Houston City Council is considering 11 locations for landmark or protected landmark status.

Explained: The proposed locations include churches, houses and a bank downtown.

Kathleen Nuzzo, a Southampton resident, spoke during the public speaker session in support of the designations. Southampton has six of the 11 proposed locations.

“Many people are drawn to Southampton for the same reason that we were,” Nuzzo said. “Its historic charm, beautiful tree canopy and central location. Neighbors take pride in its history.”

Nuzzo added that the neighborhood has seen a wave of teardowns over the past few years, and though there are deed restrictions, they don’t protect the properties.

“Every demolition takes away a piece of the neighborhood’s history that can’t be replaced, and with it, the history that draws people here,” Nuzzo said.

How it works: The city of Houston defines landmarks and protected landmarks as historic properties that have officially been recognized by the city for their historical, cultural or architectural significance. The city currently has over 35 landmarks and 192 protected landmarks.

Sandoitchi, a Dallas-based Japanese sandwich and matcha cafe, will open its first Houston location in the Heights.

What is it: Sandoitchi is a modern take on the classic Japanese konbini: part café, part convenience store. Sandoitchi serves soft, fluffy stacked sandwiches, as well as matcha drinks.

The Houston location has a design concept “somewhere between a temple and a courtyard” and is inspired by Kyoto, Japan, according to Sandoitchi’s website.

It features an oval roof, translucent curtains and color-block painting of striped red, plum and blue on the exterior.

What’s on the menu: The menu includes popular sando options such as egg salad, strawberry cream, raspberry hazelnut-hojicha cream, classic chicken katsu and wagyu burger katsu.

The cafe will also offer ramen, cucumber salad, fries known as “friend fries,” donuts and Japanese milk bread.

• 1603 N. Durham Dr., Houston

The University of Houston will train teachers to ease a special needs teacher shortage and improve reading proficiency in students.

The big picture: UH’s Project BRIDGE will fully fund teachers’ master's programs in special education along with structured literacy certificates through an online program, according to an Oct. 22 news release.

Project BRIDGE, or Building Reading Instruction and Dyslexia Guidance Expertise, is funded by a $1.25 million grant from the U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Special Education Programs.

The details: The program lasts five semesters for each cohort, and UH plans to accept 42 participants through multiple cohorts in a five-year span, a UH spokesperson said.

Why this matters: Texas is one of 45 states dealing with a special education teacher shortage, which is the most common teaching field shortage among states, according to the Learning Policy Institute, an education research organization.

The program will also train teachers on the science of reading to improve student literacy as some Texas students are not reading at grade level by third grade, per the news release.

Harris County Public Health launched a new localized dashboard Oct. 28 to identify health inequities and disparities.

How it works: The tool compiles national, state and local data into zip code-specific information for Harris County. The dashboard maps a variety of data, including air pollution, walkability, life expectancy and colorectal cancer screenings.

The dashboard features more than 60 health indicators across five domains:

• Chronic and behavioral health

• Housing and economic conditions

• Neighborhood environment and conditions

• Population health and prevention

• Social and community conditions

The local impact: The data reaffirmed a known pattern of less healthy neighborhoods known as the Houston arrow, which consists of connected zip codes around downtown Houston stretching into north and south Harris County.

Harris County Public Health plans to incorporate these findings into future strategic plans and initiatives. Additionally, the department is recruiting members to policy work groups to help develop actionable policy recommendations based on the data.

More than 4.5 million Texans cast ballots in the first seven days of early voting in the Nov. 3 election, state data shows.

The overview: From Oct. 19-25, 23.8% of Texas' 19 million registered voters had voted in-person or by mail, according to voter turnout data submitted by counties and reported by the secretary of state. This is slightly below early voting turnout at the same point in 2018 and several percentage points above turnout in 2022.

Some context: Turnout this fall follows voter enthusiasm during the March primary election, when more Texans voted early than in recent primaries. In total, about 4.5 million people—or one-fourth of voters registered at the time—cast ballots in Texas' March election, setting a primary turnout record.

At the polls: Registered voters can visit any polling place in their county through Oct. 30, the last day of early voting. Election Day is Nov. 3. Texans can read Q&As with dozens of candidates, find local polling sites and print a custom sample ballot at communityimpact.com/voter-guide.