📰 MORNING NEWS BRIEF 📰
GISD weighs bus contractor • Early voting opens • Mostly sunny, 77° 👇
📆 October 19th, 2026AD
🔥 TODAY’S HEADLINES
1. 🚌 GISD weighs bus contractor
2. 🗳️ Early voting opens today
3. 🏆 GISD earns top finance rating
4. 💧 Council weighs $49.9M water debt
5. 📊 Poll: Talarico 48%, Paxton 46%
6. ⚖️ Laredo ICE detainee dies
7. 🏫 Young student referrals rise
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🌦️ WEATHER
🌡️ CURRENT: 50° and clear at the Granbury airport at 4:55 a.m., with a southeast wind at 3 mph, according to the National Weather Service.
☀️ TODAY: Mostly sunny, high near 77°, falling to around 73° in the afternoon. Southeast wind 0 to 10 mph.
🌙 TONIGHT: Mostly clear, low around 53°. East-southeast wind 0 to 5 mph.
⏱️ NEXT 12 HOURS: 6–9 a.m. mostly sunny, 49° to 53° • 9 a.m.–noon mostly sunny, 53° to 66° • noon–3 p.m. mostly sunny, 66° to 73° • 3–6 p.m. mostly sunny, 71° to 75°
⚠️ 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
Tuesday: sunny, 80°/55°
Wednesday: sunny, 84°/58°
Thursday: sunny, 87°/59°
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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. Early voting opens at Annex 1 on W. Pearl St., 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
🚌 GISD TRUSTEES TO DISCUSS OUTSIDE BUS CONTRACTOR TONIGHT
Granbury ISD trustees will discuss tonight whether to bring in a third-party company to run the district's transportation services, according to the agenda for their Monday, Oct. 19, meeting.
A board memo says the talk will weigh whether contracting out could bring operational, financial and service-level advantages over running transportation in-house.
No recommendation to change providers is being presented at this time, the memo says. The item is listed for discussion only.
Also tonight, trustees hear a Future Planning Committee report the district says will identify potential cost savings as enrollment trends change and aging facilities' needs grow.
Trustees convene at 5 p.m. in closed session and reconvene in open session at 6 p.m.
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🏛️ CIVIC WATCH
🗳️ EARLY VOTING OPENS TODAY AT ANNEX 1
Early voting for the Nov. 3 election opens today and runs through Friday, Oct. 30, in the Hood County Annex 1 meeting room, 1410 W. Pearl St. in Granbury, Hood County News reported.
Polls are open 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. through Friday, Oct. 23, according to Hood County Elections Administration. Weekend hours are 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 24, and 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 25.
Voters will pick a District 22 state senator, Republican David Cook or Democrat Amy Martinez-Salas, and a District 59 state representative, Republican Shelby Slawson or Democrat Andrew Turner.
City and precinct races depend on a voter's registered address, the newspaper noted.
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🤝 LOCAL PRIDE
🏆 GISD EARNS 11TH STRAIGHT TOP STATE FINANCE RATING
Granbury ISD received an "A" for Superior Achievement, the highest possible rating, in the state's Financial Integrity Rating System of Texas for the 2024–25 rating year, according to a district board memo.
The district scored 94 out of 100, its 11th consecutive year with the top rating. It earned a perfect 100 the year before.
The memo says the district lost six points on an indicator that measures short-term financial liquidity. Trustees will hold a public hearing on the report tonight.
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🏗️ INFRASTRUCTURE WATCH
💧 COUNCIL TO WEIGH $49.9 MILLION WATER SYSTEM DEBT TUESDAY
Granbury City Council members will weigh $49,880,000 in certificates of obligation Tuesday, Oct. 20, for water system improvements and extensions, according to a draft ordinance.
Under the draft, the Texas Water Development Board would buy the certificates. The city would repay the debt with a property tax and surplus revenue from its water, sewer and electric systems.
Council meets at 6 p.m. at Granbury City Hall, 116 W. Bridge St.
Separately, the city remains in Stage 1 voluntary water conservation and asks customers to water lawns only from midnight to 8 a.m. on their designated day, its drought page says.
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NEWS FROM AROUND TEXAS
📊 POLL: TALARICO 48%, PAXTON 46% AS EARLY VOTING BEGINS
Democrat James Talarico leads Republican Ken Paxton 48% to 46% among likely voters in the U.S. Senate race, according to a University of Houston Hobby School of Public Affairs poll reported by Houston Public Media.
Libertarian Ted Brown drew 3%, and 3% were unsure. With a 2% margin of error, the result is a statistical dead heat, the station reported.
The poll found 60% of independents plan to vote for Talarico, compared with 32% for Paxton.
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⚖️ MIGRANT FOUND DEAD AT LAREDO ICE FACILITY
A 56-year-old Mexican man held at the Rio Grande Processing Center in Laredo was found dead in his cell Saturday morning, his daughter and U.S. Rep. Henry Cuellar confirmed to The Texas Tribune.
The Tribune reported that Emiliano Andrade-Covarrubias is the seventh person to die while detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement in Texas this year.
His daughter told the Tribune he had a heart condition, diabetes and high blood pressure. The Webb County Medical Examiner is performing an autopsy.
GEO Group and Homeland Security officials did not immediately respond to requests for comment, the Tribune reported.
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🏫 MORE YOUNG TEXAS STUDENTS SENT INTO JUSTICE SYSTEM
Children ages 10 to 13 were referred for prosecution after Texas school incidents more than 47,000 times since 2014, a New York Times and San Antonio Express-News analysis found.
About 4,800 students in that age group were referred in the 2024-25 school year, a third more than a decade earlier, The Texas Tribune reported. Most were accused of minor offenses.
State Rep. Joe Moody, an El Paso Democrat, said he would push for stricter limits on policing in schools when the Legislature convenes in January.
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✅ BOTTOM LINE
🚌 GISD trustees discuss an outside bus contractor tonight.
🗳️ Early voting opens today at Annex 1 on W. Pearl St.
💧 The council weighs $49.9 million in water debt Tuesday.
☀️ Mostly sunny today with a high near 77°.
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Hood County Express — Est’d 1/26 🚂
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