Residents and visitors will soon be allowed to enjoy outdoor alcoholic beverages in select areas in Sugar Land ahead of the city's role as a host city supporter for the 2026 FIFA World Cup.

The big picture: The new Sugar Land Social District, which aims to enhance the city’s dining, retail and entertainment scene, will allow outdoor consumption of alcoholic beverages within set areas of Sugar Land Town Square and First Colony Mall, city officials announced in a Nov. 17 news release.

The details: Within the district, visitors age 21 and older may carry beverages in marked cups purchased from 13 participating businesses within the social district on:

• Monday through Saturday from 7 a.m. to 2:15 a.m.
• Sunday from noon to 2:15 a.m.

Fort Bend ISD trustees unanimously approved an agreement with Fort Bend County to support the development and preservation of the Sugar Land 95 Memorial Cemetery, a newly-recognized historical burial site where 95 African American individuals were discovered in 2018 during construction at the James Reese Career and Technical Center. 

The details: Part of its commitment to expand parks and green spaces in Precinct 3, the county will provide the $1.5 million required for groundwork—including concrete, irrigation, soil preparation, site utilities and earthwork—to make the cemetery safely accessible to the community, FBISD Chief Communications Officer Chassidy Olainu-Alade said.

“It provides green space, not only to the campus but to the surrounding community,” she said. “Right now our top priority is to make the facility accessible … to the community as any other historic cemetery in the county would be."

The bigger picture: Olainu-Alade said the $1.5 million serves as a “catalyst investment” toward the project’s $4.5 million total cost, which she said could increase due to inflation. 

ProScript America Pharmacy, an independently-owned and operated pharmacy, is now providing prescription services in Missouri City.

The gist: The pharmacy offers conventional prescription filling, compounding, veterinary medication, immunizations, durable medical equipment and medical supplies, according to the company’s website.

A closer look: The entire staff at ProScript America Pharmacy are local Houstonians from different communities, per the website.

“Our team is reaching out to as many of the surrounding communities as possible so that patients everywhere can have access to affordable prescription services,” the website states. “We're fortunate to have some of the best dedicating their time, energy and expertise in our pharmacy.”

• 2431 FM 1092 Road, Ste. A, Missouri City

The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center on Nov. 12 announced a $2.5 billion philanthropic campaign—the largest in the center’s history—to support cancer-fighting initiatives.

Read all about it: MD Anderson already raised $1.9 billion for the campaign, called “Only Possible Here,” during a preliminary silent fundraising phase, according to a Nov. 12 news release. The Houston-based center focuses exclusively on treating, researching and preventing cancer.

The campaign’s three focus areas include expanding reach, expediting breakthroughs and elevating the patient experience, all with the goal of ending cancer, per the release. Money raised throughout the campaign will support several MD Anderson programs and initiatives, including the Cancer Neuroscience Program and Kinder Children's Cancer Center, among others. 

Quote of note: “This campaign presents an opportunity for anyone to become involved in the world's most important and impactful effort to end cancer,” campaign Chair Clarence P. Cazalot Jr. said in a Nov. 12 statement. 

Texas cannot use its newly redrawn congressional map in the 2026 election, an El Paso federal court ruled Nov. 18.

The details: The state must instead use the congressional map that Texas lawmakers drew in 2021, after the 2020 census. 

“The public perception of this case is that it’s about politics,” U.S. District Judge Jeffrey Brown wrote in the Nov. 18 preliminary injunction. “To be sure, politics played a role in drawing the 2025 map. But it was much more than just politics. Substantial evidence shows that Texas racially gerrymandered the 2025 map.”

What they're saying: Texas Republican leaders said they would “swiftly appeal” the ruling to the U.S. Supreme Court. If the court takes up the case, its justices will be pressed for time ahead of the Dec. 8 deadline for candidates to apply to run in the March primary elections.

Texas Democrats celebrated the Nov. 18 ruling as "very good news for Texans."