HTX-BAY: Impact 8/22/2025

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Clear Creek ISD parent Roxann Zamora said her daughter needed speech therapy stemming from a diagnosis at four years old.

When she enrolled her daughter, Zamora said she realized how critical those services could be.

“Not having those services to help them navigate … is just not right at the end of the day,” Zamora said. “They need a voice, and they don’t have one.”

Zamora said she’s grateful as a parent for the services CCISD provided. However, a shortage in national speech-language pathologists, or SLPs, remains. As a result, CCISD is searching for ways to bridge the service gap.

At a glance: While there are a number of factors that experts say have led to the increase in children needing speech therapy, Christen Ashley, CCISD’s speech and related services coordinator, said excessive screen time is a big factor.

Put in perspective: The district has increased pay—including spending about $1.4 million more on SLP staff compared to fiscal year 2023-24—and added remote work options. However, it still can’t compete with medical settings.  

It took less than a year to build out, but Kemah City Council member Isaac Saldaña said the city’s new 57-acre nature park was almost two decades in the making.

The overview: Officials cut the ribbon on the first two of nine total planned phases for the nature area, which officials hope will help promote eco-tourism, Community Impact previously reported.

The background: The land at 1860 Park Oaks St., Kemah, sits behind Saldaña’s home. In 2009, he said he was looking to get answers as to what the city was planning to do with the spot.

The cost: Saldaña said the project has nine phases ostensibly planned, which leaves seven left to carry out. The plan is to complete one phase per year with an annual budget of $500,000.

In the meantime, the current plan calls for several additional amenities, according to Kemah’s website. Those include:

• A boardwalk over the wetlands
• No-mow wildflower mix and native grasses
• Wildlife and learning features

Sweet Southern Sass reopened in Seabrook on Aug. 19 after renovations, according to a social media post from the business. 

The details: Sweet Southern Sass sells women's clothing, jewelry, accessories, tumblers and koozies, according to the business' website.

📍 4644 NASA Parkway, Seabrook