Burlington opened a new location in the The Shops at Arbor Walk this month.

The overview: The store sells discounted retail items, including clothing, footwear, beauty products, accessories, toys, home decor and more.

The new location comes as Burlington has plans for multiple new stores in Texas, including in Denton, Mesquite, Laredo and Mercedes, as well stores across the country.

• Opened July 9

Halftime Sports Bar & Grill will open its first location in Cedar Park on July 27.

About the business: The sports bar is owned by Jeremy Tracy and Ramon Kreher. As noted on the website, Halftime is a high bar with a good atmosphere and great food.

What’s on the menu: The menu includes an assortment of salads, burgers, pizza and wings. There are also more than 50 beers on draft. 

• 11200 Lakeline Mall Dr., Ste. F-18, Cedar Park 

City Council backed a long-term tax financing plan for infrastructure in the Dog's Head, with added environmental standards and other requirements tied to development in the area.

The details: The creation of a tax increment reinvestment zone, or TIRZ, sets up decades of mixed-use development across the more than 2,600-acre Dog's Head. Council's vote for the TIRZ plan July 23 came two months after they annexed the area into city limits and backed the 45-year agreement with landowner Endeavor Real Estate Group.

The district's value is expected to grow by billions of dollars in the years ahead, adding significant tax revenue for the city and potentially Travis County as construction takes place. Under the TIRZ, a share of those collections would be used to reimburse new infrastructure project costs.

The plans were opposed by scores of Austinites at City Hall, with a range of criticisms levels at proposed projects and Endeavor's approach. Officials committed to improved transparency and public outreach as they voted to advance the Dog's Head items July 23.

Check out some of the most-read stories from the Austin area July 20-23. 

1. New bridge over Onion Creek opens in Buda, increasing city access

2. Liberty Hill approves $1.5M for preliminary planning of downtown project

3. Sunbird Ranch neighborhood to offer land-lease model for homebuyers 55-plus in Georgetown

4. New Braunfels to conduct full analysis of police headquarters due to structural issues

5. iScream Gelato coming to east Round Rock

6. Lost dogs and e-bikes: 5 stories to know in Bastrop-Cedar Creek

As more data centers are being built in Texas, the state’s water planning agency warns that limited information is available about the booming industry and its impact on water supplies.

The overview: The Texas Water Development Board adopted its initial 2027 State Water Plan on July 23, with a “more robust” version of the plan expected later this year. The plan consists of 3,000 water management projects and 6,700 strategies that experts say are needed to prepare for future severe droughts.

It will cost about $174 billion to complete the projects, according to the TWDB. However, if they are not implemented, a severe drought could cost the state $91 billion in economic damages as soon as 2030 and lead to $177 billion in annual losses by 2080.

The context: These projections do not account for the amount of water that data centers—which largely purchase their water from public systems—may use or how the large facilities could contribute to overall water availability. Right now, the board said it did not have enough information to do so.