A Comal County court gave an energy company the green light to take an existing easement from Comal ISD for a multi-county electricity pipeline the week of July 6. 

What happened: The Comal County Court at Law No. 3 granted Outer Loop Utility LLC, an entity affiliated with Howard Energy Partners, or HEP, possession of a 980-foot easement across an existing easement on Comal ISD’s Davenport High School property. The decision was made upon deposit of the court-determined appraised compensation, Meggan Morrison, a spokesperson for the Outer Loop Utility, said in an email to Community Impact.

Some details: The easement is for a 60-mile intrastate natural gas pipeline spanning Bexar, Comal and Guadalupe counties. The project is designed to connect local gas supply to existing energy infrastructure in San Antonio and surrounding areas, according to the project’s website. District officials said they have safety and environmental concerns associated with the now-granted easement, according to a district news release.

Canyon Lake-based Pier Sushi is planning to open another area location in New Braunfels.

The sushi restaurant, owned by locals Eric and Jessica Hyatt and their son, Mason Hyatt, will be opening within the New Braunfels MarketPlace shopping center at 675 N. Business I-35, Ste. 201. The trio is hoping to open in August, Jessica Hyatt said in an email to Community Impact.

Some background: Pier Sushi’s Canyon Lake location was damaged by a fire in October 2025. Jessica Hyatt said they have been operating a “mini” version of their food trailer in the area since then.

“Out of hard times we are beyond excited to bring an elevated version of Pier Sushi to New Braunfels. We have been so blessed by our loyal Canyon Lake and New Braunfels customers who have continued to support us,” Jessica Hyatt said in the email.

• 675 N. Business I-35, Ste. 201, New Braunfels

As school districts enter into a new fiscal year, read about the recently approved budgets for San Marcos and Hays CISDs.

1. Hays CISD adopts $275M surplus budget: The general fund budget includes $275.42 million in expenditures and $287.68 million in revenues, resulting in a surplus budget.

The largest expenditure by function is instruction, at $159.59 million. This is a $5.33 million decrease from last year.

2. San Marcos CISD approves budget with $2.29M shortfall: During a June 15 meeting, the San Marcos CISD board of trustees approved the district’s 2026-27 budget with a shortfall in the general fund.

The budget estimates approximately $92.89 million in general fund revenues and $95.18 million in expenditures, resulting in a planned shortfall of about $2.29 million.

In Texas, 246 of the state’s 254 counties are designated by the federal government as “mental health professional shortage areas,” meaning local law enforcement are often tasked with responding to mental health crisis calls.

The situation: All Texas peace officers are required to complete crisis intervention and deescalation trainings, according to the Texas Commission on Law Enforcement.

What's happening: Across Community Impact’s coverage areas, some city and county law enforcement agencies are partnering with local mental health professionals to respond to crisis calls. However, law enforcement and criminal justice leaders from smaller communities told state legislators July 7 that they have “limited tools” to effectively respond to mental health calls and help people in crisis.

“We do not have any inpatient mental health facilities in my county—we've never had that, and we've needed them for decades,” Comal County Criminal District Attorney Jennifer Tharp said July 7. “We originally started out sending individuals to the San Antonio area, and right now we are transporting individuals for inpatient treatment to North Austin.”