Construction on district projects to expand campuses, add Americans with Disabilities Act-compliant playgrounds and improve infrastructure is underway in Round Rock ISD this fall.

The details: All projects are funded by the $932 million bond package voters passed in 2024.

Latest update: The district shared an update on select projects—including additions to the C.D. Fulkes Middle School auditorium and new classrooms at Berkman and Great Oaks elementaries—Nov. 5.

The Round Rock location of IKEA, a Swedish furniture retailer, is celebrating 20 years of operation in November.

In a nutshell: Marketing manager Keena Garcia said the Round Rock store was the first IKEA in Central Texas.

IKEA offers a variety of homewares, furniture, decor and international foods, including the Swedish meatballs served in its in-store restaurant.

She said when the retailer opened on Nov. 15, 2006, it was one of the first in the developing University Boulevard corridor, which was then known as Chandler Road.

“Seeing our coworkers and community grow together is pretty amazing,” IKEA marketing lead Natasha Vaughan-Johnson said.

What else? The store will hold celebrations Nov. 14-15 to mark the milestone anniversary, with discounts available on specific merchandise.

• 1 Ikea Way, Round Rock

Williamson County commissioners approved three separate grants totaling $475,000 on Nov. 10 to subsidize medical, dental and behavioral health visits for uninsured residents who have no other way to pay for care.

Learn more: The healthcare grant agreements formalize a county-funded healthcare safety net called the Williamson County Uninsured Health Care Program, according to county documents.

The county will contribute:

• $200,000 to Lone Star Circle of Care

• $150,000 to Samaritan Health Ministries

• $125,000 to Sacred Heart

These grants will fund payments of $270 to the healthcare facilities for each qualifying patient visit.

Patients must be Williamson County residents, U.S. residents and have no other means to pay for the visit such as Medicaid or Medicare. The payments cover the following in-person visits:

• Primary and preventive medical care

• Dental healthcare

• Mental and behavioral health

Amid this November's blue wave, Texas voters largely rejected local tax and bond propositions, sometimes shooting down hundreds of millions of dollars in proposed funding as taxpayers and local governments alike feel the strain of inflation.

The big picture: Across Community Impact's coverage areas, residents voted against funding increases for educator salaries, school facilities, homelessness programs, judicial centers and a sports arena.

Austin voters approved a $295 million libraries and parks bond on Nov. 3. Meanwhile, 15 other tax and bond packages across the the Austin, Houston, Bryan-College Station and Dallas-Fort Worth metro areas were rejected by voters, previous Community Impact reporting shows.

Quote of note: "This was an affordability election all around," said Shannon Halbrook, who leads fiscal policy research for the progressive think tank Every Texan. "Voters were thinking about the affordability crisis in this election. It explains why they voted for such a dramatic change in state leadership, and I think it explains why voters were also reluctant to approve these [tax rate elections] and bonds, which essentially represent tax increases."