HTX-PLF: Impact 10/8/2025

Manvel City Council unanimously approved at its Oct. 6 meeting restricting 18-wheelers and commercial vehicles from parking overnight on highway feeder roads along Hwy. 288.

The overview: The recommendation for this restriction was made by Manvel Chief of Public Safety Keith Traylor. 

“We’ve been receiving several complaints about the commercial vehicles that have started parking along the access roadways along State Highway 288,” he said at the meeting.

The new ordinance restricts the following vehicles from parking alongside the highway:

• Truck-tractors
• Trailers designed to be drawn by truck-tractors
• Public or private buses
• Converted buses
• Heavy construction equipment, to include but not be limited to: graders, dozers, rollers, cement mixers, backhoes, dump trucks, etc.
• Any commercial vehicle exceeding 35 feet in length

Real estate agency Century 21 TEVAS is officially open in Pearland and will have a grand opening celebration on Oct. 17, according to a social media post from the owner.

The details: The business offers services related to real estate, including selling homes and mortgages, among others, according to its website.

What else: The celebration will include complimentary food and drinks, a tour of the space, networking and celebration with fellow professionals, as well as music entertainment.

The Public Utility Commission of Texas on Oct. 2 authorized CenterPoint Energy to issue a customer rate increase—totaling approximately $1.2 billion—to cover repair and recovery costs from Hurricane Beryl and two other Greater Houston storms.

The overview: The restoration costs will add about $2 per month to the average customer’s electricity bill, with the rate change expected to take effect later this year or early next year, according to an Oct. 6 statement from CenterPoint Energy. The decision allows CenterPoint to spread the cost to residential customers across 15 years, saving more than $265 million in interest charges, per the statement. 

Looking back: According to previous Community Impact reporting, more than 2.2 million customers in the Greater Houston area lost power during Hurricane Beryl in July 2024, and over 4,400 Harris County homes were damaged. The Category 1 storm led to an estimated $32 billion in losses nationwide.

Odyssey, a New York-based tech company, has been selected to manage Texas’ $1 billion education savings account program, the state comptroller’s office announced Oct. 6.

The overview: Odyssey will work with the comptroller to launch the program, deemed “Texas Education Freedom Accounts,” ahead of the 2026-27 school year. Families can begin applying for the program early next year, and those accepted will receive thousands of dollars in state funds to send their children to private school or homeschool them.

Zooming in: Odyssey will develop and manage an online platform to administer Texas’ education savings account program. State law also tasks the company with:

• Collecting applications and determining which families are accepted to the program
• Approving vendors for education-related materials and services, such as textbooks, transportation and tutoring
• Reviewing inquiries and complaints about the program
• Advertising the program and communicating with interested families