click here to leave a testimonial sentence.

Happy to credit you by name and title, or keep it anonymous.

Thanks for reading! // A.J.

🟪 Austin leaders seek changes to HOME housing rules (Community Impact)

🟪 Thousands of Austin Energy customers without power early Monday after Sunday storms (KVUE)

🟪 Austin airport sells $1.18B worth of bonds, expects to issue more in years ahead (Austin Business Journal)

🟪 City of Austin and public arts community clash over millions in funding (KUT)

🟪 Austin to explore alternative to IT consolidation after employee, council pushback (KUT)

🟪 CPS Energy pilot targets Texas data center power demand (San Antonio Express-News)

🟪 Psychedelic treatments are on the verge of FDA approval. Why Texas is pushing for them, and how Texans could gain access (Texas Public Radio)

🟪 Psychedelic treatments are on the verge of FDA approval. Why Texas is pushing for them, and how Texans could gain access (Texas Public Radio)

✅ Austin leaders seek changes to HOME housing rules (Community Impact)

Austin officials asked to revise new development rules enacted under the Home Ownership for Middle-income Empowerment, or HOME, initiative, more than two years after the residential housing policy first went into effect.

“HOME is working, and we owe it to our city to enable it to do the most efficient and effective work possible to bring affordability and consistency in our policies to our entire city," said council member Krista Laine, who sponsored the update.

HOME's two phases, approved in 2023 and 2024, generally permitted up to three units of housing on most of Austin's residential lots and reduced the amount of land needed to build a house by more than two-thirds. City Council majorities advanced the land development code changes with the stated goal of creating more varied housing options that could be accessible at lower price points.

More than 600 applications for projects that'd add more than 1,200 new housing units were approved by the city under HOME Phase 1 as of this May, according to Austin Development Services. Phase 2 has generated less activity; about 40 small-lot buildings and half a dozen property subdivisions advancing as of this spring… 🟪 (READ MORE)

✅ Thousands of Austin Energy customers without power early Monday after Sunday storms (KVUE)

Thousands of Austin Energy customers are without power early Monday morning after severe weather impacted the area Sunday night. 

According to Austin Energy's outage map, more than 4,600 people are without power as of 4:30 a.m. Monday. 

The department's website states that "All available Austin Energy crews are responding to outages throughout the service area caused by the severe weather. They will continue restoring power throughout the night."

The site also states that Austin Energy usually responds to outages impacting the largest amount of customers first. It said each outage could take "hours to repair but only restore a small number of customers at a time." 

Roughly 4,600 people were without power at around 9:45 p.m. Sunday before eventually increasing to 17,000 at about 10:10 p.m. That number has since decreased as crews work to address the outages… 🟪 (READ MORE)

✅ Austin airport sells $1.18B worth of bonds, expects to issue more in years ahead (Austin Business Journal)

Austin-Bergstrom International Airport has secured over a billion dollars worth of bonds to support its ongoing multibillion dollar expansion effort. 

ABIA announced on May 6 that it successfully completed a revenue bond sale that secured $1.18 billion in funding that will be used to finance some of the infrastructure improvements that are ongoing as part of the airport’s efforts to add 32 gates and improve other facets of the airport. 

“This milestone allows us to move forward with critical improvements that will expand capacity, enhance the traveler experience, and support the region’s economic vitality for decades to come,” said ABIA CEO Ghizlane Badawi in a statement.

The announcement said the bond sale was “well received” and attracted a “diverse group of investors.”

It’s expected the current expansion of the airport will take until the early 2030s to complete and cost over $5 billion. Earlier this year the Austin City Council approved the issuance of $1.4 billion worth of bonds for the ABIA expansion effort… 🟪 (READ MORE)

✅ City of Austin and public arts community clash over millions in funding (KUT)

Austin arts leaders say the city wrongly withheld millions of dollars from the Art In Public Places program for years by using an incorrect formula to determine how much money was distributed.

Since 1985, a portion of funds spent on city capital improvement projects, such as bridges and buildings, has gone to the public art program. But after examining the process over the last year, the arts community grew alarmed, saying the city is not following city code and is giving the program far less than it should.

Austin officials say they’ve been using the same formula for decades and don’t plan to change it. Instead, they want to enshrine the current method in city code and continue a practice that critics say violates rules put in place more than two decades ago.

“The changes proposed are intended to codify what has been the practice for years,” Assistant City Manager Mike Rogers wrote in a statement to Austin Current.

The dispute comes at a time when the city is debating whether to hold a $700 million bond election, much of which would go to capital projects. Bonds largely pay for capital improvement projects that fund the Art In Public Places program… 🟪 (READ MORE)

✅ Austin to explore alternative to IT consolidation after employee, council pushback (KUT)

The Austin City Manager’s Office is now open to exploring a less sweeping approach to overhauling the city’s technology services after hearing from dozens of employees who vehemently opposed it and a City Council subquorum that expressed concerns about consolidating the city’s technology workers into a single department.

The city’s executive team has maintained the plan, known as “One ATS,” would help save Austin hundreds of millions of dollars, arguing the current model “has led to a proliferation of duplicative applications and operational inefficiencies,” according to a Wednesday evening memo from City Manager T.C. Broadnax. But since Broadnax announced the plan, many Austin technology workers and the city’s labor union, AFSCME Local 1624, have fiercely criticized it, warning it could weaken emergency response, expose critical systems to cyberattacks and lead to delays in city services.

After weeks of city staff members raising alarm bells, a subquorum of council members, led by Council Member Mike Siegel, drafted a resolution seeking to postpone the effort, citing the concerns raised by technology workers opposed to the consolidation and fears it could lead to large-scale attrition… 🟪 (READ MORE)

✅ Plans take shape for major mixed-use project on West Sixth Street (Austin Business Journal)

Manifold Development's mixed-use project at the intersection of West Sixth and Walsh streets could be upwards of 300,000 square feet, adding more dense retail and multifamily development west of downtown Austin.

The project, called 6th & Walsh, is planned to rise across four lots totaling about 1.2 acres along Walsh Street between West Fifth and Sixth streets. Little was known about the project when it was first reported on in early 2025, aside from the intended inclusion of retail and multifamily uses. A recently-submitted, but not final, site development plan for the project makes it clear what the project could look like should it be built.

6th & Walsh will total about 310,000 square feet, spread across five stories and three underground parking levels, according to the site development plan… 🟪 (READ MORE)

📝⏱️ Q2 2026 Survey: 5 minutes, 9 questions. Click here to share your input.

✅ CPS Energy pilot targets Texas data center power demand (San Antonio Express-News)

The rapidly increasing pressure to provide electricity for data centers and other high-demand users could be eased by a CPS Energy pilot program that encourages energy-hungry customers to bring their own generation. The program — and others under consideration by the statewide electric grid operator — is a response to demand that’s projected to increase nearly 400% across Texas by the end of the decade as the state attracts more of the computing power needed for artificial intelligence and other aspects of today’s digital world.

“We’ve been anticipating that we may need some new tools to help customers’ desire, as well as things that are being contemplated at the state level,” said Elaina Ball, CPS Energy’s chief strategy officer. “This pilot is one of the solutions that we’ve been pursuing.”

The effort by San Antonio’s city-owned utility is a microcosm of trends in the energy sector, she said, which have state grid operator the Electric Reliability Council of Texas also grappling with sharp growth in both commercial and residential demand. The Austin-San Antonio area is in the crosshairs as some forecasts suggest it could be the world’s top data center market by 2030. Though experts suggest that only a fraction of the facilities on the waiting list to connect to the grid will actually be built, its growing backlog of requests is forcing ERCOT to overhaul its processes and experiment with new ideas. CPS Energy’s new service option is a natural response, Ball said.

Under its pilot, CPS will provide natural gas for industrial users that bring their own energy generation. In return, data centers and other so-called large loads could connect more quickly to ERCOT’s statewide grid. Ball pitched the behind-the-meter generation pilot to the City Council in early March, saying it would “help exercise someone else’s capital to provide grid flexibility.” “When customers bring their own generation, it does help the grid,” she said in an interview. “We’ve got less demand on the system. During times of tight demand, customers will be able to self-provide their power, which lessens the burden on the rest of the grid.”… 🟪 (READ MORE)

✅ Psychedelic treatments are on the verge of FDA approval. Why Texas is pushing for them, and how Texans could gain access (Texas Public Radio)

Psychedelic treatments are moving closer to federal approval, with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration taking steps to fast-track several compounds under review. The agency recently said three companies will receive National Priority Vouchers to speed their psychedelic drugs through the approval process. These include two psilocybin compounds for treatment-resistant depression and major depressive disorder, and methylone, a drug similar to MDMA, for post-traumatic stress disorder. Each previously received Breakthrough Therapy designation, which the FDA awards to therapies for serious conditions that demonstrate a substantial improvement over currently available therapies.

That announcement came one week after President Donald Trump signed a psychedelics executive order, which signaled the federal government’s support for states, including Texas, that are working to create access for psychedelic treatments that show promise for addressing life-threatening conditions, but are currently illegal in the U.S. Psilocybin, MDMA, LSD, 5-MeO-DMT, and ibogaine are among the psychedelic compounds being studied in FDA clinical trials for mental and behavioral health conditions. Many researchers believe that psychedelics promote healing by inducing the brain’s ability to change and form new neural connections. In combination with therapy, they may help people develop new ways of thinking and processing trauma.

Lynnette Averill, PhD, told Texas Public Radio that psychedelic-assisted therapy involves one or a few psychedelic experiences which support ongoing therapy, and the effects are felt quickly, within hours to days. Averill, who leads a psilocybin clinical trial at Baylor College of Medicine and the Menninger Clinic, said this differs from daily antidepressants, which generally take weeks or months to help patients feel better, if at all… 🟪 (READ MORE)

✅ Inside the deals that are consolidating the Texas banking industry(D Magazine)

Y’all Street is here. The concrete might still be drying and the steel beams still exposed, but the financial infrastructure is taking shape—fast. Goldman Sachs is building a $700 million, 5,000-employee campus in Uptown as part of its growing Dallas presence. Bank of America is developing a new tower near Klyde Warren Park that will house 1,000 employees. Scotiabank’s new Victory Park office is expected to bring more than 1,000 jobs. And Morgan Stanley is reportedly exploring a 500,000-square-foot lease in Uptown—roughly twice the size of Bank of America’s footprint.

The public markets are here, too. The New York Stock Exchange Texas is open for business, landing early dual listings from companies like AT&T, Vistra Corp., Arcosa, Cinemark, HF Sinclair, and D.R. Horton. Nasdaq launched its own Texas dual-listing program in March with JB Hunt, APA Corp., and Huntington Bancshares. And the Texas Stock Exchange—the upstart that forced Wall Street’s hand to launch the aforementioned markets—plans to begin trading this July.

Against that backdrop, Dallas’ banking landscape is consolidating. Over the last year, three of North Texas’ most recognizable banks have been swept into major transactions. Fifth Third Bancorp acquired Comerica in a deal valued at $10.9 billion and Vista Bank and Veritex Bank both merged into larger institutions. Malcolm Holland sold Veritex—the bank he founded in 2010 and grew into a $13 billion-asset institution—to Huntington Bancshares for $1.9 billion.

National Bank Holdings acquired John Steinmetz’s Vista Bank, which had $2.5 billion in assets at the time of the deal, for $377.4 million. It’s an era of consolidation that Curt Farmer—former Comerica CEO and now vice chairman of Fifth Third—says he saw coming when the current administration took office. “We perceived a change in regulatory receptivity,” Farmer says. “Interest rates began to stabilize, inflation became more manageable, credit conditions were favorable, and we’ve been in a very benign credit environment. As an $80 billion bank, we had a lot of capabilities, but we didn’t have the scale of some of our competitors.”… 🟪 (READ MORE)

✅ Budget-conscious shoppers are feeding a boom in discount groceries (NPR)

A slew of factors has been making it harder to put an affordable meal on the table. Food insecurity mushroomed during the COVID-19 pandemic, and grocery prices have skyrocketed in recent years. Layer onto that inflation, the threat of tariffs and corporate cost-cutting schemes like shrinkflation and electronic shelf labels, which give retailers the ability to change prices based on demand.

"Consumers are just to a point where [they're saying], 'Give us a break,'" said grocery industry analyst Phil Lempert. "This is food. You don't screw around with our food."

Many of those facing economic pressures and frustrations have begun shopping at budget grocery stores and warehouse clubs in lieu of traditional supermarkets, their priorities shifting in pursuit of a good deal. Look to social media to see the change, where creators regularly post their favorite finds at Aldi or meals they've made entirely from ingredients bought at Costco.

In the process, Lempert said, discounters have invested in improving their food and beverage offerings, shaking off any lackluster reputations they may have had in the past and ushering in a new generation of cost-conscious consumers… 🟪 (READ MORE)

✅ After Virginia redistricting map is tossed, Democrats search desperately for a response (New York Times)

Democrats are struggling to respond to a major redistricting setback in Virginia, with some party leaders discussing an audacious and possibly far-fetched idea for trying to restore a congressional map voided by the court but showing little indication they have a clear plan.

During a private discussion on Saturday that included Democratic House members from Virginia and Representative Hakeem Jeffries of New York, the minority leader, the lawmakers vented anger at their defeat at the Virginia Supreme Court, spoke about a collective determination to flip two or three Republican-held seats under the existing map and discussed a bank-shot proposal to redraw the congressional lines anyway, according to three people who participated in the call and two others who were briefed on it.

They did not land on a specific course forward, and Mr. Jeffries and the other members of Congress agreed to consult with their lawyers about the most prudent way to proceed, said the people, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to describe a private talk.

The conversation reflected the desperation and fury that have gripped the party after the state Supreme Court struck down a favorable map that had been ratified by voters. The most dramatic idea they discussed — which would involve an unusual gambit to replace the entire state Supreme Court, with a goal of reinstating their gerrymandered map — drew mixed reactions on the call, said the people, and it was not clear that it would even be viable, or palatable to Gov. Abigail Spanberger and Democrats in the Virginia General Assembly.

After Democrats had fought Republicans to a rough draw last month in a nationwide gerrymandering war, a pair of recent court rulings quickly gave the G.O.P. the clear upper hand in the race to redraw maps ahead of the midterm elections. Facing stiff headwinds, including President Trump’s low approval ratings and high gas prices, Republicans are looking for every advantage they can find to defy the odds and hold on to their narrow majority. Any plans to enact a new congressional map for this year’s midterm elections would require action in the next few days.

In a court filing last month, Steven Koski, the commissioner of the Virginia Department of Elections, said any changes to the maps after Tuesday, May 12, “will significantly increase the risk” of his agency being unable to properly prepare for the state’s scheduled Aug. 4 primary election. A spokesman for Mr. Jeffries declined to comment... 🟪 (READ MORE)

✅ cSenior White House officials are trying to soothe industry concerns that the administration could require tech companies to submit their advanced artificial intelligence models for federal vetting before releasing them to the public. A day after one top White House economic adviser publicly confirmed that such a review was under discussion — likening it Wednesday to the Food and Drug Administration’s yearslong testing of prescription drugs — aides to President Donald Trump were sending a different message: Not so fast.

“There’s one or two people who are very intent on government regulations, but they’re sort of the minority of the bunch,” said one senior White House official. This person, like others in this report, was granted anonymity to describe sensitive policy discussions.

The back-and-forth messaging comes as tech industry officials anxiously await an executive order spelling out how the administration plans to prevent powerful new AI models from being misused to launch cyberattacks or even develop bioweapons. POLITICO reported Tuesday that the White House is eyeing a vetting system that could require AI giants such as OpenAI, Anthropic and Google to go through the government before releasing new models.

While it is not immediately clear how onerous that oversight system would be, Kevin Hassett, the director of the White House National Economic Council, said in a Fox Business interview Wednesday that the administration was considering a pre-release safety testing regime akin to what the FDA does for drugs. “We’re studying possibly an executive order to give a clear roadmap to everybody about how this is gonna go, and how future AIs that also potentially create vulnerabilities should go through a process so that they’re released into the wild after they’ve been proven safe — just like an FDA drug,” Hassett said… 🟪 (READ MORE)