Chipotle Mexican Grill officials said the fast food chain opened a new location with a drive-thru pick-up lane in Humble on Nov. 18.

The details: Per officials, the restaurant features the brand’s signature Chipotlane, a drive-thru pick-up lane that allows guests to conveniently pick up digital orders without leaving their cars. It marks the first Chipotlane in Humble.

In addition, the new location will feature a new menu item—carne asada and a new red chimichurri sauce—for a limited time.

• Opened Nov. 18
• 5906 Woodland Hills Drive, Humble

There are several events going on in the Lake Houston area this holiday season, including community markets and festivals.

A Christmas to Remember: Celebrate the season with Opera Leggera’s holiday musical featuring cherished carols, festive favorites and joyful performances.

• Dec. 12, 7:30 p.m., Dec. 13, 7 p.m., Dec. 14, 4 p.m.
• $15-$28 (admission)
• ​The Nathaniel Center, 804 Russell Palmer Road, Kingwood

• Dec. 13, noon-5:30 p.m. 
• $15-$50 (admission)
• Town Center Park, 8 N. Main St., Kingwood

• Dec. 14, 4-7 p.m.
• Free (admission)
• Holocaust Garden of Hope, 1660 W. Lake Houston Parkway, Kingwood

Harris Health officials are one step closer to completion as part of its multi-year, multi-phase initiative to open a new $60 million operations center in the Texas Medical Center. 

Marking a milestone: A final steel beam was placed Nov. 11 at the facility, marking the topping off at the Holly Hall Operations Center, located at 2525 Holly Hall St., Houston.

The four-story, approximately 145,275-square-foot facility is projected to open in late 2026 and support the county healthcare system’s pharmacy and emergency medical services, according to officials. 

What's being done: Pharmacy operations will be consolidated into the new center, according to Harris Health Media Relations Specialist John Martinez. 

“It will feature new automation systems and technology to support current and future pharmacy needs for Harris Health, a centralized sterile compounding and inventory central distribution services to maximize economies of scale, enhance cost-effectiveness and improve operational efficiency,” Martinez said in an email. 

The cost: Funding for the facility is coming from Harris Health's operational budget, Martinez said.

• 2525 Holly Hall St., Houston

Houston City Council on Nov. 19 approved a nearly $9 million purchase of new police and public works vehicles, adding 70 more to the city’s fleet.

In a nutshell: During its Nov. 19 regular meeting, City Council approved the purchase of 30 new emergency vehicles for the Houston Police Department, totaling approximately $1.3 million, according to agenda documents.

Funding sources from the fiscal year 2025-26 budget include $1.3 million from the Police Consolidated Construction Fund and $1,800 from the general fund, per city documents.

Also of note: The city will also purchase 40 new vehicles for the Houston Public Works Department, totaling approximately $7.6 million. The vehicles will replace older public works vehicles as well as add to the fleet, according to city documents.

The HPW vehicles—set to last for the next seven years—will be used for environmental inspections, traffic and drainage field work and Houston Water operations, among other city needs.

Thanksgiving week is expected to be one of the busiest U.S. travel periods in history, according to projections from AAA. A record 5.8 million Texans are projected to travel at least 50 miles from home Nov. 25-Dec. 1.

Zooming in: About 5.3 million Texans are expected to drive to their Thanksgiving destinations, according to a Nov. 17 news release, while about 328,000 people will fly and 140,000 will use other forms of transportation.

The impact: Texans should give themselves extra time to reach their destinations during Thanksgiving week, with the most congestion expected Nov. 25-26. Traffic is also expected to be heavy as Texans return home Nov. 30, according to INRIX, a transportation data company.

Minimal traffic is expected on Thanksgiving Day.

More details: Texas drivers will pay about the same for gas as they did last Thanksgiving, according to AAA Texas. One gallon of regular unleaded gas cost about $2.65 in Texas as of Nov. 13, down from $2.69 last year.

Google is targeting Texas for future investments in data and artificial infrastructure, with $40 billion expected to be spent on adding three new data centers.

Federal, state and local leaders announced the new centers to be constructed in Armstrong and Haskell counties at a Nov. 14 event at the first Texas Google Data Center in Midlothian, near the Dallas-Fort Worth area.

The gist: One new data center will be constructed in Armstrong County near Amarillo, and two new data centers will be constructed in Haskell County near Abilene. One center in Haskell County will also use a new solar and battery energy storage plant.

“They say that everything is bigger in Texas—and that certainly applies to the golden opportunity with AI,” Google and Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai said.

Also of note: The driverless car company Waymo is expanding to North Texas in 2026, Pichai said.