Convenience Big Store: Top 20 highest-paid Katy ISD employees

Connect and Discover Sale: 25¢
Find essential local news anytime with unlimited digital access.
Act Now

Summer is the best time to get your Texas barbecue fix. Here's why

It officially happened: I burned the back of my legs on my car seat.

We've reached the point of summer where staying cool is our No. 1 priority. Unfortunately, that conflicts with some of our other top priorities, including barbecue, my colleague J.C. Reid notes.

"The prospect of eating a barbecue tray piled high with smoky, fatty meat isn't quite as attractive on a 100-degree day in June versus a crisp 50-degree day in the fall or winter," J.C. writes, and that definitely resonated with me. It also resonates with barbecue joint owners, who counterbalance their slow season by enticing customers with diverse menus and unique offerings.

In summation, J.C. posits, summer is the best time to get your barbecue fix.

This is good news for Katy-ites, because there's no shortage of stellar barbecue joints here. One of them even gets a shout-out in J.C.'s story, so be sure to check out his coverage.

Let's chat about barbecue spots in Katy. Do you have a favorite spot? Would you like to see a reader poll so your fellow Katy Insiders can submit their favorites? Email me and let me know.

Claire Goodman, Katy reporter

claire.goodman@houstonchronicle.com

Growing Katy

A pickleball paddle and ball are visible June 6, 2024, at the new Pickle Point pickleball venue in Katy that features indoor and outdoor pickleball courts and artificial intelligence game analysis and will host a soft opening June 8 at the Clay Road location.

Photo by: Kirk Sides, Staff Photographer

Exclusive: New AI-driven pickleball venue to open in Katy

Pickle Point, opening at 23437 Clay Road, is a 19,200-square-foot facility with eight indoor courts and four outdoor courts that utilizes smart AI technology for improved gameplay.

Need to Know

The discount chain 99 Cents Only Stores, including this Chimney Rock location, has started the process of shutting down all its locations, the company announced Thursday.

Photo by: Jill Karnicki/Staff Photographer

99 Cents Only Stores, including Katy location, layoff 220 Texas employees

99 Cents Only Stores filed Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification, or WARN, notices this week to lay off 220 employees at 11 Texas locations.

Education

Katy ISD Superintendent Ken Gregorski during the Pledge of Allegiance before public comments about employing chaplains at the Katy ISD school board meeting at Katy ISD Educational Support Building on Monday, Feb. 26, 2024, in Katy.

Photo by: Karen Warren/Staff Photographer

Who are Katy ISD's highest earners? Search our salary database.

Katy ISD's superintendent Kenneth Gregorski was the district's highest-paid employee this year, earning a salary of $429K. By comparison, the average teacher salary in the district was about $69K.

Fourth graders at Hancock Elementary School have their lunch served on Thursday, April 6, 2017, in Houston. The school offers a program where parents can put extra money in the funds so students who forget their lunch money get a full meal. ( Elizabeth Conley / Houston Chronicle )

Photo by: Elizabeth Conley/Houston Chronicle

Katy ISD offering free meals to all children this summer

To combat food insecurity, these Houston-area school districts are offering free meals for children this summer, regardless of enrollment status.

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, left, and Gov. Greg Abbott, right, talk during a swearing in ceremony on the first day of the 88th Texas Legislative Session in Austin, Texas, Tuesday, Jan. 10, 2023. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)

Photo by: Eric Gay/Associated Press

Gov. Greg Abbott targeted in blame for Houston-area school budget shortfalls

Houston-area teachers are being cut and schools are being closed as school districts struggle with budget deficits.

Openings and Closings

New Orleans coffee chain PJ's Coffee has opened a new location in Katy. Located at 1185 Katy Fort Bend Road, the coffee shop specializes in hot and cold brews and light bites.

Shout out

Cheers to the 61 Katy ISD secondary students that advanced to the national Scholastic Art & Writing Awards competition — the nation's longest running and most prestigious recognitions program for creative teens.

One last thing ...

Do you have a massively overgrown parcel of land that would take hundreds of man-hours of strenuous labor to clear?

Maybe try renting goats, which is exactly what the Houston Arboretum is doing, my co-hort Octavia Johnson reports.

The best part is, if you're as curious as I am, you can see these bio-weed whackers in action.

The Arboretum is inviting the public to view the goats from Rent-a-Ruminant Texas who will clear the woodland understory to increase biodiversity starting Tuesday.