Daily Ledger
Daily digest straight from the source
Friday, September 25, 2026
The lead · Sep 25
Lubbock ISD trustee John Weddige resigns from the school board
John Weddige resigned his District 5 seat on the Lubbock ISD Board of Trustees at Thursday's board meeting, September 24, saying he wanted to concentrate on his family. He had served since 2024 and his term ran through 2028. “It's been an honor and a privilege,” he said.
District 5 covers parts of west and northwest Lubbock. Under Texas Education Code Section 11.060 the remaining trustees may appoint a replacement or call a special election, and the seat must be filled within 180 days because more than a year remains in the term. The board has not said which route it will take; it used an application process in 2022, choosing from nine applicants.
Sources Lubbock Lights · FOX 34
More Local
Save Lubbock starts a petition to ban the city's 160 Flock cameras
Save Lubbock, the group led by former mayoral candidate Stephen Sanders, is collecting signatures for an ordinance banning Flock Safety cameras and automated license plate readers, Lubbock Lights reported Thursday, September 24. It needs 2,410 verified signatures by October 30 to force a City Council vote, and would end existing contracts, take the cameras down and purge the stored data.
The city and county run 145 working cameras with 15 more being repaired or installed. Lubbock budgeted about $67,000 for Flock in 2026-27; the county's auto theft task force spent $315,000. Police made 37,119 Flock searches in the first seven months of 2026, up 45%. Police Chief Seth Herman said that without them “we're gonna need a lot more officers.”
Sources Lubbock Lights
The Lubbock County elections office is working through 7,500 applications stalled by a DPS backlog
The Lubbock County Elections Office is processing more than 7,500 voter registrations and updates that piled up after a technical fault stopped the Texas Department of Public Safety passing data to the Secretary of State, FOX 34 reported Thursday, September 24. Some applications date back to October 2025, and staff are working overtime to clear them.
The registration deadline is October 5, early voting runs October 19 to 30 and election day is November 3; the office expects every application processed before early voting opens. The elections administrator said the fault touches only DPS applications, not those mailed in or taken by volunteer deputy registrars, and that it will not stop anyone voting.
Sources FOX 34
Lubbock Municipal Court will not arrest anyone who comes in to clear a warrant October 1-16
Lubbock Municipal Court runs a case resolution campaign from October 1 to 16 under which anyone who voluntarily comes in to settle Class C misdemeanour citations and warrants will not be arrested, KFYO reported Wednesday, September 23. The court is at 1214 14th Street and is open 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. on campaign days.
No appointment is needed. Spanish translators are available on request, and people should bring identification and a way to pay. Anyone who cannot pay on the day is urged to see a judge about an alternative arrangement rather than stay away. The court's number is (806) 775-2473.
Sources KFYO
Mullin Hoard & Brown, LLPLubbock ISD names three new elementary schools after educators
Lubbock ISD trustees approved names for three new elementary schools at Thursday's meeting, September 24: Curtis and Hattie Gipson Elementary on the O.L. Slaton site, Anthony Peppers Elementary on the Matthews site and Velma Ruth Shambeck Elementary on the Williams site.
The names came out of more than 300 community submissions gathered after a town hall in July. The board president said trustees concentrated on “naming these after educators that have made a significant difference.” The three campuses are the elementary schools promised in the district's 2025 bond program.
Sources FOX 34 · EverythingLubbock
Rain returns overnight and runs into Friday, with the weekend warming to near 90
Scattered to widespread rain and storms were due to build overnight and carry into Friday, September 25, FOX 34 meteorologist Dylan Smith said Thursday afternoon. He described the activity as mostly non-severe, with overnight lows in the 60s and Friday afternoon highs around 80.
Rain may hang on into Saturday morning, with a few more showers and storms possible in the afternoon and evening as temperatures climb toward 90. Sunday looks much the same, near 90 again. It is the tail of a wet week that brought a flash flood threat to the South Plains and moved state rescue resources into the region.
Sources FOX 34
Lubbock police tell parents to pick a meeting spot before taking children to the South Plains Fair
Lubbock police asked families on Thursday, September 24, to agree a meeting place before walking into the South Plains Fair — something a child can see from anywhere on the grounds, such as the ferris wheel. Officers said the right plan depends on the child's age, and that teenagers dropped off should be left with someone trusted and carry a charged phone.
A child found alone is walked to a building at the southwest corner of the fairgrounds and kept there until family arrive. Police also asked drivers to move slowly near the attractions, because excited children step out without looking, and told visitors to lock valuables out of sight and bring clear bags for entry.
Sources FOX 34 · EverythingLubbock
Raider Red's Food Pantry is busier this semester as Texas Tech grows and prices bite
Raider Red's Food Pantry is seeing higher demand this semester as Texas Tech's enrollment hits a record and students meet higher grocery and fuel prices, EverythingLubbock reported Thursday, September 24. Isaiah Ortiz, assistant director of Raider Relief, said groceries are usually the first thing people cut when money gets tight.
“That's part of the goal here at the food pantry is to let students know that we're here for them in those times of need,” Ortiz said, so students do not have to wonder where the next meal comes from. The pantry runs on donations and an Amazon wish list and is open Monday to Friday, 10 a.m. to 1 p.m.
Sources EverythingLubbock
State
Paxton is investigating Texas data centers over water-use surveys, and one of them is in Lubbock
Attorney General Ken Paxton is investigating hundreds of Texas data center developments that did not answer the Texas Water Development Board's water-use survey, and a Lubbock development is among them, EverythingLubbock reported Thursday, September 24. State law requires the board to survey entities drawing ground or surface water for municipal, industrial, power generation or mining use.
“We cannot sacrifice our resources, water or energy supply,” Paxton said, demanding every Texas data center file a complete response. The investigation covers 18 counties including Lubbock, Potter, Randall, Midland, Ector and Tom Green. It lands three days after Gov. Greg Abbott told the TCEQ to stop issuing data center permits, and two days after Lubbock's council began a 90-day moratorium.
Sources EverythingLubbock
Republicans in the Dallas-Fort Worth suburbs are signaling trouble for Paxton
Republicans across the Dallas-Fort Worth suburbs say they may skip the U.S. Senate race, which party figures warn could drag down candidates below it, in reporting published Thursday, September 24. Jill Tate, president of the Texas Federation of Republican Women, said it is “the first time I've felt in my bones we could lose the Texas House, and we could lose a statewide seat.”
Jayne Howell, a former Denton County GOP chair, said many voters plan to leave the Senate line blank. Laura Hill, Southlake's mayor from 2015 to 2021, said about 40% of the skeptical Republican women she spoke to plan to vote for the Democrat. The four counties cast nearly one in four Texas votes in 2024.
Sources KPRC
D. Williams & Co., Inc.U.S. & World
A judge ordered the White House to restore three outlets' access, and hours later they were still shut out
U.S. District Judge Timothy Kelly ordered the White House late Wednesday to “immediately return, reinstate, and restore” press access for CNN, MS NOW and Politico, a restraining order running 14 days. He found the outlets likely to show their passes were pulled without due process and the government's conduct standards too vague.
Reporters from all three were still being turned away hours later on Thursday, September 24, and the White House did not answer a request for comment. Theodore Boutrous Jr., who argued for the outlets, called it a strong ruling for press freedom and due process; Justice Department lawyer Michael Velchik had argued that access to the White House is a privilege rather than a right.
Sources The Hill · PBS NewsHour
Trump and Xi Jinping meet at the White House with trade, AI and Taiwan on the table
President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping held talks at the White House on Thursday, September 24, the centerpiece of Xi's state visit. The two extended their trade truce by two months from a November 10 expiry, with officials pointing to a larger deal by January. Average U.S. tariffs on Chinese goods run about 47%; China's sit in the mid-30s.
They also weighed a notification mechanism for artificial intelligence incidents touching national security. China pressed for a permanent halt to U.S. military sales to Taiwan while a $14 billion package waits on approval, and Washington pushed China to lean on Tehran over the war with Iran. A black-tie state dinner followed.
Sources The Hill · PBS NewsHour
The FBI says it still does not know how its jobs portal was breached
The FBI said on Thursday, September 24, that it has not determined how FBIJobs.gov was breached, and cannot yet say whether the way in was a third party or the bureau's own systems. “The point of breach is still undetermined,” the bureau said, adding that it is actively and aggressively investigating.
The hacking group ShinyHunters claims it took data on nearly all federal agents and job applicants. Reuters reported the stolen material included names, home addresses, Social Security numbers, work assignments and in some cases relatives' names. A retired federal supervisory special agent said the distinction matters, because there is no sign so far that the intruders reached classified investigative systems rather than personnel records.
Sources Fox News
The 30-year mortgage rate tops 7% and buyers keep getting older
The benchmark 30-year fixed mortgage rate passed 7% this week, FOX 34 reported Thursday, September 24, with the economy weighing on voters a month out from the November election. Mortgage applications fell 1.5% from the week before and the refinance index is down 62% from a year ago.
The squeeze shows in who is buying. The average first-time buyer is now nearly 40, against 28 in 1991, and the average house costs about $570,000 where it was $121,000 then, roughly five times higher. On a $600,000 house the first monthly payment runs about $3,992, of which $3,500 is interest and $492 principal, and the loan costs close to $1.5 million over its life.
Starbucks will close about 250 North American stores and cut 900 jobs
Starbucks is closing roughly 250 underperforming North American coffeehouses, about 1% of its 18,000 stores, and cutting about 900 jobs, the company told staff on Thursday, September 24. Most are expected to shut before the end of fiscal 2026.
Chief Operating Officer Mike Grams said the company had reviewed its North America portfolio and picked out locations where it could not consistently deliver the experience it wants “or where we don't see a path to acceptable financial performance.” The restructuring costs about $300 million — $200 million for lease breaks and severance, $100 million writing off company-owned assets. It is the second wave under Chief Executive Brian Niccol, after 627 closures a year ago.
Sources UPI · PBS NewsHour