Friday Forum with The Waco Bridge

June 26 News Roundup + Gary Joiner New World Screwworm Interview

By Molly-Jo Tilton,

Published June 26, 2026 at 11:14 AM CDT

This week, co-hosts Molly-Jo Tilton and JB Smith dive into the latest on a new data center proposed in McGregor and Waco ISD's compensation plan.

Plus, JB Smith is joined by Gary Joiner, communications director of the Texas Farm Bureau, to talk about the risk the New World Screwworm poses to McLennan county ranchers.

And our trivia question this week: In what year did a heavy rainfall event flood that Waco Creek up to the Baylor bookstore, also causing major floods on I-35 near Baylor?
Listen to this week's Friday Forum to find out!

This weekly show is produced by KWBU in partnership with the Waco Bridge. Partnerships like this are only possible through the generosity of our members. If you find this programming valuable, consider making a tax-deductible gift today. Thank you.

Friday Forum with The Waco Bridge

Molly-Jo Tilton

Molly-Jo Tilton joined KWBU in 2024 as the station's Multimedia Reporter. She covers all things Waco and McLennan county for KWBU, from City Council to the local arts scene. Her work regularly appears on The Texas Standard and has appeared on NPR's All Things Considered and the Texas Tribune. She also co-hosts the weekly news show, Friday Forum with the Waco Bridge.

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J.B. Smith

Before joining The Waco Bridge in February as editor-in-chief, J.B. Smith had 33 years of Texas journalism experience, most of it as local government reporter and managing editor at the Tribune-Herald. He has won numerous statewide awards for enterprise journalism, including a series on migrant deaths on the Mexico border. A Sulphur Springs native and Southwestern University graduate, he is grateful for the opportunity to build a nonprofit newsroom in his adopted hometown of Waco.

See stories by J.B. Smith