Provisional And Mail Ballots Added To March 3rd Brazos County Primary Election Contested Races

A College Station man is back behind bars for the third time in five weeks. 36-year-old Bob Esquivel was picked up for criminal trespassing at the H-Tea-O on Wellborn Avenue Monday. Employees called police to report that Esquivel was inside the store despite an active Criminal Trespass Warning. Officers detected the smell of marijuana on the man and found 1.8 grams in his shorts. Esquivel was charged with Criminal Trespass and Possession of Marijuana (<2 grams). He is being held at the Brazos County Jail on $5,000 bond. He was arrested twice in a single week in August. On the 18th, he harassed two girls outside A&M Consolidated High School as they painted their parking spots. On August 25th, he was allegedly trying to talk his way into a home around 10pm offering to host bible study. In both of those cases, Esquivel was arrested for public intoxication and released on personal recognizance bonds. Got a news tip? e-mail us at news@wtaw.com, text us at (979) 695-1620, or reach out on Facebook or Twitter/X.

New charges have been levied against a man who drove from Katy to meet up with a 14-year-old girl in Bryan. 28-year-old Daniel Gutierrez Salgado and the minor child were found inside his vehicle at the back of Sue Haswell Park just before midnight on September 3, 2026. All the windows of the vehicle were obscured. Officers recovered a handgun, condoms, a new package of girl’s underwear, sports bras, and rabbit costume of a sexual nature. An investigation that night revealed that the child had left her home without her mother’s knowledge. The mother said she learned of her daughter’s interactions with the man via Snapchat starting in 2024 and repeatedly told Salgado not to contact her daughter. The mother also reported that girl had previously run away to be with the man. According to records, detectives in Harris County conducted a welfare check at Salgado’s home in June 2025 in an attempt to find the girl. Both Salgado and the girl denied have an inappropriate relationship, claiming he was a father figure. At the time, Salgado could only be charged with City Park Curfew Violation, Unlawful Carrying of a Weapon, and Enticing a Child. He posted $46,000 bond and was released on September 8th. Because of the sensitive nature of the crime, investigators asked that we not release information about the suspect or the investigation until it was complete. Newly released records detail some of the explicit conversations and videos that the pair exchanged dating back to January 2025. Explicit videos were sent by both parties in the hours leading up to Salgado’s arrest on September 3rd. Bryan Police have now added charges for Intentionally and Knowingly Possessing Visual Material/Video of a Child Younger Than 18 Years of Age, and Intentionally Distributing Sexually Explicit Material Over the Internet, both felonies. A warrant has been issued for his arrest. Got a news tip? e-mail us at news@wtaw.com, text us at (979) 695-1620, or reach out on Facebook or Twitter/X.

Governor Greg Abbott has done an about face regarding his stance on data centers. In November 2025, Abbott celebrated a $40 billion investment by Google saying, “Texas will be the centerpiece for AI data centers for Google in the entire world.” And now, permitting for data centers in Texas has come to a halt. Today, Abbott told the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality to not grant any permits sought by data centers until after an audit by ERCOT.   September 21, 2026 (Austin, TX) — Governor Greg Abbott today directed the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) to halt all permits sought by data centers until the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) completes its audit. Because the Public Utility Commission of Texas (PUCT), ERCOT, and the Texas Water Development Board (TWDB) require that information to make informed decisions, no state agency shall move forward with regulatory approvals related to data center development until it is acquired. “Simply put, Texans must come first,” said Governor Abbott. “Data centers must pay their own way, protect our grid and water, and complete the ERCOT and TWDB audits. Until they do, TCEQ will issue no permits sought by data center projects.” Governor Abbott directed the PUCT and ERCOT to audit all data centers undergoing ERCOT’s interconnection process so their development does not compromise the reliability of the Texas electric grid and does not put Texans’ natural resources at risk. On September 14, he directed TWDB to compel data centers to comply with water-use reporting requirements, impose legal consequences for past and future failure to comply with state law, and partner with ERCOT on the audit to obtain additional water-use information. The PUCT, ERCOT, and TWDB will determine the impact of data centers on grid reliability and security and on the water resources needed by Texas communities. Data center projects must cover all electrical infrastructure costs, result in lower residential electrical bills, and complete the ERCOT audit. Data centers must not use water needed by local communities, must report electricity and water usage, and must abide by setback requirements that will protect the communities in which they operate.  As ERCOT and TWDB conduct their audits, TCEQ must align its permitting decisions with the Governor’s directives and use the information from those audits. TCEQ shall provide an update to the Office of the Governor on its compliance with this directive by Monday, October 19, 2026. Next session, Governor Abbott will work with the Legislature to eliminate any financial incentives for data centers.  Got a news tip? e-mail us at news@wtaw.com, text us at (979) 695-1620, or reach out on Facebook or Twitter/X.