HTX-BMW: Impact 11/3/2025

Harris County commissioners voted unanimously Oct. 30 to push back the proposed Dec. 11 public hearing for the Harris Health and the Ben Taub Hospital expansion in Houston’s Texas Medical Center. Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo was absent.

The bottom line: Several amendments, internal deadlines and meetings are now being coordinated by county and city of Houston stakeholders as part of a potential expansion plan that will include community input and a formal presentation in January. Commissioners set the new date for the public hearing in March.

The context: Harris Health officials are in the process of a major expansion of Ben Taub Hospital, which would incorporate 8.9 acres of Hermann Park. Esmaeil Porsa, Harris Health president and CEO, said at the Oct. 30 meeting that the expansion must occur at this location for several reasons that would support more than 1 million uninsured individuals.

“It would allow this facility to be part of Ben Taub and won’t need additional licensing,” Porsa said.

Waxxed Cards is set to open a new storefront in Rice Village, according to a recent filing with the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation.

The gist: The trading card company sells sports cards and Pokémon cards, along with other memorabilia.

The filing states the project will cost around $175,000 and be located on Rice Boulevard. Construction is expected to begin at the end of October and finish Dec. 31. Details are subject to change.

This will be Waxxed Cards' first location in Houston, and the company currently operates multiple storefronts across Texas, Florida and Colorado.

• 2528 Rice Blvd., Houston

According to the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation, a new Eataly location is coming soon to an existing retail space in Houston.

The details: Eataly’s new location will be located in a 20,050-square-foot building in a hybrid space that combines a mix of restaurants, specialty marketplaces, cafes and grab-and-go food counters and include a full interior renovation, per TDLR. Construction for the $11.5 million project will begin in January next year and be completed by September.

What else?: Eataly is an Italian eatery and store with 11 international locations, 14 locations in the United States and one location in Dallas, Texas, per the website. At Eataly, customers can find high-quality Italian food and wine, per the website, as well as retail items such as uncooked pastas, coffee, olive oil and chocolate.

Millions of Texans may see delays in their Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, benefits beginning Nov. 1, as the federal government shutdown reaches the one-month mark.

The latest: The federal food assistance program is set to run out of funding in November, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

Two federal judges ruled Oct. 31 that the Trump Administration must use federal contingency funds, which are stockpiled for emergency expenses, to fund SNAP in November, although the next steps surrounding SNAP benefits were unclear as of press time.

The local impact: Over 3.5 million Texans receive SNAP benefits each month, according to Feeding Texas, the statewide network of food banks.

“People are at risk of going hungry if the government doesn't reopen and SNAP benefits are delayed. … These are already vulnerable Texans,” Feeding Texas CEO Celia Cole said in an Oct. 27 interview.

Food banks across the state Texas food banks previously expanded their operations to meet increased demand as thousands of federal workers go without paychecks during the shutdown.