The omicron variant of COVID-19, which had been undetected in the U.S. before the middle of this week, had been discovered in at least five states by the end of Thursday, showing yet again how mutations of the virus can circumnavigate the globe with speed and ease.

About 70,000 asylum-seekers have been subject to the policy, which President Donald Trump introduced in January 2019 and which Biden suspended on his first day in office.

Congressional leaders reached agreement Thursday on a stopgap spending bill to keep the federal government running through mid-February, though a temporary shutdown was still possible with some Senate Republicans holding out over the Biden administration’s COVID-19 vaccine mandates for some workers.

Find out which restaurants made the grade in this week's Restaurant Report Card.

The city expects to hire a new city manager in January.

The Christ United Methodist Church choir will represent Texas in Hawaii.

During the eight days of Hanukkah, Zeitman’s Grocery Store will feature various traditional Hanukkah food items.

The Biden administration views widespread adoption of booster shots as its most effective tool for combating COVID-19 this winter.

Lauren Smith, a correctional officer, was arrested after reportedly taking pills into a Bryan prison unit Tuesday.

Daily COVID-19 update for the Brazos Valley

OPEC and allied oil-producing countries have decided to maintain the amount of oil they pump to the world even as the new omicron variant casts a spikey shadow of uncertainty over the global economic recovery from the coronavirus pandemic.

The fate of the court’s historic 1973 Roe v. Wade decision legalizing abortion throughout the United States and its 1992 ruling in Planned Parenthood v. Casey, which reaffirmed Roe, probably won’t be known until next June.

The Blinn-Bryan Theatre Troupe kicks off the holidays with a twist.

The organization revealed it earned over $926,000 for the 154 nonprofits across the Brazos Valley who participated.