Southside Community Center is getting a $100,000 boost to support housing security in Hays County, following approval from Hays County Commissioners Court on March 24.

The one-time stipend is financed by the Tobacco Settlement Fund, distributed annually by the Texas Department of State Health Services. The fund will support Southside Community Center’s home stabilization program.

The overview: Southside Community Center fights housing insecurity through programs, according to the organization’s website, including:

• Transitional Shelter Program
• Emergency Assistance
• Eviction Prevention
• Sunrise Village

The arrival of a popular beauty retailer is set to take place this summer at the San Marcos Premium Outlets.

What’s happening: Sephora offers a wide selection of makeup, skincare and haircare products, as well as fragrances.

“At Sephora, guests can enjoy a shopping experience that celebrates uniqueness and fan-favorite brands,” according to a spokesperson for San Marcos Premium Outlets.

Brands carried at the store include:

• Fenty Beauty by Rihanna

• Drunk Elephant

• Tatcha

• Sephora Collection

The details: The store will open near the Coach location in the outlet mall.

• Opening in June

• San Marcos Premium Outlets, 3939 I-35 S., San Marcos

Three medical cannabis businesses have been conditionally approved to participate in the Texas Compassionate Use Program, state officials announced April 1.

The big picture: The companies received conditional licenses from the Texas Department of Public Safety in an effort to expand access to medical cannabis products. Under the compassionate use program, physicians can prescribe medical-grade, low-THC products to eligible patients in partnership with licensed dispensaries.

Zooming in: Two of the three businesses given conditional licenses April 1 are affiliated with existing medical cannabis dispensaries that work in several other states. The new licensees are:

• GTI Texas, LLC (doing business as RISE Dispensaries) in West Texas

• Cresco Labs Texas, LLC in East Texas

• Texas Medica Collective, LLC in Northeast Texas

Conditional licensees must pass additional state evaluations before they can begin operating, according to the DPS.

More context: As Texas expands its medical cannabis program, the state is also tightening restrictions on the multibillion-dollar consumable hemp industry, Community Impact reported.

The Texas power grid is undergoing “generational” growth, experts said during the Electric Reliability Council of Texas’ annual summit March 31 in Round Rock. Much of that growth is due to data centers—an industry under scrutiny from state lawmakers as some Texas communities push back against proposed developments.

The big picture: Over 2,000 projects totaling 453,000 megawatts are currently looking to connect to the state grid, ERCOT CEO Pablo Vegas said April 1. About 357,000 megawatts of those connection requests are potential data centers, ERCOT documents show.

Looking ahead: Communities should take the lead on discussions about individual data center projects, Vegas told reporters. He said that when “communities that are ready to support those investments,” ERCOT is prepared to help data centers connect to the grid.

During a March 31 discussion on data centers, panelists noted that the projects have an “increasingly high” negative reputation in communities across the state. Austin consultant Eric Goff said developers often need to make commitments to local residents to earn their support for data center proposals.