With the start of the 2026-27 school year on Aug. 10, Houston ISD implemented its new “Pay-for-Performance” model, which determines returning teachers’ salaries via a performance evaluation and their ranking against other district educators.

The overview: The Pay-for-Performance Teacher Excellence System was approved by HISD’s board of managers in March 2025, as previously reported by Community Impact.

During the first year of implementation, teachers’ scores are based on one year of data, but in the future, pay will be based on a two-year average, according to a July 31 news release from HISD. Teacher salaries for the 2026-27 school year range from $70,000-$101,000 annually.

Diving deeper: As previously reported, the TES assessments will divide teachers’ evaluations into four categories ranging from quality of instruction and student academic outcomes to professionalism and campus-wide performance. After being evaluated, teachers will then be ranked into six categories from Unsatisfactory to Exemplary based on where they stand compared to others.

Officials with Zio Als Pizza & Pasta have filed two project listings with the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation in recent months to open new locations in the Greater Heights and Montrose areas.

What's special about it: Zio Als Pizza & Pasta is a pizzeria in Katy that stays open until 3 a.m., serving specialty pizzas, wings, pasta and appetizers, as well as sandwiches, salads and desserts.

Customers can order pizzas in small, medium, or large sizes and can also build their own pizza, choosing the size, crust, cheese and toppings. Additional menu items include cheese manicotti, shrimp fettuccine alfredo, lasagna, stuffed jalapeños, halal wings and chocolate mousse cake.

Latest update: Project filings show that construction started on the 106 Westheimer Road location in April and has an estimated completion date of Aug. 31. On the other hand, the new location on West 19th Street started construction July 1, with an estimated completion date of Jan. 31, 2027.

• 106 Westheimer Road, Houston

• 250 W. 19th St., Ste. E, Houston

Houston will let voters decide this November on whether or not the city should ban no-knock warrants and deprioritize the enforcement of low-level marijuana offenses.

What happened: Houston City Council passed an ordinance Aug. 12 to add an item to the Nov. 3 ballot that could amend the city’s charter to deprioritize misdemeanors related to marijuana possession. The city’s current code states that convictions could be a fine up to $2,000 per package.

The petition requests that the city designate misdemeanor marijuana possession to its lowest possible enforcement priority. The petition also suggests that the city update its budget, police department manual and policies and procedures to ensure that public safety resources are not used on misdemeanor marijuana enforcement.

The other part of the ordinance will allow voters to decide whether or not to ban no-knock warrants, which allow officers to enter without knocking or announcing their presence. 

One more thing: The midterm elections will be held Nov. 3 and residents who live within city limits can vote on these propositions.

CenterPoint Energy officials announced a new initiative that aims to provide savings of up to $5 billion to all residential and small- to medium-sized businesses over the next decade in an Aug. 11 news release.

The big picture: The initiative stems from both the strengthening of requirements for large load energy users like data centers in the 89th Legislative Session and a project to add 14 gigawatts of energy load to CenterPoint Energy's service area.

Senate Bill 6 was authorized in the 89th Legislative Session and requires any development that expects to utilize over 75 megawatts of power at any point to pay higher overall energy costs.

In their words: "We have a once-in-a-generation opportunity to generate historic levels of customer savings of more than $5 billion statewide by leveraging new investment in large projects to build a more affordable, reliable and resilient electric grid for millions of customers," CenterPoint Energy Chairman and CEO Jason Wells said.

From 2020-25, more than 45,000 wildfires burned over 2.7 million acres of Texas land, according to the Texas A&M Forest Service.

Ahead of the 2027 state legislative session, lawmakers are looking into ways to better prevent wildfires from happening and prepare communities to respond when fires do start.

The background: In 2025, state lawmakers passed Senate Bill 34, which required the Texas A&M Forest Service to create a statewide database of firefighting equipment; established a council to improve emergency communications between local, state and federal agencies; and increased funding to help rural volunteer fire departments purchase equipment from $30 million to $40 million.

Quote of note: Sen. Kevin Sparks, a Midland Republican who authored the law, said more work needs to be done to increase wildfire preparedness across the state.

"As we move forward, our focus should be on a more proactive approach that prioritizes prevention and mitigation alongside response preparedness," Sparks said during an Aug. 11 hearing of the Senate Natural Resources Committee, which he chairs.

Community Impact is seeking input from residents in the Greater Heights area who would like to share their thoughts on the Greater Heights Strategic Connections Plan, which the Memorial Heights Redevelopment Authority is currently developing. We’d like to hear about priority projects for residents, current mobility issues and general thoughts. If you are interested, please reach out to [email protected]. Must be willing to speak on record.