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From a morning run to an evening stroll, or alternate modes of transportation, the city of Pearland has made strides to make walkability and access to trails more convenient for residents, city officials said.

The framework: As of February 2024, Pearland has over 615 miles of sidewalks across the city, as previously reported by Community Impact.

The details: As a result of those efforts, projects for trail systems, such as the Shadow Creek connector trail to Clear Creek, are underway, city officials said. This project entails a 21-mile Clear Creek trail, with 8 miles currently built. Paved trails also exist across Pearland, including Shadow Creek Ranch and Green Tee Terrace.

Carry Capers, director of Pearland’s Parks and Recreation Department, said the city focuses on trail and sidewalk connectivity “for a couple of different reasons.”

“One is health and wellness,” Capers said. “But then also making sure that we have great connections to all of our schools, to our retail centers, to where ... you can use a different form of transportation.”

Alvin ISD will allocate additional funding to address “high-priority needs” across the district following board approval of an amendment to the 2025-26 budget at its Jan. 13 meeting

The details: The amendment authorizes over $5.8 million in additional funding to address several areas, including campus libraries, maintenance and operations, safety and security, athletics, fine arts, child nutrition and technology services, according to district documents.

Funding allotments include:

• Campus libraries: $320,000 to provide updated materials for students
• Heating, ventilation and air conditioning projects: $2.95 million for two water-cooled chiller replacements and retro-commissioning at Alvin High School, as well as facility maintenance aligned with ongoing renovations
• Security cameras and other technology replacements: $1.135 million for district-wide technology upgrades, including security camera replacement, network infrastructure improvements, high-performance devices and VMware licensing adjustments.

Four Democratic candidates are running for Congressional District 18 in the upcoming March primaries.

The big picture: Gretchen Brown, Amanda Edwards, Al Green and Christian Dashaun Menefee will compete for the Democratic nomination. The winning Democratic candidate will face the winner of the Republican nomination in November. Elizabeth Vences and Ronald Dwayne Whitfield are vying for the Republican nomination.

Members of the U.S. House of Representatives are elected for a two-year term with no term limits. Following congressional redistricting, which will take effect in January 2027, District 18 will cover portions of southwest, central and northeast Houston.

Something to note: The March primary election is separate from the Nov. 4 special election that was held to fill the vacant congressional seat following the death of incumbent Sylvester Turner in March.

The special election, which had 16 candidates, resulted in a runoff election between the top two vote-getters: Menefee and Edwards. A special runoff election will be held Jan. 31 for the remainder of Turner's unexpired term.  

Eat Drink HTX, the sister fundraiser to Houston Restaurant Weeks, will return for its fifth year from Feb. 14 through Feb. 28, according to a Jan. 12 news release from the Cleverley Stone Foundation. 

At a glance: The two-week dining event was designed around the casual dining experience and features lower price points than Houston Restaurant Weeks. While menus won’t go live until Feb. 1, the foundation announced dinner will be priced at $25, with lunch and brunch both priced at $15. 

The local impact: Both Houston Restaurant Weeks and Eat Drink HTX were inspired by Cleverley Stone, the late philanthropist and food correspondent who was passionate about bringing business to restaurants during traditionally slower seasons of the year, according to the release.