At a March 17 meeting, Sugar Land City Council approved a nearly $1.9 million design contract with Martinez Architects LP for the third phase of the city's Public Safety Training Facility.

In a nutshell: The project is aimed at transitioning police and fire departments from remote training facilities in other communities to Sugar Land, said Lane Wolf, senior manager of vertical construction for Sugar Land.

Key components of Phase 3 include:

• 50-yard, 20-lane interior shooting range
• 100-yard, multilane outdoor range
• Class A burn structures
• Class and gun cleaning room

Local Sugar Land resident Megan Brown recently renovated and reopened Nuthatch Montessori School with her husband.

The overview: The preschool offers programs for children ages 6 weeks to 6 years in five separate classrooms, Brown said. The school also has after-school care and summer camps for elementary-aged students.

Something to note: The school offers daily outdoor time and field trips, and it is open year-round from 7 a.m.-6:30 p.m., excluding national holidays. 

• 5630 W. Riverpark Drive, Sugar Land

The city of Houston and the U.S. Navy announced the lineup of ships for the first-ever Fleet Week Houston.

The event: Fleet Week Houston will bring U.S. Navy and U.S. Coast Guard vessels to the Port of Houston on April 15-22. During that week, the public will have the chance to meet and engage with service members, learn about the ships' roles in national defense and take ship tours.

Participating ships include:

• USS Kearsarge (LHD-3): an assault ship designed for multi-purpose operations, including troop transport and aircraft support
• USS Minneapolis-St. Paul (LCS-21): a littoral combat ship optimized for operations in near-shore environments with high speed and agility
• USS Cooperstown (LCS-23): a littoral combat ship sharing the same advanced capabilities for coastal missions
• USCGC Edgar Culbertson (WPC-1137): a fast response cutter equipped for a range of missions, including search and rescue, law enforcement and port security

More than 229,000 students have applied to receive state funds for private education or homeschooling under Texas’ education savings account program, according to the state comptroller’s office.

By the numbers: State data indicates that the most applications have been submitted on behalf of students living in urban areas and the surrounding suburban communities. As of March 8, students living in Houston ISD’s boundaries led the pack with over 8,900 applications, followed by 6,700 applicants in Dallas ISD.

The data reflects how many students living in each district's boundaries have applied, including those not currently enrolled in a public school.

The background: State lawmakers created the Texas Education Freedom Accounts program in 2025.

Students accepted for the 2026-27 school year will receive $10,474 for private education or up to $2,000 for homeschool. Students with disabilities can receive up to $30,000 each.

More details: Of the first 152,000 program applicants, nearly three-quarters were not enrolled in a public school during the 2025-26 school year, data obtained by the Texas Center for Voucher Transparency shows.