Liberty Hill-based All-Star Trade Pros Plumbing & AC is celebrating one year in business this May, according to company spokesperson Robin Arndt-Rives.

The details: The locally-owned HVAC and plumbing company serves the northern portion of the Austin metropolitan area. The company offers air conditioning, heating, air filtering, plumbing and water quality services.

According to the company's website, owner Shane Rives started the business because he felt driven to "bring HVAC back to the neighborhood level" and treat homeowners with "same-day, on-time, affordable service."

• 126 Holmes Road, Unit 10, Liberty Hill

The Liberty Hill ISD board of trustees unanimously approved increased teacher compensation at its April 20 meeting, addressing salaries that fall below those of surrounding districts.

The context: LHISD Chief Financial Officer Rosanna Guerrero and Executive Director of Human Resources Rebecca Owen presented a compensation audit that compared LHISD pay scales to those of 15 surrounding districts.

At $56,693, LHISD's starting salary sits 1% below the local median. However, the gap widens for experienced teachers. A teacher with 20 years of experience earns a median of $67,093 at LHISD, which is $1,941 less than the market median of $69,034. LHISD ranked last among evaluated districts in compensation for teachers with 10 or more years of experience.

The details: LHISD approved new pay scales that would bring compensation above the market median. Under the new scales, compensation for teachers at every five-year experience increment will exceed local median levels. Funding for the increases comes in part from Proposition A, approved by voters in 2025.

Toyota of Cedar Park and City Limits Subaru in Buda have been purchased by Keating Auto Group.

The details: Keating Auto Group, a Victoria-Texas based company that owns 33 car dealerships across the state, lists Toyota of Cedar Park and City Limits Subaru on its website among the dealerships it owns.

According to Toyota of Cedar Park's website, the dealership is one of the top-selling Toyota dealerships in the country. As of the time of publication, the owners had not responded to requests from Community Impact for further details.

From an elementary school replacement in Austin to a Home Depot in San Marcos, here are five of the most expensive projects filed with the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation in the Austin metro this week.

1. Andrews Elementary School modernization ($52 million): This project involves the complete removal and replacement of an existing elementary school. Construction will start this summer.

2. Willow East leasing office ($25 million): Construction on a leasing office for a new apartment complex in Austin will begin this summer.

3. Home Depot ($13 million): The new store in San Marcos will be 107,797 square feet with a 28,120-square-foot garden center.

4. Discount Tire ($2 million): Construction will begin next month on an 8,000-square-foot Discount Tire location in Georgetown. 

5. Layne's Chicken Fingers ($1.1 million): A new Layne's chicken fingers restaurant will be built in New Braunfels.

Austin-Travis County EMS has partnered with We Are Blood to implement a blood distribution plan for mass casualty incidents. The plan strengthens the region’s ability to respond to large-scale emergencies and helps patients receive transfusions quickly.

At a glance: The Mass Casualty Incident Whole Blood Deployment Plan is intended to quicken emergency response in Central Texas by optimizing the deployment of blood units to major incidents, according to an ATCEMS news release.

The plan outlines four distinct steps in the coordination of whole blood deployment to mass casualty incidents in the region:

• Activation: ATCEMS notifies We Are Blood of the mass casualty incident and the estimated amount of blood needed.
• Rapid Staging: We Are Blood prepares units of blood and pre-packed supplies for transfusions.
• Field Deployment: ATCEMS personnel get the units from the blood bank.
• On-Scene Management: A dedicated blood officer oversees blood and equipment distribution at the scene.