Final Gravity Brewpub owner Ted Dougherty said the brewery is celebrating its first year serving Porter in July. 

To celebrate the anniversary, the business is holding an event on July 4 featuring food trucks, live music and beer.

What they offer: Founded by U.S. Army veteran and retired police officer Ted Dougherty and his wife Terri Dougherty, Final Gravity Brewpub offers handcrafted beer.

Per previous Community Impact reporting, Final Gravity Brewpub holds live music events and features a dog-friendly environment.

• 23435 FM 1314, Ste. B-6, Porter

Prime Lawn, a company that started as a business plan developed for a college project, was officially established in Porter by Matt Griffin in 1999.

Originally founded as a landscaping business, over the years Prime Lawn expanded to offer various services from irrigation and drainage to lighting, property master plans, outdoor kitchens and artificial turf. In turn, the company rebranded in 2025 from Prime Lawn to Prime Patio & Landscape, Griffin said.

Quote of note: “In the late ‘90s, while in high school, I mowed grass for another company, and that's where I learned to cut lawns. And I never really thought that was what I would end up doing. And so it just kind of evolved,” Griffin said.

Staying local: In addition to his knowledge of mowing lawns, Griffin said he earned a degree in horticulture and agronomy and landscape architecture.

Along with a storefront in Porter, which opened in 2025, Griffin said Prime Patio & Landscape offers residential and commercial services in neighboring north Houston communities, including Kingwood, Atascocita, The Woodlands and Spring. 

Community members and public officials gathered at the Montgomery County Veterans Memorial Park on May 2 to remember the life and legacy of veteran Jimmie C. Edwards, the park’s founder and former county judge.

Some context: Edwards, who died March 31, was a Vietnam veteran, served as Montgomery County judge and state representative, and founded the Montgomery County Veterans Memorial Commission, which oversees the park.

Quote of note: “I just want to thank Jimmie and the Edwards family and also the commission that stood behind Jimmie during all of his vision to make sure that this place is what it is today,” state Rep. Will Metcalf said. “This is only the beginning. The best is yet to come. Although our founder and our spokesperson is no longer with us, his life and legacy will live on for many decades to come.”

Friendswood and Alief ISDs had the largest percentages of students with dyslexia and autism across the Greater Houston area, according to Texas Education Agency data released March 13 and April 9.

The overview: Community Impact analyzed 30 local school districts across the Greater Houston region to determine which schools have the most students enrolled in special education programs.

According to the data, the districts with the largest total of students receiving special education services in 2025-26 are:

• Houston ISD with 21,430 students
• Katy ISD with 18,443 students
• Cy-Fair ISD with 17,584 students
• Fort Bend ISD with 12,688 students
• Conroe ISD with 11,239 students

Demolition of the vacant Northwest Mall is underway within the Hwy. 290 and Loop 610 corridor, the site for a proposed train station that would offer high-speed travel between Houston and Dallas, a project spokesperson confirmed with Community Impact.

What we know: Demolition began in mid-April and is expected to take approximately 12 months, the spokesperson said. The historic mall opened in 1968 but shuttered its doors in 2017, causing the building to sit abandoned for nearly 10 years.

The spokesperson did not answer questions regarding the approval process for the proposed high-speed rail project, which has not received an official green light, or a timeline for any construction beyond the demolition.

Some context: Texas Central, which has since rebranded to Texas High Speed Rail, originally led the project as a privately-funded venture, Community Impact previously reported. Amtrak then temporarily joined the project after receiving a $63.9 million grant from the U.S. Department of Transportation. 

However, the federal government pulled the grant last year due to ballooning costs, pushing the project back to the private sector. 

Texas retailers can keep various smokable hemp products on their shelves through late July, a Travis County judge ruled May 1.

The overiew: Judge Daniella DeSeta Lyttle’s ruling prohibits the Texas Department of State Health Services, which regulates and licenses consumable hemp businesses, from enforcing new THC testing requirements and sharply increasing licensing fees.

The hemp industry previously argued that the DSHS was overstepping its regulatory authority by changing how Texas classifies THC content. State officials have defended the reclassification and other rules as in line with a September executive order by Gov. Greg Abbott.

What it means: DeSeta Lyttle’s temporary injunction extends an earlier pause on the DSHS rules, which was issued April 10.

The pause applies to all consumable hemp businesses in Texas, allowing them to continue producing, manufacturing and selling smokable products until at least July 27, when a final court trial is scheduled. That could change if the state appeals the ruling to a higher court.