Natomi Blair will serve as Leander City Council member for Place 3, according to unofficial totals.

The details: Blair received 53.78% of the almost 5,000 of total votes cast in the race. In Travis County, Blair received just 12 more votes than Yelaun, a margin of less than 1% of the total vote. In Williamson County, she held a more than 300-vote lead.

The background: The runoff election was called after neither candidate received more than 50% of the vote in November's election.
The council seat was made available when outgoing council member David McDonald announced his resignation in July.

What's next: All results are considered unofficial until canvassed.
 

The Leander ISD board of trustees named Chris Clark as acting superintendent during the Dec. 11 board meeting.

The board approved the appointment in a 6-1 vote with trustee Paul Gauthier casting the dissenting vote. 

The details: Clark is the current deputy superintendent of learning and innovation for LISD. District officials said former superintendent Bruce Gearing will hold a “superintendent emeritus” role for the remainder of the school year in which he will be retired from day-to-day responsibilities but remain in an advisory capacity.

How we got here: Gearing announced his intention to retire at the end of the 2025-26 school year on Dec. 8 after serving the district for six years.

Looking ahead: Per district officials, Clark will hold the position until the board hires a permanent superintendent. A timeline for the superintendent search process has not yet been outlined. 

Check out the top trending Community Impact stories Dec. 8-11. 

1. Dozens of Lake Austin properties move to disannex; city to lose nearly $300M value

2. Buffalo Wild Wings closes its doors in Cedar Park

3. New development to bring almost 400 homes to Georgetown

4. Kudos convenience store heads to Adelton in Bastrop

5. Local police coordination concerns arise for EISD following September incidents

6. $210M state library and archives building underway in Pflugerville

The University of Texas at Austin is receiving a $4.8 million state grant for a new local semiconductor lab, Gov. Greg Abbott announced Dec. 10.

The details: The multimillion-dollar Texas Semiconductor Innovation Fund award will support UT Austin's establishment of the QLab, described as a quantum-enhanced semiconductor facility focused on metrology, or measurement science. The QLab metrology facility is meant to support UT’s academic research and serve the semiconductors and quantum industries in Texas. Abbott noted metrology is “critical” to semiconductor manufacturing given the scale of materials measured through the process.

The UT Austin grant is the latest TSIF award that's contributed to regional initiatives, including Samsung's expansive Taylor fabrication plant and other Central Texas facilities. UT has also moved to establish a Taylor campus near the future Samsung plant and launch a new semiconductor master's program.