Fire Craft BBQ brings Texas-style eats to Kingwood
After a decades-long culinary career, David Welch launched Fire Craft BBQ as a catering company in 2015 and food truck in 2017. Since then, the restaurant opened a brick-and-mortar location in Kingwood in 2023 and recently doubled its square footage by adding a dining room.
What's special about it? Unlike most restaurants, Fire Craft BBQ closes at a different time each day depending on when the food sells out.
“Our business model is to sell out every day,” co-owner Savannah Welch said. “That way, we have the least amount of waste, and the guests have the freshest possible product.”
What they offer: Fire Craft BBQ offers a variety of meats, including prime brisket, pork spare ribs, smoked chicken, turkey breast, sausage and pulled pork. Customers can also choose from sides such as mac and cheese, baked beans, Brussels sprouts and squash casserole.
Humble ISD officials to unveil Kingwood Middle School fitness course
Coming soon: Officials with Humble ISD are hosting a dedication ceremony for a new outdoor obstacle course and fitness area at Kingwood Middle School at 5 p.m. Sept. 10.
The details: According to an Aug. 26 news release, the course was designed by Greenfields Outdoor Fitness and was inspired by the obstacle challenges seen on "American Ninja Warrior."
The course has 17 unique obstacle features, including:
Slanted jump boards
A spider web climber
Cheese walls
Some context: According to the release, this is the sixth new outdoor obstacle course and fitness area completed in HISD. Other district middle and high schools will receive these enhancements by 2027 as part of the $775 million bond package approved by voters in May 2022. Officials noted elementary school playgrounds and middle school fitness areas are open to the public when school is not in session.
Houston City Council member continues to push for more transparency in district projects
At-large council member Julian Ramirez is still pushing for more transparency from the city with three amendments that would require the mayor’s administration to provide council members more transparency on changes made to major infrastructure projects.
What’s new: Ramirez said during an Aug. 26 joint meeting with the Economic Development Committee and the Budget and Fiscal Affairs Committee that the amendments are to provide council members with information about project changes as soon as possible.
The first amendment would require Mayor John Whitmire’s administration to provide monthly reports to every council member on changes made to major infrastructure projects in their districts, such as delays, cancellations or alterations.
The second amendment would allow council members to object to changes made by the administration after three or more council members report their opposition to it. The change would then be voted on by the City Council to ultimately decide on the infrastructure change.
Amendment three would allow council members to request a public hearing on proposed changes.
Houston passes a ban on pedestrians standing, sitting on medians
Houston City Council has passed an ordinance during an Aug. 27 Houston City Council meeting that bans pedestrians from standing or sitting on medians, with some council members citing a need to keep pedestrians safe from oncoming traffic.
The details: According to the proposal, the ordinance will prohibit sitting, standing and walking on medians that measure 6 feet or less in width, as well as on divided roadways where no median strip exists.
Medians are the area between opposing lanes of traffic, excluding turning lanes, and can be defined by either pavement markings, raised medians, or islands to separate vehicles and pedestrians, according to the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Federal Highway Administration’s website.
Council member Mary Nan Huffman, who pushed for this ordinance alongside council members Amy Peck and Fred Flickinger, said this ordinance is about keeping Houston residents safe and preventing fatalities if people standing or sitting on medians are struck by cars.
Huffman said pedestrians who are caught standing or sitting on medians would face a Class C misdemeanor and a $500 fine.
H-GAC bringing back ‘Free Fare Fridays’ to Greater Houston area in September
The Houston-Galveston Area Council announced the return of a campaign focused on reducing air pollution levels by providing free use of certain mass transit routes on Fridays in September.
What you need to know: As part of Ozone Action Month, multiple transit agencies across the Houston region will allow riders to use mass transit routes free of charge on Fridays in September, according to H-GAC’s website. The initiative aims to reduce the amount of air pollution generated by vehicles on Houston area roads.
The participating agencies include:
Harris County Transit: All routes
Fort Bend Transit: All routes
City of Conroe: Fixed and paratransit routes
The Woodlands Township: All routes
What else: For residents unable to use the transit options, H-GAC officials also suggested other measures to reduce air pollution, including carpooling, reducing the number of trips and biking when possible.
Communities in Texas’ Flash Flood Alley may soon have to install flood warning sirens
Some communities in Flash Flood Alley, which stretches through Central Texas and includes the Colorado and Guadalupe River basins, would be required to install flood warning sirens under a bill advanced by state House lawmakers Aug. 26.
The details: Under Senate Bill 3:
The Texas Water Development Board would identify areas impacted by the deadly July 4-5 floods that have “a history of consistent or severe flooding.”
Local governments in the identified areas would be required to install flood warning sirens if they are not already present.
The state would distribute up to $50,000 in grants to help cities and counties install warning systems.
Lawmakers have said they were concerned that some Hill Country residents and visitors missed or did not receive emergency alerts related to the July 4 floods, which began before sunrise.
Next steps: House lawmakers passed SB 3 unanimously Aug. 26, returning it to the Senate with a minor amendment. If senators sign off on the amendment, the warning siren bill will head to the governor’s desk.
