Following a soft opening Feb. 11, Portillo's is now serving Chicago street food in Humble, according to a Feb. 9 post on the eatery's Facebook page. A grand opening celebration will be held Feb. 24. 

On the menu: The fast-casual restaurant offers a menu of Chicago-style hot dogs, Italian beef sandwiches and char-grilled burgers. 

What to expect: As previously reported by Community Impact, the Humble location features Portillo's "restaurant of the future" design that includes seating for 166 guests, double drive-thru lanes, and specific accommodations for on-the-go guests who prefer carryout. 

• Soft opened Feb. 11; grand opening Feb. 24 
• 111 FM 1960 Bypass Road E., Humble 

Humble City Council unanimously voted Feb. 12 to restrict faux slot machine games, called eight-liners, to specific venues—reducing the number of places allowed to offer the games in Humble by half, city officials said.

What’s changing? Under the new ordinance, venues in Humble can only offer up to two eight-liner games. Also, the machines can only be located at:

• Bars
• Nightclubs
• Bingo halls
• Billiard halls

Harris County voters will be able to start casting ballots on Feb. 17 across a number of county, state and federal races.

The big picture: Early voting for the March 3 primary elections begins Feb. 17 and will run through Feb. 27, according to the Harris County Elections office. During early voting, registered voters will be able to vote at any polling location in the county.

To find the nearest voting center, residents can use the county's interactive map to see 60 different locations. Early voting will run from 7 a.m.-7 p.m. on each day except for Feb. 22, when early voting will be available from noon-7 p.m.

What else? Election day is March 3, and Community Impact will be monitoring and providing updates on early voting and election day results. To see candidate questionnaires and keep up with results, please visit Community Impact's election coverage.

In a 3-1 vote, Harris County commissioners authorized moving forward on two new studies that will look at potential long-term solutions to jail overcrowding issues.

The big picture: The Jail Infrastructure Governance Advisory Committee, or JGAC, was formed in 2024 to identify methods of reducing detention rates and improving overall efficiency within the county criminal justice system.

The committee requested $1.25 million in funding for a study directed at:

• Overall jail detention rate reduction
• Master facility planning
• Implementable program step designs

The Lone Star College System kicked off 2026 with the highest spring enrollment in the institution's history, officials announced Feb. 4.

Two-minute impact: Lone Star College System saw a 6.4% increase in enrollment compared to spring 2025, with 97,221 students enrolled for the spring 2026 semester, per the Feb. 4 news release.

Additionally, officials reported a fall-to-spring retention rate of almost 80% for the spring semester, which began Jan. 20. The milestone builds off record-breaking numbers for fall enrollment in 2025, with 97,294 students taking classes last semester, Community Impact previously reported.

Quote of note: "Lone Star College System isn't just seeing enrollment growth. We're retaining and graduating more students year after year," Chancellor Mario K. Castillo said in a statement. "This is a true testament to the support we offer students beyond the classroom, from food pantries and mental health services to student life programs that keep students engaged in their educational goals."

Early in-person voting in Texas’ primary elections begins Feb. 17 and lasts until Feb. 27.

How it works: Texas has an open primary system, where voters decide at the polling place whether to cast ballots in the Democratic or Republican primary. Voters may not participate in both primaries.

What to expect: Voters will be given a ballot with a slate of statewide seats and other races determined by the voting precinct they live in. During early voting, registered voters can visit any polling location in their county.

Candidates who win their primaries will advance to the Nov. 3 midterm election.

Why it matters: Early voting gives registered voters the opportunity to cast their ballots before primary election day March 3.

Voter advocacy groups and experts told Community Impact that a vote in the March primaries is “the most impactful vote” Texans can cast, due to consistently low voter turnout and competition in certain races. Over 18 million Texans are registered to vote, although about one-fifth of registered voters participated in recent primary elections.