A family-owned restaurant offering a new “Chipotle-style” take on Southeast Asian food is now open in Leander’s Southbrook Station, founder Ngoc Phan told Community Impact.

While Limegreen Southeast Asian Grill had a soft-opening Aug. 13, the business will officially open Aug. 21 with a period of discounted prices for select customers Aug. 21-23. A portion of the proceeds from grand-opening sales will be donated to local families impacted by the July 2025 flooding, Phan said.

“Leander is where a lot of our guests already live,” co-founder Annie Pham wrote to Community Impact. “It’s the kind of community we built this restaurant for."

The details: Limegreen, which is inspired by Phan and Pham’s Vietnamese heritage, is offering the first 50 customers half off their orders each day from Aug. 21-23 while supplies last. In partnership with Universal Angels Network, the family-owned restaurant will donate a portion of proceeds from its grand-opening sales to support Leander-area families recovering from last year’s devastating flooding.

• Opened Aug. 13
• 145 South Brook Drive, Ste. 120

Williamson County commissioners voted 3-2 to utilize $2 million in American Rescue Plan Act interest funds for the Williamson County Regional Animal Shelter expansion at an Aug. 11 meeting.

What happened: Director of Animal Services Misty Valenta presented the proposal to commissioners at the meeting, saying that the additional $2 million will allow:

• Upgrading kennel materials to extend their lifespan and reduce maintenance costs
• Adding 12 additional dog kennels for population needs
• Prioritizing construction for animal housing
• Constructing a tower element required by the Georgetown Unified Development Code

The Cedar Park location of WorldSprings, a spa centered around soaking pools and mineral springs, is “no longer moving forward to our understanding,” said Arthur Jackson, chief economic development officer with the city of Cedar Park.

The details: When asked by Community Impact, WorldSprings declined to comment in depth.

“While we are always looking at expansion opportunities, we do not currently have an update on the Austin location,” a company spokesperson said.

The background: Previously announced plans for the development included over 40 soaking pools and artificial mineral springs that would be designed to mimic various bodies of water around the world. The concept included a blend of hot and cold springs as well as larger freshwater pools.

The Texas Education Agency released public school accountability ratings for the 2025-26 school year on Aug. 14.

"We use [A-F ratings] as a way to evaluate our own performance as adults, and then build action plans so that the way that we run our schools next year can be even better than last year," Education Commissioner Mike Morath said during an Aug. 14 news conference.

The overview: Across the state, 85% of campuses received a C rating or higher, which is considered “acceptable" academic performance.

Schools are rated based on three criteria: student achievement, school progress and closing the gaps.

Zooming in: At least one district, Austin ISD, is at risk of being taken over by the TEA after two of its middle school campuses received their fifth consecutive failing grades this year. State law requires the agency to shutter those campuses or take control of the district.

Any potential state-mandated closures or takeovers will not happen immediately, as districts with concerns about their ratings have through Sept. 11 to appeal scores to the TEA.