Baylor News
The event is a place for students to meet others and connect with cultural organizations on campus — with the added plus of free food, music and a cultural showcase. Throughout Mosaic Week, each ethnic group represented will have a night to put on a welcome fair and show off their campus coalition.
Baylor will host the annual Late Night event with hundreds of campus clubs and organizations from 9 to 11:30 p.m. Friday.
Student government, despite its name, is not best defined as a governing body. According to primary staff advisor Tanner Vickers, it’s really an “advocacy group that acts on behalf of the undergraduate student body.”
While the beginning of the fall semester normally brings cases of strep, flu, stomach viruses and colds, there are precautions students can take to stay healthy as school starts again, according to Dr. Sharon Stern, Baylor University Health Services medical director.
Waco News
McLennan County Sheriff Parnell McNamara on Tuesday asked county leaders to approve the purchase of 19 AR-15-style rifles to better arm sheriff’s deputies, saying they face a “very grave” threat from heavily armed criminals.
Baylor Law School students and faculty have teamed up with Veterans One Stop, a veterans support facility in Waco, to offer free legal aid.
Veterans One Stop is a coalition of various organizations and agencies that offers aid to veterans and their spouses, said Maggie McCarthy, the coordinator of Veterans Coalition for the Heart of Texas, who is in charge of finding and bringing such organizations together.
A Waco man implicated in the sexual abuse of eight young girls dating back 20 years was sentenced to life in prison Monday for molesting one of the girls.
Jurors in Waco’s 19th State District Court deliberated over two hours before recommending maximum penalties on three of the four felony counts for Tomas Ramirez, a 36-year-old floor and carpet layer and the father of three children. Including the life sentence on an aggravated sexual assault of a child conviction, the jury returned maximum 20-year sentences on two counts of indecency with a child. On the other count, another aggravated sexual assault of a child charge, the jury sentenced Ramirez to 99 years in prison.
A Waco developer has bought the shuttered Lake Brazos Bar and Grill and says he plans to turn it into a destination restaurant, inspired by the construction of Baylor Stadium downstream.
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.
National
Politics
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.
