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Editor’s note: The 2024 election is The Eagle’s No. 7 news story of 2024. This is part of a daily series of the top 10 stories in Bryan-College Station and the Brazos Valley this year. Stories will appear daily with No. 1 running in the Dec. 31 edition. Some things changed and others stayed the same in the Brazos Valley during the 2024 election in November. In the Texas House races, the Republican Party held onto its seats in the districts that cover Brazos County but the occupants of those seats changed. After serving their House districts for more than a decade, both incumbents, Kyle Kacal in District 12 and John Raney in District 14, decided not to run for reelection. Trey Wharton and Paul Dyson, both supporters of Gov. Greg Abbott’s school voucher plan, won their seats handily. Both also voiced support to fund Texas public schools. “The public school has to be taken care of, especially in this [District 12] in the fact if the school district is not the largest employer in the community, it’s one of the largest,” Wharton told the Eagle in October. “We need to make sure that they are taken care of at the same time because we’ll have an economic crisis on our hands if we don’t get it right.” Wharton earned his seat in District 12 after defeating Dee Howard Mullins with almost 77% of the vote in the general election. Wharton won the Republican nomination after beating Ben Bius in a runoff election in May after neither won a majority in the March primary against John Harvey Slocum. “I was extremely excited,” Wharton said in November describing his emotions on hearing the results. “It was good to see my hard work pay off and I just want to be a voice for my district. I didn’t come into this with an agenda. My thing was I was doing this to give us a representative that would listen and be there.” District 12 encompasses most of Brazos County outside of Bryan, College Station and Kurten as well as all of Grimes, Madison, Robertson, Walker and Washington counties. In District 14, which is made up entirely of Bryan and College Station, Dyson defeated Democratic challenger Fred Medina with 61% of the vote. Dyson reached the general election after defeating Rick Davis in the Republican primary in March. “You take it all in, you’ve been doing this for a little over a year and there’s so many sacrifices that your family and a lot of other people around you do,” Dyson said on election night. “It’s definitely not just my win, it’s everybody’s win.” Both Dyson and Wharton have spent the month and a half since winning the election going back and forth between their district and Austin to learn more about being a representative. The swearing in of new representatives takes place Jan. 14 when the 89th legislative session convenes in Austin. “At the end of the day we are public servants and we always have to remember that we’re not there to move a personal agenda,” Dyson told the Eagle in October. “We’re there to make sure that our constituents, the people in my district, are properly represented while there in Austin.” At the city council level, College Station incumbents Linda Harvell, Elizabeth Cunha and Dennis Maloney chose not to run again so newcomers David White, Melissa McIlhaney and Scott Shafer were sworn in after winning on Election Day. White won Place 3 with 73% of the vote over Valen Cepak while McIlhaney captured Place 4 with 69.3% of the vote over Aron Collins. The narrowest margin came in the race for Place 6 with Scott Shafer winning the seat by just 221 votes. Bob Yancy ran unopposed in Place 5. All four incumbents held their seats on the Bryan City Council. In District 3, Jared Salvato won with 80.1% of the vote over Bob Achgill; James Edge kept his District 4 seat after earning 66.6% of the vote against Shane Savage; Marca Ewers-Shurtleff won reelection in District 5 with 59.3% of the vote against Patrick Giammalva; and Kevin C. Boriskie held on to At Large Place 6 seat after gaining 62.1% against Justin C. Wager. Bryan council members were sworn in at the November meeting. Republicans Bentley Nettles and Fred Brown prevailed in the Brazos County Commissioner’s Court races. Nettles won Precinct 1 unopposed after unseating incumbent Steve Aldrich in the spring. Brown won Precinct 3 after getting 69.7% of the vote against Libertarian Mike Southerland. Brown reached the general election after defeating incumbent Nancy Berry in the March Republican primary. “I’m excited, I’m humbled because I didn’t know how it would turn out,” Brown told the Eagle in November. “I’m just honored that the people in Precinct 3 had the faith in me to go in and do the things I told them I would do.” Brown and Nettles will be sworn in at the commissioners meeting on Jan. 1. Brazos County voters paralleled the state of Texas as a whole by backing Donald Trump over Kamala Harris for president and Ted Cruz over Collin Allred for senator. Cruz won with 59% of the county vote as opposed to 53% statewide. U.S. Rep. Michael McCaul, R-Austin, won another term in Texas’ 10th District, winning 63.4% of the vote over Democratic challenger Theresa Boisseau. “From the bottom of my heart, I want to thank the people of TX-10 for entrusting me to continue serving them in Congress,” McCaul said in a statement. “it’s my duty — and my honor — to be a voice for Texans and to fight for conservative policies that will allow us to hand down a better America to the next generation.” The voters of Brazos County also had two propositions on the ballot that would change Brazos County from an open range county to a closed range county. Voters approved the two propositions but the enforcement has been put on hold after mistakes were made in the process of putting the propositions on the ballot. The first mistake had to do with the order approving the propositions. There should have been two different orders, one for the commissioners to sign and the other for the county judge to sign. Instead Brazos County General Counsel Bruce Erratt combined the two as one order. The second mistake made in the placing of the propositions on the ballot was that by Texas statute only landowners can vote on stock laws. “But there is also wording in the statute that describes who is qualified to vote on the Stock Laws,” Erratt said in a statement. “In order to vote on the Stock Laws, ‘a person must be a freeholder and a qualified voter.’ In the Nov. 5 election, voters were not qualified as being ‘freeholders’ (landowners).” Erratt has consulted with the state attorney general’s office and the secretary of state’s office. If the open/closed range county vote is voided, the process for getting the two propositions on the ballot would have to start over and the next vote would have to limited to qualified landowners.
Jaylen Brown scored 29 points and Jayson Tatum finished with 26 points and eight rebounds to help the Boston Celtics extend their winning streak to five games by beating the visiting Minnesota Timberwolves 107-105 Sunday. Brown made 7 of his 10 3-point attempts, including five in the opening quarter. The Timberwolves are winless in their last 18 road games against the Celtics. Minnesota's last win in Boston came in March 2005. Minnesota was within two points, 107-105, following a Julius Randle layup with 33.6 seconds to play. The Timberwolves had the ball trailing by two with 7.1 seconds left, but Naz Reid missed a 3-point attempt at the buzzer that would have given Minnesota the win. The Timberwolves received 20 rebounds and 10 points from Rudy Gobert. Minnesota's Anthony Edwards had 28 points, nine rebounds and seven assists, and Randle finished with 23 points. Minnesota, which shot 42 percent from the field, has lost five of its last seven games. Derrick White added 19 points and nine rebounds for Boston, which made 21 of its 56 3-point attempts (37.5 percent). Brown opened the game with five 3-pointers to help the Celtics build a 15-6 advantage. Boston missed 11 consecutive shots later in the quarter and an 11-0 run allowed Minnesota to go in front 17-15. The Timberwolves led 27-24 after one quarter. Boston led 53-43 following two Tatum free throws with 3:39 remaining in the second quarter and extended the lead to 12 later in the second, but Minnesota scored the final nine points in the quarter and Boston had a 55-52 halftime lead. Boston scored 14 of the first 18 points in the third quarter to stretch its lead to 69-56. Boston had a 19-point lead -- its largest of the game -- after an Xavier Tillman layup made it a 79-60 game with 4:26 to play in the third. The Celtics led 84-73 entering the fourth. --Field Level Media
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Orca seen wearing a salmon hat for first time since 1980s. Why do they do it?LOS ANGELES — The past few weeks have been a whirlwind for Zachary Ruderman. He’s the 10-year-old Dodgers fan who ended up with one of the most significant baseballs in team history - the one his favorite player, first baseman Freddie Freeman, hit for a walk-off grand slam in the 10th inning of Game 1 of the 2024 World Series against the New York Yankees. Since then, Zachary has seemingly become one of the most famous people living in Venice. “It’s a lot more attention than my son has ever had,” his father, Nico Ruderman, said. “He’s spoken to so many media outlets, so many interviews. People recognize him. I mean, literally everywhere we go, people stop him and want to take pictures with him. He’s really actually been loving it. It’s been a fun experience for him.” That experience is entering a new phase. On Wednesday, SCP Auctions announced the ball will be up for bid from Dec. 4-14. Coming just weeks after the Dodgers won their eighth World Series championship - with Freeman hitting four home runs and earning MVP honors, all on a badly sprained ankle - SCP founder and president David Kohler said his company thinks “the sky’s the limit” for what the auction could bring. “We think this is gonna bring seven figures,” Kohler said. “We think it’s one of the most historic baseballs ever, with the moment of this World Series, the first walk-off grand slam, the whole story of Freddie Freeman, the Dodgers, Game 1, extra innings. Just everything about it. I mean, it’s one of the most historic moments in sports, and we feel that people are going to appreciate that.” Last month, Dodgers superstar Shohei Ohtani’s 50th home run ball was sold by Goldin Auctions for a record $4.4 million. Could the Freeman ball be worth even more? “It could be. You never know,” Kohler said. “We’re gonna find out. Certainly the Ohtani ball was very, very significant, and Ohtani is beloved, but this is more about the history of the game of baseball and just the moment - seeing that happen was just incredible.” Zachary, along with his father and mother, Anne, was part of that moment. After Freeman blasted his game-winning shot into the right-field pavilion, the ball rolled next to Zachary’s feet. The fifth-grader batted it over to his father, who pounced on it, stood up and handed it back to his son. “They’re just amazing memories,” Zachary said Thursday, looking back on that night. “Like after we got it, no one was mad. No one was trying to take it from us. Everyone was just super happy.” His father added: “We just feel so lucky and honored to be a small part of such a huge moment in Dodger history.” The experience was so special that at first, the family had no intention of parting with the ball. “That night when we caught it, we were like, ‘We’re gonna keep this forever,’ ” Ruderman said. “The problem is, if we keep it, we’re not gonna keep it in our house. I don’t want to pay for the insurance for it, so it would just be locked up in some safety deposit box. Nobody would ever see it. “Maybe (the auction) brings life-changing money and pays for education for our son and also allows somebody with the resources to actually display it and show it to the world. We’re really hoping that whoever buys it agrees to display it at Dodger Stadium for some time so everybody can see it. That’s really our wish.” Even with all the incredible experiences he’s had because of the ball - including his favorite, speaking in front of the Los Angeles City Council at City Hall and receiving a certificate of congratulations from Councilmember Traci Park earlier this month - Zachary said he’s “really excited” about the auction. “It’s probably going to be a pretty fun experience,” Zachary said. “We’ve had our fun with the ball,” his father added. “At this point, he cares more about the memories, the pictures. He loves reading all the articles and watching all the news stories about it. That’s what’s fun for him, not the item itself.”KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Pick your adjective to describe the Kansas City Chiefs this season — charmed, serendipitous, fortunate or just plain lucky — and it probably fits, and not just because they keep winning games that come down to the wire. Every time they need help at a position, they've found someone sitting on the couch, seemingly waiting for their call. First it was wide receiver JuJu Smith-Schuster, who returned to the Chiefs just before the season after Marquise Brown was lost to shoulder surgery. Then it was running back Kareem Hunt, who likewise returned to his former team when Isiah Pacheco broke his fibula. Left tackle D.J. Humphries came next when other options at the position were struggling, and this week it was Steven Nelson, who came out of retirement to help a secondary that has struggled for weeks. "Just got an opportunity, got a call. Was very excited about it," said Nelson, who spent his first four seasons in Kansas City before stints in Pittsburgh and Houston, and ultimately calling it quits in June so he could spend more time with his family. "I've got two daughters and been spending a lot of time with him," Nelson said, "but still trying to work out. It was kind of the perfect scenario, getting the call, especially where this team has been and this point in the season. Great opportunity." It's been a perfect opportunity for all of them. Perfect fits for the Chiefs, too. Each could have signed just about anywhere else and been able to contribute, yet they were still sitting around when Chiefs general manager Brett Veach reached out. In the case of Smith-Schuster, Hunt and Humphries, there were some concerns about injuries that had kept some teams away, but the Chiefs were willing to take a risk on them. Smith-Schuster, who has dealt with knee trouble for years, missed some time with a hamstring injury this season. But he still has 202 yards and a touchdown receiving, and has provided some veteran leadership in the locker room. Hunt was coming off a sports hernia surgery, a big reason why the Browns — whom the Chiefs visit Sunday — declined to bring him back after five years spent in a one-two punch with Nick Chubb. But when Pacheco went down, Hunt stepped in and their offense barely missed a beat; he has run for a team-leading 608 yards and five touchdowns in 10 games. Humphries was still rehabbing a torn ACL at the start of the season, but the former Pro Bowl tackle was cleared just before the Chiefs called him. Kingsley Suamataia and Wanya Morris had struggled to protect Patrick Mahomes' blind side, so they brought in Humphries to help out. And while he hurt his hamstring late in his debut last week against the Chargers, the Chiefs still hope he'll be recovered and fully up to speed in time for the stretch run and the playoffs. "I'm in Kansas City, bro. I'm pretty ecstatic. It don't get much better than this," Humphries said. "Everybody is excited for me to be here and that's a really good feeling. You're getting All-Pro guys' arms outstretched, like, 'We're so glad you're here.'" The providential signings don't stop at those four players, either. When the Chiefs lost kicker Harrison Butker to knee surgery, they signed Spencer Shrader off the Jets practice squad, and he promptly kicked a game-winner against Carolina. But then Shrader hurt his hamstring and landed on injured reserve. The 49ers had just waived Matthew Wright, and the Chiefs signed him up. He's gone 8 for 9 on field-goal tries, has been perfect on PATs, and banged the game-winner off the upright and through last week against Los Angeles. Just like Smith-Schuster, Hunt and Nelson, Wright had been with Kansas City a couple of years ago. "It definitely helps, him knowing how we do things, how we practice and what we expect," Chiefs special teams coach Dave Toub said. "That all helped, for sure. And he's a veteran. He's been a lot of places. It wasn't like he was a rookie off the street." Or off the couch, for that matter. NOTES: Butker planned to kick again Thursday and could come off IR to face the Browns on Sunday. "He looked good," Toub said. "We have to see how he responds." ... Humphries (hamstring) did not practice Thursday. RT Jawaan Taylor (knee) was limited. ... SS Justin Reid will likely handle kickoffs against Cleveland. He has a stronger leg than Wright and also puts another athletic and adept tackler on the field on special teams. Be the first to know Get local news delivered to your inbox!
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