Shine Hot Pilates + Sculpt recently expanded from Dallas to Austin with a new studio in downtown. The location launched with a soft opening June 26 and a grand opening June 27, according to Kris Jacobson, director of operations at Shine Hot Pilates. 

What they offer: The studio offers heated workout classes combining cardio, Pilates and dance. Shine Hot Pilates has five class formats: sculpt, remix, Pilates, strength and arms, abs and assets.

Read all about it: Shine Hot Pilates founders Whitney Stern and Rachel Merritt opened their first studio in Dallas in 2019. The brand has now grown to include two studios in Dallas, one in Plano and one in downtown Austin.

The pair chose to open a location in Austin as they noticed a need for more boutique fitness and hot mat Pilates, Jacobson said. 

Stern and Merritt are planning for an additional Austin expansion, as well as future projects planned for 2027, according to Jacobson.

• 17 Lavaca St., Austin

New reporting from Austin's public safety departments shows their overtime costs are far exceeding departments' current allocations.

The details: Austin Fire, the Austin Police Department and Austin/Travis County Emergency Medical Services make up the majority of the city general fund, the portion of Austin's overall $6.3 billion budget covering most public facing services. Almost two-thirds of the $1.49 billion general fund is reserved for public safety in the current fiscal year 2025-26.

Last year, City Council voted to require public reporting of the three departments' overtime costs to help inform future budgeting decisions. That information is now available through monthly reporting accessible online.

What else: Spending activity reported through this spring shows APD and Austin Fire are well beyond their overtime budgets this year, while the EMS department several million dollars below its limit. As of the spring, the police department had nearly reached its fiscal year overtime allocation and the fire department already used over a third more than it has available.

Blind and low vision travelers at Austin-Bergstrom International Airport now have access to Aira Explorer, a free app that provides on-demand visual interpreting assistance throughout the travel process at AUS. 

How it works: The app connects travelers with a professionally trained visual interpreter and utilizes the traveler's smartphone camera and microphone to provide real-time assistance for a variety of travel-related tasks. Interpreters can: 

• Describe surroundings
• Read signs and information displays
• Help with navigation throughout the airport, including curbside drop-off locations, airline check-in counters, security checkpoints, and gates
• Locate amenities such as dining options, shops, bathrooms and pet relief areas

A YMCA renovation, road reconstruction and a Crunch Fitness are among the five most expensive projects filed with the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation in the Austin metro this week.

1. Johnny Morris Road ($32.7 million): This project involves roadway reconstruction with improvements to curbs, sidewalks, shared-use paths, signal modifications, and signage and pavement markings.

2. Texas Children's Hospital Austin ($17.9 million): This project includes a shell infill on the existing 5th floor of the hospital to house 12 Neonatal Intensive Care Unit, or NICU, beds and 12 Universal Care Pediatric Beds.

3. YMCA Four Points ($17 million): This project involves the single-story renovation of the existing YMCA facility and a new outdoor space with a pool house.

4. Blue Hole Nature Center ($4 million): A new 2,375-square-foot nature center is being built in Wimberley.

5. Crunch Fitness ($1.5 million): A new Crunch Fitness location is coming to Hutto, with construction set to begin this fall.

The Electric Reliability Council of Texas operates the state power grid, overseeing the flow of electricity to over 27 million customers. Yet ERCOT does not directly participate in Texas’ electric market or own any of the facilities that deliver power across the state.

The big picture: Power generation plants, transmission facilities and distribution lines are owned by outside companies, meaning that local power outages are typically isolated and handled by individual companies, rather than ERCOT.

How it works: In 1999, Texas legislators passed a law deregulating the state’s retail electric market. The law was designed to “introduce competition in Texas’ electric market by allowing consumers to choose their retail electric provider,” according to ERCOT.

Previously, most Texas utility companies owned all aspects of the electric supply chain, including generation, transmission and the delivery of power to customers.

Today, approximately 85% of electric customers in Texas can choose their retail electric provider, including those across the Houston and Dallas-Fort Worth regions. Customers in Austin and San Antonio get their electricity from municipally owned utilities.