Texas Tech University’s quarterback, Brendan Sorsby, is taking an indefinite leave of absence to get treatment for gambling addiction, a growing concern within the NCAA. Our Charley Maranville reports the Texas Water Development Board is accepting public comments on the draft of the 2027 State Water Plan. You can find more information and read the draft here and submit comments until May 29 here.

Today is the deadline for candidates to apply to run for Lubbock’s City Council District 4. Our Samantha Larned has more on candidates in the upcoming race, including one whose application was previously denied. After calls for investigations from Texas House Speaker Dustin Burrows, the online game creation platform Roblox removed a role-playing game that allowed users to relive the 2022 Robb Elementary school shooting.

The Texas Comptroller's Office announced the first round of Texas Education Freedom Accounts awards this week, totalling more than 42,000 students in the first wave. The comptroller's office reports that about two-thirds of awarded students have a documented disability. Texas producers are facing sharp increases in fertilizer costs as a result of escalating conflicts in the Middle East. Texas Public Radio's Norma Martinez explains why the costs are on the rise despite strong domestic production.

A federal appeals court has upheld a Texas law requiring the display of the Ten Commandments in every public-school classroom in the state. Houston Public Media’s Andrew Schneider reports the ruling has significant implications for long-established ideas of the separation of church and state. Meanwhile a federal grand jury in Lubbock has indicted 14 people from Texas and Eastern New Mexico under allegations of conspiracy to sell stolen crude oil across state lines.

U.S. Senate candidate James Talarico is joining leadership across the aisle, proposing that the federal gas and diesel tax be suspended due to rising prices across the nation. The Texas Newsroom’s Blaise Gainey reports this follows similar requests at the state level. A highly anticipated return to the South Plains by Country Music King George Strait is arriving this weekend. It has booked out hotels across the city and parking through Texas Tech University.

Early voting in Lubbock's municipal and school board elections began with some complications yesterday and polls are closed today for a state-observed holiday. Polling locations will open again for voters tomorrow at 8 a.m. The Trump Administration’s recently released budget proposal cuts almost $5 billion dollars from the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Harvest Public Media’s Will Bauer reports that includes university research and rural community services. Lubbock Mayor Mark McBrayer is hosting Coffee with the Mayor at 7 a.m. tomorrow at the Maxey Community Center at 4020 30th Street.

President Donald Trump has chosen Dr. Jennifer Shuford with the Texas Department of State Health Services as his pick for Deputy Director and Chief Medical Officer of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. KUT's Olivia Aldridge has more on Shuford's leadership through the state’s response to a measles outbreak and the COVID-19 pandemic. A new 120,000-square-foot cancer center is opening on the University Medical Center campus, intending to provide more localized treatment for patients who often have to drive six hours or more for the latest care.

The Texas Department of Transportation, alongside Lubbock’s city and county leaders, cut the ribbon for drivers on the first portion of the anticipated Loop 88 in south Lubbock, this southern portion of the outer loop project broke ground four years ago, but the full freeway is expected to take 15-20 years to complete, depending on state and federal funding. An environmental group is suing the Trump administration over its plan for a border wall in parts of the Big Bend region of Texas. Marfa Public Radio’s Travis Bubenik reports the Big Bend border wall plan has prompted widespread pushback from Democrats and Republicans.

Gas prices in Texas have been rising since the beginning of the war in Iran. The Texas Newsrooms Blaise Gainey reports outgoing Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller is asking the governor to suspend the state’s gasoline sales tax. Data centers have been using large amounts of resources in the last year, but the state requires little public disclosure of how much water or electricity these facilities actually use. Researchers are asking Texas lawmakers to change that.

Texas Governor Greg Abbott was in Levelland yesterday, where he toured the Automotive Technology and Welding Facility on the South Plains College campus. Our Brad Burt reports on the Texas Jobs Council, an advisory committee launched by Abbott last month, intended to strengthen the state’s workforce.