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🟪 Nearly 16,000 Austin Energy customers without power as storms move through Central Texas (Austin American-Statesman)

🟪 Austin approves $2.3B+ of debt for pair of infrastructure projects (Austin Business Journal)

🟪 Austin ISD delays budget proposal as leaders weigh deep cuts for 2026–27 school year (KVUE)

🟪 City Council launches review of Austin's contracting, consultant spending (Community Impact)

🟪 Austin Energy wants to buy a new power plant but won't say how much it costs (KUT)

🟪 With Massie and other critics defeated, Trump notches more GOP primary wins (NBC News)

🟪 TSA's new 'Gold+' program looks to increase private security screening at airports (NPR)

The Austin City Council meets today at 10AM:

LIVESTREAM LINK (ATXN 1)

AGENDA LINK

✅ Nearly 16,000 Austin Energy customers without power as storms move through Central Texas (Austin American-Statesman)

More than 15,700 Austin Energy customers were without power Thursday evening as storms sweep through the Austin area.

Austin Energy reported 43 active outages affecting 15,776 customers as of 7:30 p.m. The utility company reported that 97.33% of its customers still had power.

The largest outage shown on the map affected 3,488 customers east of Austin, near Hornsby Bend and Walter E. Long Metropolitan Park. It began at 7:16 p.m., with restoration estimated at 8:47 p.m. Other major outages affected 2,682 customers in North Austin near Heritage Hills and Walnut Creek, and 1,523 customers in Northwest Austin near River Place and Austin Lake Estates. 

Crews had been assigned to the major outages, according to Austin Energy. The cause for each was listed as under investigation… 🟪 (READ MORE)

✅ Austin approves $2.3B+ of debt for pair of infrastructure projects (Austin Business Journal)

Austin can now seek over $2 billion worth of funding for two major infrastructure projects meant to boost the city’s tourism industry and water levels.

The Austin City Council on May 21 approved two funding items. They are meant to provide the financing to support the modernization of the Walnut Creek Wastewater Treatment Plant and the redevelopment of the Austin Convention Center. 

City Council approved the issuance of up to $1.35 billion in bonds for the redevelopment and expansion of the Austin Convention Center. The project will expand its rentable space by 70% from the old convention center that closed last year.

The cost of expanding the Austin Convention Center is estimated to be $1.6 billion. The plan is to reopen the Austin Convention Center in time for the 2029 South by Southwest Festival.

Crews are currently excavating the site and removing tons of dirt with the goal of starting vertical construction on the new convention center by late summer… 🟪 (READ MORE)

✅ Austin ISD delays budget proposal as leaders weigh deep cuts for 2026–27 school year (KVUE)

Budget discussions continue for Austin ISD, as leaders ask for additional time before releasing a full 2026–27 proposal while working to close a projected $181 million deficit. Officials said they are still exploring ways to preserve the student experience as much as possible, despite the expected cuts.

The district said there needs to be $132 million in spending cuts. So far, the district has identified 73% of those reductions, including $85 million in cuts to the central office and $25 million in campus cuts.

Officials said they hope to generate an additional $45 million by selling district‑owned properties. They estimate the remaining shortfall would shrink to roughly $4 million. Superintendent Matias Segura said they are also considering broader operational changes, including reducing employee duty days, adjusting transportation hubs and adding instructional days to the school calendar.

Despite these ongoing discussions, many parents said they still don’t know which programs or services may look different next year. Employees and community members spoke during recent meetings, urging AISD to protect classroom‑level positions… 🟪 (READ MORE)

✅ City Council launches review of Austin's contracting, consultant spending (Community Impact)

City Council is seeking a wide-ranging review of Austin's contracts and grants due to reported problems with oversight of that spending, which totals billions of dollars per year.

A resolution from Mayor Kirk Watson passed May 21 calls for a comprehensive review of Austin's procurement and grant management with the aim of improving "oversight, transparency, accountability, consistency."

Austin spent $2.5 billion on contracted work just in fiscal year 2024-25, according to Watson. The city frequently hires vendors for everything from technology systems to construction services, but Watson noted "persistent and systemic weaknesses" with the management of those contracts that resulted in accountability failures.

The new review could bring several changes to city procurement rules. Additionally, Watson proposed the creation of a public procurement dashboard to track how city contracts are performing. The approach will result in better documentation and monitoring, he said, and ensure more efficient city spending... 🟪 (READ MORE)

✅ Developer plans dozens of condos at site of Old West Austin’s Nau’s Enfield Drug (KXAN)

The developer of southeast Austin’s sprawling MetCenter business park is turning its attention to Old West Austin, where it plans to redevelop the site of an iconic Austin business that closed in 2022.

Nau’s Enfield Drug opened its doors in 1951 but closed during the COVID-19 pandemic, and the site has sat vacant since. Now, Zydeco Development Corp. is planning to bring life back to the property with a mixed-use development called The Westlyn, according to filings with the city of Austin.

Austin-based Zydeco is perhaps best known for southeast Austin’s MetCenter development, a more than two-million-square-foot industrial project it began in 1993 and is still adding to today.

The Westlyn will be a 98,553-square-foot development with 27 condo units. The project will also include retail space, but it is not clear how much of the project will be for commercial uses… 🟪 (READ MORE)

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

✅ Backlash to Trump’s $1.8B settlement fund delays GOP immigration bill (Associated Press)

Senate Republicans abruptly left Washington on Thursday without voting on a roughly $70 billion bill to fund immigration enforcement agencies, frustrated with the White House and at an impasse over whether to try to block a new $1.776 billion settlement fund to compensate Trump allies who believe they have been politically prosecuted.

Republicans had already abandoned part of the bill that provided $1 billion in security money for the White House complex and President Donald Trump’s ballroom amid backlash from members of their own party. But the settlement announced by the Justice Department this week prompted even more questions, spurring a push to limit the taxpayer dollars that some feared could go to Trump supporters who harmed law enforcement officers in the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol.

A tense meeting with acting Attorney General Todd Blanche on Thursday morning to discuss the settlement only heightened the frustration among senators. Soon after it ended, Republican leaders announced that they would not vote on the immigration enforcement measure until they returned from a Memorial Day recess the week of June 1, which was Trump’s self-imposed deadline for them to pass it… 🟪 (READ MORE)