Baylor News
When Baylor Army ROTC Capt. Bernard Sheppard first arrived on campus nearly two years ago, one of the first cadets who personally introduced himself was Baylor senior Jackson Balsavias. Sheppard said the St. Louis native stood out immediately as articulate and forward-thinking, exactly what Sheppard hoped for in a cadet.
Many students reported receiving an email from the Waco Hall Ticket Office Sunday. The email warned that because the student bought tickets for one of the first three home football games and didn’t attend, one more occurrence would delay them in purchasing tickets for the Homecoming game Nov. 1.
According to the report, campus burglaries increased by 18 reports, and on-campus stalking increased by 25 reports since last year. This sharp increase is contrasted with other categories like rape and aggravated assault, whose numbers have remained relatively the same year by year.
The top priority is understanding that it takes courage to speak up in a government-created society of censorship. Cancel culture is not doing anyone favors. Stand firm in your opinion and be loud in your delivery, and as Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. said, “In the end, we will remember not the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends.”
Waco News
Several West residents are continuing the search for missing loved ones after last week’s deadly explosion, and for some people those loved ones included four-legged friends.
Following the explosion on April 17 almost 90 animals, mainly dogs and cats, were brought to the Humane Society of Central Texas, according to executive director Don Bland. Chickens, lizards and rabbits were also among those rescued. At the time of publication half of the lost animals have been reclaimed.
Less than a week after the disastrous fertilizer plant explosion, West students returned to school Monday to finish out the year.
Pre-kindergarten through sixth-grade students returned to West Elementary School, a little over a mile away from the West Fertilizer Co. plant that caught fire and exploded Wednesday night.
Baylor will host a memorial service Thursday at the Ferrell Center for the 11 first responders killed in the West explosion.
Doors open at 1 p.m. and the service begins at 2 p.m.. A procession beginning at 11 a.m. will immediately precede the service.
The center of the massive explosion at West Fertilizer Co., has been located.
According to Assistant Texas Fire Marshal Kelly Kistner at a press conference Sunday morning, the epicenter of the blast has been found and investigators will be working inward from areas with the least damage to areas with the most damage.
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.
