HTX-KTY: Impact 11/6/2025

Fulshear Simonton Fire Department residents denied a sales tax election for the district in the Nov. 4 election, according to unofficial results from Fort Bend County.

The fire department, also known as Fort Bend County Emergency Service District No. 4, serves 106 square miles across north western Fort Bend County including Fulshear, Simonton and Weston Lakes, according to its website.

What residents need to know: Unofficial data shows that voters did not favor the up to 2% sales and use tax collection with 3,947 votes for and 6,181 votes against.

The sales tax would have only affected certain areas of the district where the sales tax did not exceed the state’s maximum rate of 8.25%, officials said.

The details: The sales tax election aimed to provide the department with additional funds as its service area population continues to grow, district officials said.

What's next: For more information on Election Day coverage, visit Community Impact's voter guide. All results are unofficial until canvassed.

Fort Bend County, Kendleton and Black Cowboy Museum officials broke ground on the soon-to-be new home of the museum in Kendleton.

Zooming in: The groundbreaking comes after Fort Bend County commissioners approved a nearly $4 million construction agreement with Construction Ltd. on Oct. 9 to build a new facility for the museum at Bates Allen Park, located at 630 Charlie Roberts Lane.

Diving in deeper: The museum, which opened in September 2017, will move to a 1.5-acre site with a two-story building totaling approximately 9,780 square feet, a large jump from its 900-square-foot Rosenberg location, according to its website.

Zooming out: Ground was broken last September for the park's new African American Heritage Monument, a project also spearheaded by Precinct 4 Commissioner Dexter McCoy, Community Impact reported.

What’s next: Construction on the museum will start in December and is expected to take 14 months, McCoy's Chief of Staff Ali Hasanali said.

At least $410 million worth of flood projects throughout the county are going to be bid in the next 12 months, equaling more than 30 project packages, according to Harris County Flood Control District’s construction bid calendar.

Quote of note: Harris County Precinct 3 Commissioner Tom Ramsey said at the Oct. 30 court meeting the flood district is also working with federal and state partners for funding. 

“Identifying roughly $400 million in projects that will be bid in the next 12 months, that is encouraging,” Ramsey said. 

Zooming out: Various flood mitigation projects in high-flood-risk areas across Harris County have advanced with secured local, state and federal funding partnerships after the unanimous approval from Harris County commissioners in September as part of a restructured proposal built upon the work completed from the 2018 flood bond.

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 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.