After a monthslong search, the Eanes ISD board of trustees named Kirk Koennecke as the lone finalist in its superintendent search during a special meeting Nov. 18.

The details: Per a district news release, Koennecke has 30 years of education experience, having served as a teacher, coach, advisor, union representative, assistant principal, athletic director and principal. Koennecke also has ten years of superintendent experience in Indian Hill Exempted Village School District and Graham Local School District, both in Ohio.

Looking back: Former Superintendent Jeff Arnett announced his retirement June 16, and Tom Trigg was named interim superintendent July 24. The board then selected consulting firm JG Consulting to assist in the superintendent search at its Aug. 5 board meeting, and adopted a leadership profile Sept. 30.

Next steps: Per state law, the board must wait 21 business days before officially hiring Koennecke. The board is expected to vote on the final selection at its Dec. 9 meeting.

The Special Olympics Texas 2026 Winter Games will take place Feb. 13-15 in host cities Lakeway and Bee Cave.

The specifics: The Winter Games will feature powerlifting, volleyball, floorball, golf and FUNdamental sports, such as bowling and cheer. CEO of Special Olympics Texas Tim Martin explained how the FUNdamental sports differ from other participation categories.

“For our most profoundly challenged athletes, they'll travel with doctors,” Martin said. “The medical staff will close their clinics and come with those athletes so they have a chance to be on the road. It’s one of the most powerful moments you'll see. I encourage you to go and see FUNdamentals when they come to town.”

This year, the opening ceremonies will take place at Lake Travis High School featuring a performance by Kelley Jakle.

• Lake Travis High School, 3324 S. RM 620, Austin (opening ceremony), specific event venues vary

Austin leaders kicked off their review of a trimmed city budget following the failure of Proposition Q as they move to approve the plan within the next week.

Whats happening: City Council is now working to adopt a revised fiscal year 2025-26 budget with about $100 million in city services and public programs removed. Spending on those items proposed under the Proposition Q tax hike must now be reversed, and officials are considering how those cuts should be made while maintaining some of their top priorities.

Discussion at a Nov. 18 work session largely centered around funding and staffing for public safety departments, including proposals to boost EMS services with several million dollars and suggestions that long-vacant police department positions could be removed. Review will continue Nov. 19 ahead of possible budget approval Nov. 20, or in the following days.

Texas cannot use its newly redrawn congressional map in the 2026 election, an El Paso federal court ruled Nov. 18.

The details: The state must instead use the congressional map that Texas lawmakers drew in 2021, after the 2020 census. 

“The public perception of this case is that it’s about politics,” U.S. District Judge Jeffrey Brown wrote in the Nov. 18 preliminary injunction. “To be sure, politics played a role in drawing the 2025 map. But it was much more than just politics. Substantial evidence shows that Texas racially gerrymandered the 2025 map.”

What they're saying: Texas Republican leaders said they would “swiftly appeal” the ruling to the U.S. Supreme Court. If the court takes up the case, its justices will be pressed for time ahead of the Dec. 8 deadline for candidates to apply to run in the March primary elections.

Texas Democrats celebrated the Nov. 18 ruling as "very good news for Texans."