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Baylor Scott & White Health’s “Help Me Decide” virtual artificial intelligence tool aims to help patients navigate care options and avoid unnecessary emergency room visits.

Guided by clinician oversight, patients describe their symptoms, and AI points them to the most appropriate option, including e-visits, urgent care, a primary care appointment, nurse triage or emergency care.

The overview: Help Me Decide is an AI tool designed to reduce guesswork and confusion during stressful moments when patients may be feeling unwell by asking questions about their symptoms, said Dr. Camille Bradley, a family medicine doctor at Baylor Scott & White.

“[Help Me Decide] can make a really big difference in getting to the right place at the right time, which in medicine, is half the battle,” Bradley said.

The details: The tool asks patients a variety of questions in order to better understand their symptoms and the urgency of their situation. It will then make a recommendation for patients based on the answers.

Affordable housing programs tied to mixed-use construction citywide and taller towers downtown are now in effect.

The details: City Council approved the new measures both in response to tensions over another mixed-use building program, and a 2025 state law that's impacted how Austin can incentivize affordable housing with new development. Certain building entitlements that the city had previously traded for public benefits, like low-income housing, were automatically permitted under Senate Bill 840. That change prompted a local response to ensure continued affordable housing additions.

A citywide density bonus program called DBC is now in place, succeeding a similar previous program—density bonus 90, or DB90—that's been used in dozens of zoning cases since its creation more than two years ago. One week after DBC's passage, council members separately approved an update to Austin's Downtown Density Bonus Program. The longtime incentive has required affordable housing units or funding to be contributed as new high-rises were built downtown.

Check out six transportation project updates across the Austin metro.

$131M in CAMPO grants to fund WilCo road projects: The Capital Area Metropolitan Planning Organization dedicated about $131 million in federal funding for nine road projects and one trail project. The projects span Georgetown, Hutto, Leander, Liberty Hill, Northwest Austin and Round Rock.

Austin seeks to rein in 'chaotic' e-moto use: A resolution advanced by city leaders this spring will now result in proposed updates to city code defining electronic motorcycles and mini-bikes and their legality, establishing when and where they're permitted and setting related penalties. A report on those changes will be presented by late July.

I-35 northbound lanes to temporarily close for up to 4 weekends: The Texas Department of Transportation will close the I-35 northbound main lanes between Slaughter Lane and SH 71/Ben White Boulevard as part of the I-35 Capital Express South Project from 11 p.m.-9 a.m. on July 10 and 11, July 17 and 18, and July 24 and 25 if needed.

From spinal surgery to orthopedic care, Ascension Seton is expanding services at the Southwest campus.

“We're trying to make sure that we're meeting the needs of the community,” said Dr. Steven Brockman-Weber, Ascension Seton Southwest Hospital president.

The big picture: Some changes that have been made over the past few months include:

• The addition of a spinal surgeon
• The addition of an intermediate care unit
• Upgraded equipment, such as medical beds and ultrasound technology

Texas' Republican-led State Board of Education approved a sweeping rewrite of the state's social studies curriculum standards and a list of dozens of books that students will be required to read each school year, both of which are infused with biblical references. The new requirements will begin rolling out to public school classrooms in the 2030-31 school year.

The details: As many as 25 texts will be read each year in early elementary school grades, with about 10 books required in later grades. The reading list was created under a 2023 state law requiring “at least one literary work” per grade.

The new social studies curriculum standards will expand lessons about Texas and American history, deemphasizing some teachings about world cultures and people of color. The standards also expand the amount of content students will be expected to learn each year.

The debate: Proponents of the new standards and reading list said they will teach students to love their state and country, while critics said the policies do not include diverse perspectives.