During an Oct. 5 meeting, the Kyle City Council designated the Bunton Creek Road reconstruction project as the next highest priority from the 2022 Road Bond. The council additionally approved over $11 million in added project costs.

The overview: The Bunton Creek Road reconstruction project will widen the current two lanes to four lanes with a center turn lane. Crews will soften existing curves and add pedestrian travel options, including:

• 12-foot Vybe trail

• 10-foot shared-use path

• 7-foot sidewalk

• Crosswalk at Lake Washington Drive

The council also approved relocating and converting roadway utilities from overhead to underground.

With the approved improvements, the project will cost an estimated $39.82 million, according to agenda documents. The new cost estimate is $11.22 million more than the original estimate, or a 32.9% increase.

Diving deeper: On Aug. 18, the council approved a $478,638.51 task order to conduct a traffic study at multiple intersections identified for roundabouts. The council paused work on the Bunton Creek Road and Goforth Road roundabout for the analysis.

The San Marcos Police Department and the San Marcos Community and Police Association have begun holiday preparations and opened applications for the 2026 Blue Santa program.

The gist: Applications for the program open at noon on Oct. 9. Only 550 applications will be accepted on a first-come, first-served basis for the 2026 Blue Santa season.

The San Marcos Police Department saw an increase in demand for the program last year, with more than 700 applications submitted.

The application limit will help Blue Santa manage available resources and ensure the program has the capacity to fulfill its commitments to families accepted into the program.

The details: Blue Santa program applicants must meet the following requirements to be included:

• Children must be 12 years of age or younger

• Children listed on the application must be permanent residents of the applicant's home

• Applicants must live within San Marcos city limits or in San Marcos CISD.

• Immigration status is not considered when determining program eligibility

• Applicants must provide complete and accurate information

In 2015, the Texas Legislature passed a law changing the amount of time students are required to spend in public schools from 180 days to 75,600 minutes per school year.

More than a decade later, some state senators are considering again mandating the number of days schools are open, citing concerns about student performance in districts that use condensed weekly schedules.

The details: At least 181 districts and 572 campuses used four-day school weeks in the 2024-25 school year, per Texas Education Agency data.

A TEA study found that during the 2022-23 school year, students attending school four days per week had lower performance in certain subjects on the annual State of Texas Assessments of Academic Readiness than students at five-day schools.

"There is not a benefit that I see for a four-day school week for the child," Sen. Donna Campbell, R-New Braunfels, said. "We know there's learning loss. What is the advantage of a four-day [week]? Because I see none except to please somebody who wants to be off more days."