Kevin O’Connor Kommentary August 7

Brazos County Commission Award Demolition Contract That Includes Taking Down The Former Bryan ISD Administration Building

The days are numbered for the former Bryan ISD administration building in downtown Bryan. Brazos County commissioners, who in November 2021 bought the original bank building, awarded a demolition contract at its April ninth meeting. Before the unanimous vote, commissioners Steve Aldrich and Nancy Berry brought up the implosion of the former Plaza Hotel at Texas and University that took place in May 2012. Berry, who was College Station mayor, pressed the button that brought down the 17 story structure. The contract breaks down the cost to $264,000 dollars to demolish and clear the site at Texas Avenue and William Joel Bryan Parkway, another $40,000 to remove two portable buildings at the juvenile justice center, and $7,000 to remove from the county jail, what was described as a “center house”. The demolition contract follows the commission’s vote in December 2023 to award a contract to design a new building at the former site of the BISD/bank building. At that time, county judge Duane Peters said a final decision had not been made as to who will occupy the new building. Click HERE to read and download the demolition contract approved during the April 9, 2024 Brazos County commission meeting. Click below to hear comments from the April 9, 2024 Brazos County commission meeting.  

More Arrests By Local Police On Drug Charges

The same day that a Bryan man entered a guilty plea in Brazos County district court to a drug charge, he is arrested on more drug charges. Bryan police arrest reports say an investigation that began in January 2024 led to the April ninth arrest of 36 year old Vincent Hawkins Jr. for selling drugs out of his home close enough to the Bryan regional athletic complex to be considered a drug free zone. Officers seized between his home and his car, more than $500 dollars in cash along with more than three pounds of marijuana and smaller quantities of T-H-C, illegal mushrooms, amphetamine, hydrocodone, cocaine, and alprazolam. Hawkins is out of jail after posting bonds on the new charges that totals $165,000 dollars. Online court records show on April ninth, Hawkins admitted to a misdemeanor charge of attempted possession of marijuana. In that case, he was ordered to pay a $500 dollar fine and $295 dollars in court costs. The 20th time that a Bryan man is booked in the Brazos County jail in 17 years, is the result of a traffic stop at 2:30 in the morning by a Bryan police officer who can not confirm vehicle insurance. BPD arrest reports accuse 35 year old Nathan Ayers of resisting arrest after an officer saw in plain sight what turned out to be a baggie of cocaine powder. And during the struggle to place Ayers in a patrol vehicle, several chunks of what turned out to be a combination of fentanyl and crack cocaine flew out of his shoe. Ayers is out of jail after posting bonds totaling $23,000 dollars. A College Station police investigation of a drug overdose death in January 2024 leads to the arrest of a Brenham man on a charge of selling a brand of Oxycodone in October of 2023. The CSPD arrest report says a detective found the sale while reviewing 800 pages of communications between the two men. 20 year old Adam Carreiro Jr. was charged with a felony of selling two Percocet pills for $30 dollars. Carreiro, who was booked in the Brazos County jail April 22nd, was released the following day after posting a $5,000 dollar bond.

Bryan Mayor Bobby Gutierrez on WTAW

Bryan Mayor Bobby Gutierrez visits with WTAW’s Scott DeLucia about the South College Avenue project, the boardwalk at Midtown Park, armor companies that have come to Bryan, and more during his appearance on The Infomaniacs on Wednesday, April 24, 2024. Listen to “Bryan Mayor Bobby Gutierrez on The Infomaniacs” on Spreaker.