Baylor News
“The primary skill for conversing with others who have different opinions than us is to truly listen to what they are saying, by having a posture of humility, in which you recognize that none of us have the full picture of any issue or debate.”
“Everyone saw the value in being here, even though they came from so many other places and backgrounds.”
“I really, really appreciated that the university took the initiative to allow us to have an official voice and an official presence,” Jortner said. “There’s a big difference between one professor in the theater program arguing for something and an organization of faculty saying, ‘We speak as one, and this is a concern.’”
A little over a month out, the 2024 presidential election is quickly becoming a reality for many first-time voters on Baylor campus. The question is, will these students be ready to make a confident, informed vote by the time Nov. 5 rolls around?
Waco News
Less than a week after the disastrous fertilizer plant explosion, West students returned to school Monday to finish out the year.
Pre-kindergarten through sixth-grade students returned to West Elementary School, a little over a mile away from the West Fertilizer Co. plant that caught fire and exploded Wednesday night.
Baylor will host a memorial service Thursday at the Ferrell Center for the 11 first responders killed in the West explosion.
Doors open at 1 p.m. and the service begins at 2 p.m.. A procession beginning at 11 a.m. will immediately precede the service.
The center of the massive explosion at West Fertilizer Co., has been located.
According to Assistant Texas Fire Marshal Kelly Kistner at a press conference Sunday morning, the epicenter of the blast has been found and investigators will be working inward from areas with the least damage to areas with the most damage.
West’s mayor pro tem, Steve Vanek announced today that stage one of “several upcoming reentry stages” will begin this afternoon at 3 p.m.
According to Vanek, state fire marshalls and the Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco and Firearms have been investigating the area devastated by Wednesday night’s fertilizer plant explosion and it has been determined that residents living between Oak Street and Walnut Street in West can assemble at the corner of Tokyo Road and Reagan Street to return to their home on a limited basis this afternoon. Vanek also assured citizens and media that the rumors of lingering health hazards and possible secondary explosions were unfounded.
State News
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.