Hacienda Los Arcos now serving fajitas, margaritas in Kingwood
Hacienda Los Arcos is now open in Kingwood, the restaurant's owners confirmed via email Sept. 9.
What to expect: Locally owned by Martin Gurrusquieta Sr. and his sons Martin Gurrusquieta Jr. and Jesse Gurrusquieta, Hacienda Los Arcos offers a menu of Tex-Mex dishes including fajitas and enchiladas as well as a full bar that serves handcrafted margaritas and cocktails. In addition to indoor seating, the restaurant also features an outdoor patio.
Quote of note:"Hacienda Los Arcos is more than just a restaurant—it's a family legacy brought to life in the heart of Kingwood," Jesse Gurrusquieta said via email. "At Hacienda Los Arcos, our mission is simple: bring people together over great food, refreshing drinks and the kind of service you'd expect from family."
Humble City Council OKs 1.3% drop for property tax rate
On Sept. 11, Humble City Council approved its fiscal year 2025-26 property tax rate, which is smaller than the previous year’s rate. However, with home values increasing 2% year over year, residents may still see a slight increase on their tax bill.
The breakdown: Humble’s approved total property tax rate for FY 2025-26 is $0.258171 per $100 valuation. For FY 2024-25, the city’s total property tax rate was $0.261476.
Budget explained: Humble City Council also unanimously approved the city’s FY 2025-26 budget, which features about $22.6 million in general fund capital outlay expenditures—such as infrastructure projects and public safety equipment—and $15.7 million in water and wastewater projects.
13 Houston-area haunted houses, ghost tours open ahead of Halloween
Looking for a spine-tingling and spooky activity to get in the Halloween spirit? Check out this guide for haunted houses and ghost tours throughout the Greater Houston area.
Creepy Hollow Haunted House Multiple themed scary attractions are offered by Creepy Hollow Haunted House. Visit beloved creepy characters as they stalk about the property. General admission includes all three main haunts—”Dark Woods,” “Pitch Black” and “Scare Factory.”
Houston Terror Dome Haunted House Take your pick of various themed haunted houses to sneak through at the Houston Terror Dome. Attractions include “Soul Sucker” and “Dolly's Doll House.” The business also offers activities such as paintball, a haunted bar, escape rooms and axe throwing.
Harris County commissioners negotiate $81K pay raise for county's 8 elected constables
Harris County commissioners are looking to adopt the fiscal year 2025-26 budget Sept. 18 with various approved pay parity adjustments including the re-negotiated raises for the county’s eight elected constables.
The vote: A motion to increase each elected constable’s salary to $260,000 passed Sept. 9 with a 3-1 vote. Precinct 1 Commissioner Rodney Ellis cast the dissenting vote and Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo was absent.
The details: The approved pay raise, county officials said, will be a budget neutral item, with funds coming out of each of the eight constable precinct’s own budget with no additional funding required from the county.
Quote of note: “After months of deep engagement through numerous town halls and hundreds of survey responses, the community told us what mattered most: public safety, public health, infrastructure and disaster readiness,” Precinct 4 Commissioner Lesley Briones said in a statement. “I’m proud we delivered a balanced budget that protects core services, without having to ask hardworking women and men to vote on raising their taxes.”
Delayed retirement payments expected by end of September, Houston pension system chair said
Approximately 1,052 city employees took Mayor John Whitmire’s early retirement incentive as part of the administration’s efforts to cut down on what was a $330 million budget shortfall earlier this year, according to previous Community Impact reporting. However, reports came out that hundreds of these retired employees have still not received their payments.
In case you missed it: Sherry Mose, chair of the Houston Municipal Employees Pension System, told City Council historically the system has an average of 39 retirements a month, but now the department has to process more than a thousand at one time.
Mose said there are around 270-280 retirees who have not received their payments yet but are expected to receive them by the end of September. She said the reason for this is because they either did not submit their paperwork on time, or some paperwork was completed incorrectly, while there are over 40 retirees that HMEPS staff have been unable to get ahold of.
8 new mobile STEM labs to visit 270 Texas school districts this school year
Education in science, technology, engineering and math, or STEM, may become more accessible for Texas public school students this school year.
What happened: Officials from national education nonprofit Learning Undefeated and the Texas Education Agency celebrated the opening of eight new mobile STEM labs at a Sept. 10 ribbon-cutting ceremony in Austin. The TEA-funded labs are expected to visit 270 school districts across the state in the 2025-26 school year.
Notable quote: “In an ever-changing world, access to STEM education remains critical to help prepare our students for career pathways and lifelong success,” said Alejando Delgado, TEA deputy commissioner of operations.
The overview: Learning Undefeated built eight new mobile STEM labs after receiving a $3.5 million grant from the TEA, according to Learning Defeated information. The organization opened its first mobile STEM lab in Texas in 2020.
The nine regionally-based labs will now visit elementary and middle school campuses across the state’s 20 educational service center regions. Kindergarten through eighth grade students may participate in a variety of STEM activities to learn engineering design.
