Harris County officials announced the launch of a new online platform designed to make it easier for business and property owners to process tax payments ahead of tax bills arriving in the mail throughout November.

Quote of note: Tax Assessor Annette Ramirez announced the new online system launch of “My Harris County Tax Account” on Nov. 19 in Downtown Houston.

“Anything that we can do to make it easier to help our homeowners stay current on their taxes and not go delinquent, that is my goal,” Ramirez said.

What to expect: Key features on the new platform will include:

• Prepayment plans for 2026 taxes starting in February or March
• Automatic monthly payment withdrawals to avoid penalties and interest

The takeaway: Users can now create a profile on the new tax site, Ramirez said, and starting in February, homeowners and business owners can start a prepaid tax payment plan and choose how many months in advance to spread payments automatically.  

It was during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic when the Lone Star College System noticed a lot of students who didn’t have the necessary items needed to make ends meet. That’s when Carolina Redmond, who is the executive director of care programs at LSCS, said the college developed a centralized tracking system, or care request form, so students could log in through their school portal and identify in confidentiality what it is that they need, whether that be food, clothing or hygiene items.

In a nutshell: Now, LSCS operates multiple care centers at its campuses, including LSC-University Park, LSC-Tomball and LSC-Montgomery. 

By the numbers: Redmond said LSCS has seen a rise in student visits at a few of its care centers in the 2025 spring semester. Redmond said in the spring, the LSC-Montgomery care center had about 2,037 visits, the LSC-Tomball location had about 5,125 students visit and around 3,676 students visited the LSC-University Park care center.

Giving Machines are returning to Houston this holiday season, allowing residents to donate to area nonprofits by purchasing items through the specialty vending machines, according to a news release.

Quote of note: “This Christmas season, the Giving Machines help the entire Houston community to share the light of Christ by following His example and giving to those in need,” Elder Robert Ellis, Area Seventy for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, said via news release. “The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is honored to partner with these life-changing charities across Houston, our country, and the world."

More details: Residents can purchase items such as meals, medical care and clothing for area nonprofits, which, according to the news release, will include:

• Target Hunger
• East Fort Bend Human Needs Ministry
• BEAR, or Be A Resource
• TOMAGWA HealthCare Ministries
• Interfaith of The Woodlands
• Church World Service
• Splash International

Harris Health officials are one step closer to completion as part of its multi-year, multi-phase initiative to open a new $60 million operations center in the Texas Medical Center. 

Marking a milestone: A final steel beam was placed Nov. 11 at the facility, marking the topping off at the Holly Hall Operations Center, located at 2525 Holly Hall St., Houston.

The four-story, approximately 145,275-square-foot facility is projected to open in late 2026 and support the county healthcare system’s pharmacy and emergency medical services, according to officials. 

What's being done: Pharmacy operations will be consolidated into the new center, according to Harris Health Media Relations Specialist John Martinez. 

“It will feature new automation systems and technology to support current and future pharmacy needs for Harris Health, a centralized sterile compounding and inventory central distribution services to maximize economies of scale, enhance cost-effectiveness and improve operational efficiency,” Martinez said in an email. 

The cost: Funding for the facility is coming from Harris Health's operational budget, Martinez said.

• 2525 Holly Hall St., Houston

Google is targeting Texas for future investments in data and artificial infrastructure, with $40 billion expected to be spent on adding three new data centers.

Federal, state and local leaders announced the new centers to be constructed in Armstrong and Haskell counties at a Nov. 14 event at the first Texas Google Data Center in Midlothian, near the Dallas-Fort Worth area.

The gist: One new data center will be constructed in Armstrong County near Amarillo, and two new data centers will be constructed in Haskell County near Abilene. One center in Haskell County will also use a new solar and battery energy storage plant.

“They say that everything is bigger in Texas—and that certainly applies to the golden opportunity with AI,” Google and Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai said.

Also of note: The driverless car company Waymo is expanding to North Texas in 2026, Pichai said.