Kevin O’Connor Kommentary June 1

Unofficial Winner Determined In College Station Council Place Six Election

The winner of the College Station city council place six race is Scott Shafer. After provisional, military, and overseas ballots were counted at the Brazos County elections office Tuesday night (November 12), Shafer won by 221 votes. Shafer gained 46 votes and Tre Watson gained 40. The final result was up in the air after election night results on November 5th showed Shafer led Watson by 215 votes with more than 800 provisional, military, and overseas ballots to be considered. The report issued by the elections office Tuesday night shows voter turnout of almost 70 percent, with 92,626 voting out of 132,601 who are registered in Brazos County. Click HERE to read and download the final unofficial cumulative results of the November election, courtesy of the Brazos County elections office.

Texas A&M System Board Of Regents Votes 7-2 Approving Higher Fees For Two Graduate Fee Programs At The Flagship Campus

The Texas A&M system board of regents agrees to raise fees for three existing graduate level programs at the flagship campus. But two of the nine regents voted no to increase fees for two existing graduate programs at the Mays Business School and one existing graduate program in the College of Arts and Sciences because they were against any increases. There were unanimous votes approving a fee change in another Mays graduate program that was determined to be cost neutral, and to set fees in two new Mays graduate programs. Click HERE to read and download background on what was approved at the November 7, 2024 board of regents meeting. During the November 7th meeting of the regents finance committee, John Bellinger of San Antonio said he will continue to vote against increases until the system adopts an efficiency program at all system universities. Mike Hernandez of Fort Worth also voted no. That’s after president Mark Welsh told Hernandez during the finance committee meeting that he did not know if an attempt was made to offset some of the additional expenses. Welsh did say that he is calling on next year’s budget submissions from the colleges on the main campus to identify a percentage of their budget that could eliminate existing programs to pay for new programs. Click below to hear comments from the November 12, 2024 Texas A&M system board of regents meeting.  

Bryan Police Arrest A Middle School Student On An Arson Charge

It was business as usual Tuesday (November 12) at Bryan ISD’s Stephen F. Austin (SFA) middle school. That follows a student on Monday (November 11) setting a small fire in a first floor bathroom. A Bryan police spokesman says toilet paper had been set on fire on the floor of the restroom that was occupied by a group of students. BISD’s central office sent WTAW News a letter from SFA’s principal, telling parents that Monday’s fire was extinguished by school staff, there was no evacuation, and no one was injured. SFA’s school resource officer arrested the student on an arson charge and taken to the juvenile detention center.