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The H-E-B Center at Cedar Park will host 17 high school graduation ceremonies from May 21 to June 1. Here's what anyone planning on attending one of those graduations should know.

At a glance: For all graduations, doors will open one hour before the start of the ceremony. All guests must go through a security checkpoint. Clear bags cannot be larger than 16 by 8 by 16 inches; nonclear bags cannot be larger than 5 by 9 by 2 inches.

Prohibited items include:

• Noisemakers
• Balloons
• Signs larger than 22 by 28 inches
• Banners and flags
• Glass containers
• Outside food and beverage
• Coolers
• Tripods, monopods and selfie sticks
• Umbrellas longer than 12 inches
• Weapons

Following the March 3 Republican primary election in Williamson County, Jeff Mayes and David McDonald advanced to the runoff for the Williamson County Precinct 2 commissioner seat.

The background: McDonald won 46.06% of the votes, amounting to 5,837 ballots cast, and Mayes received 29.48% of votes, or 3,736 ballots cast, according to the Williamson County Elections Department.

No Democratic candidates ran for the position. This means the winner of the runoff will be unopposed in November.

What you need to know: There are 19 early voting locations in Williamson County, and 30 election day voting locations. Voters can cast their ballot at any polling location in the county during early voting and on election day. 

Early voting runs from May 18-22, and runoff election day is May 26.

Check out the latest transportation projects across the Austin metro. 

Upcoming projects
Bee Cave Road AI traffic signals
Project: West Lake Hills will install nine artificial intelligence traffic signals along Bee Cave Road to try and improve traffic efficiency along the corridor.
Update: City Council moved forward with funding the traffic signals April 22.

• Timeline: TBD
• Cost: $360,000
• Funding source: city tax revenue proceeds, general fund

• Timeline: August 2024-summer 2027
• Cost: $52.4 million
• Funding source: Williamson County 2019 road bond

The latest data from Unlock MLS shows signs that the housing market is ticking up in Central Texas, with higher year-over-year home sales and homes selling closer to their original listing price.

The details: Representing the Austin-Round Rock-San Marcos metropolitan statistical area, or MSA, the data released May 12 shows residential home sales increased 2% year over year in April for the MSA, reaching 2,648. That's the highest number of monthly home sales so far this year, up from a 0.5% year-over-year increase in March and decreases in both January and February. 

“What stands out in April’s data is the shift in buyer psychology and overall market momentum," said Vaike O’Grady, market research advisor at Unlock MLS, in a news release. "Many buyers who had been delaying their home search took advantage of the temporary dip in mortgage rates we saw earlier this year and moved quickly once conditions became more manageable."

Increasing pending and closed sales point to a market where buyers are "stepping into the market with more urgency," O'Grady said.

Roughly 76,000 fewer students were enrolled in Texas public schools this academic year than the year prior, according to May 11 report.

The overview: The 2025-26 school year marks the second recorded enrollment drop in recent history, according to Texas Education Agency data collected since the 1987-88 academic year. The first decline happened in the 2020-21 school year, at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Hispanic students accounted for 81% of the enrollment loss in the 2025-26 school year, the policy research group Texas 2036 found.

The local impact: School districts across Community Impact’s coverage areas are in the process of closing and consolidating campuses, citing enrollment declines and budget shortfalls. Statewide data shows that 130 campuses have been selected for closure in the past two years.

What they're saying: “This year, we are down students, and these [drops] are somewhat more accelerated than statewide demographic trends indicated,” TEA Commissioner Mike Morath told lawmakers May 11. “We cannot tell you the precise cause of this. We just know that it has occurred.”