Four parks in Houston will get extensive repairs after Houston City Council approved funding for the projects.

What this means: At the July 22 City Council meeting, city officials passed an ordinance that approved the Houston Parks and Recreation Department to hire a contractor to provide services that include:

• Demolition
• Replacing playground equipment
• Improving playground borders
• Installing fall surfacing
• Playground drainage
• Sidewalk improvements

Georgian cuisine restaurant Bread Boat is coming to Houston in early September, officials confirmed. This is the eatery’s first location outside of Austin, Texas, where it is based.

What you need to know: Plans for the restaurant’s soft opening indicate that it will open along Richmond Avenue on Sept. 1, followed by an official grand opening event Oct. 1, officials said.

Main course: Its menu is curated around traditional khachapuri, a freshly baked boat-shaped bread filled with a blend of cheese, butter and egg yolk. It also features chef-driven creations like the Beef Boat, Chicken Boat and Smoky Bean Boat, according to its website.

The drink menu: For those looking to kick back with a casual drink, patrons can order from Bread Boat’s handpicked selection of imported Georgian wines, beers and sparkling lemonades, officials said.

• 3835 Richmond Ave., Houston

Houston Mayor John Whitmire announced July 23 that the city is giving away 10,000 free tickets to watch the Houston Dynamo and Dash teams play at Shell Energy Stadium.

The setup: The new civic collaboration comes after Houston closed out hosting seven matches of the 2026 FIFA World Cup and a 39-day fan festival. Whitmire said city officials and their partners now want to focus on growing the game of soccer locally using the momentum from the success of the tournament.

How it works: Residents can visit the Dynamo website to see games for the remainder of the 2026 season for both the men's and women's teams from July through September. To receive the free tickets, they can use the code HOUSTON26 at the official First Match On Us portal on the website.

Jessica O'Neill, president of business operations for Dynamo Dash, said there are up to two free tickets per person until availability runs out. Houston officials will also provide printed tickets to community partners to give out to residents.

With large parts of the state under an extreme heat warning or heat advisory through July 23, the operator of Texas’ independent power grid is projecting record-breaking electric demand this week.

What's happening: As of 3 p.m. July 22, there were 90,027 megawatts of demand on the grid with 113,543 megawatts of power available, according to the Electric Reliability Council of Texas' real-time supply and demand dashboard. One megawatt of electricity can power about 250 homes during peak times.

This would break ERCOT’s current demand record of 85.5 gigawatts, which was set during an August 2023 heat wave. ERCOT spokesperson Trudi Webster cautioned that this week’s demand records are preliminary.

What it means: Texans should not expect a grid emergency during this week’s extreme heat.

ERCOT previously projected that demand would surpass 92,000 megawatts this summer, due to high temperatures, moderate rainfall and the growth of data centers.

This week's triple-digit temperatures come during the sunniest parts of the day, allowing the state to rely in part on solar energy to power the grid.