Brendan Yancy, owner of Austin Oyster Co., went from shucking fresh oysters at private events and pop-ups to serving sit-down meals at a mainstay location. 

Craving seafood? Austin Oyster Co. officially opened March 31, serving fresh oysters, seafood and an array of East Coast classics, from Rhode Island clam “stuffies” to Boston johnnycakes. 

On the menu: The restaurant brings patrons a unique selection of oysters, including ones from Maine, Massachusetts and Rhode Island. 

Visitors can also feast on small plates like calamari, tomato salad or corncakes. Larger plates include a Texas wagyu cheeseburger, glazed pork chop and steak frites.

Check this out: Before opening Austin Oyster Co, Yancy launched his own oyster farm in 2024, called Lone Pine Ranch, in Brunswick, Maine. 

• 2502 E. Cesar Chavez St., Austin

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.

Some Texas families began learning April 22 if they were accepted to the state’s education savings account program for the 2026-27 school year, officials said.

The big picture: Over 42,600 students will receive funding notices through April 24, the state comptroller’s office announced April 22. The first awardees include low- and middle-income students with disabilities and their eligible siblings.

Families accepted to the Texas Education Freedom Accounts program will receive state funds to send their children to private school or homeschool them.

The details: The first round of awardees is set to receive about $400 million of the $1 billion allocated for the program. Up to 100,000 students are expected to qualify for the program's first year.

The comptroller's office will run a lottery the week of April 27 to determine which low-income students will be accepted based on a prioritization system.

Stay tuned: Families that do not qualify for funding will also be notified through April 24. Additional students will receive funding awards in the coming weeks, a program spokesperson said.