David Willard officially became Conroe’s city administrator Aug. 10 after the City Council unanimously appointed him to the position July 23.

Some context: Willard previously served as city manager in Longview and Borger, assistant city manager in Odessa and Hutchinson County judge. 

Willard, who initially joined Conroe as interim city administrator, spoke with Community Impact about his priorities for the city, infrastructure and growth, staffing, the Hyatt Regency Conroe Hotel and Convention Center and the city’s financial outlook.

According to a July 21 filing with the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation, Texas Roadhouse is seeking to build a new location in Montgomery.

What we know: Per the filing, the new location will be 7,926 square feet and cost $1.5 million to construct. While construction is expected to begin in May and finish by October 2027, no official opening date has been released.

Texas Roadhouse was originally founded in Clarksville, Indiana in 1993 and has over 600 locations worldwide to date, according to the website. Known for its steaks and scratch made rolls, the eatery boasts a variety of dishes from its Texas Sized Combos to hand-cut steaks and country dinners.

Houston-based rocket propulsion company Venus Aerospace opened a new propulsion test stand at the Houston Spaceport on Sept. 10.

The gist: The new test stand is a part of "critical infrastructure to support the continued development and maturation of its rotating detonation rocket engine technology," according to a Sept. 10 news release from the company.

The $3.9 million test stand was funded through the Texas Space Commission's Space Exploration and Aeronautics Research Fund, which is part of the state's investment in growing Texas' aerospace and space economy, the news release notes.

Quote of note: “Building and testing propulsion systems at this pace requires the right infrastructure around the technology,” CEO and Co-Founder Sassie Duggleby said. “We’re grateful to the Texas Space Commission and the state of Texas for investing alongside companies like Venus."

Texas does not have a single system to connect first responders in emergencies, meaning local and state agencies often operate on a network of radio systems that are not always compatible with one another.

The big picture: State leaders said there are more than 50 different radio systems used by first responder agencies across Texas.

"We have situations where counties and cities are on separate ones, and they never know it until they have to [communicate with] each other," state Rep. Ken King, R-Canadian, said during a Sept. 14 legislative hearing.

Looking ahead: King has vowed to pass a bill to integrate first responder communications under a statewide system during the 2027 legislative session, with some emergency management experts calling interagency communications "the No. 1 issue" in the aftermath of disasters.

"[This] is not simply a communication issue—it's a responder safety issue and an operational effectiveness issue," said Kyle Mills, head of planning and preparedness for the Texas A&M Forest Service.