Voters in Fort Bend ISD will have the opportunity to weigh in on an election for several board of trustee seats in November.

On the ballot: Although FBISD candidates who file to run must reside on the side of the district the position requires, all voters can weigh in on all candidates, and candidates serve all district residents, per the district’s website.

Position 1 is elected from the west portion of the district, while Position 5 is elected from the east portion of the district. Meanwhile, Position 4 is an at-large position elected from any portion of the district.

Looking ahead: The election will take place Nov. 3 with early voting running from Oct. 19-30, according to the Texas Secretary of State’s website. Residents must register to vote by Oct. 5.

Texas Department of Transportation officials are seeking public input on three proposed routes for the southern portion of the Hwy. 36A project.

The southern portion of the project is expected to run from FM 1994 south of Needville to I-10 west of Katy with the goal of improving north-south mobility and connectivity.

What you need to know: TxDOT officials presented eight alternatives for the southern route in summer 2025, which garnered more than 4,900 participants who submitted over 680 comments with common themes including environmental resources, farmland and historic preservation.

Through the screening process, three reasonable alternatives have been identified to move forward, including:

• Reasonable alternative 4, which was carried forward due to lower environmental impact and fewer potential displacements

• Reasonable alternative 8, which was refined to align with the draft Fort Bend County Thoroughfare plan and is now reasonable alternative 8A

• Reasonable alternative 9, which was developed in response to public comment to evaluate use of existing infrastructure

Get involved: The public is invited to submit comments through Sept. 4.

Officials with the Astrodome Conservancy released a request for information document Aug. 18 seeking advice from developers, investors and operators on the most creative and financially viable ideas to redevelop the iconic Houston landmark known as the Astrodome.

What is it: A request for information (RFI) is a formal business or legal document used to gather general facts, market research, or additional information about features of a product or service from suppliers.

According to the Aug. 18 news release, Astrodome Conservancy officials are specifically seeking input from developers, investors, operators and other stakeholders with experience in large-scale, mixed-use and adaptive reuse projects.

How it works: Interested participants are encouraged by Conservancy officials to submit responses outlining potential concepts, partnership structures, financing approaches or implementation strategies through the submission portal available on the Astrodome Conservancy website. The deadline for responses is Sept. 8.

Texas’ audit of hundreds of proposed data centers will likely wrap up by the end of the year, grid officials said Aug. 20.

The overview: Up to 300 proposals will be audited to ensure they meet certain criteria before the data centers can begin connecting to the state electric grid. If all the plans are approved, these facilities alone could use about 200 gigawatts of electricity—more than twice Texas’ 91-gigawatt peak demand record, which was set on July 22.

How we got here: On Aug. 3, Gov. Greg Abbott directed ERCOT and the Public Utility Commission of Texas to audit proposed data centers regarding their water and electricity use; tax exemptions; impacts on residents; and facility ownership.

More details: Only large loads, or facilities that are expected to use at least 75 megawatts of electricity, will be fully audited. However, ERCOT will also survey proposed data centers that would use 25 megawatts of electricity or more.

ERCOT plans to release reports detailing the results of the audit and surveys on Dec. 10, officials said.