Baylor News
The opening of the Texas 130 toll road extension went off without a hitch Wednesday, with no major collisions to speak of — then night fell, and the wildlife came out.
Vehicles and animals collided at least three times along the 41-mile road that connects south Austin to Seguin and boasts an 85 mph speed limit, the fastest in the country. Two hogs were hit, and one vehicle struck a deer.
No drivers were injured.
Brooks Residential College is mad about energy, and it shows in this fall’s Energy Madness Competition results.
Brooks Residential College won the Fourth four-week Energy Madness Competition. Brooks Residential Flats, an apartment complex owned by Baylor, placed second, only one point behind the winner.
14 teams competed in the fall 2012 competition with 15 residence halls. Allen and Dawson residence halls competed as one team and the other residence halls competed individually. Clare Paul, marketing manager for Baylor Facilities & Energy, said the competition has gradually received more participation each year.
Thursday’s two new bill proposals at the Student Senate meeting could prove crucial to student’s comfort during finals.
Senator and Rockwall sophomore Brock Sterry introduced a new bill to student senators that would reform Baylor’s final exam policy if passed and accepted by the university. It will undergo a vote next week. The current policy allows students with three or more finals on the same day to file an appeal with a professor or dean to move one of the finals to a different date. The Final Exam Policy bill proposes that students be permitted to file an appeal if they have three or more tests within 24 hours.
Baylor professes to giving back to the community — and its students are living up to that claim.
Students in the Baylor Interior Design Association will design a collapsible, temporary 400-square-foot dwelling during a national competition sponsored by the Interior Design Educators Council.
The dwelling will be used to aid four-person families that are in need of shelter after a natural disaster has occurred.
Waco News
State News
Texas voters turned out in historic numbers Tuesday, delivering victories for State Rep. James Talarico and forcing a runoff between Attorney General Ken Paxton and incumbent Sen. John Cornyn in the state’s U.S. Senate contest that claimed national attention. The total early-voting turnout of more than 2.5 million marks the highest ever for a midterm primary election. The results also kicked off the 2026 midterm cycle.
INTERNATIONAL
The Iran war is now in its 46th day. Iran responded by restricting access to Hormuz, which carries about a fifth of the world’s seaborne oil, and moving to toll vessels transiting the strait. Waco drivers are already feeling it. The local average hit $3.38 a gallon last week, up 21 cents in seven days and 75 cents year-over-year, according to AAA data.
Gas prices in Texas have surged more than 70 cents per gallon since the U.S. went to war with Iran three weeks ago. The near-total shutdown of the Strait of Hormuz has driven oil prices up more than 40%, pushing the national average to its highest point since 2023 and sending diesel past $5 for the first time in three years.
The largest U.S. military operation in the Middle East in decades unfolded as American and Israeli forces struck Iran Saturday, killing its supreme leader and triggering retaliatory strikes from the Gulf to Israel. The White House said the campaign is aimed at dismantling Iran’s military and toppling its government.
Dr. Joshua Alley, assistant professor of political science, said part of the Trump administration’s interest in Greenland has to do with America’s national security strategy.
