Local Government
Local Government
Latest reporting from the Local Government desk.
Local Government
View MoreSpring-area lane closures to stretch into 2028 for Houston sewer project
The City of Houston's nine-phase wastewater consolidation project is bringing lane closures to Greens Road, Aldine Bender Road, Greens Parkway, Cotillion Drive and other corridors through winter 2028, as three aging treatment plants are replaced with a regional system near Bush Intercontinental Airport.
Local Government
View MoreCommissioners approve $2.5 million for DA's probe into fatal ICE shooting
Harris County Commissioners Court unanimously approved $2.5 million from the general fund on Aug. 6 to finance District Attorney Sean Teare's independent investigation into the fatal ICE shooting of Lorenzo Salgado Araujo, with Precinct 3 Commissioner Tom Ramsey telling the victim's family they are owed answers.
Local Government
View MoreNew Texas voting law will spike Harris County election costs 30%, delay results
Harris County Clerk Teneshia Hudspeth told state lawmakers on Aug. 4 that Senate Bill 2753's expanded weekend voting will raise general election costs by 30% and delay election-night results, with no state funding to cover the added burden on taxpayers.
Local Government
View MoreHarris County keeps minority contracting program intact as Spring couple's lawsuit looms
Harris County commissioners left the county's minority- and women-owned business contracting program unchanged on Aug. 6 despite a federal ruling striking down Houston's version, while a pending lawsuit from a Spring couple who won that Houston case threatens the county program's future.
Local Government
View MoreMUD 370 trash bills rising $2.55 a month as hazardous waste trial launches
Harris County MUD 370 households in the Spring area face a combined $2.55 monthly increase on trash bills after a CPI-driven rate hike took effect Aug. 1 and a new six-month hazardous waste disposal trial launches Sept. 1.
Local Government
View MoreHarris County property tax rate could jump 9 cents in largest increase in county history
Harris County's property tax rate could climb from 62 cents to as high as 71 cents per $100 of assessed value after Budget Director Daniel Ramos proposed a 3-cent general fund increase and two other taxing entities signaled similar hikes, in what Commissioner Tom Ramsey called potentially the greatest tax rate increase in county history.
Local Government
View MoreHidalgo's child care tax proposal fails again at Commissioners Court
Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo's proposed 1-cent property tax increase for early childhood programs failed for the second straight year on Aug. 6 after no commissioner seconded the motion, closing the door on a November ballot question that would have affected Spring-area homeowners.
Local Government
View MoreWhat the new UIL heat rules mean for Spring-area parents
A parent's guide to recognizing heat illness in Spring-area student-athletes as mandatory UIL Wet Bulb Globe Temperature rules reshape preseason practices ahead of the Sept. 4 football openers.
Local Government
View MoreAbbott's data center freeze could reshape development along Spring's I-45 corridor
Gov. Abbott's directive freezing new data center grid connections puts the Spring-area I-45 corridor — identified by analysts as the next expansion zone for power-hungry facilities — in a holding pattern until state regulators complete an audit with no announced timeline.
Local Government
View MoreFormer HCSO deputy charged with sexual assault of 13-year-old at Tomball home
Former Harris County Sheriff's Office deputy Nicholas Burbridge, 34, was arrested Aug. 4 and charged with aggravated sexual assault of a child under 14 after court records allege he used a dating app to contact a 13-year-old girl and assaulted her at his Tomball home in March.
Local Government
View MoreConstable warns drivers to avoid Cypresswood and Champion Forest after high water reported
Harris County Constable Precinct 4 warned Spring-area drivers to avoid Cypresswood Drive and Champion Forest Drive on Tuesday after high water was reported at the intersection.
Local Government
View MoreNew lawsuit uses Texas religious-freedom law to challenge Ten Commandments mandate days before Spring ISD classes begin
A Harris County judge will hear arguments Friday, Aug. 7, on whether to block the Texas Ten Commandments classroom poster mandate before school starts, a ruling that could set the stage for broader action affecting Spring ISD.
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