January: Omicron, vaccine lawsuits cloud coronavirus outlook in 2022
The rate of eligible Harris County residents getting vaccinated for the coronavirus rose steadily throughout 2021, but the emergence of a new variant and a holiday-fueled case spike underway have clouded how the pandemic may play out at the onset of 2022.
The omicron variant of the coronavirus was already starting to spread nationwide by mid-December, prior to the family gatherings that took place during the holidays, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The trend led the CDC to predict between 19,700-30,500 new COVID-19 deaths nationally during the week ending Jan. 29.
February:
Changes at Rice Village bring more upscale shops
Established in 1938 as a small body of niche storefronts and tiny cafes, the Rice Village shopping center can be found just west of Rice University, from which it derives its name.
The Village has gone through shifts in demographics from its university student/bohemian phase in the ’60s and ’70s to its local stores from the ’80s to 2000s, according to Melissa Kean, an author and retired historian with Rice.
Stakeholders use data to address Harris County’s criminal justice system challenges
Local agencies are working together to improve Harris County’s criminal justice system—a system experts said is overwhelmed with a backlog of cases and discriminates against low-income residents and people of color.
Harris County Commissioners Court created the Justice Administration Department in 2019 to identify solutions and facilitate meaningful changes to the system.
March: Buildings rise at medical center research campus
One year into construction on TMC3, the $1.5 billion medical research campus in the heart of the Texas Medical Center, life science experts and researchers said the project has the potential to add billions to the local economy and change the way Houston is viewed around the country.
Although Houston is already known for its health care offerings, the 37-acre TMC3 project brings a new collaborative, educational element to the city that could help it parallel Harvard University in Boston and the University of California, San Francisco in Silicon Valley, said Torrey Adams, senior director of life sciences with the Greater Houston Partnership.
April: Houston real estate prices soar to historic levels
Single-family home prices across the U.S. have risen faster in the last two years than at any point in time since the country began tracking home prices in 1963, according to data from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.
That trend can also be seen in the Greater Houston area, where the median price of single-family homes sold has risen by more than 30% since the start of the pandemic in March 2020, according to the Houston Association of Realtors. The median price hit $328,000 in February of this year, up from $245,000 two years ago.
May: Coronavirus pandemic, fentanyl exacerbate opioid crisis in Houston
Opioid overdose rates have risen in Houston and across Texas since the pandemic began in 2020, and local entities are working to prevent addiction.
The number of calls for service made to the Houston Fire Department for opioid and heroin incidents grew from around 40-60 per month in early 2019 to 140-160 per month in late 2021 and early 2022, said Dr. Chris Sounders, associate medical director with the HFD.
June:
Looming end of Medicaid security sounds alarms
When the coronavirus pandemic emerged in March 2020, the U.S. government issued a requirement that states could no longer kick people off Medicaid during the public health emergency. The purpose was to prevent people on Medicaid—a government-run health care policy—from being left without insurance on short notice.
That requirement is still in place two years later, but health care advocates in Texas and Houston said they are worried about what could happen when it ends and millions of people have their safety nets put into jeopardy.
MD Anderson unveils new cancer research center
Ron Speidel was diagnosed with bladder cancer in 2013. By 2015, following chemotherapy and surgery, the cancer had spread to the bone.
With conventional treatment options exhausted, Speidel was told he had six months to live.
In April 2015, Speidel was approved for immunotherapy clinical trials at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center in the Texas Medical Center, where every 10 days over the next five months, he and 14 other cancer patients received experimental treatment. Immunotherapy consists of a series of drug infusions that take several hours each appointment.
July:
Rising rents, costs put strain on affordable housing
As housing demand soars in Houston, Mary Lawler and her team are doing their best to keep up.
Lawler, CEO of the Houston-based nonprofit affordable housing builder Avenue CDC, said the city’s reputation for affordability is becoming less of a reality for more and more people. In fact, that storyline has been something of a myth for a while, she said.
Houstonians turning to solar power as electricity prices soar
As electricity costs rise in Texas and Houston, more residents are turning to solar power.
Solar power is the fastest-growing source of energy in Texas, having increased 70% year over year in May, according to data from the Electric Reliability Council of Texas, which supplies power to 90% of the state.
August:
HISD ups teacher pay, confronts budget deficit
A transformation is underway in Houston ISD at a time when the district is expecting budget deficits in the coming years, including a $31 million deficit projected for fiscal year 2022-23, which started in July.
The first part of a strategic plan meant to transform HISD came to fruition June 9 when district trustees unanimously adopted the FY 2022-23 budget. It included roughly a 11% bump in pay on average for all district teachers. The starting pay for a new teacher increased by more than 8%, from $56,869 to $61,500.
West University Place lays out facility upgrades in new plan
The city of West University Place is undertaking the largest public facilities makeover in the city’s history as spacing issues and aged infrastructure creep in.
Since December, West University has held a series of public meetings to discuss its five-year facilities master plan, which involves adding, renovating, expanding and relocating key city buildings. The facilities plan is part of the city’s broader $174.26 million capital improvement plan outlining various projects, including street and road paving, and water line replacements.
September:
Drought eases, but effects could linger
The month of August brought some much-needed rain to the Houston area after June and July were both exceptionally warm and exceptionally dry.
However, portions of Harris County remained in severe drought as of Aug. 22, according to the Texas Water Development Board, and experts said the effects of the dryness statewide are still being felt, including effects on agriculture, water supply and public health, among other areas.
Bellaire hires new city manager following 2-year vacancy
Bellaire City Council unanimously approved the appointment of Sharon Citino as the new city manager July 11, marking an end to a two-year search to fill the role.
Citino previously worked as the water planning director in the Houston Public Works Department beginning in 2018.
October:
Harris County voters to decide $1.2B bond
Harris County residents will vote on a $1.2 billion bond to fund public safety facilities, road maintenance and parks during the midterm elections Nov. 8.
Voters can approve or reject three separate propositions: $100 million for public safety facilities; $900 million for roads, drainage and multimodal transportation; and $200 million for parks. Historically, the county has proposed road and park bonds every six to eight years, most recently an $848 million bond in 2015.
Bellaire fills staffing holes following investment in employee pay
After three years of mostly stagnant investments in employee salaries and benefits, the city of Bellaire has dropped $2 million into the pot over the past two years.
In fiscal year 2021-22, the city spent approximately $9.59 million on full-time employee wages. For the FY 2022-23 budget adopted by the city Sept. 19, that figure rose to $10.93 million, an increase of $1.34 million.
November:
Short-term relief on the horizon for federal student loan borrowers as tuition costs rise
As the cost of higher education continues to rise with more students relying on federal loans to pay for their degrees, short-term relief may be on the way for former college students struggling to get out of debt, while questions remain surrounding a long-term solution.
Adjusted for inflation, the average annual cost of attending a four-year college full time—including tuition, fees, room and board—in the U.S. has risen from $10,231 in 1980 to $28,775 in the 2019-20 school year, a 180% increase, according to the National Center for Education Statistics.
Judicial races could impact bail reforms
When Harris County District Attorney Kim Ogg walked onto the stage of Texas Southern University’s auditorium Aug. 25, emphatic boos from several audience members set the scene for a two-hour panel on the county and country’s approach to bail reform.
The back-and-forth of the panel typified the discussion in recent years around Harris County’s bail practices. At the felony level, the county has operated and continues to operate under a cash bail system. But cash bail for misdemeanors was the subject of scrutiny in 2017 after U.S. District Judge Lee Rosenthal found the county’s policy of using cash bail to hold people in jail while they awaited trial in violation of the U.S. Constitution.
December:
Renovations coming to 60-year-old Bellaire center
The heart of the city of Bellaire’s commercial district is about to receive major renovations designed to boost its appeal as a gathering space.
Despite its moniker of the “City of Homes,” Bellaire has its own downtown area with a burgeoning dining scene on the city’s west side. The Bellaire Triangle—a section of the city situated between Chimney Rock Road, Bissonnet Street and Bellaire Boulevard—was developed in 1959 as one of the first shopping centers in town.
County adopts slimmer budgets after tax rate standoff
Headed into 2023, the new 4-1 Democratic majority on Harris County Commissioners Court will conduct county operations with a tighter budget than initially proposed after the two current Republican commissioners sat out tax rate votes, forcing the county to adopt four no-new-revenue tax rates.
For six consecutive meetings in September and October, Precinct 3 Commissioner Tom Ramsey and Precinct 4 Commissioner Jack Cagle refused to show. Their absences denied the court the four-member quorum necessary to hold a vote on a set of tax rates for the county’s general fund, the Harris County Flood Control District, the Port of Houston Authority and the hospital district—Harris Health System.
