WTAW - Interviews

This podcast is comments from Brazos County district attorney Jarvis Parsons at the March 10, 2026 county commission meeting.

Brazos County district attorney Jarvis Parsons tells county commissioners about the success of his first one-day version of his multi-week citizens prosecutors academy. 

Parsons said the North Bryan community center was packed for January's "D.A. In A Day" event.

Based on attendance and evaluation forms filled out by participants, Parsons told commissioners he has already scheduled another gathering.

Registration is underway for the June 13th session at College Station city hall. Contact the D.A.'s office for more information.

This podcast contains comments from the March 10, 2026 Bryan city council meeting and a portion of a March 13, 2026 interview on WTAW's The Infomaniacs with College Station deputy city manager Jeff Capps.

Traffic cameras that read license plates have and continued to be installed along state highways around Brazos County.

The Bryan city council at its March regular meeting unanimously approved adding cameras after police chief Dean Swartzlander fielded council questions and comments about how the cameras are used by the department.

Click HERE to read and download background information about traffic cameras reading license plates from the March 10, 2026 Bryan city council meeting.

Click HERE to read and download the resolution approved by the Bryan council at its March 10, 2026 meeting.

Click HERE to read and download the amended agreement approved at the March 10, 2026 Bryan council meeting.

The subject of cameras that read license plates was also brought up during a visit by College Station deputy city manager and former police chief Jeff Capps on WTAW's The Infomaniacs.

Capps brought up the department's policies regarding data privacy and how the technology helps CSPD find criminals, particularly those who live out of town.

The cameras that read license plates have also been deployed by the Brazos County sheriff's office.

City of College Station Deputy City Manager Jeff Capps joined WTAW’s Scott DeLucia on The Infomaniacs on Friday, March 13, 2026, to talk about water conservation and supply, fire department union activities, traffic cameras used by the police department, and more.

This podcast contains comments from the March 10, 2026 Brazos County commission meeting.

For the second straight year, a member of the Brazos Valley beekeepers association asks county commissioners to direct staff to not kill honeybees.

Chris Barnes, who with his wife have 60 honeybee colonies around Brazos County, gave commissioners his contact information when county employees working outside confront the insects.

Barnes says if he is not able to relocate colonies, he will provide contacts of those who can.

And click HERE to be directed to the website of the Brazos Valley Beekeepers Association, which has more information about removing bees.

This podcast contains comments from the February 26, 2026 College Station city council meeting.

In November of 2025, 75 people interested in the future of College Station's Midtown district met with city staff.

Results of that gathering were shared at the last meeting of the city council on February 26th.

Click HERE to read and download the College Station Midtown district area plan report.

Click HERE to read and download presentation materials at the February 26, 2026 College Station city council meeting.

Boundaries of College Station's Midtown are the freeway, Fitch, and Rock Prairie.

Heather Wade of the city's planning and development office said one of three takeaways by participants dealt with streets...including an extension of Town Lake Drive to the freeway. There was also an opinion of other unidentified "targeted road improvements" "paired with a strong caution against creating new neighborhood cut through traffic."

Participants considered more parks and recreation opportunities as a top priority, along with preserving wooded areas and open space.

The area includes the site of a proposed sports complex on city owned land behind the Costco store. Planning and development director Anthony Armstrong says participants were aware of the project. He said not all participants "were gung ho for baseball, but it wasn't like this giant divisive topic."

Participants were also interested in something called a "walkable mixed use spine" along Midtown Park Drive and something described as a "civic anchor opportunity" at a proposed Midtown business center.

This podcast contains comments from the March 10, 2026 Bryan city council workshop meeting and  an interview during WTAW's The Infomaniacs program on March 11, 2026.

The Bryan city council's interest in Union Pacific railroad not sounding train horns in the downtown area dates back to 2007. Almost 20 years later, the current council is still waiting for the railroad to approve a quiet zone.

The council's latest action took place at the March 10th workshop meeting where staff was directed to do three things requested by the railroad.

One is to close the railroad crossing to vehicular traffic at 22nd Street, the second was to permanently close the crossing at 15th Street, and the third is install fencing along both sides of the track between 29th Street and Martin Luther King Jr. Drive.

The council was told that the railroad will allow the city to keep a pedestrian crossing at the tracks by Clara B. Mounce library, which provides access to the downtown parking garage.

City documents show the council's first agreement with the railroad was signed in March 2018. After the council was told that the earliest the railroad will finish the project is 2029, mayor Bobby Gutierrez said "government time is already crazy, business time is already crazy, but railroad time is absurd.

"Mayor pro-tem James Edge said the next day on WTAW's The Infomaniacs, having dealt with Union Pacific in the past before he joined the council, said UP is "notoriously slow in making decisions (and) notoriously slow in following through with the decisions they made."

So far, the city has spent $1.3 three million dollars on the project.

The cost of closing crossings at 15th and 22nd Streets is estimated at $200,000 dollars. That's compared to the $3 million dollar cost to keep those crossings open.

The council was also told a permanent closing of the crossing at 15th Street will allow the city to remove a median at 15th and Tabor that has been problematic for motorists in that area.

The council is waiting for an answer from Union Pacific on a city request to substitute spending $2.5 million for new crossing gates at Groesbeck Street by installing warning horns at a cost of $300,000.

The council is also waiting for Union Pacific's decision regarding crossings on North Sims, West 29th Street, West 28th & Bryan Avenue, Reed Avenue, West 27th Street, Parker Street, Saunders Street, and Graham Drive.

Click HERE to read and download presentation materials from the March 10, 2025 Bryan city council workshop meeting.

City of Bryan Recreation Coordinator Maddie Green joined WTAW’s Scott DeLucia on The Infomaniacs on Thursday, March 12, 2026, to talk about the Annual Senior Dance, Games & Grounds, other upcoming senior programs, and more.

This podcast contains comments from city of Bryan economic development director Todd McDaniel at the March 10, 2026 city council meeting.

The Bryan city council approves an economic development agreement with the world's largest privately owned producer of industrial gases.

Messer LLC, based in Germany, plans to open a more than $65 million dollar facility east of the freeway and south of Tabor Road along Boatcallie Road.

The city's economic development director, Todd McDaniel, says Messer is building what is called a liquid air separation unit.

The facility will primarily produce nitrogen and oxygen gas for customers in the Texas Triangle region, which is from Dallas/Fort Worth to San Antonio to Houston.

Production could start as early as the summer of 2027.

McDaniel says Messer's customers include companies in the medical, biopharma, and semiconductor industries.

The agreement calls for the city to receive a guaranteed minimum of $312,000 dollars a year.

The plant will employ at least 16 full time equivalent positions, generating an annual payroll of at least $1.3 million dollars.

Click HERE to read and download the agreement approved at the March 10, 2026 Bryan city council meeting.

Click HERE to read and download background information from the city of Bryan.

Click HERE to read and download presentation materials shown at the March 10, 2026 Bryan city council meeting.

This podcast contains comments from the March 10, 2026 Brazos County commission meeting.

In this year's Brazos County budget, commissioners previously authorized the creation of positions for the new medical examiner's office.

At Tuesday's meeting (March 10), commissioners voted three to one to fund three positions.

The divided vote was about hiring two investigators instead of one.

Fred Brown was opposed to funding the second position before the office actually opens.

The county's first medical examiner, Dr. Jennifer Dierksen, said two investigators were initially needed and she will eventually be asking for a total of four investigators. She estimates the office will examining 250 to 300 deaths per year.

Dierksen also responded to Brown's question about the need for investigators in the medical examiner's office when there are law enforcement investigators. She says this reduces conflict of interest and her investigators will be there to assist surviving family members.

Salaries for the investigators was set at $40.87 per hour.

The third position approved by commissioners, which generated no discussion, was raising the pay of the administrator of forensic operations from $37.50 to $60.10 per hour.

The pay for the three positions totals $192,139 dollars.

Bryan mayor pro-tem James Edge visits with Scott DeLucia on WTAW's The Infomaniacs March 11, 2026 to review the March 10th city council meeting.