Officials with Krafty Shack in Porter announced the business would be permanently closing July 25, according to a July 15 post on the business’s Facebook page.

The details: “Due to many reasons, we are closing Krafty Shack permanently,” officials stated in the post. “Parents: thank you so much for supporting our small business and our dreams. Kids: thank you for being so awesome. We loved working with you.”

Krafty Shack initially opened in Porter in 2016. In addition to arts and craft classes, Krafty Shack offered sewing classes, summer camps, seasonal craft camps, canvas painting parties and daycare field trips.

• Closed July 25
• 22043 E. Hammond Drive, Porter

Check out what's happening in the Lake Houston area from July 31-Aug. 28. 

Back to School Bash: Visit School of Rock Kingwood for an open house and celebration. The event will feature live music, karaoke, an open mic stage, games and prizes.

• July 31, 3 p.m.
• Free (admission)
• 1580 Kingwood Drive, Kingwood

• Aug. 8, 7 p.m.
• $40
• 611 Higgins St., Humble

• Aug. 21, 5:30 p.m. (doors open), 6:30 p.m. (event begins)
• $750 (table of 10)
• Humble Civic Center, 8233 Will Clayton Parkway, Humble

Individuals interested in running for local office are now able to apply for a place on the November general election ballot through Aug.17, according to the Texas Secretary of State's office.

What you need to know: Individuals interested in filing to run for office within a local subdivision or school district must file an application with the entity in charge of the election as well as meet several criteria including:

• Be 18 years of age or older
• Be a resident of the city, district or subdivision
• Be a U.S. citizen

• Harris County Emergency Services District No. 9
• Klein ISD
• Fort Bend ISD
• New Caney ISD
• City of Roman Forest
• Tomball ISD
• The Woodlands Township

Houston Mayor John Whitmire announced July 23 that the city is giving away 10,000 free tickets to watch the Houston Dynamo and Dash teams play at Shell Energy Stadium.

The setup: The new civic collaboration comes after Houston closed out hosting seven matches of the 2026 FIFA World Cup and a 39-day fan festival. Whitmire said city officials and their partners now want to focus on growing the game of soccer locally using the momentum from the success of the tournament.

How it works: Residents can visit the Dynamo website to see games for the remainder of the 2026 season for both the men's and women's teams from July through September. To receive the free tickets, they can use the code HOUSTON26 at the official First Match On Us portal on the website. Jessica O'Neill, president of business operations for Dynamo Dash, said there are up to two free tickets per person until availability runs out. Houston officials will also provide printed tickets to community partners to give out to residents.

Texas’ power grid operator and regulator have laid out their plans to regulate data centers that connect to the state grid and ensure data center companies, not residents, pay for the industry’s growth.

What's happening: To shield Texans from the negative impacts of data center growth, the Public Utility Commission of Texas and the Electric Reliability Council of Texas are:

• Prohibiting data centers from taking existing power resources off the grid
• Launching a new process to evaluate large projects looking to connect to the grid
• Creating standards that large consumers must meet before joining the grid
• Developing incentives for large consumers to reduce their energy use ahead of a grid emergency
• Requiring large companies to pay for the grid infrastructure needed to serve them
• Improving ERCOT’s process for projecting future demand