Humble ISD officials held a May 11 groundbreaking ceremony for the replacement campus for Ross Sterling Middle School. 

The details: The new three-story, roughly 213,000-square-foot campus was included in the district’s $775 million bond approved by voters in May 2022, according to previous reporting by Community Impact. 

Designed by Kirksey Architecture, the campus will emphasize natural daylight, collaborative learning spaces and larger classrooms to support modern instructional practices, according to a May 8 news release.

What they’re saying: “It's going to be a state-of-the-art facility,” HISD Superintendent Roger Brown said during the groundbreaking ceremony. “It's going to have a lot of collaboration spaces, a STEM lab, culinary space, and it's going to meet the needs of students today.”

What’s next: Satterfield & Pontikes Construction Company will serve as the general contractor for the project, per the release. The campus is scheduled to open for the 2027-28 school year.

Work is winding down on a project that will bring high-speed fiber internet to thousands of Humble residents and business owners, company officials announced in an April 16 news release.

About the project: Based in North Carolina, Brightspeed is the third-largest fiber builder in the U.S. with a network serving more than 7.3 million homes and businesses across 20 states, per the release. The company broke ground on the Humble expansion project in April 2025, as previously reported by Community Impact.

Roughly one year later, officials noted the project was about 90% complete as of April 16, with Brightspeed Fiber Internet already available for more than 42,000 Harris County homes and businesses.

Quote of note: "Over the past year, we've seen firsthand how reliable, high-speed fiber internet can transform a small town like ours," Humble Mayor Norman Funderburk said in a statement.

What's next: Brightspeed officials noted they are now moving into the final phase of the expansion project. Upon completion, the network will span 46,000 Harris County homes and businesses.

Houston Mayor John Whitmire announced May 5 that a $5 administration fee would be added to customers' water bills starting in the new fiscal year. The proposal is intended to help the city close a large projected budget shortfall, as well as partially fund the Solid Waste Department's annual budget.

However, City Council members have raised concerns about affordability for residents and questioned the potential for the rate to grow beyond its expected cap of $25 per month by 2032.

What's happening: Council member Alejandra Salinas, who won her seat in late 2025 to replace Letitia Plummer as an at-large member, published a letter to Whitmire's administration three days after the new fee was announced. Her letter calls for affordability protections and discounted rates in the proposed solid waste fee, specifically for seniors, low-income residents and disabled veterans. 

Their thoughts: Several council members during the Budget and Fiscal Affairs meeting, which highlighted the five-year budget forecast, also expressed their concern with the potential for the rate to increase beyond affordability standards.

On May 26, Democratic voters will choose their nominee for Texas lieutenant governor in a runoff election between state Rep. Vikki Goodwin, D-Austin, and union leader Marcos Vélez.

The big picture: The Democratic race for lieutenant governor is one of several statewide contests that advanced to May runoffs after no candidate received more than 50% of the vote in the March 3 primary election.

Goodwin and Vélez were the two highest-performing candidates in the three-person primary race, with Goodwin collecting 48% of the vote and Vélez receiving 31%. The winner of the May 26 overtime round will face incumbent Dan Patrick and potential third-party candidates in the November midterm election.

Some context: The lieutenant governor leads the Texas Senate and can exercise the powers of the governor if the governor dies, resigns, is removed from office or is absent from the state, according to the Texas State Historical Association.

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

Following pressure from summer camp operators, lawmakers and legislative leaders, Texas is suspending a requirement that all camps install “end-to-end” fiber-optic internet infrastructure before opening this summer.

The background: After catastrophic flooding in Central Texas killed more than 130 people—including 28 deaths at Camp Mystic, an all-girls Christian camp—last July, state lawmakers passed a pair of laws designed to strengthen safety and emergency preparedness requirements for all Texas summer camps. One provision of the laws requires that camps install two types of broadband internet, including a fiber-optic system.

Nineteen camp operators sued the state over the fiber-optic rule in April, citing million-dollar installation fees and limited access to fiber-optic services in rural parts of Texas.

What's happening: The Department of State Health Services, which licenses youth camps, said it reached an agreement with the camp operators May 7. Under the agreement, Texas camps that maintain “redundant” broadband internet services—such as cellular, microwave or satellite technology—will not have their license revoked or denied as long as they meet all other safety requirements.