WTAW - Interviews

College Station Councilman David White visits with WTAW's Scott DeLucia about his background, following in his father's footsteps, the fire department helping enforce the no-more-than-four ordinance, impact fees, affordable housing, the former Macy's store building, his first townhall meeting, and more during his appearance on The Infomaniacs.

State Representative Trey Wharton of Huntsville (R-TX) visits with WTAW's Scott DeLucia about this week's water caucus, water issues, insurance bills that were filed, and more during his appearance on The Infomaniacs.

Bryan Councilman Paul Torres visits with WTAW's Chelsea Reber about legislation he is monitoring, progress at Midtown Park, concerns he is hearing from his constituents, and more during his appearance on The Infomaniacs.

State Representative Paul Dyson of Bryan (R-TX) visits with WTAW's Chelsea Reber about recent committee hearings, his proposed legislation to put a moratorium on impact fees, his take on a bill that would get rid of the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, water bills, and more during his appearance on The Infomaniacs.

This podcast contains comments from the March 18, 2025 College Station ISD school board workshop meeting.

Before spring break, students and parents at Consolidated High School were informed about changes in parking due to construction starting next week on a $39 million dollar expansion and renovation.

The reaction to those changes were brought up during the March workshop meeting of the College Station ISD school board.

Assistant superintendent Josh Symank said multiple options were considered before deciding to move 96 student and 47 faculty spaces where the construction company will have its base of operations.

Symank thanked Grace Bible Church Southwood campus for agreeing to a memorandum of understanding. For the use of 185 spaces, CSISD is paying one dollar and the district striped the church's entire parking lot.

Board president and Consolidated graduate Jeff Horak said "It's just a change in your routine. And if we look at it that way, it's the growing pains of what we're doing. And I get it, it's frustrating. But it's just a change in the routine and it becomes a new routine and then you'll go back to your old routine."

Another board member who is a Consolidated graduate, Heather Simmen, said when she was in school "I didn't have a painted parking spot and I'm okay. And I know I'm probably going to make some parents mad by saying that, that are super upset. But if this is the biggest hurdle that they have to face they're going to be okay. There's plenty of parking over there. I manage to find a parking spot every day."

Click HERE to read and download presentation materials from the March 18, 2025 College Station ISD school board workshop meeting.

Click HERE to read and download a memo about the Consolidated High School construction contract that was approved at the March 18, 2025 College Station ISD school board meeting.

College Station Mayor John Nichols visits with WTAW's Chelsea Reber about the Greater Northgate Small Area Plan, Glen Hegar being named sole finalist for the next Texas A&M University System Chancellor, impact fees, the no-more-than-four unrelated ordinance, and more during his appearance on The Infomaniacs.

Brazos County State Senator Charles Schwertner visits with WTAW's Chelsea Reber about his recent trip to Bryan/College Station, legislation he filed before the deadline, the Lieutenant Governor's legislative priorities, updates from the Business and Commerce committee, and more during his appearance on The Infomaniacs.

This podcast is a visit with the city of College Station's senior traffic engineer Randell Smith and WTAW's Bill Oliver.

Left turn options at one College Station intersection is modified to reduce crashes.

This applies to the flashing yellow light for those making a left turn from Texas Avenue to Harvey Mitchell Parkway.

The city of College Station's senior traffic engineer, Randell Smith, says the option is only available on weekdays during the peak periods of the morning and afternoon commute.

Smith said the change was made in mid-December. That followed 57 crashes between 2020 and 2024 involving vehicles making left turns. 38 of those collisions were during off-peak hours.

Since the change, Smith said there has been one crash, which took place during peak hours.

There are no plans to return the flashing yellow signal to a 24/7 schedule.

And there are no plans at this time to extend the modification to other College Station intersections. That could happen in the future as crash data continues.

In Bryan, a WTAW listener informed us that motorists on Villa Maria making a left turn to Wellborn no longer have a yellow flashing arrow. A city of Bryan spokeswoman tells WTAW News that the change was made "to protect the left turn movement to prevent left turn attempts from trying to find gaps in opposing traffic and to better protect crossing pedestrians. The location has numerous unique sight distance challenges with the vertical road curves approaching the underpass that make the intersection challenging." And at this time, no other locations in Bryan are being changed.

Jenni Owolo, Executive Director of BCS Together, visits with WTAW's Chelsea Reber about "Project 3609".

WTAW's Chelsea Reber visits with Peggi Ondrasek, United Way of the Brazos Valley President/CEO, and Lisa Wambley from Son-Shine Outreach Center.