📰 MORNING NEWS BRIEF 📰
Early voting starts tomorrow • GISD plan Monday • Partly sunny, 73° 👇
📆 October 18th, 2026AD
🔥 TODAY'S HEADLINES
1. 🗳️ Early voting opens tomorrow
2. 🏫 GISD planning report Monday
3. 🚗 Corvette show raises $16,000
4. 💧 Even addresses water today
5. ⛽ Senate energy pledges
6. 🛢️ Spotlight on oil regulator race
7. 🏜️ Wall camps spread in Big Bend
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🌦️ WEATHER
🌡️ AccuWeather reported 48° and cloudy skies in Granbury at 6:53 a.m., with a north-northwest wind at 3 mph.
☀️ TODAY: Partly sunny, high near 73°, east-southeast wind 0 to 5 mph.
🌙 TONIGHT: Mostly clear, low around 49°, rising to around 51° overnight. Southeast wind 0 to 5 mph.
⏱️ NEXT 12 HOURS: 6–9 a.m. mostly cloudy to partly sunny, 45° to 47° • 9 a.m.–noon turning mostly sunny, 50° to 65° • noon–3 p.m. mostly sunny, 71° to 73° • 3–6 p.m. mostly sunny, near 73°
⚠️ HAZARDS: No National Weather Service alerts are in effect for Hood County this morning. Hood County is not under a burn ban.
📅 3-DAY OUTLOOK
Monday: sunny, 77°/52°
Tuesday: sunny, 81°/55°
Wednesday: sunny, 85°/58°
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🚗 TRAFFIC
🚧 Old Granbury Road remains closed at Walnut Creek for bridge construction through spring 2027, weather permitting, the City of Granbury said, citing TxDOT. Traffic is detoured to Industrial Boulevard and US 377.
🚧 No active short-term city road closures were confirmed for today. The Spartan race weekend wraps up today at Twin Canyons Ranch, so allow extra time in that area.
🚧 Plan ahead: portions of Jones, Rucker, Crossland and Pearl streets will close Wednesday, Oct. 21, from 5:30 to 7:15 p.m. for the Granbury High School Homecoming Parade.
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🏛️ LOCAL LEAD
🗳️ EARLY VOTING OPENS TOMORROW AT ANNEX 1
Early voting for the Nov. 3 election begins tomorrow, Monday, Oct. 19, and runs through Friday, Oct. 30, in the Hood County Annex 1 meeting room, 1410 W. Pearl St. in Granbury, Hood County News reported.
Hours are 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Oct. 19–23; 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 24; 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 25; and 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Oct. 26–30, according to Hood County Elections Administration.
The ballot includes the U.S. Senate race between Republican Ken Paxton, Democrat James Talarico and Libertarian Ted Brown.
Voters will also pick a governor from Republican Greg Abbott, Democrat Gina Hinojosa and Libertarian Pat Dixon.
Granbury voters will choose between Janet Logsdon and Skip Overdier for City Council Place 4. Alex Wolf is unopposed for Place 6.
Election Day voting runs from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 3.
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🎒 GISD WATCH
🏫 GISD PLANNING COMMITTEE REPORTS MONDAY
Granbury ISD trustees will hear recommendations from the district's Future Planning Committee at their meeting Monday, Oct. 19, according to the posted agenda.
In a board memo, the district said it faces important financial decisions as enrollment trends change and the needs of its aging facilities increase.
Its plan will identify potential cost savings and ways to prioritize investments in schools, the memo says. The item is listed as a report only.
Trustees convene at 5 p.m. in closed session and reconvene in open session at 6 p.m.
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🤝 LOCAL PRIDE
🚗 CORVETTE SHOW RAISES $16,000 FOR ANIMAL SHELTER
The Brazos River Corvette Show on Saturday, Oct. 10, helped raise $16,000 this year for the Hood County Animal Shelter, Hood County News reported.
Show chairpersons Theresa and Bob Halford said an extra contribution from Harry Gallagher, owner of Elite Asphalt, on behalf of the Brazos River Corvette Club helped push the total to that mark.
Gary Walden's 1971 Silver Coupe C3 took Best of Show C1–C4, and Chris Welch's 2017 C7 Black Rose Z06 won Best of Show C5–C8.
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🏗️ INFRASTRUCTURE WATCH
💧 STAGE 1 WATERING: EVEN ADDRESSES WATER TODAY
The City of Granbury remains in Stage 1 voluntary water conservation. Even-numbered addresses may water on Sundays and Thursdays, from midnight to 10 a.m. and from 8 p.m. to midnight.
Odd-numbered addresses water on Wednesdays and Saturdays during the same hours, according to the city's Alert Center.
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NEWS FROM AROUND TEXAS
⛽ PAXTON, TALARICO BOTH PROMISE ENERGY RELIEF
Republican Ken Paxton and Democrat James Talarico are both promising relief from rising energy costs in their U.S. Senate race, Capital & Main reported in a story published today by The Texas Tribune.
Both candidates have called for ending the federal gas tax. The break would be temporary under Talarico and permanent under Paxton.
"They are both trying to claim the mantle of the one who's going to lower energy costs," said Daniel Cohan, a Rice University professor of civil and environmental engineering.
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🛢️ RAILROAD COMMISSION RACE DRAWS NATIONAL SPOTLIGHT
Republican Bo French and Democrat Jon Rosenthal are running for a seat on the Texas Railroad Commission, the three-member council that regulates the state's oil and gas industry, The Texas Tribune reported.
The Tribune said French's racist remarks catapulted the usually quiet race into the national spotlight. If Rosenthal wins, he would be the first Democrat elected to the commission since the 1990s.
French has promised to lower electricity and gas prices and cut regulations. Rosenthal, a Houston state lawmaker and oil field engineer, has promised to pursue chronic polluters.
Libertarian Arthur Dibianca is also on the Hood County ballot for railroad commissioner.
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🏜️ BORDER WALL WORKER CAMPS SPREAD ACROSS BIG BEND
Border wall construction "man camps" have spread rapidly across the Big Bend with little state oversight, Marfa Public Radio reported in a story published by Houston Public Media.
One camp off Highway 118 near Terlingua is designed to house as many as 200 border wall construction workers.
Citizen complaints and TCEQ investigations reviewed by the station show the state agency was unable to enforce its own public health and safety rules under federal directives.
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✅ BOTTOM LINE
🗳️ Early voting opens tomorrow at Annex 1 on W. Pearl.
🏫 GISD trustees hear a planning committee report Monday.
🚗 The Corvette show raised $16,000 for the animal shelter.
⛅ Partly sunny today with a high near 73°.
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Hood County Express — Est'd 1/26 🚂
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