Gold Sponsors

Despite interior designers’ reputation for putting together large-scale home renovations or transforming rooms to be unrecognizable, Jamie Olivarez said her studio also offers a more affordable option.

Olivarez, an established interior designer and founder of Pink Door Designs, said she is able to offer clients consultations by the hour.

The approach: She describes her job as taking someone’s personal style and amplifying it, as she believes people’s homes should showcase who they are.

“[The house] is supposed to say ‘this is my place, this is what I’m doing and this is what I’m about,’” Olivarez said.

Read all about it: Olivarez said she is seeing trends shift with clients moving away from the modern farmhouse look that was popular a few years ago and asking for more tradition and character. Other trends include color drenching, where paint is used on walls, doors and ceilings, and the incorporation of more woodwork and trim.

• Services provided across Greater Houston, including Katy, Fulshear, Sugar Land and Houston’s Bay Area

Fort Bend ISD has selected a third-party contractor for its virtual high school set to begin this fall.

What you need to know: At a May 11 meeting, Fort Bend ISD’s board of trustees voted to enter into a $4.2 million agreement with educational software company Edmentum to supply instructional and programming services for the district’s upcoming virtual high school.

The online high school will offer 100 rising ninth graders entering the 2026-27 school year the opportunity to take accredited courses that are entirely virtual, according to the district’s website. Grade level expansion is a possibility if enrollment increases over time.

Zooming in: Edmentum will be responsible for providing Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills-aligned digital curriculum, instructional resources and academic support that satisfy state standards and graduation requirements at a personalized pace for each student, per agenda documents.

The cost: Expenditures, which are included in the 2026-27 budget, will be 100% offset by the average daily attendance revenue.

Next steps: The three-year contract will begin July 1 with two optional one-year extensions, per agenda documents. 

Republican voters will choose their nominee for the U.S. House District 7 representative in a May 26 runoff election between Alexander Hale and Tina Cohen.

In a nutshell: The Republican race for U.S. House District 7 is one of several contests that advanced to May runoffs after no candidate received more than 50% of the vote in the March 3 primary election.

Hale and Cohen were the two highest-performing candidates in the four-way primary race, with Hale securing 45.27% of the vote to Cohen's 26.81%.

Stay tuned: The winner of the May 26 runoff will face Democratic nominee and incumbent Lizzie Fletcher for the U.S. House District 7 seat in the November midterm election.

For the first time in over a decade, there is no incumbent in the Texas attorney general's race as Republican Ken Paxton runs for U.S. Senate. Candidates on both sides of the aisle will compete in runoff elections May 26 after no candidate received more than 50% of the vote in the March 3 primaries.

State Sen. Nathan Johnson, D-Dallas, and former Galveston Mayor Joe Jaworski are vying for the Democratic nomination.

The overview: In a three-way primary race, Johnson secured 48% of the vote while Jaworski received 26% of the vote. The winner of the May 26 overtime round will face the Republican nominee and potential third-party candidates in November.

The context: The attorney general serves as Texas' top lawyer, defending the state in court, filing consumer protection lawsuits and issuing opinions interpreting state law. The agency also enforces Texas' child support laws, investigates human trafficking cases and manages access to public records.

At the polls: Texans can vote early from May 18-22 and runoff election day is May 26.

For the first time in over a decade, there is no incumbent in the Texas attorney general's race as Republican Ken Paxton runs for U.S. Senate. Candidates on both sides of the aisle will compete in runoff elections May 26 after no candidate received more than 50% of the vote in the March 3 primaries.

State Sen. Mayes Middleton of Galveston and U.S. Rep. Chip Roy of Austin are each seeking the Republican nomination for the seat.

The overview: Middleton and Roy were the two highest-performing candidates in a four-person primary race. The winner of the May 26 overtime round will face the Democratic nominee and potential third-party candidates in November.

The context: The attorney general serves as Texas' top lawyer, defending the state in court, filing consumer protection lawsuits and issuing opinions interpreting state law. The agency also enforces Texas' child support laws, investigates human trafficking cases and manages access to public records.

At the polls: Texans can vote early May 18-22 and runoff election day is May 26.

Roughly 76,000 fewer students were enrolled in Texas public schools this academic year than the year prior, according to May 11 report.

The overview: The 2025-26 school year marks the second recorded enrollment drop in recent history, according to Texas Education Agency data collected since the 1987-88 academic year. The first decline happened in the 2020-21 school year, at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Hispanic students accounted for 81% of the enrollment loss in the 2025-26 school year, the policy research group Texas 2036 found.

The local impact: School districts across Community Impact’s coverage areas are in the process of closing and consolidating campuses, citing enrollment declines and budget shortfalls. Statewide data shows that 130 campuses have been selected for closure in the past two years.

What they're saying: “This year, we are down students, and these [drops] are somewhat more accelerated than statewide demographic trends indicated,” TEA Commissioner Mike Morath told lawmakers May 11. “We cannot tell you the precise cause of this. We just know that it has occurred.”