Baylor News

“At this time during the preliminary investigation; it is believed that an equipment failure during the normal production process introduced water into the furnace of molten metal, resulting in a steam explosion,” Soto said.

“A lot of international students have been saying that they feel like they don’t have a community here,” Zhou said. “I don’t think international students feel like they were receiving the support, and they didn’t know that there was a Center of Global Engagement department on campus.”

Waco News

Security cameras donated by Financial Equipment Corp. have been set up in Oakwood Cemetery to increase the security and surveillance of the grounds.

This is a result of the Jan. 26 vandalism of statues and busts in the cemetery caused by multiple vandals. The vandalism cost the cemetery $200,000 in repairs.

A Waco police officer suffered a fractured wrist early Tuesday morning while trying to apprehend what authorities described as a “sword-wielding suspect.”

Steven Walker Webb, 21, was suspected of stealing several items at Discount Smoke Shop, 1402 N. 34th St., including a 4-foot sword, said Waco police Sgt. W. Patrick Swanton.

Children’s hospital gets special ambulance

Children ill enough to need a transfer from a local hospital to McLane Children’s Hospital Scott & White in Temple can now take the ride in style.

Run 2.2 miles. Eat 1.87 pounds of Gut Pak.

That is the challenge that some runners faced at the second annual Gut Pak Run on Saturday.

Two women and 20 men from Baylor and surrounding communities accepted that challenge, out of the 105 total participants, and ate a large gut pak while running the race.

State News

President Donald Trump has approved the execution by firing squad of Nidal Hasan, the former Army major convicted of killing 13 people in the 2009 Fort Hood mass shooting, with the execution scheduled for 1 p.m. Dec. 3 at the Central Texas military installation, roughly an hour from Baylor’s campus.

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.