Joe Panzarella was sworn in May 27 to represent District C on Houston City Council.

He took over after former council member Abbie Kamin stepped down to run for Harris County attorney.

What happened: Mayor John Whitmire swore Panzarella in at the regular council meeting May 27.

“It is truly an honor and a privilege to be here working with all of you today,” Panzarella said.

Meet the council member: Panzarella is the president of Freedman’s Town Superneighborhood and works in renewable energy as a developer managing multimillion-dollar projects.

His campaign ran on safe streets, affordable housing and responsible government, according to an April 5 statement. In a Q&A with Community Impact, he noted his top three priorities as establishing responsive constituent services, safe streets and protecting Houston residents from Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

One more thing: Panzarella will serve in the position until January 2028.

Cosmic Ice Cream Co. is the brainchild of owners Camille and Julian Haynes. According to its website, the business opened its first location in Clear Lake in 2021 to bring a "fresh, new premium ice cream concept" to the community.

Now, the locally-owned brand has four locations across Houston, including the Bay Area, Spring Branch and Pearland, with its newest location opening in Belliare in May.

On the menu: Ice cream flavors that are always available include favorites such as:

• Banana pudding: roasted banana ice cream with Nilla wafer pieces and Cool Whip

• Campfire S'mores: Toasted marshmallow ice cream with melted chocolate swirl and graham cracker pieces

Customers can order ice cream by the scoop, in a milkshake, a cold brew float, ice cream nachos or by the pint.

• 5400 Bissonnet St., Ste. 12, Bellaire

Trust for Public Land ranked Houston 69th of 100 on the 2026 ParkScore Index, a national rating system that evaluates how effectively the nation's most populous cities provide safe, accessible green spaces. The ranking falls lower this year compared to last year's 66th-place finish.

According to a May 20 news release, the ranking change was due primarily to upward moves made by other cities, and not changes to the local park system.

The results: Trust for Public Land ranks the 100 most populous U.S. cities by comparing five park categories: equity, access, investment, amenities and acreage.

More information: Additional insights shared on Houston's park system through the Trust for Public Land include:

• 65% of Houston residents live within a 10-minute walk of a park

• Residents in neighborhoods of color have access to 2% less park space per person than the city's average neighborhood

• Low-income neighborhoods have access to 35% less park space per person

Check out the story to see how Houston ranked in each category and for more insights.

Approximately 165,548 Harris County residents cast early ballots in the May 26 primary runoff elections, less than half of the early turnout for the primaries in March, results from the Harris County Clerk’s Office show.

The overview: In total, 95,602 Republican voters and 69,946 Democratic voters cast ballots in person or by mail during the five-day early voting period from May 18-22, according to the unofficial results.

More details: In comparison, nearly 347,000 Harris County residents voted early during the 10-day period for the March 3 primary election, Community Impact previously reported. While more Democrats voted early in March, Republican turnout accounted for the majority of early runoff ballots.

Some context: Runoff elections are required in races where no candidate received at least 50% of votes in March. A lengthy list of primary races went to a runoff March 3, including both the Democratic and Republican races for Harris County judge, Texas attorney general, and several state and U.S. representatives, among others.

Texas’ primary election season came to a close May 26 as candidates declared victory in dozens of federal, state and local runoff races.

The latest: The winner of each runoff will advance to the Nov. 3 general election, joining candidates who won their primaries outright in March.

Voters will see 18 statewide contests on the November ballot, alongside all congressional seats, most state legislative seats, eight State Board of Education seats and a variety of local positions.

On the ballot: 

• U.S. Senate: Attorney General Ken Paxton and state Rep. James Talarico
• Governor: Greg Abbott (incumbent) and state Rep. Gina Hinojosa
• Lieutenant governor: State Rep. Vikki Goodwin and Dan Patrick (incumbent)
• Attorney general: State Sens. Nathan Johnson and Mayes Middleton
• Comptroller: State Sen. Sarah Eckhardt and businessman Don Huffines
• Land commissioner: Dawn Buckingham (incumbent) and Bay City council member Benjamin Flores
• Agriculture commissioner: Businessman Nate Sheets and rancher Clayton Tucker
• Railroad commissioner: Former Tarrant County GOP Chair Bo French and state Rep. Jon Rosenthal