Nearly two years after the Conroe Police Department took control of the city animal shelter, officials said the operation has changed from moving animals through kennels to one focused on saving animals.

A closer look: Intake fell from 3,330 animals in 2024 to 2,265 in 2025, partly because Huntsville opened a facility and stopped sending animals to Conroe, Animal Shelter manager Lesa West said. However, Conroe still receives animals from Willis and kennels remain full.

“Every animal that you see go out, we have just as many come in the same day,” West said.

Also of note: Charity organization Best Friends Animal Society recognized Conroe as a no-kill shelter. Police Chief Jon Buckholtz said the designation is “an outward reflection of a plan that’s working,” rather than the reason employees do the work.

“There’s goals now,” Buckholtz said. “There’s a care plan for the animals and we’re seeing the successes month after month after month.”

Conroe is taking the next step toward competing for the proposed U.S. Space Academy, with City Council unanimously approving development of a proposal and up to $25,000 in funding for the effort on Sept. 24.

What happened: Council authorized city staff and council members to move forward with a proposal positioning Conroe as a potential home for the academy. The approval also allows the city to engage qualified professional firms to assist with site evaluation, proposal development and the state and federal submission process.

Council member Shana Arthur outlined the request before the vote, describing the effort as developing “a proposal to position Conroe as a potential future home of the United States Space Academy.”

Some context: The vote follows a Sept. 10 discussion in which council members David Hairel and Arthur asked staff to research whether Conroe could realistically compete for the academy. Council took no formal action at that meeting.

The Texas Education Agency is asking state lawmakers to spend $97.3 billion on K-12 education initiatives and staffing in the next two years, up from about $91 billion in the current state budget.

The details: During a Sept. 29 hearing on the agency's legislative appropriations request, Texas Education Commissioner Mike Morath noted that the TEA is "largely a pass-through vehicle to fund schools around the state of Texas." This means that while funding would be allocated to the agency under Article III of the state budget, the majority of that money would be sent to school districts, outside of funds used to pay TEA staff and cover operations for associated entities, such as the State Board of Education.

The TEA is asking for about $49.6 billion for fiscal year 2027-28 and $47.7 billion for fiscal year 2028-29, totaling $97.3 billion for the 2028-29 biennium. Morath said those amounts would "preserve 100% of all funding for public schools" through the Foundation School Program, which is the state's main funding source for K-12 schools, and other initiatives.