Lubbock Texas

Last month, Lubbock City Council began the procedure to adopt a pause on large-scale data center development. If the moratorium passes, it will be two years until another one can be put in place. With more information and potential changes likely to come out of the state's legislative session, one councilman has argued that the city should hold off on playing its moratorium card. All the while, the clock may be ticking on the statewide pause on data centers.

The Lubbock County Elections Office received a backlog of more than 7,500 voter registrations due to a technical error with the Department of Public Safety's online registration portal. Lubbock County's new Elections Administrator, Troy Havard, assures voters the backlog will not delay or affect anyone's ability to vote in the November general election when early voting begins on Oct. 19.

Lubbock City Council accepted a citizens' petition for an 18-month pause on data center development in the city and will be hearing from residents regarding the proposal on Sept. 8. If the council rejects the petition at the hearing, organizers can choose to put it on the ballot in a general election.

Gov. Greg Abbott wants teachers convicted of such misconduct with a student to face 10-year minimums in prison sentences with no parole.

Several Democratic candidates for local, state, and national offices kicked off their West Texas campaign trail in Lubbock on Saturday with a roundtable, a rally, and a protest. The recurring topic of these events – data centers.

Experts worry graduate students will learn too late about university's ban on research work related to sexual orientation and gender identity.

West Texas has become a popular site for data center projects, but residents and city governments alike have questions they want answered before these proposals get approved. According to Lubbock's city manager, the development of one of these facilities in Lubbock will require collaboration and transparency.

Texas Democrat labor leader Taylor Rehmet turned tables in a special election runoff for the Texas Senate seat in District 9, defeating GOP pick Leigh Wambsganss in a 40-year Republican stronghold. Now, fellow Democratic candidates in West Texas are hoping similar work-focused strategies can overcome tough odds in their own deep red districts.

Lubbock community members and Texas Tech students rallied last Saturday to protest ICE as part of a national movement following fatal shootings by federal agents in Minneapolis, calling for solidarity, accountability, and limits on immigration enforcement in the region.

Joe Ely was a Texas music legend who drove humbly at the leading edge of an evolutionary wave in alternative country music, and many talented West Texas musicians came with him. Butch Hancock and Terry Allen spoke with KTTZ about the life and career of their close friend, the role that West Texas played in their music, and the role Joe Ely played in their lives.