Cedar Park residents will head to the polls May 2 to vote on multiple City Council seats, along with a slate of proposed charter amendments that could shape how the city government operates.

Overview: Seats up for election on the Cedar Park City Council include mayor, Place 2, Place 4 and Place 6.

Voters in Cedar Park will also consider 15 proposed amendments to the city’s charter. The propositions vary from language clarifications and state law alignment to changes in leadership structure and public participation.

What to take with you to the polls: Voters must bring one of the following forms of identification with them to vote in Texas:

• Texas driver’s license
• Texas election identification certificate
• Texas personal identification card
• Texas handgun license issued by the Department of Public Safety
• United States military identification card containing the person’s photograph
• United States citizenship certificate containing the person’s photograph
• United States passport (book or card)

Round Rock ISD will join the ranks of Texas school districts offering a virtual education option this fall. 

The big picture: Announced in April, the district will launch its virtual academy with an initial enrollment of 300 spots for prospective high school students. Per the district, the program will be self-paced and totally asynchronous.

What's next? Families interested in enrolling their students in the first-come, first-served virtual academy must attend one of two in-person virtual academy information sessions offered at 10 a.m. or 11:30 a.m. May 2 at Pearson Ranch Middle School, 8901 Pearson Ranch Road, Austin. 

City and county officials marked the completion of a project to widen Sam Bass Road between RM 1431 and Wyoming Springs Drive in Round Rock in April. 

What you need to know: The Sam Bass Road widening enhances mobility and safety to meet current and future needs of drivers in the area, according to Williamson County. 

Local officials celebrated the project's conclusion with a ribbon-cutting April 24. 

What they're saying: “To finally be cutting the ribbon on Sam Bass Road is a testament to Williamson County's commitment to the Long-Range Transportation Plan and the safety and mobility it provides to the motorists using our roadways,” Precinct 3 Commissioner Valerie Covey said. “Sam Bass is a heavily traveled roadway that was in need of improvements for many years. With the help of Commissioners Lisa Birkman and Terry Cook, I am excited to see these improvements cross the finish line.”

Several Austin Energy investments in solar generation and power grid resilience totaling up to $172 million were approved this spring.

The details: The energy-related projects advanced by City Council are expected to add dozens of megawatts of generation capacity to the AE grid. During peak service times, 1 MW can serve about 250 residential customers, according to the Electric Reliability Council of Texas.

New projects will include solar installations on a defunct city landfill and dozens of city-owned sites and buildings, and a new battery storage partnership with Base Power.

Dozens of potential city sites were initially identified for the new solar installations, and about 100 remain under consideration. The project advanced ahead of a key deadline with federal solar tax credits under the Inflation Reduction Act are expiring soon.