HTX-WDL: Impact 9/5/2025

The Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion announced its schedule of events for the remainder of its 2025 season, including its Performing Arts Series of free concerts.

The details: Introduced in 2024, the Performing Arts Series highlights performances by the Houston Symphony and The Woodlands Symphony as well as family-oriented events. Other events include Little Woodfest: Children's Festival presented by Texas Children's Hospital-The Woodlands featuring two days of activities for children.

Can't wait? Ticket prices vary for all shows except for shows indicated as being free events.

• Sept. 6, 7:30 p.m.: Parker McCollum: What Kind of Man Tour 2025 with Kameron Marlowe and Vincent Mason
• Sept. 7, 4 p.m.: Kipz Bop live: Certified Bop Tour with Snoop Dogg’s “Doggyland”
• Sept. 9, 7:30 p.m.: Houston Symphony: Bravo Broadway. free event

SugaringLA has filed plans for work at a site in Oak Ridge North.

The details: Renovations are set to begin in September and wrap up in December. The project has an estimated cost of $150,000.

• 26832 I-45 N., Oak Ridge North

Tomball Fire Station No. 5 is now home to Harris County’s first Safe Haven Baby Box, giving parents in crisis a safe and anonymous option to surrender their newborns, founder Monica Kelsey said.

The details: The baby box was dedicated Sept. 2 in partnership with Tomball Fire Rescue, Harris County Emergency Services District No. 15, the city of Tomball and community leaders, including St. Anne Catholic Church and the Cotton Foundation, which funded the installation.

Under Texas’ Safe Haven law, parents may legally surrender infants up to 60 days old at designated facilities. The new baby box—installed in an exterior wall of the fire station—locks automatically once a newborn is placed inside and alerts staff through interior sensors, ensuring immediate care, according to the Safe Haven Baby Box website.

Why it matters: The baby box is the 374th Safe Haven Baby Box in the U.S. and the 12th in Texas, Kelsey, who was herself abandoned at birth and has since championed the program nationwide, said.

Around 1 a.m. Sept. 4, the Texas Legislature gaveled out of its second special session of the year. On the heels of a two-week Democratic walkout that stymied bills during a previous legislative overtime, lawmakers moved quickly to pass 16 of Gov. Greg Abbott’s 24 priorities in under three weeks.

The details: A long-debated plan to ban or restrict sales of hemp-derived THC and a measure aimed at reining in local property tax growth were among the proposals that did not make the cut. Those proposals fell apart in the final days of the special session, after House and Senate lawmakers were unable to reach agreements. 

Also of note: Lawmakers also did not pass bills intended to improve emergency preparedness and communications in the wake of the deadly July 4-5 floods; shield certain law enforcement files from public disclosure; and bar local governments from hiring outside lobbyists. 

The governor can call a special session at any time; however, legislative leaders indicated they did not expect to return to Austin to tackle the remaining agenda items.