Harris County voters will be able to start casting ballots on Feb. 17 across a number of county, state and federal races.

The big picture: Early voting for the March 3 primary elections begins Feb. 17 and will run through Feb. 27, according to the Harris County Elections office. During early voting, registered voters will be able to vote at any polling location in the county.

To find the nearest voting center, residents can use the county's interactive map to see 60 different locations. Early voting will run from 7 a.m.-7 p.m. on each day except for Feb. 22, when early voting will be available from noon-7 p.m.

What else? Election day is March 3, and Community Impact will be monitoring and providing updates on early voting and election day results. To see candidate questionnaires and keep up with results, please visit Community Impact's election coverage.

VEVOR officials confirmed the home improvement brand opened a new location in the Cy-Fair area in early February. Per the website, VEVOR has over 200 warehouse locations.

The details: VEVOR is a home improvement brand offering over 20,000 products including hardware products, building materials, plumbing tools, appliances, outdoor tools and furniture.

Harris County Precinct 4 has partnered with the University of Houston to create an interactive dashboard of mental health providers in under-resourced ZIP codes.

The overview: Harris County commissioners unanimously approved the agreement Feb. 12. As part of the partnership, UH researchers are developing an interactive and publicly accessible online dashboard highlighting service disparities in Precinct 4. 

Why it matters: The project aims to help residents in underserved portions of Katy, Cy-Fair, Tomball and the Memorial area connect with licensed providers, which could serve as a blueprint for addressing mental health needs countywide. 

UH and Precinct 4 staff will also host community workshops to encourage open conversations about mental health and teach residents how to use the tool, which staff said will launch by June. 

Quote of note: “We’re very hopeful that having this type of information will be able to inform investments and any partnerships we have in the future so that we can support a more coordinated approach to behavioral health and justice system planning,” Precinct 4 policy advisor Larisa Baretto said.

Single-family sales declined to 4,999 homes compared to a year earlier, when 5,047 homes sold in January 2025, HAR reports. The median home price decreased to $322,045, its lowest level since January 2024, when it stood at $320,000.

What else: The average single-family home price rose 2.8% to $416,722, driven largely by more activity in the luxury market, according to the report. The luxury segment was the strongest-performing sector, with transactions up 15.5% year over year, the report states. As inventory expanded, homes averaged 66 days on the market, up from 61 days in 2025.

Quote of note: “With rates expected to ease a little this year, buyers who have been waiting on the sidelines may start to feel more confident and enter the market. That should help maintain demand and create additional opportunities for sellers throughout the year,” HAR Chair Theresa Hill said.

Thousands of students who apply for Texas’ education savings accounts will likely not be accepted into the first year of the program, application data from the state comptroller’s office shows.

What's happening: Over 101,000 students had applied for Texas Education Freedom Accounts as of Feb. 15. Applications close at 11:59 p.m. March 17.

Program funding is capped at $1 billion for the 2026-27 school year, meaning between 90,000 and 100,000 students will likely be accepted. With demand expected to outpace available funding, applications will be prioritized through a need- and income-based lottery system.

Zooming in: Over 70% of program applicants were from low- or middle-income households, according to data from the comptroller’s office. Under Senate Bill 2, the 2025 law that created the program:

• “Low-income” is defined as families with annual household incomes at or below 200% of the federal poverty line, or about $66,000 for a family of four.
• “Middle-income” is defined as families with incomes at or below 500% of the federal poverty line, or about $165,000 for a family of four.