Family members, artists and Integral Care leaders gathered Sept. 18 at Seabrook Square II to unveil a five-story mosaic mural. The piece honors Roger Taylor Sr., a longtime East Austin civic leader who founded the J.J. Seabrook Neighborhood Association.

A closer look: The mural features several key details about Taylor's life and community service through more than 70,000 hand-placed glass tiles, making it the tallest mosaic to date for The Mosaic Workshop.

It depicts Taylor in his high school graduation cap and gown, representing his belief in education; the Mueller Airport control tower, which Taylor helped save from demolition in the late 1990s; and a 1968 Dodge truck, which Taylor used to haul drums of water to irrigate local trees for two years.

The impact: The mural is located at a supportive housing community offering 60 furnished efficiency apartments for people who have experienced chronic homelessness.

The Austin ISD and the Texas Education Agency confirmed on Sept. 18 that the district has appealed the fifth consecutive failing ratings at Burnet and Webb middle schools.

Some context: Under state law, five straight unacceptable ratings at any single campus require the education commissioner to either close the school or replace the district's elected board with a board of managers.

What happens next: The commissioner sends decisions to appealing districts by letter before Dec. 11, when TEA releases final ratings and counts of consecutive years of unacceptable performance. Current ratings and year-over-year history are available at txschools.gov.

Five candidates are contending in Austin's City Council District 3 race in the November 2026 election.

The details: Incumbent council member José Velásquez is seeking to retain his seat, and faces four challengers: Eduardo "Lalito" Romero, Brock Skinner, Gavin Fernandez Jr. and Neha Shah. Velásquez is currently serving his first term representing portions of East and South Austin after winning a 2022 runoff election.

Find out more: For more information on voting and polling locations, visit your county's website or www.votetexas.gov. For more election coverage, visit www.communityimpact.com.

Circuit of the Americas is gearing up to go beyond racing with the opening of COTALAND Theme Park later this month.

A closer look: Officials said the park will offer everything from extreme-thrill coasters to children’s rides and family-friendly attractions.

Learn more: The roughly 30-acre park will feature 33 attractions, with a compact layout designed in part to help keep guests and employees cooler during hot Central Texas summers.

Bobby Epstein, chairman and founder of COTA, discussed the approach with Community Impact before construction began.

“Most parks would spread this many rides out over a wider space, but what we’ve tried to do with this park is actually condense it a little bit so that we have more shade,” Epstein said.

What's next? Beyond COTALAND, officials said they are planning a water park and, longer term, an on-site resort to expand the venue's year-round entertainment offerings.

Community Impact will provide more details as plans develop.

• Opening Sept. 26

• 9111 Circuit of the Americas Blvd., Del Valle

Here are six trending Austin-area stories from Sept. 14-17.

1. Check out 22 Georgetown-area business updates

2. Cedar Park to build wave pool in $10 million Veterans Memorial Pool expansion

3. Final first days: Pflugerville ISD prepares for 4 school closures, admin cuts

4. Construction on RM 620 widening project may begin in early 2029

5. Round Rock readopts trails master plan identifying new corridors for connectivity

6. Airbnb launches national affordable housing fund with $6.4M Austin investment