ATX-PFH: Impact 10/28/2025

Card Gurus Comics & Collectibles is now open in Pflugerville.

The setup: The business specializes in trading cards, comics, games, action figures, memorabilia and other collectibles. Customers can buy, sell and trade items at Card Gurus, which is owned by Blake Perkins, Justin Johnson and Vo Nguyen.

In addition to Card Guru’s merchandise, the shop also provides space for other vendors to operate out of.

• Opened Oct. 25

A Pride festival, tree-planting event, Veterans Day ceremony and more are on tap for Pflugerville and Hutto residents over the next month. Check out this list of 11 events happening in the area.

Dia De Muertos 4th annual Pride Festival: Pflugerville Pride will host its 4th annual event with a Dia de Meurtos theme. The event in downtown Pflugerville will include entertainment, food and luminary lighting.

Hutto Tequila Festival: Hutto Tequila Club and Hippo Foundation will host the second annual Hutto Tequila Festival featuring Tequila 512, Dos Curenos, Tequila Buen Motivo USA and more still to be announced.

Gingerbread Lane Austin: A holiday race featuring distances suitable for all participants including 1-mile, 5K, and 10K. Children can partake in the Kids Dash, a 50-meter sprint. Attendees are encouraged to wear holiday-themed attire for an opportunity to win prizes in the costume contest.

Texas is home to about 3.5 million small businesses, according to the National Federation of Independent Businesses. Estimates show that the average Texas small-business owner could save about $2,500 per year if voters approve an expanded business tax exemption on the Nov. 4 ballot.

The details: State Proposition 9 would exempt up to $125,000 of a business’s personal property, such as equipment, furniture and vehicles, from taxation. Texas business owners currently receive a tax exemption on property worth $2,500 or less.

“At $2,500, virtually everyone's paying this tax,” NFIB Texas Director Jeff Burdett said in an Oct. 24 interview. “If you have a desk, a computer and a chair, you're probably over $2,500 [in inventory]. … It makes no difference for almost any business.”

At the polls: Early voting in the Nov. 4 election began Oct. 20 and runs through Oct. 31. For more information about the propositions and candidates on your local ballot, visit www.communityimpact.com/voter-guide.

Therapy Pet Pals of Texas was founded in Austin in 1984 by Kathryn Lashmit, and has been offering pet visitations to the elderly and infirm in Texas ever since.

The overview: Therapy Pet Pals of Texas is a private nonprofit created with the goal of assisting the elderly, terminally ill and mentally or physically challenged through pet visitations at nursing homes, medical hospitals, rehabilitation centers and other special needs facilities.

The benefits: Pet visitations offered by volunteers and their therapy dogs can provide a positive bonding experience for those confined to institutional living facilities, according to the nonprofit’s website.

“The residents just know when you're coming. They remember the dog's name, not always yours. It's all about the dogs for us,” Executive Director Nancy Gray said. “And [the residents] just smile. Sometimes they've told us that they were in pain, but once the dog comes, they feel they don't think about their pain for that few minutes they can hug on the dog, or sometimes they just want to talk to you.”

The overview: As Community Impact enters its third decade, it’s returning to its roots of growth and deeper reader connections. The “Patron” program, which began in 2020 by reader demand, has relaunched as the InCIder.

“This relaunch represents our renewed commitment to readers who support our local news,” CEO John Garrett said. “Beyond funding great journalism, we also want to reward our InCIders and build deeper connections with them, creating a true sense of community around the work we do.”

Event details: As part of the relaunch, Community Impact will host its first-ever InCIder Hour, a new event aimed at celebrating and engaging the company’s supporters.

The event, open to InCIders only, will take place Nov. 12 from 5:30-7 p.m. at Community Impact Headquarters, 16225 Impact Way, Pflugerville.

Guests will have the opportunity to network with fellow InCIders, meet Community Impact staff and attend a featured conversation with legislative reporter Hannah Norton, moderated by CEO John Garrett.

“Our first event needed to start where all the hard work is put together,” Garrett said. “People are blown away when they see our operation. To be able to sit and chat with the best legislative reporter in Texas, Hannah Norton, makes it an event our InCIder friends deserve and hopefully will enjoy.”