Bryan Texas Utilities will be out on the lanes of Briarcrest off Hwy. 6 the morning of Aug. 22 to remove power lines.

In a nutshell: According to a news release from BTU, the removal of the power lines is to help further the progress of the Big 6 project. The Texas Department of Transportation is scheduled to work on the $671 million project throughout Bryan-College Station through 2030, as previously reported by Community Impact.

The removal of the power lines is to help with necessary growth of infrastructure, according to BTU. The utility company also said it will be sending out more workers to help mitigate the workload. The intermittent closures should last about 10 minutes each, have no expected outages and be finished within a few hours.

What to expect: The closures are expected to last from 6-8 a.m. on Aug. 22.

The city of College Station has opened several cooling facilities to help residents escape the excessive Texas summer heat.

According to an Aug. 20 news release, the city is encouraging residents who are potentially struggling with air conditioning to drink water and use public municipal spaces available.

The options: All of these options can be used by the public during regular business hours.

• College Station City Hall
  • 1101 Texas Ave. South
  • 8 a.m.-5 p.m.
• Halter Nature Center
  • 3555 Rock Prairie Road West
  • 8 a.m.-5 p.m.
• Lincoln Recreation Center
  • 1000 Eleanor St.
  • 9 a.m.-6 p.m.
• Meyer Senior and Community Center
  • 2275 Dartmouth St.
  • 8 a.m.-5 p.m.
• Southwood Community Center
  • 1520 Rock Prairie Road
  • 8 a.m.-5 p.m.

• Ringer Library
  • 1818 Harvey Mitchell Parkway South
  • Thu., 9 a.m.-8 p.m., Fri., 9 a.m.-5 p.m.

Brazos County is preparing to open the doors to its first medical examiner’s office, bringing death investigations and autopsies closer to home while reducing the county’s reliance on facilities outside the area.

The office held its first public tour Aug. 19 and will host one more before the facility begins its transition into an operation. The office is expected to begin taking cases for examinations in September, with Dr. Jennifer Dierksen serving as the county’s medical examiner.

The local impact: Dr. Jennifer Dierksen, Brazos County’s medical examiner, said the county has been sending roughly 150 cases a year to Travis County for autopsies. Taking care of the deceased locally will save the county money and speed up the process, calming nerves of loved ones.

The facility includes:

• Autopsy stations

• Examination and investigation areas

• CT and X-ray equipment

• Storage

• Lab and admin spaces

What’s else: Residents will have one more opportunity to tour the facility Aug. 29, 10 a.m.-2 p.m. before it begins operating.

• To begin operating in September

• 3037 E. 29th St., Bryan

Florida-based Lucky Goat Coffee Co. has expanded to Bryan with a location in the Hudson Oaks neighborhood.

What Lucky Goat offers: The coffee chain sells iced and hot coffee, along with wholesale coffee beans and seasonal beverages. Lucky Goat also ships wholesale coffee
to anywhere in the United States through a subscription service on its website.

The overview: During the ribbon-cutting ceremony, owner Jimmy Rourk said he was thankful for everything that led them to expand and open a new location in the Bryan-College Station area.

"Your support has been absolutely overwhelming,” Rourk said. “We love hospitality and people and we're excited to bring coffee to everyone in this community and be a place for you.”

Going forward: The Lucky Goat in Bryan is officially open for business and ready to serve residents. 

• Opened Aug. 20
• 3349 University Drive East, Bryan

The Texas House State Affairs Committee heard from power grid officials; data center developers and industry representatives; local government officials; cybersecurity experts; landowners and residents during an Aug. 19 hearing on the growth of data centers.

The details: Some Texans expressed concerns that data center development is happening too quickly and communities do not have enough say in that growth.

"The question is always going to be who pays for this infrastructure as we continue to grow," San Marcos City Council Member Amanda Rodriquez said.

Data center developers, meanwhile, emphasized that they wanted to be “teammates and partners” to residents of the communities they build in.

One more thing: Testimony on data centers was limited to six hours as the committee began discussing plans to build large high-voltage transmission lines from East to West Texas.

"I don't want anybody to think this is our last time that we're going to talk about data centers, or that you’re not going to get another opportunity to talk about data centers," committee chair Rep. Ken King, R-Canadian, said.