Artificial intelligence literacy and STEM curriculum will be offered to more than 100,000 students in Texas by early 2027 through the EdgeConneX and Hello World partnership. 

The gist: A pilot program between the two companies began in four Bastrop County school districts: Bastrop ISD, Elgin ISD, McDade ISD and Smithville ISD, including 36 schools and 15,000 students. According to a press release, the partnership will now expand to school districts across the state. According to the website, the programming is tailored to integrate into the existing curriculum for each grade level. Students will study coding, website development and the ethics of artificial intelligence.

Some context: EdgeConneX is a data center development company with three data center campuses in progress in Cedar Creek. Hello World is an Austin-based company that provides AI literacy and computer science curriculum to students from Kindergarten through 12th grade. Hello World is currently partnered with 289 school districts across 42 states. 

A new McDonald’s location is arriving in Sendero’s mixed-use development, bringing a second set of golden arches to Bastrop. 

The gist: Construction began in April, with an estimated building cost of $1.5 million, according to a Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation filing.

The upcoming second establishment is also owned by Kinney Restaurant Management Inc., which operates the fast-food franchise's initial Bastrop location situated at 496 SH 71 E.

The grand opening: The ribbon-cutting event, organized by the Bastrop Chamber of Commerce, is scheduled for Aug. 27 from 10 to 11 a.m.

• Ribbon-cutting ceremony Aug. 27, 10-11 a.m. 
• Sendero, 917 W. Hwy. 71, Bastrop

Check out the latest transportation projects across the Austin metro. 

Upcoming projects

I-35 at Inner Loop Interchange

Project: The project includes the design and construction of improvements to the interchange between SE Inner Loop and I-35 in Georgetown.

Update: All work for the project has been put on hold pending TxDOT advancing the design of I-35.

• Timeline: TBD

• Cost: TBD

• Funding source: Williamson County 2023 road bond

Ongoing projects

Oak Hill Parkway

Project: The Texas Department of Transportation is currently reconstructing Hwy. 290 in Oak Hill, transforming the existing four-lane, undivided roadway to a six-lane divided highway with new frontage roads and 14 miles of shared-use paths.

Update: As of July, drivers can now travel on newly opened mainlanes, frontage roads and ramps. Drivers can expect ongoing painting, landscaping, asphalt paving, striping and shared-use path improvements to cause lane closures.

• Timeline: 2022-26 (total project)

• Cost: $677 million allocated for the entire project

• Funding source: TxDOT

Texas is halting the approval of new data center projects until state regulators can audit all data centers seeking to connect to the power grid, Gov. Greg Abbott announced Aug. 3.

The overview: The governor directed the Public Utility Commission of Texas and the Electric Reliability Council of Texas to conduct “a comprehensive verification and audit” of all data center applicants “before any additional data centers are approved to move forward.” 

Data center regulation has emerged as a bipartisan issue in recent months, and the move comes amid both growing public criticism of Texas’ booming data center industry and recent political pressure for Abbott to respond.

Zooming in: Abbott asked the PUC and ERCOT to collect information about the tax exemptions each data center is collecting; details about each project's anticipated water and electricity usage; and how data center developers will work to limit noise, light pollution and other impacts on local communities.

Officials did not say how long the pause would last or when the audits would begin.