WTAW - Interviews

This podcast is the dedication program of Brazos County's Liberty Tree which was held July 2, 2026.


Brazos County’s Boonville Heritage Park, which is the location of the first county seat, now has a symbol of America’s independence.

The local chapter of the Sons of the American Revolution and the Brazos County Historical Commission dedicated a live oak as the local Liberty Tree on Thursday morning (July 2).

The president of the son’s chapter, Dennis Brunson, shared how the original elm tree that was cut down in 1775 by the British was a symbol of the revolution.

The chaplain of the son’s chapter, Rick Dowling, compared the Liberty Tree with the Old Testament story of the Jews creating a memorial after crossing the Jordan River following 40 days in the wilderness.

Brazos County judge Duane Peters, who is also a member of the local son’s chapter, accepted the donation of the tree.

Also speaking was Mary Helen Shearer, who is registrar of the William Scott Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution.

Another speaker, Brazos County Historical Commission chairman Henry Mayo, said the tree will be planted later this year when weather conditions are more favorable.

Click HERE to read and download the Liberty Tree dedication program, which includes a brief history of the original Liberty Tree.

This podcast is a visit with Brazos Valley Veterans Memorial board vice president and Bryan Broadcasting alum Tom Turbiville and WTAW's Tucker Young and Will Welch on The Infomaniacs July 1, 2026.

You are invited to attend the reading of the Declaration of Independence Saturday morning (July 4).

The program starts Saturday at 9 a.m. at College Station's Veterans Park, inside the Brazos Valley Veterans Memorial (BVVM) at the American Revolution site.

Reading the document will be BVVM board vice president and Bryan Broadcasting alum Tom Turbiville and Bryan Broadcasting general manager Ben Downs.

After the reading, 56 local officials will be signing what Turbiville describes as a "special document".

The number 56 was selected because that's how many signed the Declaration of Independence.

Lina Adams of the Destination Bryan tourism office visits with WTAW's Bill Oliver about July activities that includes First Friday, fireworks, the Brazos Valley Museum of Natural History's annual butterfly release, and the opening weekend of Harvest Fest at Messina Hof winery.

Shane Savage talks about the 23rd Annual Kurten 4th of July Fireworks & Fundraiser.

Free admission & parking. Giveaways, hay rides, bounce houses, food trucks, and more.

Saturday, July 4th, 2026. Gates at 5pm.

Bryan mayor pro-tem James Edge visits with WTAW's Tucker Young and Will Welch on The Infomaniacs July 1, 2026. Most of the conversation is about Bryan's Midtown Park and the yet to be completed movie/bowling/restaurant building.

This podcast contains the quarterly report by Brazos County chief public defender Nathan Wood to county commissioners on June 23, 2026.

Brazos County commissioners received an update at their last meeting (June 23) from the public defender's office. 

Nathan Wood led off with starting two new specialty divisions, dealing with juvenile offenders and people with mental health issues.

Wood also said the new divisions has resulted in creating four vacancies for attorneys in his office. 

Commissioners were asked to take into consideration, recommendations from an outside consultant regarding salaries of public defender attorneys.

Wood reported the public defender's office has 612 active clients and resolved 215 cases during this year's second quarter.

This podcast contains remarks from Brazos County juvenile services director LInda Ricketson at the June 23, 2026 Brazos County commission meeting.

Children staying at Brazos County's juvenile detention center for nearly 20 years have been involved with what is called Art for Life, where the word art is an acronym for Art Reaching Teens (ART). 

Juvenile services director Linda Ricketson told county commissioners at their last meeting (June 23) that this year's project will be a traveling exhibit involving a painting of shoes.
22 children are involved in this year's project. 

They will be joined on July 24th by other children reading poetry during an appearance in downtown Bryan at The Kimbell event center. The painting will also be on display July 25th.

This podcast is a visit with the chairman of the Brazos County Historical Society Henry Mayo and WTAW's Bill Oliver.

Brazos County's Boonville Heritage Park is the setting Thursday morning (July 2) for an America 250 event. 

The chairman of the Brazos County historical commission, Henry Mayo, says the park is one of the sites nationwide to plant a Liberty Tree, a symbol of defiance leading to the signing of the Declaration of Independence.

Thursday's participants includes members of the local chapter of the sons of the American Revolution.

Thursday morning's program starts at nine.

News release from the Brazos County Historical Commission:

As part of the ongoing events to American’s 250th anniversary, the Brazos County Historical Commission and the local Independence Chapter #40 of Sons of the American Revolution (SAR) are dedicating a “Liberty Tree” to be planted at Boonville Heritage Park.

The public is invited to attend at 9:00 a.m. on Thursday, July 2nd. The S.A.R. Color Guard will participate in their Revolution-era, Continental Soldier or Militiamen, uniforms.

This Live Oak tree will be part of the S.A.R.’s national project to plant at least 250 Liberty Trees across the United States to commemorate the 250th anniversary of America. Their goal has already been surpassed. 

The original “Liberty Tree” was an Elm tree which stood in Boston for over 100 years, before it was chopped down by the British troops and loyalists in August 1775. In had been used in many acts of defiance of British rule in the colonies, and had become a symbol of revolt, even more so after its demise.

The Brazos County America 250 Committee continues to maintain an online calendar of local events and exhibits this year. The calendar is graciously hosted by the Brazos Valley African American Museum at bvaam.org/a250

This podcast contains comments from the June 26, 2026 Bryan city council meeting.

A special meeting of the Bryan city council last Friday (June 26) was moved from a conference room to council chambers due to the appearance of 15 BTU solar customers. 

Those customers are among 814 affected by a council decision made last month, agreeing with a BTU board recommendation to pay less to solar customers who sold their excess electricity to BTU. 

Four council members attending last Friday's meeting agreed to modify last month's decision. 

The BTU board's recommendation that was approved by the council last month was based on solar customers not sharing BTU's cost of providing electricity to retail customers.

This podcast contains comments from the June 25, 2026 College Station city council meeting.

The College Station city council receives a semi annual update on capital projects.

The report at the June 25th council meeting from capital projects director included a sample of some of the 69 active projects.

Click HERE to read and download presentation materials from the June 25, 2026 College Station city council meeting.

Cain's council report mentioned the following projects:

• widening Greens Prairie Road
• a new roundabout on Jones-Butler Road
• Barron Road
• Capstone Drive
• new pavement on Rock Prairie Road East
• new streets and utilities on Krenek Tap Road
• new streets and utilities on Lincoln Avenue
• development of Texas Independence Park
• improvements around Lincoln Recreation Center
• park, streets, and utility improvements around Thomas Park
• progress on fire station #7