Three new restaurants and two new gyms are just a few businesses residents in the Lake Travis-Westlake area can check out in January. Here are 18 business updates for the area.

This list is not comprehensive.

Now open
A One Dumplings & Noodle Bar
The restaurant re-opened in mid-December after temporarily closing. Its menu features appetizers, noodles, soup dumplings, baos, fried rice and various meat entrees.

• Opened in mid-December
• 15511 Hwy. 71, Ste. 130, Bee Cave

• Opened Nov. 15
• 2901 S. Capital of Texas Hwy., Austin

• Opened in November
• 15955 Hwy. 71, Ste. 2, Austin

Three Lakeway City Council seats will be up for election this May, following approval of an election ordinance Jan. 20. 

Diving in deeper: Council members in the city of Lakeway are elected at-large, meaning the top three candidates with the most votes win the three seats up for election. 

The seats are currently held by council members Kelly Brynteson, Matt Sherman and Jennifer Szimanski. All three filed to run for the open positions Jan. 14, and the city’s website shows no new applications were filed as of press time.

Brynteson and Szimanski have served on the board since 2022, while Sherman was elected in 2024.

The cost: The city budgeted $50,000 for election expenses in its fiscal year 2025-26 budget.

What else?: The window to file closes Feb. 13, according to the Texas Secretary of State.

Qualified candidates must:

• Be a registered voter
• Have lived in city for at least one year
• Be 21 years old prior to the election date

Check out some of the top trending news stories from the Austin area Jan. 26-29. 

1. PopStroke eyes spring opening for new Cedar Park venture

2. Layne's Chicken Fingers now open in Leander

3. Juan & Lupe's Kitchen closes in Georgetown

4. Tejas Meat Supply to expand to Round Rock

5. New lakeshore landscape unfolding south of downtown Austin

6. Tumble 22 opens new Pflugerville location  

Following over four hours of public testimony and debate Jan. 28, the Texas State Board of Education is poised to postpone a plan to create a mandatory reading list for K-12 students.

What's happening: Board members said Jan. 28 that they wanted to get more feedback from Texans before moving forward with the policy, which would take effect at the beginning of the 2030-31 school year. The SBOE is required to create the reading list under a 2023 state law, and members said they would likely revisit the proposal during an April meeting.

The Texas Education Agency compiled a list of nearly 300 literary works for the board to consider.

What they're saying: Some speakers expressed concerns Jan. 28 that the TEA’s list was too long and focused too heavily on classical literature that “does not represent the students of Texas," while others said they wanted students to focus on classical literature and historical texts.