Baylor News
Jim Jaska has been the mayor of Ross, Texas, for 40 years. But in four decades at the helm of the 250-person community just north of Waco, he’s never seen a situation like this: plans for a $10 billion data center are underway right in the little town’s backyard, threatening its rural identity — and he wasn’t told anything about it.
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.
Students, faculty and staff gathered Tuesday night in Bobo Spiritual Life Center to break the Ramadan fast and experience community across cultural and religious lines.
With a message by Dr. Jacqueline C. Rivers, executive director and senior fellow for social science and policy of the Seymour Institute for Black Church and Policy Studies, Global Bridges held its inaugural chapel service on Tuesday, outlining growing secularism in the U.S., the shift of Christian influence from the global north to the global south and the importance of remembering God.
Waco News
As wind advisories continue to gust into campus, Waco winds have often left students hanging onto their hats and pulling their hair back.
McLennan County contains a greater rate of food insecurity than any surrounding county, according to Dr. Sara Alexander, professor of anthropology with an adjunct position in the environmental science department. Her class, applied anthropology, has begun a research project in order to provide World Hunger Relief Inc. with the necessary information to establish new programs and evaluate current ones to alleviate this problem within the local community.
“It was already difficult for low-income families to find affordable housing, and in the last couple of years, housing costs have skyrocketed,” Alexander said. “The cost of building, property taxes, insurance — all of that has gone up, which affects the rental payments that people are paying, so the options for affordable housing are limited.”
Waco Police Department arrested Brian May, 26, earlier this month after he was exposed by a YouTube video of another man posing as a 14-year-old girl in order to catch sexual predators.
State News
Trump encouraged voter turnout and touts policy victories, saying, “Pretend I’m on the ballot.” He also announced that if Republicans win the House and Senate, every adult U.S. citizen would receive a $5,000 dividend.
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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.
