State Representative John Raney of Bryan visits with WTAW’s Scott DeLucia about the amount of time bills are taking to get filed during this legislative session, the transportation committee, RMA legislation, and more during his appearance on The Infomaniacs on Thursday, February 28, 2019.
Listen to “State Representative John Raney on The Infomaniacs” on Spreaker.
Texas A&M announces the selection of the new dean of the college of arts and sciences. Interim dean Simon North took over on a permanent basis June 1. Dr. North joined the A&M faculty in 1997 as a chemistry professor. North was appointed interim dean last September after his predecessor and the head of the English department were removed by former president Mark Welsh. The appointment leaves one dean’s vacancy. According to A&M’s website of executive searches, a search committee has been named but no job description has been posted for the next dean of the college of education. The A&M website still has department head openings in food science and engineering medicine. The executive search website also shows searches are in various stages to fill four other positions. They are vice provost for academic affairs, associate vice president for entrepreneurship, associate vice president for artificial intelligence, and director of the university’s energy institute. Texas A&M news release announcing Dr. Simon North as the dean of the college of arts and sciences: Following a national search, Dr. Simon North has been appointed dean of the College of Arts and Sciences at Texas A&M University, effective June 1. “Dr. North is well prepared to lead the college at this important moment,” said Dr. Alans Sams, provost and executive vice president. “He brings a strong record of academic leadership, a deep understanding of Texas A&M and a demonstrated commitment to advancing excellence in teaching, scholarship and service.” North has served as interim dean of the College of Arts and Sciences since September 2025. He is the John W. Bevan Professor of Chemistry and previously served as executive associate dean in the College of Arts and Sciences beginning in June 2024. Prior to that role, he served as head of the Department of Chemistry beginning in 2016, following appointments as interim head and associate head of the department. He earned his Ph.D. in chemistry from the University of California, Berkeley in 1995 before completing a postdoctoral fellowship at Brookhaven National Laboratory. He joined the Texas A&M faculty in 1997 as a member of the Department of Chemistry and has spent nearly three decades advancing the university’s missions of teaching, research and service. In addition to his leadership roles within the college, North serves as co-director of the National Aerothermochemistry and Hypersonic Flight Laboratory and previously served as associate director of the Center for Atmospheric Chemistry and the Environment. He also spent nearly a decade as one of the primary advising and recruiting contacts for the Texas A&M chemistry graduate program. North played a significant role in the planning and development of Texas A&M’s Instructional Laboratory and Innovative Learning Building, now recognized as one of the premier laboratory facilities in the country and a model for undergraduate chemistry instruction. His commitment to student success and academic excellence has been recognized through numerous honors, including the inaugural College of Arts and Sciences Administration Award in 2025 and The Association of Former Students Distinguished Achievement Awards in Teaching at both the university and college levels. “I am confident he will provide the vision, steadiness and collaborative leadership needed to build on the college’s momentum and further strengthen its impact across the university, the state and beyond,” Sams said.
College Station police assist a woman getting out of her house by pulling her out through a window. A CSPD arrest report says that is after she called 9-1-1 to report her son was threatening to stab her with a long kitchen knife. Officers found 42 year old George Slay sitting on a toilet and was unarmed. An officer’s request to a judge to increase bond noted Slay has a total of 22 arrests. Online records shows this is Slay’s 17th time in the Brazos County jail since October of 2010. And online court records shows he is awaiting trials for assaulting an officer or a judge that happened in April 2022 and misdemeanor criminal trespassing that happened in January of 2024. Slay remains jailed as of June 4th in lieu of a $50,000 dollar bond. College Station police respond to a convenience store where the clerk said she was threatened by a customer who pointed a knife at her and telling her to go to the back of the business. The CSPD arrest report says the suspect, who was still at the store, was going to use the knife to cut a gold chain from his neck. 23 year old Michael McMahon from College Station was taken to jail for making a terroristic threat to cause serious bodily injury and possessing a vape pen containing THC. He remains held as of June 4th in lieu of bonds totaling $18,000 dollars.
Grimes County commissioners, on four to one votes, approve three agreements that pave the way for SpaceX to build a multibillion dollar semiconductor plant. There were no documents on the Grimes County commission website at the time of their votes on Wednesday (June 3) that are associated with establishing a tax increment financing zone…also known as a TIRZ. And there were no documents associated with the tax abatement and economic development agreements that were also approved. The county judge and three of the four commissioners who approved the three agreements did not make any public comments. Voting no was David Tullos. Referring to the tax abatement agreement, Tullos said they could have achieved more. What was approved, allows SpaceX to pay instead of full property taxes a $10 million dollar up front fee in the next 60 days then $20 million a year for the next 35 years. Tullos voted against establishing the TIRZ after learning SpaceX expanded the original boundary of the former Gibbons Creek power plant to include Singleton, Roans Prairie, and land south of Highway 30. A SpaceX attorney said the TIRZ will apply only to property that the company buys and incorporates into its tax abatement agreement. Another SpaceX representative explained how water will be treated and disposed after it is used in the manufacture of computer chips. And an outside attorney hired by Grimes County said SpaceX will have to reach tax abatement agreements with affected public school districts. Click below to hear some of the comments from the June 3, 2026 Grimes County commission meeting. Listen to “Grimes County commissioners approve three SpaceX agreements” on Spreaker.
Bryan Broadcasting Corporation