Kevin O’Connor Kommentary December 29

The Wellborn water district has more than 10,000 customers in Brazos and Robertson counties that includes residents of College Station and Bryan. The district’s website says since 2018, the district has been working on a long term expansion project. General manager Campbell Young tells WTAW News that the project is at the point where the water district board and management is holding a town hall meeting to provide an update. The town hall is Saturday morning (April 26) from 9 until 11 a.m. at the Wellborn community center. Young says the event is designed to be both educational and interactive, with time for questions, discussion, and community feedback. The district has been waiting for approval from the Texas commission on environmental quality and the Texas water development board. The project includes a new wellfield, a large pump station, ground storage tanks, and a 30 inch transmission pipeline. The first phase includes two wells that will double the Wellborn district’s current production capacity and eliminate the reliance on water purchased from the cities. Facilities will be sized to accommodate growth out to 2040. Emergency generators will be included for each well and pump station, which will allows operating without interruption during power outages. Click below to hear Campbell Young’s interview with WTAW’s Bill Oliver: Listen to “Wellborn water district customers encouraged to attend Saturday's town hall update on expansion plans” on Spreaker.

A Bryan woman who was stabbed to death early Thursday morning was an employee at the Brazos County tax office. That led to the closure of the tax office for the rest of Thursday and all of Friday. Brazos County judge Duane Peters told WTAW News the woman worked at the tax office for one year and nine months. Some services at the tax office are available online at brazostax.org. Original story: Bryan police arrest a local man on a charge of murdering his mother. 30 year old Trevor Norman of Bryan is accused of stabbing 50 year old Sylvia Harris multiple times. A BPD news release says officers responded Thursday morning (April 24) just after 1:30 to the report of a family member was holding their mother down with a knife. The stabbing took place inside a home on Olive Street near Mobile Avenue, which is west of Old College. Bryan police news release: On April 24th, 2025, at 1:31 a.m., Bryan Police Patrol Units responded to the 3900 block of Olive Street following a 911 call from a female resident advising a family member was holding their mother down with a knife. Upon officers’ arrival at the residence, they encountered a male armed with a knife near the driveway of the residence. The male was immediately detained without incident. BPD officers entered the home and located a female with multiple stab wounds. The female was transported to a local hospital where she succumbed to her injuries. This investigation is active and ongoing at this time. Trevor Norman of Bryan, Texas, was arrested for murder. The female was identified as Sylvia Harris of Bryan, Texas.

Before the Texas A&M system board of regents holds their next regularly scheduled business meeting in May, members of the building committee met this week (April 22) in College Station. Six projects were reviewed involving the flagship campus. Vice chancellor of business affairs Phillip Ray brought up widening Penberthy Road on west campus and adding a shared use path for pedestrians and bicyclists. Ray said the system is keeping tabs because of the impact this will have on other projects. There was also a review of proposed renovations on the main campus of the Heldenfels fourth floor instructional lab and exterior restoration of the Academic Building. The other proposals are at A&M branch locations. The regents new chairman, Bob Albritton of Fort Worth, brought up strategic planning whether a future sea turtle research facility planned in Galveston should be at A&M-Corpus Christi. Another proposal in Galveston involves campus facility improvements. And the committee decided to table a fourth building at the A&M branch in McAllen. Albritton said the $53 million dollar proposal includes a student commons area to end the practice of students studying in their cars. But Albritton wanted to know how the rest of the project, which would create research space for AgriLife, fits with the system’s other campuses in south Texas. Albritton brought up coordinating what is happening at the ten year old branch in McAllen with the A&M system’s upcoming acquisition of the Victoria campus from the University of Houston system and the existing A&M-Corpus Christi and A&M-Kingsvile campuses. The building committee also reviewed a proposal for a new residence hall at Tarleton State, a workforce development center for TEEX (Texas A&M Engineering Extension Service) in Corpus Christi, a new TEEX complex in San Antonio, modifying the TDEM (Texas Division of Emergency Management) warehouse in Fort Worth, a new athletics complex at A&M-Texarkana, and returning an office building at East Texas A&M to a residence hall. Click HERE to read and download presentation materials from the April 22, 2025 Texas A&M system board of regents building committee meeting. Click below to hear comments from the April 22, 2025 regents building committee meeting. Listen to “Texas A&M system board of regents building committee reviews future proposals” on Spreaker.