Photo Courtesy of Houston Chronicle
By Katherine Feser
ClubCorp, the new owner of The Woodlands Country Club, has completed the first phase of a more than $8 million renovation program at the private golf club north of Houston.
Dallas-based ClubCorp acquired the club along with several others in the Houston area from Sequoia Golf last year.
Participants and spectators of the Champions Tour Insperity Invitational, which runs through May 3, will see some of the improvements.
Photo Courtesy of Houston Chronicle
By Katherine Feser
Are Houston’s ever-rising housing prices ready to come down with the price of oil?
Maybe so, according to the spring Housing and Mortgage Market Review released by Arch Mortgage Insurance Co.
The Arch MI Risk Index, which predicts the likelihood of an area’s home prices being lower over the course of two years, identified Texas, North Dakota and Oklahoma as states with a moderate risk of prices going lower.
Photo Courtesy of HBJ
By Olivia Pulsinelli
Houston First Corp. and the Greater Houston Convention and Visitors Bureau have an ambitious, nearly $9 million plan to bring 20 million annual visitors to the Bayou City by 2018.
That would be a 30 percent increase from the 14.8 million people who visited Houston in 2014. The organizations, which combined last year, expect the growth would add 20,000 new jobs to the 129,000 existing hospitality jobs in the greater Houston area and increase the $1.1 billion in local and state sales tax revenue generated by the industry by 25 percent.
Photo Courtesy of The Villager
By Brandon K. Scott
There were 3,649 votes in after the first two days of early voting in Montgomery County this week.
Voters in The Woodlands, where the controversial Woodlands Parkway extension has threatened to derail the proposed $350 million countywide road bond, turned out the most voters in the first two days with 1,628 votes cast. There were also 251 votes from the Generations Church a Spring, which is a new voting location in South County.
Photo Courtesy of Houston Chronicle
By Annette Baird
The move three years ago to a master-planned community in League City not only changed the course of Scott Stubb’s children’s education, it also changed the course of his career.
Not pleased with the Houston Independent School District, Stubbs and his wife Erin, who lived close to downtown Houston, researched school districts and opted for the top-rated Clear Creek Independent School District.
Photo Courtesy of Culture Map
By Barbara Kuntz
Houston’s ward system — the six neighborhoods that still retain strong identities and deep-rooted pride — take center stage in the Rice Design Alliance’s Spring 2015 Architecture Tour following the theme, “afterWARDS: An Architecture Tour of Houston’s Wards and Beyond.”
The self-driven tour will take place from 1 to 6 p.m. Saturday and Sunday and is free to RDA members. RDA membership costs $45 and can be purchased online, in person at the RDA office at Rice University or at designated ticket-buying locations the days of the tour.
Photo Courtesy of ABC 13
Supporters and opponents of a Texas law requiring specific forms of photo identification for voters faced close questioning in a federal appeals court Tuesday on whether the law was meant to discriminate against minorities and whether there are ways to remedy it.
Photo Courtesy of The Journal
By Stacey Glaesmann
A ribbon cutting ceremony was held for Phase One of Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Compressor International (MHI) on Saturday (April 25) at its campus location at 14888 Kirby Dr.
Speakers included Gampa Bhat, President of Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Compressor International and Hiroaki Osaki, President of Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Compressor Corporation.
Photo Courtesy of The Texas Tribune
By Aman Batheja
The Texas House tentatively approved a $4.9 billion tax relief plan Tuesday that includes a cut to the state’s sales tax, marking a clear line in the sand against the Senate, which favors property tax cuts.
Photo Courtesy of The Texas Tribune
By Jim Malewitz
Texas’ voter ID law faces a fresh round of legal scrutiny in New Orleans on Tuesday, the next step in a long-winding case that may be headed for the U.S. Supreme Court.
Three judges on the U.S. 5th Circuit Court of Appeals will hear arguments from Texas Solicitor General Scott Keller and lawyers for the plaintiffs, including minority groups and the U.S. Department of Justice.
Photo Courtesy of ABC 13
By Tom Abrahams
Early voting started Monday in Montgomery County and the big issue on the ballot is a $350 million bond to pay for road construction, improvement and maintenance. It may or may not get the green light from voters.
Traffic, congestion and virtual gridlock are issues plaguing drivers in Montgomery County. As the area grows in population, the lack of mobility is accelerating.
Photo Courtesy of HBJ
By Kimberly Reeves
Optimism is high for the House and Senate to find some common ground on this session’s bill to address the Texas Windstorm Insurance Association.
Three bills are in the mix: two over in the House Insurance Committee and a third carried by Sen. Larry Taylor, R-Friendswood, that just passed out of the Senate. Taylor has ceded some of his concern over turning TWIA over to an outside manager, changing the language in his bill from “shall” to “may.”
Photo Courtesy of HBJ
By Olivia Pulsinelli
The passenger drop-off ramp at William P. Hobby Airport will close for one night due to ongoing construction.
The upper ramp will close April 27 at 8 p.m., and drop-off traffic will be rerouted to the lower ramp. The upper ramp will reopen at 5 a.m. April 28.
Stewart Information Services Corp., the parent of Stewart Title, reported loss of $12.4 million, or 52 cents share, for the first quarter 2015. In the first quarter of last year, Stewart lost $12.1 million.
Total revenues were up, however – $448.9 million in the first quarter of this year, compared to $393.6 million in the comparable period of last year.
By Stephen Green
Conroe ISD will have a new website by next school year.
The CISD Board of Trustees unanimously approved a $350,000 overhaul of ConroeISD.net. It would include moving the site to the WordPress content management system, as well as a more modern redesign, according to Director of Communications Sarah Wood.
Photo Courtesy of The Texas Tribune
By Ross Ramsey
Almost all of the Republicans in the Texas House — 90 of 98 — endorsed cuts in state sales taxes over cuts in local property taxes in a letter unveiled Saturday, days before the House is set to vote on tax cut legislation.
Their stance is based on experience, they wrote: Lawmakers tried to lower local property taxes nearly a decade ago, but their efforts were blunted by inflation, rising appraisals and local decisions on tax rates.
Photo Courtesy of Houston Chronicle
By Erin Mulvaney
Fort Bend master-planned community Harvest Green will have an on-site farm and “ready-to-grow” backyard gardens at each residence. Developer Johnson Development Corp. calls the community an “agri-hood.”
Located on the Grand Parkway at West Airport Boulevard, Harvest Green is a 1,300-acre master-planned community that will offer up to 2,000 new homes. The first phase will be available to builders in the second quarter of 2015. The community’s collection of builders will be announced later this year with model homes opening in the fall. Another 87 acres of highly visible commercial property within Harvest Green is located along the Grand Parkway.
