WTAW - Interviews

This podcast is a visit with assistant Brazos County district attorney Jessica Escue and WTAW's Bill Oliver.

College Station police (CSPD) arrested four men by mistake for the burglary of an apartment and assaulting a resident last December.

WTAW News has invited College Station's police chief to be interviewed and/or provide a statement about what happened.

Assistant Brazos County district attorney Jessica Escue told WTAW News that CSPD investigators identified the four original suspects after comparing surveillance video with photographs.

Escue says three days after the original four were arrested, one of the men came to the D-A's office with his parents and their lawyer. Escue says they provided information which proved that none of the four were involved.

Then the D-A's office contacted CSPD with the new information. Escue says CSPD "determined that in fact the four original suspects had been misidentified and the correct perpetrators of the burglary were in fact four different individuals."

That led in the D-A's office immediately rejecting the prosecution of Pedro Cardenas, Santiago Vidaurri, Marcelo Masso, and Francisco La Garza.

Escue says the arrests of the four men will be expunged, meaning there will be no record of what happened.

Escue also says she does not remember this set of circumstances happening in her 16 years with the D-A's office.

She went on to say that "The district attorney's office as well as law enforcement are committed to making sure that we hold the correct people accountable for offenses and that we do not charge incorrect people. And so we are always eager and willing to listen if there is additional evidence out there to say that we made a wrong call."

Cardenas, who contacted WTAW News and provided documents from the D-A's office showing prosecution was rejected, issued the following statement:

"I would like to express my sincere gratitude to the College Station DA office and the College Station Police Department for the unwavering commitment to justice in the wake of the events on January 23, 2024. Your persistence and dedication to resolving this matter have not gone unnoticed, and I am deeply appreciative of your efforts.

Lieutenant Harris, Detective Lovelace, and all members of the College Station Police Department involved in the reinvestigation of my case, your thoroughness and diligence in rectifying the injustice

I faced have brought a sense of relief during a challenging time. Your commitment to upholding justice has been instrumental in restoring faith in the legal system.

Likewise, to the Assistant District Attorneys at the College Station District Attorney's Office, I extend my heartfelt gratitude for your tireless efforts in ensuring that justice prevailed. Your dedication to fairness and truth has been a beacon of hope throughout this ordeal, and I am truly thankful for your advocacy on my behalf.

While the road to healing may be long, your steadfast pursuit of justice has been a source of strength for me. I am hopeful that with your continued support, we can work towards preventing similar injustices from occurring in the future.

Once again, thank you for your persistence, dedication, and commitment to justice."

This podcast is with Brazos County tax assessor-collector Kristy Roe and WTAW's Bill Oliver.

A Bryan hotel overpaid its property taxes by nearly $60,000 dollars.

Brazos County commissioners at its February 20th meeting approved a refund for the owners of the Stella Hotel.

Tax assessor-collector Kristy Roe says their office investigated the overpayment of $59,783.93.

That included checking if the overage was supposed to be applied to another property and if there was a valuation change.

After the payment was posted, Roe says her office contacted the property owner about the overpayment and that state law requires the property owner to request the refund.

Click HERE to read and download Brazos County documents regarding the property tax refund to the Stella Hotel.

Jeremiah Cook, Tourism Manager for Visit College Station, visits with WTAW's Scott DeLucia about last October's record numbers, the new visitors center, renting the space, Hang Out Tune In events, volunteering for the USA Track and Field meet this summer, and more during his appearance on The Infomaniacs.

This podcast contains comments from the February 5, 2024 Bryan ISD school board meeting and the February 20, 2024 College Station ISD school board meeting.

The Bryan and College Station ISD school boards adopt resolutions required by new state legislation regarding chaplains.

Senate bill 763 says "A school district or open-enrollment charter school may employ or accept as a volunteer a chaplain to provide support, services, and programs for students as assigned by the board of trustees of the district or the governing body of the school. A chaplain employed or volunteering under this chapter is not required to be certified by the State Board for Educator Certification."

The Bryan ISD board passed a resolution at its February 19th meeting stating that "at this time", the district "would not allow a chaplain to be hired or volunteer to provide chaplain support, services, and programs for students."

Bryan ISD administrators at the board's February 5th meeting thanked members of the faith based community for their support. And the resolution says BISD "welcomes all members of the community to register as school volunteers in accordance with an existing board policy."

The College Station ISD board passed a resolution at its February 20th meeting that follows the district's current policy that allows chaplains and other religiously affiliated person to apply for paid and volunteer positions. In the case of providing support services, superintendent Tim Harkrider says that is done in CSISD by certified counselors.

Two CSISD board members commented about senate bill 763. Joshua Benn said it was "a can of worms" that the district does not need. Blaine Decker said SB 763 "is the state trying to get us to hire somebody else that we didn't ask for and (the state) is not funding".

Click HERE to read and download a copy of senate bill 763.

Click HERE to read and download the resolution adopted at the February 19, 2024 Bryan ISD school board meeting.

Click HERE to read and download the resolution adopted at the February 20, 2024 College Station ISD school board meeting.

Councilman Jared Salvato visits with WTAW's Scott DeLucia about parking in Downtown Bryan, disc golf in the Park Hudson neighborhood, development, the possibility of a council retreat, committees he serves on, and more during his appearance on The Infomaniacs.

This podcast is a visit with United Way of the Brazos Valley president Peggi Goss, Lara Meece of the UWBV partner agency Grimes and Madison County health resource centers, and WTAW's Bill Oliver.

College Station Mayor John Nichols visits with WTAW's Scott DeLucia about the Amazon drone report and the future of the program, selling a piece of land on the east side of the highway, the former Macy's store building, the recent council retreat, the city's priority list, middle housing phase two, and more during his appearance on The Infomaniacs.

This podcast contains comments from the February 19, 2024 Texas A&M faculty senate meeting.

Texas A&M system officials apologize for mistakes that were made in rolling out a new retiree health insurance program.

That's according to a member of the A&M faculty senate who attended a meeting with system officials about the system's new Medicare Advantage program.

Associate professor Leslie Easterwood shared during the February faculty senate meeting that providers have had to be educated about the system's new retiree health plan.

Easterwood said that the new Medicare Advantage coverage is a group plan and not individual open market coverage.

Easterwood says there is a team ready to assist retirees who are being overcharged or when their provider initially denies coverage.Since the new plan began the first of the year,

Easterwood said the approval rate for 5,500 claims was 97 percent. And most of the other claims were eventually resolved.

The A&M system's webpage dedicated to this plan says that there is an online educational session where questions will be answered takes place on Tuesday, February 27th, from 11 a.m. until noon.

Captain Luis Villanueva visits with WTAW's Scott DeLucia about the tutoring program, volunteering for the program, how to help in other ways, and more during his appearance on The Infomaniacs.

This podcast contains comments from Texas A&M system board of regents member Jay Graham and the system's vice chancellor of academic affairs James Hallmark during the regents February 7, 2024 meeting of the academic affairs committee.

A conversation during a recent Texas A&M system board of regents committee meeting about reducing the nursing shortage in Texas included the idea of creating more medical facilities.

Making the suggestion as a way to provide more opportunities for nursing students was regent Jay Graham of Houston.

Graham said "our system should have a hospital", adding "it's sickening to me to drive downtown Houston and see U-T's (University of Texas) name on every building".

Graham also said "there's no reason every county in the state of Texas shouldn't have an A&M based medical clinic" for "providing those nurses that (training) capability and we're providing our citizens that service".

Vice chancellor of academic affairs James Hallmark said that has been discussed as a way to reduce the dependence on asking hospitals to accept A&M system nursing students.

Graham also called on the directors of the nursing programs at the A&M flagship in College Station and the system campuses in Canyon and Texarkana to communicate more...particularly when it comes to making sure nursing students have a place to pursue that career.