Fulshear City Council has appointed Angela Alvarado as the city's new finance director following a 4-0 vote at a Jan. 20 meeting. Alvarado replaces former Finance Director Erin Tureau, who left the city in December after four years in the position, according to her LinkedIn.

Digging in deeper: Fulshear-native Alvarado graduated with a Bachelor of Business Administration, finance, in 2000 and a Master of Business Administration in 2008, both from the University of Houston. She started her career as a financial trading analyst at Fidelity, where she worked for seven years, according to her LinkedIn.

She previously worked as a finance analyst for the El Paso Corporation from 2007-12 and has been at BP since, where she served as a senior finance advisor.

Two Republican candidates are running for U.S. House District 22—which includes parts of Katy, Fulshear, Sugar Land and Missouri City—in the upcoming March primary election.

Zooming in: The position is currently held by Republican Troy E. Nehls, who is not seeking re-election.

Candidates were asked to keep responses under 50 words, answer the questions provided and avoid attacking opponents. Answers may have been edited or cut to adhere to those guidelines, or for style and clarity.

Here's what we asked them:

• Why are you running for office?
• What are your qualifications for why you’d be a strong candidate in this role?
• If elected, what will be your top priorities?
• What are the biggest challenges facing this district, and how do you plan to address these issues?
• With district boundaries and representation changing, how will you ensure your constituents have the resources they need?
• What do you see as the greatest challenge for Texas in the next five years?

Harris County roadways are one step closer to seeing a new countywide road flood warning system to detect roadway flooding in real time and alert drivers.

Explained: A motion to advance negotiations with local engineering firm J.M. Torres and Associates LLC passed unanimously at the Jan. 29 Harris County Commissioners Court meeting. The Houston-based firm engineers real-time flood intelligence alert systems and data collectors, according to the business’s website.

What they're saying: “The project will install seven emergency flood warning measures across the four precincts,” Harris County Precinct 2 Media Specialist Alonzo Guadarrama said in an email. “These systems will be able to detect roadway flooding in real time and alert drivers, improving safety and helping reduce the risk of flood-related accidents.”

The impact: At least 812,294 properties in Harris County, or nearly 58% of all properties, have a risk of flooding over the next 30 years, according to data compiled from nonprofit First Street.

Harris County’s hospital district has raised $99 million, just $1 million shy of Harris Health’s fundraising goal to support the $2.9 billion capital building initiative approved by voters with the 2023 bond election.

The bottom line: Harris Health President and CEO Esmaeil Porsa shared the update on the hospital district’s philanthropic efforts at the Jan. 29 Commissioners Court meeting, days after hospital officials finished the newly named John M. O’Quinn Hospital in northeast Houston, also part of the 2023 bond.

The details: The fundraising announcement comes after Harris Health officials named the new Level I trauma-capable hospital after the late attorney and philanthropist, John M. O’Quinn. The naming ceremony took place Jan. 23 at the Lyndon B. Johnson Hospital campus, which is projected for completion in 2028 and opening in January 2029, according to a Jan. 23 news release.