Baylor News
Baylor One Stop has partnered with BankMobile Disbursements, a third-party financial service, to assist in distributing refunds more quickly and efficiently. The partnership will take full effect the first week of March.
Katie Klingstedt, coordinator of international programs, said the hope for the program is that international students get to see what it’s like to live in America outside of a college campus. They are matched with a domestic student, a faculty member or a local family to meet with once a month for a semester.
A record-breaking 56,674 applications have been submitted to Baylor for the 2024-2025 academic year, the admissions office reported.
From 7:25 a.m. to 5:25 p.m. Monday through Friday, Waco Transit shuttle drivers transport thousands of Baylor students across campus on various routes. While many students regard the service as a convenient way of getting to class, few stop to consider the experiences of the drivers.
Waco News
U.S. Rep. Bill Flores will visit the Waco Mammoth Site on Tuesday to rally support for legislation that would classify the site as a national monument and establish it as a unit of the National Park Service.
After the Challenge Waco plan, a five-year economic development campaign to revitalize the Waco economy, Greater Waco Chamber of Commerce is now shifting gears to focus on the implementation of the extensive planning completed over the last five years. Before any projects can commence, however, urban development consultants have to research and analyze the rationality and objectivity behind the project to determine if it will be successful.
For the 27,000 students on free and reduced lunch at schools in McLennan County, finding balanced meals throughout the summer can prove challenging.
Students who eat kosher can expect trouble in finding kosher meat markets or dining areas in small cities such as Waco.
State News
Tensions continued to grow over the summer between political adversaries as Texas state Sen. James Talarico called on Attorney General Ken Paxton to release internal records related to a controversial child sexual abuse case involving former Waco attorney and Baylor Law graduate Adam Hoffman.
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.
