Sunset Valley gained another eatery this summer with the opening of Kura Revolving Sushi Bar on Brodie Lane.

What they offer: Kura’s menu features an array of sushi, noodles, desserts and more.

Options include:

• Nigiri

• Hand rolls

• Ramen

The restaurant features the signature conveyor belt with small plates of sushi that guests can grab at will.

• 5601 Brodie Lane, Ste. 1400, Sunset Valley

Austin ISD is closing one of its middle schools and splitting the students between two others just weeks before the new school year.

What happened: Austin ISD trustees voted 7-2 on July 30 to close Paredes Middle School and move its 635 students to Bailey and Mendez middle schools for the 2026-27 school year, acting on a modified turnaround plan weeks before classes start Aug. 18.

The district points to years of failing state academic ratings at Paredes, most recently its third consecutive F in 2025.

What's next: Families will be reassigned by home address—students east of Bluff Springs Road and north of Slaughter Lane go to Mendez, the rest to Bailey—with a district virtual option also available.

No Paredes staff will lose their jobs, according to the district, and key dates for families run Aug. 3 through the first day of school.

Austin-Bergstrom International Airport officials announced in a July 29 news release that the airport recorded its busiest month ever for passenger traffic in June, servicing 2,102,853 departing and arriving passengers.

The details: Per the release, AUS' passenger traffic growth for June 2026 was up 4.4% compared to June 2025. Data also shows that Southwest Airlines saw the most passenger traffic in June with with 916,510 passengers served, up 10.9% year-over-year. While JetBlue Airways only serviced 26,929 passengers, it had the highest year-over-year passenger increase at 241.7%. The number of Delta Air Lines, United Airlines, British Airways, Lufthansa, Copa Airlines and VivaAerobus passengers were also up year-over-year, while American Airlines, Alaska Airlines, Frontier Airlines, Allegiant Air, Air Canada, KLM Royal Dutch Airlines, Aeromexico and Sun Country Airlines saw a decrease in passengers year-over-year. WestJet had the highest dip with 2,104 passengers, down 44%.

In case you missed it: Along with ongoing multi-year expansion efforts which includes terminal and airfield infrastructure work, the airport has launched several new airline routes and accessibility initiatives in recent months.

A housing development in Pflugerville, an apartment complex in Austin and pool expansions at Veteran’s Memorial Park in Cedar Park are among the five most expensive projects filed with the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation in the Austin metro this week.

1. Carmel East Phase 4 ($529.9 million): Carmel East Phase 4 is part of the final 954-homesite expansion of the Carmel Master-planned community in Pflugerville, Texas.

2. Aluna ($75 million): This project involves the construction of 7,305 square feet of leasing office and clubhouse space for a 372-unit apartment community.

3. Veterans Memorial Pool Expansion ($10.5 million): This project includes a proposed 8,000 square-foot wave pool building, a 1,250 square-foot event building and a 3,000 square-foot splash area at Veterans Memorial Park.

4. AA AUS Lounge ($10 million): This project includes interior renovation of the American Airlines lounge in the Austin-Bergstrom International Airport.

5. Westlake Dermatology ($5 million): This project involves the construction of a 4,262-square-foot building that will be the site of a new Westlake Dermatology location.

Texas is halting the approval of new data center projects until state regulators can audit all data centers seeking to connect to the power grid, Gov. Greg Abbott announced Aug. 3.

The overview: The governor directed the Public Utility Commission of Texas and the Electric Reliability Council of Texas to conduct “a comprehensive verification and audit” of all data center applicants “before any additional data centers are approved to move forward.” 

Data center regulation has emerged as a bipartisan issue in recent months, and the move comes amid both growing public criticism of Texas’ booming data center industry and recent political pressure for Abbott to respond.

Zooming in: Abbott asked the PUC and ERCOT to collect information about the tax exemptions each data center is collecting; details about each project's anticipated water and electricity usage; and how data center developers will work to limit noise, light pollution and other impacts on local communities.

Officials did not say how long the pause would last or when the audits would begin.