Kevin O’Connor Kommentary July 25

Bryan ISD School Board Approves Purchasing Online Monitoring Of School Buses & Expresses No Opposition To A Proposed Bus Replacement Schedule

Bryan ISD school board members approve the purchase of online monitoring of buses and express no opposition to the administration’s plan to schedule the replacement of buses. The cost of a pilot program to track buses, more than $261,000 dollars, will be paid from surplus money in BISD’s 2020 bond issue. BISD’s transportation director Brian Washington says this will benefit students, their parents, and bus drivers who will no longer have to read paper bus routes while they are driving. Click HERE to read and download presentation materials about the online bus monitoring pilot program that were shown at the June 15, 2026 Bryan ISD school board meeting. Washington’s proposed bus replacement program is to ensure BISD buses are driven for no more than 15 years. Washington’s proposed use of new buses from year one to year five will be for out of district trips. Year six through ten, the bus will move to in-district routes. And after ten years buses will be used on a substitute basis. Washington also said BISD currently has 40 buses that do not have seat belts, which is a state requirement that starts in 2019. Click HERE to read and download presentation materials about the proposed bus replacement schedule that was presented at the June 15, 2026 Bryan ISD school board meeting. Click below to hear comments from the June 15, 2026 Bryan ISD school board meeting. Listen to “Bryan ISD school board members address two school bus proposals” on Spreaker.

Federal Authorities Accuse Iola Man Of Making Social Media Threats

A Grimes County man is accused by federal authorities of making threats against federal officials on social media. A news release from the U.S. attorney’s office in Houston says 35 year old Peter James Bloomfield of Iola posted on X, killing federal agents and spending money to blow up the White House. On Facebook, Bloomfield is accused of making a hit list of federal agents and other notable figures. And the news release made a reference to a search warrant at an undisclosed location where law enforcement led by the FBI office in Bryan found more than 20 guns and what was described as a significant amount of ammunition.

College Station City Council Not Interested In Requiring Landlords To Tell Their Tenants About City Ordinances

The College Station city council agrees with the city manager to not require owners of student rental housing and short term rentals to notify renters about city ordinances. City manager Bryan Woods promoted at the last council meeting (June 11), the city doing more to inspire owners to voluntarily tell their tenants about complying with city codes. College Station’s education efforts includes collaborating with Texas A&M to tell students about how to avoid common violations. Additional ideas during the council discussion included using the city of College Station’s “see-click-fix” app and placing a large Q-R code on city structures to direct people to city information. Click HERE to be directed to the city of College Station’s “see-click-fix” webpage. No presentation materials were shown during the council discussion. Click below to hear comments from the June 11, 2026 College Station city council meeting. Listen to “College Station city council is not interested in requiring landlords to tell their tenants about city ordinances” on Spreaker.