It probably provides more questions than answers, but a NY Times report now quotes the NTSB as saying that 26 was equipped with lights, but that they were inop at the time.
Early CVR transcripts show an apparently normal preflight, "but then discrepancies over planning and the eventual course of action emerged."
NTSB states there was one person on duty in the tower at the time, normal ops for KLEX.
Link to NY Times Story