Gearing up for the holidays? Take a look at 14 Thanksgiving and Christmas events in the Katy and Fulshear area.

Paloma Trails Holiday Market: Head to Paloma Trails to shop, enjoy food and drinks, check out live music, meet cowboy Santa, and enjoy buggy, horse and pony rides.

• Nov. 14, 9 a.m.- 2 p.m.

Katy Nutcracker Exchange/Katy Christmas Tree Lighting Ceremony: Walk around Katy’s Historic Town Square to check out local vendors, visit with Santa, and enjoy bounce houses, carolers, snow machines, performances and music before seeing the city’s Christmas tree light up the sky.

• Dec. 5, 2-8 p.m.

TubaChristmas: The Lone Star Symphonic Band and Katy Heritage Society are teaming up for a holiday concert featuring tubas and euphoniums performing Christmas carols.

• Dec. 12, 4-5:30 p.m.

Family butcher shop Stone Cold Meats will be opening a new location in Katy, representatives confirmed.

Main course: Founded in 2018 by husband and wife Sean and Ami Stone, the shop sources its meats both in and out of the country, representatives said.

Meat selections include:

• Hand-cut steaks

• Premium beef, pork and chicken

• House-made sausages 

• Australian Wagyu

• Japanese A5 Wagyu

• Ibérico pork

Keep in mind: Stone Cold Meats has other locations in League City, Conroe and Cypress, per its website. 

• 2020 S. Fry Road, Ste. G, Katy

The Harris County Commissioners Court is scheduled to discuss several key initiatives during its Nov. 12 regular meeting, including disaster recovery, artificial intelligence and violence prevention.

Latest update: Commissioners are expected to discuss a one-year spending deadline extension granted by the Texas General Land Office for federally funded Hurricane Harvey recovery and flood mitigation projects. The new deadlines are February 2028 and March 2029.

Another detail: Additionally, the court will consider a new county AI policy developed by the Universal Services department, which recommends implementation in May 2027 to allow for department training.

One more thing: The court will also consider adding 24 jobs to expand two violence prevention and interruption programs, HART and RISE. The proposed positions include:

• Ten crisis intervention specialists

• Six outreach workers for violence interruption

• Two supervisors for violence interruption

• Two case managers

• One outreach worker for hospital violence interruption

• One project manager

• One senior data analyst

• One communications specialist

State Rep. Senfronia Thompson, the longest-serving woman and Black legislator in Texas history, said she has the votes to become Texas House speaker when the legislature convenes in January.

What to know: Thompson released a list Nov. 6 of 90 House members whom she said pledged to support her speaker candidacy.

The 87-year-old was first elected to the legislature in 1972 and took office the following year. She would become the first woman and the first Black lawmaker to serve as Texas House speaker.

The context: Thompson's candidacy comes after Democrats swept Texas' statewide seats in the Nov. 3 election, ending 24 years of Republican dominance. Rep. Eddie Morales, D-Eagle Pass, threw his hat in the ring for speaker on Nov. 5 before endorsing Thompson less than a day later.

Quote of note: "I know that with the colleagues that are being sent to the legislature, both Democrats and Republicans working together, we can make a difference in the state of Texas and the lives of the people that we represent," Thompson said.