WTAW - Interviews

This podcast is a visit with Brazos County elections administrator Trudy Hancock and WTAW's Bill Oliver, recorded October 14 2025.

Monday, October 20, is the first day of early voting for school board candidates in Bryan and College Station ISD and 17 proposed amendments to the Texas constitution.

Voting centers around Brazos County are located at:

Brazos County Election Administrator Office in downtown Bryan
Arena Hall at 2906 Tabor Road in Bryan
Galilee Baptist Church at 804 North Logan in Bryan
College Station Utilities Meeting & Training Facility at 1603 Graham Road
Texas A&M's Memorial Student Center-Room L526 

The early voting schedule in Brazos County is:

October 20 – 24 from 8 a.m. until 5 p.m.
October 25 from 7 a.m. until 7 p.m.
October 26 from 10 a.m. until 4 p.m.
October 27 – 31 from 7 a.m. until 7 p.m.

Click HERE to be directed to the brazosvotes.org website.

College Station Councilwoman Melissa McIlhaney visits with WTAW's Scott DeLucia about the recent proposal of a datacenter, nondisclosure agreements, a proposed baseball complex, locating her company in College Station, the length of city council meetings, citizen engagement, job reviews on city administration, and more during her appearance on The Infomaniacs.

This podcast is a recording of Texas A&M interim president Tommy Williams first visit with local reporters on October 16, 2025.

Texas A&M interim president Tommy Williams, finishing his second week in that position, met with local reporters for the first time. 

Williams said during the nearly 20 minute visit on Thursday (October 16) that he was surprised when he got a call from the chancellor about the position and Williams saying his only condition was that he was not going to pursue the position on a permanent basis.

Williams was asked four times about what he has heard from students and employees. Williams did not share any examples, saying he wanted to not taint what would be said in upcoming meetings.

Williams was also asked about being the most recent university president or system chancellor in Texas to not come from academia.

A former state lawmaker, Williams was asked about applying his legislative experiences in his new position.

He also responded to a question about continuing Aggie traditions while the makeup of the student population is changing.

There were questions about taking over for Mark Welsh, who resigned following political pressure.

He also addressed questions related to an audit of academic courses and about dropping or modifying courses and course descriptions.

Joel Bryan, Bryan ISD School Board Member, visits with WTAW's Scott DeLucia about the upcoming bond election, the three different propositions, the tax rate, and more during his appearance on The Infomaniacs.

Brazos County Sheriff Wayne Dicky visits with WTAW's Scott DeLucia about becoming sheriff, ICE, housing criminals from other counties, recruiting jail employees, this year's budget, agriculture related crimes, the "R U OK?" program, and more during his appearance on The Infomaniacs.

This podcast contains comments from the October 14, 2025 special meeting of the Bryan city council.

The Bryan city council is working on giving economic development incentives to a third prospect on the RELLIS campus.

During a special meeting on Tuesday (October 14), the council approved establishing another "reinvestment zone", which Todd McDaniel of Bryan's economic development office said would allow the city to negotiate property tax breaks with an undisclosed company.

McDaniel told the council they could consider a tax abatement proposal in December.

Click HERE to read and download background information about the reinvestment zone that was approved at the October 14, 2025 Bryan council special meeting.

Click HERE to read and download the ordinance that the Bryan council unanimously approved.

Click HERE to read and download a map showing the location of the affected property.

This podcast contains comments from the October 7, 2025 Bryan city council meeting.

The cities of Bryan and College Station take another step towards protecting the cities future water supply.A letter signed by the city managers of both cities was sent to the 11 county groundwater management area (GMA 12) that includes both cities.

The letter asks for permission to pump from an underground aquifer at a deeper level to support future demands.

The cities support the proposed plan that was developed by the Brazos Valley groundwater conservation district (BVGCD), which covers Brazos and Robertson counties.

Click HERE to read and download the letter provided by the city of College Station that was sent to the manager of GMA 12.

Bryan public works director Jayson Barfknecht tells WTAW News that water from the Simsboro aquifer can currently be pumped from a level of 262 feet. Barfknecht says the proposal calls for pumping from a depth of 330 feet.

Barfknecht says if the depth stays at 262 feet or moves to 220 feet or something shallower, "than we have the potential to face curtailment within our district sooner which could economically impact both Brazos and Robertson County."

The Bryan council unanimously voted for the plan at its October 7th regular meeting.

Council members were told that some if not all of the remaining nine counties in GMA 12 does not support the proposed plan.

This podcast contains comments from the October 9, 2025 College Station city council meeting.

The executive director of a College Station retirement community asks the College Station city council to take over a privately owned street that motorists are using as a city street.

Stacey Nehring of the Langford says motorists are using Carroll Fancher Way as a shortcut between the freeway and Midtown Drive.

Nehring says she has tried for a year without success for College Station police to conduct traffic enforcement, install speed limit signs, install stop signs, install speed bumps, or restrict thru access.

Nehring says it's only a matter of time before someone gets seriously injured.

Mayor John Nichols referred Nehring's request to city staff.

College Station Mayor John Nichols visits with WTAW's Scott DeLucia about planting new trees, a sewer trunkline, a proposed baseball field complex by Costco, the length of City of College Station council meetings, and more during her appearance on The Infomaniacs.

This podcast contains comments from the October 14, 2025 Brazos County commission meeting.

Brazos County commissioners approve a request to impose a burn ban for unincorporated areas.

Click HERE to read and download the burn ban order approved at the October 14, 2025 Brazos County commission meeting.

The unanimous vote followed recommendations from the county's four fire chiefs and emergency management coordinator Jason Ware.

The ban will continue through November 13th unless terminated earlier.Ware told commissioners that there were five grass fires in the last week.

Two fires last Saturday (October 11) destroyed one abandoned structure and damaged another.