Truckloads of food, toys, beds, blankets and other essential items were delivered to Harris County’s animal shelter Dec. 15 as part of ‘"Santa Paws," a collaborative holiday project with Precinct 3 Commissioner Tom Ramsey’s office. 

Quote of note: “What makes Santa Paws so special is seeing the generosity of our community and their commitment to helping animals,” Ramsey said in a news release. 

The setup: More than 1,000 items were collected at various Precinct 3 locations, and Ramsey said community members from the following organizations were part of the initiative:

• Harris County Pets
• Friends of Harris Pets
• Mystic Mutts Groomers
• Sheffield Liquidators of Crosby
• Local rescue groups, fosters and volunteers

Houston City College officials announced a $2 million investment from Google to expand its artificial intelligence and robotics programs. The grant funding is expected to support new AI faculty and technicians and reach thousands of local high school and college students.

The impact: With the grant, HCC officials said they will establish a variety of initiatives, including:

• Hire at least 10+ full-time faculty and technicians specializing in AI
• Develop a new curriculum
• Enhance lab facilities
• Train 40 college and 40 high school instructors who could reach an estimated 3,200 high school and 4,800 HCC students
• Establish a regional coalition of 20 institutions and partners to meet the needs of the local economy

At the Houston campus, Conroe ISD high school junior Ezra Dakatubia and HCC classmate Ahad Maredia presented their robotics and software program project. The robot was programmed to recognize hand pattern movements that propel the robot's direction—a capability that could be utilized as safety products within the industrial industry, they said.

Texans now have a new database to track the results of local bond propositions and tax rate elections, or TREs, in their communities and across the state.

The details: Texas’ Local Government Bond, Tax, and Project Transparency Database was unveiled after state lawmakers passed House Bill 103 this spring. The new law requires the comptroller to compile information about all bonds, tax rate elections and maintenance tax rate changes proposed by local governments in an election, including:

• Ballot language for all tax-related proposals
• How each tax measure would impact the local tax rate or debt service
• The difference between the adopted tax rate and voter-approval tax rate, if applicable
• The entity’s tax rate for the prior year and the tax rate following the election
• A list of projects funded by each tax measure
• The results of each election, including votes for and against a measure