Primary Election Observations From The Brazos County Democratic Party Chairwoman

College Station City Council Meeting Recap 07/23/2026

The College Station City Council held a regularly scheduled meeting Thursday night. The meeting lasted four hours and 25 minutes. The meeting opened with a Proclamation designating July 23, 2026 as Texas A&M Women’s Tennis Day, in honor of their recent 2026 National Championship. The hear visitors portion of the meeting allows speakers to voice concerns on items that are not on the agenda. Robert Rose, owner of Cycles, Etc. asked the council to provide an avenue to have our state legislators be more serious when it comes to cyclist safety and penalties for those that strike riders along highways…in reference to the recent killing of 26-year-old Hannah Rapp as she rode along FM159 on Saturday. The Consent Agenda passed in full, approving nearly $9-million in spending. This spending include just over $7-million in funding for amenities at Texas Independence Park such as a bike track, a playground, picnic areas, a disc golf course, fishing, and trails. The Workshop Agenda was spent mostly on a presentation by College Station Police Chief Billy Couch in support of the use of Automated License Plate Readers (ALPR’s). He confirmed there are currently 75 cameras within the City of College Station. He presented statistics gathered between January 1, 2026 through July 17, 2026 that showed Flock cameras in College Station identified 293 vehicles known to be associated with someone with outstanding warrants, 67 stolen vehicles, and pinged on 9 known missing persons. The majority of citizens spoke out against the use of the cameras, claiming they are an invasion of privacy and worry that the company behind the cameras will utilize the information captured in questionable manner. Charles Fleeger, the Executive Director of the Amber Alert Network of the Brazos Valley, expressed his support. He said that had these cameras existed in 1996, the assailant in the murder of 9-year-old Amber Hagerman may have been brought to justice. Hagerman is the namesake of the Amber Alert system founded in October 1996. Her murderer still has not been found. Many referenced the viral picture of a camera facing the pool at The Woodlands apartments on Harvey Mitchell Pkwy South in College Station. Council advised that particular camera is privately owned by the complex and not part of their system, specifying that all their cameras are on roadways. Even though the camera discussion took up a large portion of the evening, it was a non-action item. The idea was only to hear a presentation from the Police Chief, hear resident concerns, and have a Q&A with representatives from Flock. The first item on the regular agenda was the public hearing on the proposed budget. Two residents signed up to speak. One questioned if the boost to our economy from the current Big 6 construction project and the upcoming Terafab factory had any impact on the budget. Mayor Nichols explained that the City can only go off the numbers currently available. There was no action on the budget itself. Only a motion that the budget will be adopted at the August 27, 2026 regular council meeting. Mary Ellen Leonard, Director or Fiscal Services for the City of College Station, says she expects to have the final numbers from the Brazos County Appraisal District by the end of business tomorrow. Those numbers will be presented to the council at the August 13th meeting. The final order of business was whether or not to institute eminent domain on the final piece of land required to proceed with the Rock Prairie East widening project. Jennifer Cain, Director of Capital Projects, said the current landowners have not responded to requests from the city via email, telephone, and Certified Mail. Council voted unanimously to move forward with eminent domain proceedings. The following is more detailed information on all agenda items: CONSENT AGENDA ($8,888,600.00): ALL ITEMS PASSED 7.2. Construction Manager at Risk contract amendment with Skanska USA Building Inc. for GMP #1 for Texas Independence Park at Midtown, in the amount of $6,852,842 plus the City’s contingency in the amount of $200,000 for a total appropriation of $7,052,842. Project involves the design and construction of Texas Independence Park at Midtown, located at 6904 Rock Prairie Road East. Amenities to Texas Independence Park include Bike Hub/Track, Playground, Picnic Areas, Disc Golf, Fishing, and Trails. 7.3. Solid Waste Container Lease agreement with Brannon Industrial Group, LLC for an annual expenditure of $543,300. This item is consideration of an annual lease agreement for the rental of 1,391 front-end loading refuse containers used by the Public Works Solid Waste division’s commercial collection operations. City ordinances require commercial entities to use city-issued containers for solid waste collection. While the city purchases and owns certain types of containers for collection use, front-end loading containers are leased by the city. The fee for the use of these containers is included in the solid waste rate. The breakdown of monthly rental costs included in the agreement is as follows: 158 four-yard containers at $29.00 Five (5) six-yard containers at $31.00 1,221 eight-yard containers at $33.00 Seven (7) eight-yard containers with side sliding doors at $35.00 7.4. Franchise Ordinance with United Site Solutions, LLC For Recyclables (Second Reading). Ordinance granting United Site Solutions, LLC a non-exclusive franchise for the use of public streets, alleys, and public rights-of-ways within the city for the purpose of providing collection of demolition and construction debris, recyclables, and organic waste from commercial, industrial, and multi-family sites. Counting United Site Solutions, LLC, the city has a total of nineteen (19) franchised haulers. This list can be found on the city’s website under Public Works. 7.5. Interlocal Agreement with Texas A&M University Health Science Center. The interlocal agreement with the Texas A&M University Health Science Center would allow the College Station Police Department to work with the center to coordinate and interview adult sexual assault victims with a forensic interviewer. This setup works similar to how Scotty’s House handles forensic interviews with children. The interview process is trauma-informed and prevents victims from being re-victimized multiple times through police […]

Athletes Unlimited Softball League (AUSL) Game Tonight at Davis Diamond To Determine Championship Matchup

The Athletes Unlimited Softball Leagues, or AUSL, has brought their 2026 Championship to College Station. The play-in-game starts at 8:00pm tonight (Thursday) at Texas A&M’s Davis Diamond, the home of Aggie Softball. Tonight’s play-in matchup features the Chicago Bandits and the Portland Cascade, and three former Aggie Softballers. Kennedy Powell and Tori Vidales play for the Portland Cascade, and Mac Barbara is on the roster for the Chicago Bandits. The winner of tonight’s game will take on the Utah Talons in a best-of-three series. Game One will be Saturday at Noon. Game Two will be Sunday at 1:00pm. And if necessary, Game Three will take place on Monday at 6:00pm. Tickets for games one and two are sold out, but tickets for tonight’s play-in game and game three are available at 12thman.com.

Eggs Sold At Kroger and Brookshire Brothers in Texas Recalled for Potential Salmonella

Midwest Poultry Services, L.P. announced yesterday that it is voluntarily recalling 1,589,577 dozen white shell eggs and brown cage free shell eggs produced in Texas because they have the potential to be contaminated with Salmonella Enteritidis. Salmonella is an organism which can cause serious and sometimes fatal infections in young children, frail or elderly people, and others with weakened immune systems. Healthy persons infected with Salmonella often experience fever, diarrhea (which may be bloody), nausea, vomiting and abdominal pain. In rare circumstances, infection with Salmonella can result in the organism getting into the bloodstream and producing more severe illnesses such as arterial infections (i.e., infected aneurysms), endocarditis and arthritis. The eggs were produced and distributed from farms in Texas between June 6, 2026 and July 3, 2026, with sell by or best by dates between July 20, 2026 and August 17, 2026. The eggs were shipped to foodservice and retail customers in Texas, Oklahoma and Louisiana. They were available to consumers at Kroger stores in Texas and Louisiana, Brookshire Grocery stores in Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Louisiana, New Mexico, and Mississippi, and other smaller retail outlets. No other Midwest Poultry Services, L.P. products are part of this recall. Midwest Poultry Services L.P. is not aware of any specific illnesses linked to its products. The recalled eggs will have an identifying code number printed on the left or right sides of the carton in date-coding ink only. Only codes P-1950 or 0840962 with a Julian Date between 157 and 184 printed on the side of the carton are recalled. Examples of this identifying plant and date information on retail cartons are included below. Item Description Identifying Code UPC Julian Date Range Best By / Sell By Date  Between: Kroger Large 12 eggs P-1950 or 840962 011110609038 157 to 184 July 20 – August 17, 2026 Kroger Large 18 eggs P-1950 or 840962 011110609335 157 to 184 July 20 – August 17, 2026 Kroger Large 60 eggs P-1950 011110609144 157 to 184 July 20 – August 17, 2026 Kroger Extra Large 12 eggs P-1950 or 840962 011110609045 157 to 184 July 20 – August 17, 2026 Kroger Medium 12 eggs P-1950 or 840962 011110609021 157 to 184 July 20 – August 17, 2026 Kroger Medium 30 eggs P-1950 011110609809 157 to 184 July 20 – August 17, 2026 Kroger Jumbo 12 eggs P-1950 or 840962 011110609052 157 to 184 July 20 – August 17, 2026 Simple Truth Cage Free Medium Brown 12 eggs P-1950 011110870230 157 to 184 July 20 – August 17, 2026 Simple Truth Cage Free Large Brown 12 eggs P-1950 011110797704 157 to 184 July 20 – August 17, 2026 Simple Truth Cage Free Large Brown 18 eggs P-1950 011110893109 157 to 184 July 20 – August 17, 2026 Simple Truth Cage Free Large Brown 24 eggs P-1950 011110150974 157 to 184 July 20 – August 17, 2026 Brookshire’s Large 12 Eggs P-1950 092825095552 157 to 184 July 20 – August 17, 2026 Brookshire’s Large 18 Eggs P-1950 092825095569 157 to 184 July 20 – August 17, 2026 Brookshire’s Large 36 eggs P-1950 092825109808 157 to 184 July 20 – August 17, 2026 Brookshire’s Large 60 eggs P-1950 092825095637 157 to 184 July 20 – August 17, 2026 Brookshire’s Large 6 eggs P-1950 092825095644 157 to 184 July 20 – August 17, 2026 Brookshire’s Extra Large 18 Eggs P-1950 092825095606 157 to 184 July 20 – August 17, 2026 Brookshire’s Jumbo 12 Eggs P-1950 092825095583 157 to 184 July 20 – August 17, 2026 Country Morning Large 12 Eggs P-1950 078566200004 157 to 184 July 20 – August 17, 2026 Country Morning Large 18 Eggs P-1950 078566005036 157 to 184 July 20 – August 17, 2026 Country Morning Large 2 ½ Dozen P-1950 079307005162 157 to 184 July 20 – August 17, 2026 Country Morning Extra Large 12 Eggs P-1950 078566001021 157 to 184 July 20 – August 17, 2026 Country Morning Medium 12 Eggs P-1950 078566001045 157 to 184 July 20 – August 17, 2026 Country Morning Jumbo 12 Eggs P-1950 078566001014 157 to 184 July 20 – August 17, 2026 Sunups Medium 2 1/2 Dozen P-1950 028621304987 157 to 184 July 20 – August 17, 2026 Grade AA Large Bulk X 30 DOZEN P-1950 N/A 157 to 184 July 20 – August 17, 2026 Grade A Large Bulk X 15 DOZEN P-1950 N/A 157 to 184 July 20 – August 17, 2026 Grade A Large Bulk – TICTAC P-1950 N/A 157 to 184 July 20 – August 17, 2026 Grade A Large Bulk – BROWN – TICTAC P-1950 N/A 157 to 184 July 20 – August 17, 2026 Grade A Medium Bulk X 30 DOZEN P-1950 N/A 157 to 184 July 20 – August 17, 2026 Grade A Medium Bulk X 15 DOZEN P-1950 N/A 157 to 184 July 20 – August 17, 2026 Grade A Extra Large Bulk X 15 DOZEN P-1950 N/A 157 to 184 July 20 – August 17, 2026 Grade A Jumbo Bulk 20 eggs P-1950 N/A 157 to 184 July 20 – August 17, 2026 Midwest Poultry Services identified the issue on its two Texas farms through proactive environmental monitoring practices and root cause analysis. Midwest Poultry Services is not distributing fresh eggs produced on its Texas farms at this time. Consumers who purchased products associated with this recall are urged to avoid consumption and return the product to its original place of purchase for a full refund. Any questions can be directed to the company by calling 574-405-9531 during normal business hours which are Monday through Friday 7:00 AM – 3:30 PM Central time.