DTX-KRN: Impact 9/1/2025

Roanoke City Council announced its intent of issuing two certificate of obligation bonds that could total $25 million at an Aug. 26 regular meeting.

The overview: The certificate of obligation bonds are expected to be $22 million for the future parking garage on US 377 and Main Street and $1.3 million for a new utility line, Public Engagement Manager Sandra Pettigrew said.

City officials are authorizing $25 million to give a $1.7 million margin of error in case costs increase between now and when the bonds are issued, Pettigrew said. Roanoke officials plan to issue the bonds by mid-November.

A new Texas-based seafood and Cajun restaurant is now serving customers after announcing its soft opening in August.

What’s on the menu: Te'jun Texas Cajun offers seafood combos and plates with shrimp, crab, crawfish, corn and potatoes, according to its website. The Keller location also has the Snapper Classic, a new fish plate that serves a red snapper filet over rice with the restaurant’s Cajun cream sauce.

What else? A restaurant spokesperson previously told Community Impact the restaurant will have a grand opening event Oct. 7. The event is open to the public and will include live music and a balloon artist, according to a social media update.

A new immersive experience is opening this fall in Grapevine with interactive concepts.

The details: The Bubble Planet exhibit offers 12 interactive rooms for a full sensory experience for guests of all ages at Grapevine Mills, according to a news release.

From hanging balloons to a kaleidoscope room, the exhibit will offer a variety of photo opportunities and “playful moments designed to awaken the inner child,” an exhibit representative said.

Customers can sign up for the Dallas waitlist of Bubble Planet now or buy tickets starting Sept. 2 at 8 a.m.

Gov. Greg Abbott signed Texas’ new congressional map into law Aug. 29, declaring in a video posted to social media that “Texas is now more red in the United States Congress.”

The details: Under Texas’ current congressional boundaries, Republicans hold 25 of Texas’ 38 congressional seats. State lawmakers have said the new map will help them gain up to five more during the 2026 midterm elections.

Texas Democrats have called the mid-decade redistricting effort unconstitutional and "racially discriminatory," while Republicans asserted that the map "complies with the law" and was designed to help more Republicans get elected to the U.S. House.

Next steps: Texas’ new congressional map is set to take effect in early December, although it will be discussed in court two months earlier. After state senators approved the map Aug. 23, the League of United Latin American Citizens and a group of Texas residents filed a lawsuit asking that the map be found unconstitutional.

A panel of three federal judges will hear arguments in the case Oct. 1-10 in El Paso.