On Oct. 26, city staff solicited feedback from West University Place City Council that would establish the first steps of a project dedicated to widening Buffalo Speedway’s pedestrian sidewalks.

The high-volume route spans directly through West U and was identified as the center of these project efforts in the city’s 2027-2036 Capital Improvement Plan, which was approved Aug. 17, according to prior coverage from Community Impact.

What's happening: The scope of the sidewalk improvement project involves installing 8 to 12 feet of sidewalk from Bissonnet Street to West Holcombe Boulevard, City manager Dave Beach explained to the council in a presentation.

The changes made under this project are expected to feed directly into West U’s larger ongoing pedestrian and traffic safety investigative work, which comprises five individual traffic studies conducted by BGE Engineers.

Final takeaways: Council member John Bertini recommended that city staff request assistance from internal personnel to address some of council’s preliminary concerns. Specifically, he suggested an arborist review the trees along Buffalo Speedway and return with their findings at a later date.

The Taiwanese restaurant chain Din Tai Fung is planning to open its first Texas location in Houston.

What we know: According to a Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation filing, the project will modify six existing spaces within the Galleria mall, including the space currently occupied by Nobu, into one large venue.

The venue is expected to span nearly 17,000 square feet and cost $1 million to modify.

What's on the menu: The restaurant is famous for its handmade Xiao Long Bao, which are traditional Chinese steamed soup dumplings. The menu also features other dumplings, buns, wontons, noodle soup, fried rice, desserts and signature cocktails.

Stay tuned: Construction is anticipated to begin Feb. 1 and will take approximately four to five months to complete. Details are subject to change.

• 5115 Westheimer Road, Houston

Houston City Council approved changes to the city’s tax abatement ordinance, requiring companies seeking certain property tax exemptions to meet stronger labor standards, including higher wages, health insurance benefits, workers' compensation and stronger worker protections.

Explained: Houston uses tax abatements to incentivize businesses to come to and invest in the city and hire locally by offering a reduction in property taxes for a specified period. In return, businesses must meet the applicable requirements for employee wages, health benefits and other worker protections. Council member Alejandra Salinas proposed the ordinance.

Part of the ordinance includes preventing contractors with a recent history of violating Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) rules or committing wage theft from participating in projects related to the tax abatement.

Also of note: Since 2004, the city has approved only 21 tax abatements, the most recent in December 2025. According to the ordinance, the changes will apply only to future grants.

The University of Houston will train teachers to ease a special needs teacher shortage and improve reading proficiency in students.

The big picture: UH’s Project BRIDGE will fully fund teachers’ master's programs in special education along with structured literacy certificates through an online program, according to an Oct. 22 news release.

Project BRIDGE, or Building Reading Instruction and Dyslexia Guidance Expertise, is funded by a $1.25 million grant from the U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Special Education Programs.

The program lasts five semesters for each cohort, and UH plans to accept 42 participants through multiple cohorts in a five-year span, a UH spokesperson said.

Why this matters: Texas is one of 45 states dealing with a special education teacher shortage, which is the most common teaching field shortage among states, according to the Learning Policy Institute, an education research organization.

The program will also train teachers on the science of reading to improve student literacy as some Texas students are not reading at grade level by third grade, per the news release.

Harris County Public Health launched a new localized dashboard Oct. 28 to identify health inequities and disparities.

How it works: The tool compiles national, state and local data into zip code-specific information for Harris County. The dashboard maps a variety of data, including air pollution, walkability, life expectancy and colorectal cancer screenings.

The dashboard features more than 60 health indicators across five domains:

• Chronic and behavioral health

• Housing and economic conditions

• Neighborhood environment and conditions

• Population health and prevention

• Social and community conditions

The local impact: The data reaffirmed a known pattern of less healthy neighborhoods known as the Houston arrow, which consists of connected zip codes around downtown Houston stretching into north and south Harris County. Harris County Public Health plans to incorporate these findings into future strategic plans and initiatives.

Additionally, the department is recruiting members to policy work groups to help develop actionable policy recommendations based on the data.