Baylor News
The American Journalism Project is a philanthropy organization that has raised over $86 million for nonprofit news, backed 32 nonprofit news organizations and launched three startups, according to the organization’s website. Now, the organization is reaching out to local Waco residents to ask about their relationship with journalism and local media.
“I really like that The Standard is about intrinsically good things,” Butler said. “Something we talk about a lot as the editors is that a culture saturated by politics and consumed by politics can become poorer for it sometimes, in that there are other things that make a culture rich and sort of bountiful. And so I think it’s been a lot of fun to just sort of think about what those things are in Waco, that are making our community just better and more fruitful and to get to celebrate them with articles.”
BetterMe, a behavioral health care company with over 100 million users worldwide, launched an educational course on mental health for people of color to celebrate Black History Month. The course is free throughout February.
When Sadler was in kindergarten, she struggled to hear her teacher, causing her grades to be low. She said she was told by an audiologist and ENT that she was hard of hearing — more specifically, she was deaf in her left ear.
Waco News
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.
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.
