Kevin O’Connor Kommentary January 31

Brazos County Commissioners Applaud The 2024 Accomplishments Of The Veteran Services Office

The performance in the first full year of Brazos County’s veteran services officer (VSO) was applauded by county commissioners. VSO Pam Robertson said in 2024, the office served 4,849 veterans from Brazos and other counties. Robertson said there are 21,357 veterans in the Brazos Valley. Brazos County has 9,327 and there are 4,000 Texas A&M students. Accomplishments during 2024 included the Brazos County office generated almost $1 million dollars a month in disability payments and more than $3.6 million dollars in retroactive pay to veterans. That led newly elected county commissioner and retired Army general Bentley Nettles to tell Robertson “you set a pretty high standard for year one. What are you going to do year two?” Robertson replied “hopefully those numbers will double.” Robertson said they are hosting a veterans resource fair and claims clinic at the Brazos Center on February 17th. Click HERE to read and download presentation materials at the January 14, 2025 Brazos County commission meeting. Click below to hear the presentation and reaction at the January 14, 2025 Brazos County commission meeting. Listen to “Brazos County commissioners applaud the 2024 accomplishments of the Veteran Services Office” on Spreaker.

College Station City Council Approves Rezoning For Aggieland Pregnancy Outreach

Aggieland Pregnancy Outreach (APO) is another step closer to a new facility. That’s after the College Station city council at its last meeting (January 9) rezoned a vacant fraternity house at Deacon Drive and Fraternity Row. There were no public speakers. The only council member to comment was Bob Yancy, who said “It’s a wonderful project and I wish them luck.” According to city documents, APO will provide housing for residents with a common kitchen, restrooms, living rooms, and overall gathering space. A part of the building will also have office space. Click HERE to read and download background information from the city of College Station. Click HERE to read and download presentation materials from the January 9, 2025 College Station city council meeting. Click below to hear comments from the January 9, 2025 College Station city council meeting.  

Three Local DWI Arrests

A Bryan man arrested last Saturday (January 18) for DWI is awaiting trials from two DWI arrests in 2021, felony burglary in 2020, three marijuana possession cases in 2021, 2022, and 2023, and evading arrest and evidence tampering in 2019. The newest charge, according to the Bryan police arrest report, is that officers responded to a citizen’s report of a pickup that was stopped at Harvey Mitchell Parkway and Shiloh Avenue with the driver either asleep or intoxicated. 24 year old Edgar Saenz Jr., who was arrested after failing field sobriety tests, is out of jail after posting a $2,000 dollar bond. A Bryan man who was released from prison last Friday morning (January 17) spends part of the night in the Brazos County jail. 61 year old Frederick Kelley was arrested for DWI with two prior convictions. This is after Bryan police responded to a report of a car in a ditch and Kelley being taken to the hospital. The BPD arrest report says Kelley told an officer had been smoking cigarettes that belonged to other people and felt like he was under the influence of PCP. Kelley was released from jail after posting an $8,000 dollar bond. The arrest report did give the reason that Kelley was in prison. A Bryan woman is arrested for attempting to bribe a College Station police officer to get out of a DWI charge. The CSPD arrest report says on Monday night (January 20) an officer responded to a wrong way driver on Southwest Parkway whose SUV became disabled after hitting a curb and blowing out a tire. After failing field sobriety tests, the driver was taken to the hospital for evaluation and a blood alcohol sample. It was in the hospital where the arrest report says the woman offered the officer $300 dollars. The arrest report also says the officer found in the SUV, seven shot-sized bottles of vodka and four prescription medicines which are not supposed to be mixed with alcohol. 30 year old Dakota Woodall remained in jail as of January 20 in lieu of bonds totaling $12,000 dollars.