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.

Three years after Bed Bath & Beyond filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy and closed its brick-and-mortar locations, the home goods retailer is reopening in spaces operated by The Container Store at 98 locations across the U.S., including four in Houston.

How we got here: On May 16, The Container Store and Bed Bath & Beyond announced the opening of their first co-branded retail location in Fort Worth, with the plan to open dozens of merged locations across the U.S., according to a news release from the retailer. 

The details: The merged store layouts will allow customers to shop by room, integrating assortments from both retailers, according to the release.

Looking ahead: Over time, the company expects to operate more than 300 stores across multiple formats, including co-branded stores, neighborhood formats, Bed Bath & Beyond Seasonal Living, and buybuy BABY locations, according to the release.

More renters in Greater Houston signed leases in April as available listings increased slightly and prices dipped, according to a May 20 report from the Houston Association of Realtors.

Breaking it down: The number of rentable single-family homes in the Houston area expanded by about 1.9% compared to April 2025, with 113 more new listings to choose from, according to the monthly rental market update. Additionally, the number of signed leases increased by approximately 9.7%.

Another detail: As for average lease prices, costs eased slightly by about 2.6% compared to last April, with the average lease price totaling $2,274 in 2026, the report shows.

Quote of note: "We're continuing to see a healthy rental market across Houston," HAR Chair Theresa Hill said in a statement. "Renters have more homes to choose from right now, and that's helping create a little more breathing room when it comes to pricing and decision making. Heading into the summer months, those conditions should continue to support a steady and competitive rental market."

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