After several residents expressed concerns with nearby short-term rentals in the city, Bellaire City Council tightened the regulations surrounding STRs, a move that included adding a new ordinance to its city code and limiting where they can operate.

What’s changed: According to the Nov. 17 agenda item, the city previously only required STR owners to obtain a certificate of occupancy, which, according to the American Legal Publishing website, is a legal document that certifies that a building is safe to be occupied and is in compliance with building codes and zoning laws.

However, after the council voted unanimously in favor of the new ordinance, regulations now prohibit STRs in residential districts and give existing owners 120 days from adoption—Nov. 17—to cease operations.

The new ordinance also:

• Defines STRs and platforms
• Provides enforcement for owners, guests and platforms
• Establishes permit, renewal, appeal and revocation rules and procedures
• Declares STRs as a nuisance in residential districts due to incompatibility

Hungry's, a new American restaurant nestled in Rice Village, opened its newly renovated bar over the weekend, as well as an all-new cocktail menu to cap off its 50th year.

Take a sneak peek: According to a Nov. 11 news release, the U-shaped bar is intended to create a vibrant social hub within the restaurant.

Meanwhile, the new cocktail menu focuses on classic inspirations, bright flavors and local spirits. Signature cocktails include:

• Spicy Strawberry Press: Tito's, jalapeno, lemon and housemade strawberry lemonade
• Cucumber Basil Gimlet: Ford's gin, cucumber, basil, lemon and rose petals
• Elijah's Summer with a Saint: Elijah Craig Small Batch Bourbon, St. Germain Elderflowers liqueur, Peychaud's Bitters, lemon and cranberry

• 2356 Rice Blvd., Houston

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.   

Jermaine Thomas will serve as judge for Harris County’s newly created fifth civil court at law starting in December after Harris County commissioners unanimously appointed Thomas at the Nov. 13 court meeting.

Quote of note: “This appointment is not just a personal milestone,” Thomas said. “It represents an opportunity to expand access to justice and strengthen the foundation of fairness that Harris County courts are built upon.”

Judges within Harris County civil courthouses see cases regarding civil matters, including eviction appeals, property disputes, personal injury suits, contract cases and small business claims, according to the court’s website.

Put in perspective: In March, Harris County commissioners requested that Texas lawmakers create five additional civil district courts by 2027 to address the county's longstanding court backlog, joining Brazoria and Fort Bend counties in similar requests as continued population and business growth occurred in the region. The last time a civil district court was created in Harris County was in the early '80s, said Lauren Reeder, Harris County District Court judge for the 234th civil court. 

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."