Bari Ristorante The Woodlands opened Sept. 30 at 24 Waterway Ave.

What they offer: The 9,000-square-foot restaurant initially serves lunch and dinner daily and planned to begin offering weekend brunch Oct. 4. The restaurant takes a contemporary approach to Italian culinary tradition, according to a news release. It features:

• European cheeses

• Dry-cured meats

• Fish sourced from Europe

• House-made pastas prepared with imported Italian flour

The establishment has more than 250 seats as well as two private dining rooms and a bar lounge.

Zyrax Uniform Services, a business-to-business branding and apparel company, opened in Oak Ridge North on Oct. 1. Located at 27622 I-45 N., the business features a showroom where customers can browse custom uniforms, branded apparel, promotional products, corporate merchandise, embroidery and screen printing options.

What they offer: The business aims to serve as a branding partner for various organizations, including schools, offices, contractors and restaurants. It offers its house brand, Magtex, alongside brands such as Nike, Adidas, Puma and Dickies.

Quote of note: Global CEO Mauricio Arechavaleta said Oak Ridge North was a strategic location for the company. “It’s a very important economic zone, and we want to help local businesses around the area and partner with them,” he said. Arechavaleta noted that the company has a warehouse in Spring for immediate delivery inventory and utilizes embroidery machines to provide same-day personalization.

Several fall festival events are scheduled this month, though events are subject to change. The upcoming activities include:

• Pumpkin Float on Oct. 10 from 3 p.m. to 5 p.m. in The Woodlands

• Halloween Bash on Oct. 16 from 6:30 p.m. to 9 p.m. in The Woodlands

On Oct. 1, the Lone Star College System board of trustees unanimously approved a fiscal year 2026-27 total tax rate of $0.1058 per $100 valuation.

This rate is $0.0002 lower than the previous fiscal year's rate and is budgeted to generate $356.2 million in tax revenue.

Diving deeper: The total tax rate consists of two parts:

• An M&O rate of $0.0839 per $100 valuation for college operations, including employee salaries and utilities

• An I&S rate of $0.0219 per $100 valuation to pay off bond debt, with leaders hoping to pay off $404 million in debt by approximately 2030 or 2031

What you should know: Taxpayers in the Harris Central Appraisal District are expected to see a drop in their college system property tax bill. However, some taxpayers in the Montgomery Central Appraisal District and the San Jacinto County Appraisal District are expected to see higher bills due to increased median property values.

Several trending stories emerged from the northern portion of the Greater Houston area between Sept. 25-Oct. 1:

• Power Electronics breaks ground on 53-acre manufacturing campus in Houston area

• TxDOT proposes $209M widening for portion of Grand Parkway

• Maintaining Lake Houston: Dredging and Maintenance District looks to provide long-term solution

• Klein Farmers Market to hold grand opening in Spring-Klein area

• Walmart debuts modernized store, expanded offerings in Porter

• Midnight Cravingz announces grand opening, specials

• Tomball and Magnolia businesses work against rising costs

• Conroe Icehouse opening soon