The Houston Fire Department’s newest station—Station 92—is now serving the George Bush Intercontinental Airport after a grand opening celebration was held for the facility Feb. 6.

At a glance: The new 21,000-square-foot fire station is one of three fire stations at IAH. The facility will be staffed 24/7, 365 days per year.

Station 92 has features such as:

• Six fire-response apparatuses
• Administrative offices
• Access to the airport’s airfield
• Dorms for firefighters to rest

Abbott's Frozen Custard closed its Atascocita location Nov. 14 and is exploring other opportunities for a new Houston-area location, company officials announced in a Nov. 14 Facebook post.

Quote of note: "After a sweet time of serving this community, we're closing up shop," the post reads. "We're already exploring opportunities to bring Abbott's Frozen Custard back to the Houston area someday."

On the menu: The Atascocita location first opened in April 2024 and served a variety of custard flavors made daily, as well as signature sundaes, pies and custom cakes.

Some context: According to the website, Abbott's Frozen Custard has several locations in New York, Florida, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Massachusetts and Louisiana. The company recently closed other Texas locations including in Kyle, McKinney and Prosper, as previously reported by Community Impact.

• Closed Nov. 14
• 17630 W. Lake Houston Parkway, Atascocita

The Houston Association of Realtors has named René Galvan as its new president and CEO, the first leadership change in more than three decades after longtime executive Bob Hale retired Jan. 31, according to a Feb. 2 news release.

What we know: Galvan has been part of HAR’s leadership team since 1996 and served as executive vice president since 1998, per the release. HAR officials said he worked alongside Hale early in his career to help shape the original concept for HAR.com, which launched in 1997 and has since expanded statewide.

In the release, Galvan said his focus will be strengthening the services and tools the association’s roughly 50,000 members use “in this rapidly changing real estate environment.”

HAR said Hale—who served as president and CEO for 37 years—retired after 53 years with the association. The board honored him with the title of CEO emeritus, and Hale said he was confident the organization is “in excellent hands” with Galvan leading it.

Houston invested just over $1 million in a new campaign finance management tool, aiming to improve accuracy and fiscal accountability in local elections.

In a nutshell: City Council approved the purchase Feb. 4, and several council members called the initiative a long-overdue replacement of the city’s dated campaign finance management system. The new tool will serve as a centralized system to document campaign contributions, lobbying and personal finance disclosures, per city documents. 

The city will purchase the tool from RFD & Associates—the company behind the Texas Ethics Commission’s electronic filing platform—a popular resource for tracking campaign finance contributions statewide.

Some context: Houston’s current platform for filing and searching through electronic records dates back to 2007, and several council members said the dated technology has created challenges for accurate tracking and enforcement of filing requirements.

What's next? The campaign finance tool is anticipated to go live on the city’s website within 60 days, with additional components for lobbying and personal finance disclosures set to launch within 180 days, said Mary Benton, the mayor’s chief of communications.

In the upcoming March 3 primary elections, Texas voters will have the opportunity to nominate their chosen candidates for the November midterm election. From top state officials to county commissioners, primary elections shape who is ultimately elected to dozens of seats, driving the future direction of the Lone Star State.

Yet less than one-fifth of registered Texas voters participated in recent primary elections, data from the secretary of state’s office shows.

The big picture: March Matters, a group that works to get more Texans to the primary polls, found that 146 of Texas’ 150 state House races were effectively decided during the 2022 primaries, with just four competitive seats during that year’s midterm election.

Data also shows that primary voters tend to be older and represent the more extreme wings of their political parties.

What they're saying: "When primary voter turnout is so small, when only a fraction of voters are voting, your vote counts more,” said Mark Strama, who leads the Annette Strauss Institute for Civic Life at the University of Texas.

Community Impact is now covering BCS, from growth and schools to business and city happenings.

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