Missouri City is one of America’s 100 best places to live, according to MONEY Magazine’s 2008 ranking.

Almost 600 communities met the initial requirements and Missouri City ranked 56 on the final list of 100.

Sugar Land which ranked third among the top 100 in 2006 is now in the 64th place, behind Missouri City. [more]

The judges of the Sugar Land Superstar competition named five finalists from the second round of competition on July 12. Back Row L-R: Anik Bhattacharya of Sugar Land, Host Michael Garfield, and Heather Estes of Richmond. Front Row L-R: Marjorie Cloninger of Sugar Land, Robyn Mundy of Fresno, and Renee Miura of Missouri City. These five finalists, along with the finalists from the first round, will compete for the title of 2008 Sugar Land Superstar on August 9 at 7 p.m. in Town Square.

Bottom Row from the left – Broque Constantine, Jake Hafer, Travis Ervin, Dylan Malpass, Michael Ryan Janik, Mason Jones; Middle Row – Aaron Allen, Nicholas Ramsay, Ian Fink, Kyle Croft, Bryson Fink, Taylor Fusco, Aaron Ferguson; Top Row – Coaches Sean Croft, Darrin Malpass, Ralph Fusco, Craig Jones, Jason Ervin. The Sienna Storm, a select baseball team of 8 year olds from the Missouri City/Sienna Plantation area, finished in first place at the USSSA 2008 AA World Series during the week of July 6 in Sulphur, LA. [more]

Democrat Chris Bell has announced his candidacy for the special election to fill the vacancy in Texas Senate District 17.

At least three Republicans have already announced their candidacy to run for the seat vacated by Kyle Janek early this month.

Gov. Rick Perry has called for a special election on Nov.4 to fill the vacancy.

A runoff will follow if no candidate in the special election gets a majority. [more]

The Federal Emergency Management Agency Administrator David Paulison has agreed to extend a critical deadline and ensure that Fort Bend residents living behind levees in Fort Bend County can be assured that those levees can be fully certified to 100 year flood elevation protection by FEMA when the preliminary revised maps are published.

This followed a July 16 meeting in Washington, attended by U.S. Rep. Nick Lampson, D-Stafford, and County Judge Bob Hebert. {more]