For Boba and milk tea lovers, the selection is expanding in Dripping Springs and Southwest Austin, as The Alley recently opened in Ledgestone.

What they offer: The Alley serves a curated selection of teas, freshly prepared Tapioca and house-made cane syrup.

Featured drinks include:

• Ube Taro Brown Sugar Deerioca Milk

• Lychee Lemon Sparkling Tea

• Assam Black Milk Tea

• Christmas Black Tea

In addition to drinks, the menu also features the business’s signature "croffles," or crispy baked waffles. The Alley is currently offering the featured Cocoa Creme Brûlée Croffle

• 12400 Hwy. 290, Ste. 230, Austin

City Council is now in its annual meetings recess ahead of Austin’s budgeting process that begins in July. Read more about several notable votes cast by officials to cap off their spring session in late May.

In addition to several of those policy decisions, council also advanced a landmark settlement agreement with those who were falsely accused in the so-called Yogurt Shop Murders of 1991. The update came after Austin police determined last year that evidence pointed to serial killer Robert Brashers, rather than four men who'd been wrongfully arrested and convicted. The settlement totaled $35 million and advanced with a public apology from Mayor Kirk Watson.

City Council's next regular voting meeting is scheduled for July 23. City Manager T.C. Broadnax is also expected to present his draft of Austin's fiscal year 2026-27 budget July 16, followed by weeks of review before the spending plan is approved in August.

A Crunch Fitness in Austin, an AutoZone in Lago Vista and the Plaza Saltillo Station Double Track and Trail Project are among the five most expensive projects filed with the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation in the Austin metro this week.

1. Plaza Saltillo Station Double Track and Trail Project ($40.6 million): This project involves a change from single track to double track, building platforms and canopies for passenger waiting areas, and associated utility relocations and right-of-way flatwork.

2. Emergency Animal Hospital of Buda ($1.7 million): A new emergency animal hospital is coming to Buda, with construction set to begin in August.

3. Snack Time C-Store & Gas Station Building ($1.6 million): This project involves the construction of a single-story gas station building with a proposed deli.

4. Crunch Fitness ($1.5 million): A new Crunch Fitness location is coming to Austin. 

5. AutoZone ($1.2 million): A 6,800-square-foot AutoZone is coming to Lago Vista, with construction set to begin in December.

As the 2026-27 school year nears, the number of people selected to participate in Texas’ education savings account program has topped 100,000.

The overview: To date, just over 102,000 students have been accepted into the Texas Education Freedom Accounts program, which gives families state funds to send their children to private schools or homeschool them.

However, being awarded funds does not mean a student is guaranteed to be able to use that money at a participating private school this fall.

Zooming in: Over 2,600 private schools have been approved to accept TEFA funding, per the state comptroller's office. State law does not require schools participating in the program to accept all interested families.

Next steps: Families accepted into the program have until July 15 to do one of the following:

• Confirm enrollment at a private school involved in the program
• Notify the state of their homeschooling plans
• Opt out of the program