Baylor News
The first award from the Official Baylor Ring Scholarship was given to an upcoming graduate. Going forward, the Alumni traditions team hopes to be able to fund even more rings for students who apply.
After shifting the flow of traffic around to the new lanes, the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) has just about hit its halfway point in its Waco portion of I-35 construction.
The Black Gospel Music Restoration Project began at Baylor well over a decade ago. Now, the project will have its own faculty chair, giving Baylor the funding and personnel to expand and continue the research and scholarship in Black worship, preaching and studies.
President Linda Livingstone moderated the discussion about the Commission on Historic Campus Representations in the final conversation of the three-part conversation series, Perspectives on Our History.
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.