ISSUE 34 · SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 1, 2026 · LIFE BY DESIGN, NOT DEFAULT
THE HERALD ✦ DEER PARK This Week |
Photo: Alexander Hatley / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0
Deer Park has drafted its first rules for data centers. The draft would allow them only in the Industrial Park district, only with a Specific Use Permit, and never cooled with drinking water. Planning & Zoning discusses it Monday, and council votes Tuesday on calling a public hearing for Dec. 1. The same night: the Red Bluff Road rezoning, new commercial trash fees and Election Day.
This week: what the data-center draft says, what council decided Oct. 20, what Tuesday’s agenda spends, a pho shop on Center Street, a local spirit-shirt maker, and a kitten named Dill.
THE HERALD ✦ DEER PARK Liberty Watch |
Photo: Alexander Hatley / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0
Mon 6:30 P&Z on data centers | Tue 7 a.m. polls open until 7 p.m. | Tue 7:30 Red Bluff rezoning hearing | Dec 1 proposed data center hearing |
Data centers. A draft posted with Monday’s Planning & Zoning agenda would define a data center for the first time in the zoning ordinance and allow one only in the Industrial Park (M1) district, only with a Specific Use Permit, and nowhere else. The permit would cover the whole campus — server buildings, substations, backup generators, fuel storage, cooling towers and battery storage — and no piece of it could be permitted separately to dodge the rule. Data centers could not use potable, surface or groundwater for cooling, and would have to fund, build and maintain their own substations. P&Z discusses it Monday at 6:30 p.m.; council discusses it at its 7 p.m. workshop Tuesday and votes at 7:30 on an ordinance calling a joint public hearing for Dec. 1 at 7:30 p.m. The packet doesn’t say whether any data center has asked to come to Deer Park.
Red Bluff Road, Tuesday. The joint hearing at 7:30 p.m. takes up rezoning 8.778 acres at 4811 Red Bluff Road from Highway Service to Industrial Park (M1), at the request of Ryan Taylor for Parked, LLC. The hearing notice says Planning & Zoning recommended granting it, and council votes on the ordinance later that night. The request letter in the packet is a scanned image we couldn’t read, so we can’t tell you what the owner plans for the site.
What council decided Oct. 20, from the draft minutes. The minutes are on Tuesday’s consent calendar for approval, so these are the draft’s words: every item carried 6–0, with Councilwoman Sherry Garrison absent. Council adopted the short-term rental ordinance (No. 4742); the version in the packet bans short-term rentals in residential zoning districts and gives previously permitted ones until March 30, 2027 to stop. It also adopted the 30-year Marathon Pipe Line franchise on third reading (No. 4732), new Jimmy Burke Activity Center rental fees (No. 4741) and Samantha Gonzales as associate judge (No. 4743), and approved $271,941.44 in golf course mowers, a $50,182.50 pickup for Parks and $42,459.60 for five vehicle radios. Two residents raised electric-bike safety; one described bikes speeding through Dow Park near the playground and asked the city to consider a ban or a formal review.
Also: the city’s page for the Center Street signal bids now reads “Closed,” with no bid tabulation posted. Minutes of last Monday’s Community Development Corporation meeting aren’t posted yet, so we can’t report what the board decided. And the Board of Adjustment rules Monday on the carport variance at 226 East Oak Street.
| Your move: the data-center draft is short — read it before Monday. Comments from Audience opens both the P&Z meeting and council; register in the chambers at least five minutes before the start. |
Sources: Data-center zoning draft · Ordinance calling the Dec 1 hearing · P&Z agenda, Nov 2 · Council workshop agenda, Nov 3 · Council agenda, Nov 3 · Red Bluff hearing notice · Oct 20 draft minutes · Oct 20 workshop draft minutes · Short-term rental ordinance as filed · BOA agenda, Nov 2 · Bid 4053-25 · Legistar meeting calendar
✦ Rooms This Week |
| Deer Park City Council Tuesday, 7:30 PM · Council Chambers, 710 E. San Augustine, Deer Park, TX 77536 · Open to the public | ||
| Rotary Club of Deer Park (Deer Park Rotary) Wednesday, 12:00 PM · Republic Grill at Battleground Golf Course, 1600 Georgia Avenue, Deer Park, TX 77536-6711 · Guests by invitation How to get in: the room’s site |
Who sits in these rooms and the public money that goes in: the record.
THE HERALD ✦ DEER PARK Mapping Our Community: What Tuesday’s Agenda Spends |
Source: City of Deer Park taxpayer impact statement, Nov. 3, 2026 council agenda.
Tuesday’s agenda opens with a taxpayer impact statement, now required by state law. The city rate stays at 72 cents per $100 of value. The median homestead’s taxable value rises from $198,590 to $200,512, so its estimated city bill rises $13.84, to $1,443.69. At the no-new-revenue rate (71.2411 cents) it would have been $1,428.47.
$126,600 ESRI mapping software, 3 years | $52,000 Transfer Station HVAC | $44,345 added to sewer evaluation | $27,088 13th check, retired responders |
The money items in the packet: a three-year ESRI agreement for the city’s GIS mapping software at $42,200 a year; a $52,000 replacement heating and cooling system for the Transfer Station; an extra $44,345 for a sanitary sewer evaluation, because the $73,000 already budgeted won’t cover the work now landing this year; $13,020 for library air conditioning that contractor delays pushed into October; and a $27,088.34 “13th check” to retired first responders through the Texas Emergency Services Retirement System. Council also considers a new garbage truck from Houston Freightliner; its price is in a quote we couldn’t read from the packet.
Trash fees for businesses. A new commercial solid waste fee schedule would take effect Dec. 1 — for example, $90.50 a month for a 2-yard dumpster picked up once a week and $180.95 for an 8-yard. The packet shows only the new schedule, not the current one, so we can’t say how much it changes. Council also votes on calling a Dec. 1 hearing to renew the city’s tax abatement ordinance.
The lens worth keeping: the impact statement holds the rate steady and still shows a bigger bill, because the taxable value went up. A fair question for council: what would it take to adopt the no-new-revenue rate next year?
| GO DEEPER The Deer Park record: budgets, tax rates, votes and who governs, every figure sourced — councilonlocalrelations.org/tx/deer-park/ Start here — the Primers: 01 The Long Flat Line (how the family changed) · 02 The Documents We Live Under (the written rules that limit power) · 03 The Household (what a household buys, priced in years of work) · all primers → From the Council: This week: Teach Me: Notes From the Seat That Sits Down to Learn (The Client); Wisdom That Does Not Transfer Dies (The Patron); Health Is a Project, Not a Prayer (The Physician); The Mortar Is the Part Nobody Sees (The Counselor); Before We Build Anything New, Someone Should Ask What Was Here (The Elder). Get them by email → |
| KNOW YOUR TOWN THIS WEEK One question about Deer Park every day, and every answer links to the public record it comes from. Play today’s question → |
Sources: Council agenda, Nov 3 (taxpayer impact statement) · ESRI quote · Transfer Station HVAC quote · Sewer evaluation amendment · Library AC amendment · TESRS 13th check · Commercial solid waste fees
THE HERALD ✦ DEER PARK From the Council This Week |
 | MONDAY, NOV 2 · THE CHIEF OF STAFF I Hold the Map While You Run the Terrain |
Every piece, every figure linked to its source: councilonlocalrelations.org
THE HERALD ✦ DEER PARK Around the Block |
Photo: City of Deer Park
| Fun Frenzy — 5–7 p.m., under the large pavilion at Dow Park, 610 E. San Augustine. Board games, card games, backyard games and music. Free; registration recommended. | ||
| Toddler and Preschool Storytime — 10:15 a.m. (toddlers) and 11 a.m. (ages 3½–6), Deer Park Public Library, 3009 Center St. | ||
| Pre-K Play — 9–11 a.m., Avon Recreation & Fitness Center, 601 W. 8th St. Tunnels and tents for ages 0–4 with an adult. Free; no registration. | ||
| Arbor Day Tree Giveaway — Dow Park pavilions. Free. The city lists it as all day and posts no start time; call 281-478-2050. | ||
| Texas Arbor Day Camp Out — 5:30–9 p.m. at the Avon Center: campfire, hot dogs, s’mores and an outdoor movie, then tree planting the next morning. $20 residents / $25 non-residents per group of 4, $5 per added person. | ||
| SINGO — music bingo, 7 and 8 p.m. sessions, Dow Active Complex. $6 a session or $12 for both. This month: Modern Rock Volumes 1 and 2. |
Your move: the camp out is priced per group of four — bring the neighbors. Run a Deer Park event? Send it by Thursday.
Sources: Fun Frenzy · Toddler Storytime · Preschool Storytime · Pre-K Play · Arbor Day Tree Giveaway · Camp Out · SINGO
THE HERALD ✦ DEER PARK Prosperity Spotlight |
Blushed By Grace
Blushed By Grace calls itself “Deer Park’s #1 Spirit Shop.” Owner Veronica Miner’s custom print shop makes school spiritwear for Deer Park, La Porte and Pasadena, runs team stores, and prints DTF and UV DTF transfers and gang sheets, embroidery and 3D prints. It also lists a fundraiser program and a DTF wholesale program.
The city’s October economic development newsletter said the shop was moving next door, from 5018 to 5014 Luella, into a much larger space for its growing spirit store and print shop. The shop’s own site still lists the print shop at 5018 Luella Ave, plus a boutique inside Faithfully Her Boutique at 5002 Luella, which Miner also owns.
Homecoming mums are among its custom work, the newsletter says. Need shirts for a team, a class or a fundraiser? Call ahead to confirm the address and ask about turnaround.
| Blushed By Grace · 5018 Luella Ave, Deer Park (print shop, as listed on its site) · (832) 909-2569 Mon–Fri 11 a.m.–7 p.m. · Sat 9 a.m.–3 p.m. · Closed Sunday · blushedbygrace.com |
Sources: Blushed By Grace · City economic development newsletter, October 2026 · City economic development newsletter, July 2026
THE HERALD ✦ DEER PARK Food Scene |
Pho Barr
Pho Barr calls itself a family-owned restaurant, founded in 2019 in Webster. It also has a restaurant in Dickinson, and its Deer Park kitchen is at 3717 Center Street, Suite A.
The menu runs from Vietnamese noodle soup — the pho in the name — to street foods, rice and vermicelli dishes, and the drinks list covers bubble tea, juice, smoothies, beer, wine and sake.
The restaurant posts its menu as photos and lists no hours on its site, so call the Deer Park kitchen at 346-586-8868 before you go. What do you order there? Reply and tell us.
| Pho Barr · 3717 Center St., Suite A, Deer Park · 346-586-8868 Hours aren’t posted — call ahead. · phobarr.com |
Sources: Pho Barr · Pho Barr Deer Park
✦ Trivia Question |
Harris County voted in March to rename the Sam Houston Tollway’s Ship Channel Bridge, along with the new span being built beside it. Whose name will it carry? (Answer at the bottom.)
✦ Quote of the Day |
“Town-meetings are to liberty what primary schools are to science; they bring it within the people’s reach, they teach men how to use and how to enjoy it.” — Alexis de Tocqueville, Democracy in America, 1835 (Henry Reeve translation, Project Gutenberg)
✦ Secret Little Hack |
Want to know what council decided before the minutes are approved? The draft minutes ride along with the next agenda: open the meeting on the city’s Legistar calendar, find the consent item “Approval of minutes,” and the draft is attached. That’s where this week’s Oct. 20 results came from, two weeks before approval.
THE HERALD ✦ DEER PARK Real Estate Pulse |
Source: Redfin, Deer Park housing market page (September 2026, all home types).
56 / 100 Redfin Compete Score | 98.8% sale-to-list (+0.8 pt) | 46.4% homes with price drops | 44 days typical time to pending |
Redfin’s monthly figures still read “as of September” (median sale price $302,856, up 8.2% from a year ago; 90 homes sold, up from 86), but its three-month read moved: the Compete Score is 56 out of 100, up from 55 a week ago, with the typical home selling about 1% below list and going pending in about 44 days. In September, homes sold at 98.8% of list on average, 21.4% sold above list, and 46.4% had a price drop — nearly half. Your move: if you’re selling, price it right the first time; if you’re buying, ask whether the home you like has already been cut.
Sources: Redfin — Deer Park housing market
Photo: HAR.com listing
For rent, listed by Nina Bright. 4713 E Meadow Dr, Deer Park 77536: $2,550 a month. Four bedrooms, two baths, 1,928 square feet on one story, built in 2010. Two-car attached garage, covered patio, wood floors, granite counters, a fireplace and fresh paint. Available now; pets case by case ($500 deposit per pet). See the listing on HAR.
Full disclosure: Nina is David’s wife.
| Looking to buy or sell? Nina Bright, Realtor — call or text 832-689-3170. |
THE HERALD ✦ DEER PARK Service Opportunities |
Photo: City of Deer Park
Christmas Tree Lighting, Nov. 19. The city’s 5th annual tree lighting needs vendors, booth activities, volunteers and attractions; call Susan at (281) 352-1038 to sign up (city newsletter, October 2026). Teens: the library’s Teen Advisory Board meets Tuesday, Nov. 3, 4:15–5 p.m., and counts for volunteer hours; pick up an application at the library (details). More on Volunteer Deer Park.
THE HERALD ✦ DEER PARK Adopt a Friend |
 | Meet Dill 4 months · Male · Domestic Shorthair kitten Dill is listed as good with kids, dogs and cats, litter-box trained and neutered. Mission for Paws asks a $125 adoption fee and approves every application before adoption. See Dill’s listing → |
| Mission for Paws · 5722 Fairmont Parkway, Pasadena · apply online No adoption hours are posted on the listing — apply online first. |
Dill is with Mission for Paws, a rescue in Pasadena. The Deer Park shelter’s own Adoptapet page listed no adoptable pets when we checked Saturday, for the third week running; call 281-478-7274 to ask what’s there this week.
THE HERALD ✦ DEER PARK Growth & Learning |
Illustration
Ask your kids: what does it take to run a data center? Deer Park’s draft rules list it — server buildings, substations, backup generators, fuel storage, cooling towers, battery storage. Read the list together, then ask the harder question: which of these would you want next to a school, and which belong in an industrial park? That’s the question zoning answers. The list is on page 1 of the city’s draft.
THE HERALD ✦ DEER PARK Local Theory & Remnant Radio |
 | Now playing: Beef — Local Theory (April 2, 2026 · 11 tracks). Listen. Remnant Radio streams the whole catalog 24/7 at radio.thinkandactlocally.com · Spotify. Thirteen releases. Sovereignty through sound. In the Studio now: Babel. Vote on the mixes. |
THE HERALD ✦ DEER PARK Weather Forecast |
Sun  Patchy fog, then partly sunny 82° 70° | Mon  Partly sunny 82° 72° | Tue  Showers and thunderstorms 82° 62° | Wed  Sunny 75° 59° | Thu Sunny 76° 59° | Fri Sunny 75° 57° |
Patchy fog before 9 a.m. today, then partly sunny with a high near 82. Tuesday — Election Day and council night — brings showers and thunderstorms, with a 90% chance of rain. Behind it, Wednesday turns sunny with a high near 75, and nights cool to the upper 50s through Friday.
Sources: National Weather Service (HGX), retrieved Oct 31, 5:43 p.m. CT
Deer Park Forum: Climate, Both Sides & Grid Reality
When the power fails in Deer Park — under freezing February skies or in August heat — the argument starts. Is the grid buckling under human-driven climate extremes, or is this routine Gulf Coast weather made worse by modeling assumptions and management missteps? Here is each side at its strongest.
The concern. The Office of the Texas State Climatologist at Texas A&M, led by John Nielsen-Gammon, projects that 100-degree days at typical stations will nearly double by 2036 compared with 2001–2020, more often in urban areas; that extreme rain will be 30% to 50% more frequent in 2036 than in 1950–1999, a rise it expects urban flood frequency to track; and that the coastal places with the fastest relative sea-level rise may see storm surge risk double by 2050 compared with the early 1900s. The same report says year-to-year weather is heavily affected by natural variability. NASA’s GISS record puts 2024 global temperature 1.28°C above its 1951–1980 base.
The skeptic case. Climate at a Glance, a project of the Heartland Institute, points to measured data. Citing NOAA’s U.S. Climate Reference Network, running since 2005, it says there has been no sustained increase in U.S. daily high temperatures, and it argues that worst-case emissions scenarios like RCP8.5 are implausible and distort policy. Its Texas summary says the state has had no sustained rise in 100-degree days and sees no trend toward more frequent or severe hurricanes, and its hurricane page cites the IPCC on storm frequency.
Where they split: not over whether Gulf storms are dangerous, but over observation versus projection, which emissions scenarios are plausible, and whether the benefits of cutting emissions are worth what grid changes, taxes and subsidies cost households.
What holds either way: Close to 4.5 million Texas homes and businesses lost power at the peak of Winter Storm Uri in 2021, and Hurricane Beryl cut power to about 2.2 million CenterPoint customers in July 2024. Texas residential electricity averaged 15.91 cents a kilowatt-hour in August 2026, per the EIA. Whoever is right about global trends, backup power at home protects a family when the wires fail.
Backup power, plainly: most rooftop solar systems shut off in a blackout unless paired with a battery. Buying a system outright in 2026 gets no federal tax credit (the homeowner credit ended Dec. 31, 2025); a lease or PPA owner may still claim a business credit, generally for systems in service by the end of 2027; and Texas has no statewide net metering. Get a free, no-pressure solar review →
We earn a referral if you go solar through this link. It doesn't change your price.
Read the full piece, with both sides’ sources: Climate, Both Sides. Reply to this edition or write herald@thinkandactlocally.com.
Sources: State Climatologist report · NASA GISS · Climate at a Glance: Texas · heat waves · hurricanes · University of Houston (Uri) · Hurricane Beryl · EIA Table 5.6.A · IRS
✦ CrowdHealth |
 | David and his family left traditional health insurance for CrowdHealth — a community that funds each other’s medical bills. Bills get negotiated down first. See how it works. We earn a referral if you join. CrowdHealth is not insurance. David is a paying member. |
✦ Unrivaled Travels |
 | Planning a trip worth taking? Our own travel service books the expedition, cruise, or getaway you’ll remember. info@unrivaledtravels.com · 281-241-1994 · unrivaledtravels.com One of our own businesses. |
✦ Unrivaled Candles |
 | Hand-poured jewelry candles — every one hides a piece of jewelry inside, valued from $10 to $10,000. Burn it down and find out what’s yours. Shop Unrivaled Candles. Full disclosure: one of our own businesses. |
✦ Unrivaled Marketing Solutions |
 | You built the business — now make sure your Deer Park neighbors can find it. Book a free 15-minute call with David: we’ll look at how your business shows up online and where customers may be slipping past. If you want us to fix it, that’s paid work, and David will go over the price on the call. Book a free 15-minute call. One of our own businesses. |
✦ Sponsor Spot |
This spot is open. Sponsor this spot — reach Deer Park neighbors every Sunday, in the one inbox they actually read. Reply to book it.
✦ They Told Him He Was Crazy |
David sold his metals. Not trimmed — sold. He kept the receipts, every decision sourced, so you can decide for yourself: conviction, or crazy? Read the filing →
David’s own site.
✦ Have a Question? Ask It Live |
Want to understand the framework David uses to put money to work without living in front of a screen? The team behind it runs free live calls — bring your questions, get them answered in real time. No cost to sit in and listen.
Register for a free live call →
Full disclosure: this is an affiliate link. But you know the rule — sponsors support the mission, never influence the message. David doesn't recommend anything he doesn't personally use.
We earn a referral if you join. Education, not financial advice. Options involve risk of loss.
✦ Tuttle Twins: Money skills, starting in 4th grade |
Tuttle Twins’ new Business Basics, Grade 4 is a 36-lesson money and business course for kids ages 10–11, or students working at a 4th-grade level. Kids start with a lemonade stand and build toward a fundraiser, learning to budget, save and serve customers along the way. It fits right into TAAL’s family-budgeting work: the habits start young. Pre-order from $39 for the digital copy ($49 print, $59 for both). Grade 3 is available now.
As a Tuttle Twins affiliate, TAAL may earn a commission if you buy through our link.
THE HERALD ✦ DEER PARK Community Voices |
Deer Park’s draft rules would allow data centers only in industrial parks, and only with a special permit. Is that the right line — or should the city go further either way? Hit reply — one or two sentences — and we’ll run the best next Sunday.
✦ Take Action |
- Monday, Nov 2, 6:20 p.m. — Board of Adjustment hearing on a 6-foot carport variance at 226 East Oak Street; the board votes at 6:25. Planning & Zoning takes up the data-center draft at 6:30.
- Tuesday, Nov 3, 7 a.m.–7 p.m. — Election Day in Harris County (General and Special Elections). Find a vote center at harrisvotes.com.
- Tuesday, Nov 3, 7:30 p.m. — the joint public hearing on rezoning 4811 Red Bluff Road, then council. Register to speak at least five minutes before the meeting starts.
- Friday, Nov 6 — Arbor Day tree giveaway at the Dow Park pavilions. Free.
- Tuesday, Dec 1, 7:30 p.m. — the data-center hearing, if council calls it Tuesday.
✦ Submit Your Content |
Events, business features, volunteer calls, letters from Deer Park: david@thinkandactlocally.com. Deadline: Thursday 5 PM for Sunday.
✦ Answer to Trivia |
Dr. Richard A. Tapia. Harris County voted in March 2026 to rename the Sam Houston Tollway Ship Channel Bridge for the Rice University mathematician; both the existing bridge and the new span will carry his name (city economic development newsletter, October 2026).
THE HERALD ✦ DEER PARK Keep the Herald Free |
No advertiser sets our coverage — readers keep it alive. The best thing you can do costs nothing: forward this to one neighbor who’d want to know what the city’s rules for data centers say.
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The Herald is published by Think and Act Locally. Its facts come from the public record kept by the Council on Local Relations, which shares a founder with Think and Act Locally. Portions drafted with AI assistance and reviewed before publication. Reply anytime: david@thinkandactlocally.com.
