Independent News Drop

KELI From Inkwell, this is the Amarillo News Drop. I'm Keli, with Hast.

HAST County treasurers and tax assessors across Texas are asking lawmakers for guidance on a problem that's about to hit their offices hard: the end of penny production. The U.S. Mint is phasing out the penny, and that means county officials—the people who handle property tax assessments and county revenues—are going to be managing a currency system without the smallest denomination coin. It's a structural shift. When pennies stop circulating, rounding rules change, audit trails get complicated, and nobody at the state level has issued clear direction yet on how to handle tax collection, property valuations, or cash accounting. These officials are saying this isn't theoretical—it's coming, and they need statutory clarity before it does.

KELI Here's what you're going to hear from other outlets: this is a quirky story about penny nostalgia. It isn't. This is a story about the machinery of local government hitting a hard deadline without a playbook. The simple read is "pennies are going away, what a thought." The reality underneath is that Texas county auditors and tax assessors operate under specific statutes that assume pennies exist. When they stop, those statutes break. The prediction to watch: either the Texas Legislature addresses this in the next session with statutory amendments to rounding and tax computation, or county treasurers start holding public meetings with their boards to rewrite local tax collection procedures—and that's when people notice the cost.

HAST Moving to the Capitol. The Texas Lottery director appeared in court this week over a ninety-five-million-dollar scandal. That's the money at stake in one of the largest financial fraud cases the state agency has faced. The case involves mismanagement and possible theft. The director's court appearance moves the case forward, but details on the specific charges and the scope of the investigation are still being unsealed.

KELI On a different front: Hood County, south of the Panhandle, is removing its Flock Safety cameras—the license-plate readers that have been in use for law enforcement. The county is pulling them out after concerns about surveillance and data retention raised by residents and privacy advocates. It's a reversal of what was a growing trend across Texas small counties adopting the technology for real-time traffic enforcement. Hood County's decision signals pushback that may shape how other counties in the region weigh the same choice.

HAST TxDOT is flagging lane closures on I-40 and other major routes through Amarillo this week. Drivers should expect delays, reduced speed zones, and detours. Full details are available through the Texas Department of Transportation's "Know Before You Go" report.

KELI Before we close, a history note. On this day in nineteen sixty-two, Japan conducted the first test flight of its YS-11—the nation's only successful commercial aircraft designed and built after World War II.

HAST That's the Amarillo News Drop. Full script and sources at inkwell.wiki/news/amarillo.

KELI Before we close, a word from Inkwell. Over at Gil's Intelligent Version there's a piece on what the original words of scripture actually say about the Trinity — before any translation decided for us.

HAST Six words, examined in Hebrew and Greek. It's at inkwell dot wiki, slash trinity.