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Mayor John Whitmire appoints Dr. Theresa Tran as new Houston Health Department director
Mayor John Whitmire announced during the Sept. 10 City Council meeting the appointment of Dr. Theresa Tran as the new director of the Houston Health Department.
“You have some huge shoes to fill, but I think you can take the health department to the next generation,” Whitmire said.
Tran’s appointment comes after the former director, Stephen Williams, announced his retirement after 21 years of service.
Career history: Tran works as a board-certified emergency physician with more than a decade of frontline clinical experience, according to an Aug. 29 news release. She previously served as associate vice president for clinical population health and advocacy at UTHealth Houston, as well as the assistant dean at the UTHealth School of Public Health. She also served as the director of strategic initiatives for Harris Health’s multivisit patient program.
8 new mobile STEM labs to visit 270 Texas school districts this school year
Education in science, technology, engineering and math, or STEM, may become more accessible for Texas public school students this school year.
What happened: Officials from national education nonprofit Learning Undefeated and the Texas Education Agency celebrated the opening of eight new mobile STEM labs at a Sept. 10 ribbon-cutting ceremony in Austin. The TEA-funded labs are expected to visit 270 school districts across the state in the 2025-26 school year.
Notable quote: “In an ever-changing world, access to STEM education remains critical to help prepare our students for career pathways and lifelong success,” said Alejando Delgado, TEA deputy commissioner of operations.
The overview: Learning Undefeated built eight new mobile STEM labs after receiving a $3.5 million grant from the TEA, according to Learning Defeated information. The organization opened its first mobile STEM lab in Texas in 2020.
The nine regionally-based labs will now visit elementary and middle school campuses across the state’s 20 educational service center regions. Kindergarten through eighth-grade students may participate in a variety of STEM activities to learn engineering design.
Houston single-family home sales jump nearly 12% in August, inventory up over 30%
The gist: Single-family home sales rose 11.9% compared to the same time last year in August, according to the Houston Association of Realtors’ August 2025 Housing Market Update released Sept. 10. The number of homes available was also reported to be 30.4% above last year’s number. While sales and available homes numbers were higher, home prices didn’t show as much change this August compared to last year. The median sales price remained almost unchanged at $335,000, according to the report.
What they’re saying: “August brought the strongest sales gains we’ve seen so far this year, and that’s encouraging for both sides of the market,” HAR Chair Shae Cottar said. “Buyers have more choices and negotiating power than they’ve had in more than a decade while sellers continue to benefit from solid demand. As mortgage rates continue to ease, I anticipate buyer activity will remain solid in the coming months.”
