HTX-BMW: Impact 8/22/2025

The city of Houston has unveiled a new online dashboard called Train Watch to provide residents with real-time information on rail crossings and whether a train is blocking them. 

What you need to know: Train Watch is a pilot program designed to provide residents and first responders with real-time updates on railroad activity to mitigate traffic impacts, Jessie Bounds, the director of the Mayor’s Office of Innovation and Performance, told Community Impact. In July, Bounds said the city received 530 reports of blocked crossings. 

The program relies on 70 sensors spread throughout the city of Houston, Bounds said. Some of these sensors are acoustic, meaning they detect noises of trains or gates, with cameras used to validate the noise. Other sensors are traffic signal preemption devices, where traffic signals will detect an approaching train and turn red to stop oncoming vehicles. 

According to the website, Train Watch provides a live interactive map that will indicate whether a crossing is currently occupied or open by displaying red or green dots. 

The former, once closed Yia Yia Marry's Mediterranean Kitchen has now rebranded and opened its doors this month as Yiayia’s Pappas Greek Kitchen, according to the restaurant's social media.

What’s special about it?: The new concept is inspired by the original Yiayia Mary, a former Greek restaurant in the Galleria area that served a Mediterranean menu and closed during the pandemic.

Yiayia's Pappas Greek Kitchen is an homage to yiayiades, or grandmothers, of Greece, who embody the art of hospitality, according to previous Community Impact reporting. Yiayia’s offers a contemporary take on home cooking and honors the Pappas family's roots of authentic flavors passed down through generations.

The restaurant serves elevated Greek and Mediterranean dishes such as:

• Pasta Lena: A casarecce pasta with fresh clams, basils and pine nuts
• Lavraki: Roasted Mediterranean sea bass with grilled tomato, skordalia and pearl onions
• Moussaka: A layered dish, similar to lasagna, with roasted eggplant, sheep's milk bechamel and braised beef

For more than thirty years, Houston-area lawyers with a fondness for the arts have volunteered with nonprofit Night Court, fundraising for organizations that make free and low-cost legal services accessible to everyone.

The group comes together once a year to put on a unique performance written, performed and produced by members of the legal profession. 

A closer look: Blair Parker practices family law at Parker & Aguilar LLP and writes and performs for Night Court. 

“Family law is so difficult, and you deal with a lot of difficult situations, so doing stuff like this is fun for me and takes my mind off the tough part,” Parker said. “It's just about finding that good balance and good people, because it wouldn't be as fun if the people weren't so great.”

Before you go: This year’s musical comedy is titled “Law’s Anatomy,” and includes musical parodies of songs by artists ranging from Chappell Roan to the Bee Gees, with tickets starting at $45. The show will run through Aug. 23 at the Hobby Center.

The Greater Houston area housing market is entering a “more balanced and sustainable” period as of July according to a report from the Houston Association of Realtors.

The details: Despite a slight decrease in regional housing affordability in the second quarter of 2025, the Greater Houston area housing area market saw a significant increase in year over year home sales according to the July housing inventory report from HAR. The number of active single-family home listings jumped from 46,629 in July 2024 to 61,144 in July 2025, a 31.1% increase in homes on the market.

In their words: “The rising inventory levels have led to modest price adjustments by sellers,” HAR Chair Shae Cottar said. “While some homeowners are adjusting their expectations, many homes are still attracting solid offers. This is a good indicator that the Houston market continues to be in a relatively healthy and balanced spot.”

What's happening: House lawmakers approved six bills Aug. 21, all of which were drafted in response to the July 4-5 floods that killed at least 137 people in Central and West Texas.

Lawmakers said the bills were designed to mitigate the damage of future floods by requiring youth summer camps to implement approved disaster plans, establishing licensing requirements for local emergency managers and facilitating the development of a statewide emergency communications plan.

What they're saying: “We have a chance now to right these wrongs, to say ‘Never again,’” Rep. Drew Darby, R-San Angelo, said on the House floor.

Also of note: The Community Foundation of the Texas Hill Country announced the organization will invest $40 million into a housing fund for victims of the July 4 flooding.

At an Aug. 21 press conference in Kerrville, Gov. Greg Abbott said the nonprofit’s housing fund will help affected Texans receive new housing within months.