Georgetown City Council members approved the use of $46 million in Texas Water Development Board bonds to receive and transmit new supplies of water at an Oct. 13 City Council meeting.

About the program: The Georgetown Regional Water Initiative includes projects to procure water and deliver it to Georgetown, including a new water transmission line. This line will send water from Circleville in eastern Williamson County to northern Georgetown, strengthening water security and meeting growing demand, according to city documents.

Explained: Georgetown officials applied for financing for the Georgetown Regional Water Initiative through TWDB's State Water Implementation Fund for Texas (SWIFT) program earlier in the year.

The TWDB SWIFT program offers low-cost financing, and the city will use recently approved utility rates to pay back the bonds.

Pink Poppy Artisans Boutique closed in August, a post on the business’s Instagram states.

The details: The store sold artisan-made handbags, hand-painted clothes, jewelry and other items. The store first opened on the Square in 2013 before moving to The Summit at Rivery Park in 2020, according to previous reporting.

• Closed in August

• 1500 Rivery Blvd., Ste. 310, Georgetown

Check out the latest updates on upcoming or ongoing transportation projects across the Austin metro.

Upcoming projects

Freedom River Parkway East and West

Project: Construction of new east-west roadway connections from Hwy. 29 to RM 1869 and from Bagdad Road, or CR 279, to Hwy. 29, improving Liberty Hill bypass connectivity.

Update: Both projects remain in the design phase through 2026 as part of the Liberty Hill bypass connectivity network.

• Timeline: early 2027–early 2029

• Cost: $36.3 million (East); $61.5 million (West)

• Funding source: Williamson County 2023 road bond

Ongoing projects

MoKan Trail: Boggy Creek Bridge Segment

Project: The project is a 1.5-mile trail in Austin connecting the Pedernales Street bike path to the Southern Walnut Creek Trail.

Update: Phase 5, the bridge over Boggy Creek, is the trail's final piece and is expected to be complete by late 2026.

• Timeline: expected completion in late 2026

• Cost: $5.3 million–$5.8 million

• Funding source: 2020 mobility bond, Community Project Funding

As Election Day nears, candidates seeking to represent Texas in the U.S. Senate are raising—and spending—large sums of money, their campaign finance reports show.

The details: Candidates and political action committees, or PACs, involved in federal races had until midnight Oct. 15 to submit reports detailing their fundraising and spending from the third quarter of 2026—July 1 through Sept. 30.

• Democrat James Talarico raised $60.2 million and spent $67.2 million, according to his campaign finance report.

• Republican Ken Paxton, the state's current attorney general, reported raising $10.2 million and spending $7.1 million

• Libertarian Ted Brown's campaign finance report shows he raised about $5,208 and spent $3,410

Preparing for the polls: Early voting in Texas' midterm election runs from Oct. 19-30, and Election Day is Nov. 3.

Texans can view a personalized sample ballot with information about dozens of candidates and local propositions at communityimpact.com/voter-guide.