and JDMA Architects, and members of the Lady Eagles softball team helped mark the occasion.
Ropes played its first softball season in school history in 2025 under head coach Joey Ybarra and assistant coach Skylar Herrera. The Lady Eagles are now preparing for their second official season, competing in District 4-AA.
Sources KCBD
State
Paxton drops his Lubbock lawsuit accusing the NCAA of deceptively marketing women's sports
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton's office told the state district court in Lubbock on Thursday, Nov. 12, that it will not proceed with its December 2024 lawsuit accusing the NCAA of violating the Texas Deceptive Trade Practices Act by letting transgender athletes compete in events marketed as women's competitions, the Texas Tribune reported Friday.
It is at least the third lawsuit Paxton's office has dropped since the Nov. 3 election, when he lost his U.S. Senate bid and Democrat Nathan Johnson was elected attorney general. Johnson has said he will review Paxton-era lawsuits and halt those he considers political. Earlier this week the office dropped its case against FIEL, a Houston immigrant-rights group.
Sources Texas Tribune
Texas maternal death rate falls to near pre-pandemic levels as mental health becomes the leading cause
Texas' maternal mortality ratio fell to 20.5 deaths per 100,000 births in 2024, down from 23.5 in 2021 and slightly above 2019, according to the state maternal mortality committee's report released Friday, Nov. 13, the Texas Tribune reported. Mental health conditions are now the leading cause of pregnancy-related deaths.
The report, due Sept. 1 but delayed until after the midterms, is the first comprehensive look since Texas banned nearly all abortions in 2021. More than three-quarters of the deaths were judged preventable. Black women died at 2.4 times the rate of white women, and severe maternal complications rose from 80.4 to 83.5 per 100,000 births.
Sources Texas Tribune
Texas Democrats make Medicaid expansion a top priority as they take power in the House
Texas House Democrats have filed several bills to expand Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act, calling it a top priority now that they will hold real power for the first time in three decades, EverythingLubbock and Nexstar reported Friday, Nov. 13. Texas has the most uninsured residents in the nation and is one of 10 states that has not expanded.
State Rep. John Bucy, D-Austin, filed a straight expansion and a constitutional amendment that would put the question to voters, while Rep. Diego Bernal, D-San Antonio, proposed county-by-county expansion. Bucy said the bills are likely to pass the Democratic-led House but face an uphill battle in the Republican-controlled Senate.
Sources EverythingLubbock (Nexstar)
Railroad Commissioner-elect Jon Rosenthal wants to double the agency's budget and speed up plugging orphan wells
Railroad Commissioner-elect Jon Rosenthal said Friday, Nov. 13, at his first news conference, in Midland, that he will push to double the agency's half-billion-dollar budget, raise employee pay, streamline permitting for responsible operators and increase oil and gas production, the Texas Tribune reported. He also named his transition team.
Rosenthal, a former four-term Democratic state representative from Cypress and a 25-year oilfield engineer, said he wants to work with oil companies to plug thousands of orphan wells faster and more cheaply. He will be the first Democrat on the oil and gas commission in more than three decades after defeating Republican Bo French.
Sources Texas Tribune
GOP candidate asks the state to declare Democrat Ericka Lomick ineligible after her Texas House win
Republican Alan Blaylock on Friday, Nov. 13, asked Secretary of State Robert Howden to declare Democrat Ericka Lomick, who won the Texas House District 93 race in Tarrant County, ineligible to take office because of a past felony conviction in a North Carolina federal mortgage fraud case, the Texas Tribune reported. His lawyers asked for an answer by noon Monday.
Lomick suspended her campaign in late September as questions arose, but her name stayed on the ballot. After winning, she said she is fully qualified and was released from the legal disabilities of the conviction. Texas law generally bars convicted felons from office unless pardoned or released from that disability.
Sources Texas Tribune
D. Williams & Co., Inc.State review blasts Texas funeral agency's lax oversight of the body donation program
A limited-scope review by the Texas Sunset Advisory Commission, reported Friday, Nov. 13, found serious regulatory shortcomings at the Texas Funeral Service Commission that threaten the agency's long-term stability, especially its supervision of the Human Anatomical Donation Program, which sends donated bodies to research facilities and medical schools, the Texas Tribune reported.
Lawmakers ordered the review after NBC News reported that weak oversight let a research facility profit by dismembering donated bodies and selling parts. The commission, which regulates about 1,200 funeral homes and embalming facilities, has been rife with turmoil since taking over the program three years ago, the report said. Its findings will feed bills for the 2027 session.
Sources Texas Tribune
Congressman-elect Bobby Pulido wins his third Latin Grammy for best Tejano album
Bobby Pulido, the Democrat who flipped Texas' 15th Congressional District a week earlier, accepted the Latin Grammy for best Tejano album Thursday night, Nov. 12, in Las Vegas, the Associated Press reported. It was his third win in the category and his first as a member-elect of the U.S. House.
Onstage, Pulido confirmed he is retiring from his music career and said he is proud to be Tejano and to represent the music of Texas. His appearance was one of several political moments at a ceremony where artists called for unity and representation after midterms driven in part by Latino voters.
Sources EverythingLubbock (AP)
U.S. & World
Longest nationwide ground stop in 25 years cancels thousands of flights; officials blame new equipment overloading old systems
The FAA halted takeoffs at U.S. airports for more than four hours Friday, Nov. 13, the longest nationwide ground stop in 25 years, after new technology being added to the air traffic control system overloaded antiquated equipment and caused intermittent communications and radar gaps, Trump administration officials said, the Associated Press reported. More than 2,000 flights were canceled Saturday as airlines dug out.
Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin said there was no sign of a cyberattack, while Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said he could not guarantee it would not happen again. The stop was lifted around 8:15 p.m. Eastern. Officials expect the system to be back to normal for Thanksgiving travel.
Sources EverythingLubbock (AP) · EverythingLubbock (AP) · PBS NewsHour
States get until July before removing people from Medicaid under the new work requirement
The Trump administration told states Friday, Nov. 13, that they will not have to cut anyone from Medicaid for failing to meet the new work requirement until July 1, even though the requirement still takes effect nationally Jan. 1, the Associated Press reported.
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services said states must still determine whether enrollees and applicants are working, in school or volunteering, but gave social service departments six more months to get staffing, training and technology ready before coverage is denied. Supporters of the delay said it should mean fewer people lose coverage over paperwork problems.
Sources EverythingLubbock (AP)
U.S. flu season starts unusually early and is spreading fast across the South and West
Seven states reported high flu activity last week, up from two the week before, and more than 3% of doctor's office visits were for flu-like illness, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said in an update Friday, Nov. 13, the Associated Press reported. Louisiana is seeing the worst of it so far.
The CDC estimates at least 2.6 million illnesses, 36,000 hospitalizations and 2,100 deaths so far this season, and the mid-October hospitalization rate was the highest that early in more than 15 years. Dr. Fred Lopez of LSU Health Sciences Center in New Orleans urged anyone not yet vaccinated to get a flu shot now.
Sources EverythingLubbock (AP)
Trump administration cancels the rule requiring pay raises for Head Start teachers
The Trump administration said Friday, Nov. 13, it is finalizing repeal of a Biden-era rule that required large Head Start programs to gradually raise teacher pay to match local public preschool teachers, the Associated Press reported. The rule would have cost about $2.1 billion a year by 2031. The repeal takes effect in January.
Head Start serves more than 700,000 low-income preschoolers a year. Alex J. Adams, the Health and Human Services assistant secretary over the program, said the change lets programs reach as many children as possible with the money Congress provides. The administration argues programs can enroll more children with more spending flexibility.
Sources EverythingLubbock (AP)
Action PrintingTrump, Xi and Putin plan an unprecedented three-way meeting at next week's APEC summit
The White House confirmed Friday, Nov. 13, that President Donald Trump, Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin plan to meet Thursday on the sidelines of next week's Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in Shenzhen, China, the Associated Press reported. It would be the first such gathering of the leaders of the world's biggest nuclear powers.
Trump has said the meeting is a chance to discuss the U.S. war with Iran and a three-way agreement on nuclear arms stockpiles; a senior U.S. official said he will steer away from Ukraine. Analysts expect more symbolism than breakthroughs.
Sources EverythingLubbock (AP)
Rubio says no further U.S. military action is needed against an economically weakened Iran
Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Friday, Nov. 13, in a speech to the Federalist Society that further U.S. military action against Iran is unnecessary because the economic pain on the Islamic Republic is so great, the Associated Press reported. He also acknowledged the war has driven up fuel costs for Americans.
The same day, the U.S. military said it intercepted two Iranian attack drones headed toward Bahrain, while Iran's Revolutionary Guard claimed it struck a U.S. early-warning radar there. Iran also said a tanker hit a naval mine in the Strait of Hormuz. Rubio said victory means ensuring Iran never gets a nuclear weapon.
Sources EverythingLubbock (AP)
Zelenskyy warns a U.S.-floated European security framework could benefit Putin, says U.S. asked about Donbas pullback for NATO entry
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said the United States has raised the possibility of a new security framework for Europe as part of efforts to end Russia's war, and warned Moscow could use the talks to weaken NATO and redraw borders. He spoke to reporters Friday, Nov. 13, in comments embargoed until Saturday, the Associated Press reported.
Zelenskyy said the U.S. asked for the first time whether Ukraine would withdraw from parts of the Donbas that Russia does not control if Kyiv were admitted to NATO. He said Ukraine will not surrender territory or commit to neutrality. Separately, Ukraine's General Staff said Saturday its forces struck the Samara oil pipeline station in Russia.
Sources EverythingLubbock (AP)
All 180 aboard survive after a tanker slams into a docked river cruise boat in New Orleans
The tanker Atlantic Asphalt, which apparently lost its steering, crashed into the docked river cruise boat American Heritage on the Mississippi River in New Orleans on Friday, Nov. 13, with 180 people aboard, Mayor Helena Moreno said, the Associated Press reported. The cruise boat flipped onto its side, throwing passengers and crew into the river.
Tugboat crews, port workers and police pulled people from the 66-degree water. Moreno called it a miracle that no one was unaccounted for. Thirty-two people were taken to hospitals, none with critical injuries.
Sources EverythingLubbock (AP) · PBS NewsHour
Rep. Lauren Boebert loses her Colorado House seat to Democrat Eileen Laubacher
Democrat Eileen Laubacher, a former Navy rear admiral, defeated three-term Republican Rep. Lauren Boebert in Colorado's 4th Congressional District, the Associated Press reported when it called the race Friday, Nov. 13. Republicans carried the district by more than 18 points in 2024.
Boebert, a fixture of conservative media, moved to the more Republican district after barely surviving her first reelection. She acknowledged this week that Republicans collectively failed, and said Friday she called Laubacher to congratulate her. The loss is among several surprising GOP defeats in what the AP describes as the most lopsided election in half a century.
Sources EverythingLubbock (AP) · PBS NewsHour
Alaska elects its first Democratic governor since 1998 and keeps ranked-choice voting
Former state lawmaker Jonathan Kreiss-Tomkins defeated three Republicans, including one endorsed by President Donald Trump, to become Alaska's first Democratic governor since 1998, the Associated Press reported Friday, Nov. 13. Democrats will now hold governorships in 30 states, including Texas.
Alaska voters also rejected, for the second time in two years, a ballot measure to repeal the state's open primaries and ranked-choice general elections, the AP reported. Trump opposed the system, and Elon Musk donated to the repeal effort. Kreiss-Tomkins campaigned on affordability, school funding and a moratorium on new data centers.
Sources EverythingLubbock (AP) · EverythingLubbock (AP)
Duffy Law Firm, PCFamily Dollar to pay $63 million to settle claims it charged more at the register than posted prices
Family Dollar agreed to pay $63 million to settle allegations by the Federal Trade Commission and 17 states that it routinely charged customers more at checkout than the prices shown on shelves, its website and its app, the Associated Press reported Friday, Nov. 13. The charges and proposed settlement, which needs a judge's approval, were announced Thursday.
The FTC complaint said shoppers have reported price discrepancies for years, including stores refusing to honor an advertised '2 for $20' diaper deal. State and local regulators have cited the chain for thousands of pricing violations over five years, with more than $3 million in fines.
Sources EverythingLubbock (AP)
Appeals court rules the U.S. wrongly withheld $74 million in New York highway funds over immigrant truck licenses
A three-judge panel of the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled Friday, Nov. 13, that the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration acted arbitrarily when it withheld nearly $74 million in highway money from New York for refusing to revoke about 33,000 commercial driver's licenses held by immigrants, the Associated Press reported.
The court said New York could not be faulted for failing to cancel licenses after drivers lost legal status because rules requiring cancellation were not in place at the time. New York Attorney General Letitia James had argued the state needed the money for roads and bridges.
Sources EverythingLubbock (AP) · PBS NewsHour
Evacuation order stays in place in south Peoria, Illinois, after a device is found at an ethanol plant
An evacuation order covering parts of Peoria and East Peoria, Illinois, remained in effect overnight Friday, Nov. 13, after a device was found at the BioUrja Renewables ethanol plant following a credible threat, Peoria Police Chief Brad Dixon said, EverythingLubbock and WMBD reported.
Dixon did not say how many devices were found or where. The FBI's Springfield office is assisting, and police planned an exhaustive search of the large plant, with the next update set for noon Saturday.
Sources EverythingLubbock (Nexstar)
SpaceX's Starship reaches orbit Friday, but booster loss ends the first double-catch attempt
SpaceX's Starship soared into orbit Friday, Nov. 13, from South Texas in its most ambitious test yet, but the first-stage booster was diverted offshore and exploded in the Gulf of Mexico, ending the company's bid to catch both stages at the launch tower, the Associated Press reported.
The spacecraft released 26 advanced Starlink satellites and was set to circle the Earth 15 times before trying to return to the Texas pad Saturday to be caught by the tower's mechanical arms, a first from orbit. Full reuse of the rocket remains a goal no one has yet achieved.
Sources EverythingLubbock (AP) · PBS NewsHour
Memorial to the 'Emanuel Nine' opens Saturday at Charleston's Mother Emanuel AME Church
A memorial honoring the nine Black churchgoers killed by an avowed white supremacist at Mother Emanuel AME Church in Charleston, South Carolina, in 2015 opens to the public Saturday, Nov. 14, the Associated Press reported. The marble memorial sits in a courtyard by the church's front door.
It centers on a Fountain of Grace, where water flows over a basin etched with the names of the six women and three men slain, flanked by two Fellowship Benches and a Cross of Hope. A garden honoring the five survivors will come next, said the Rev. Eric Manning of the memorial foundation.
Sources EverythingLubbock (AP)
