Twenty-one years ago, Fritz Park held its grand opening. This summer, the park will reopen to the public after undergoing improvements to make it the “crown jewel” of Hutto parks.

In their own words: “We may not be able to do it at every park, but here’s kind of a crown jewel of what could be,” said Peter Gordon, who served on the Hutto City Council from May 2019 to May 2026.

The impact: Fritz Park is one of several parks that has undergone improvements over the last few years. A major bond election that passed in 2018 asked residents what they wanted to see in Hutto. The three main priorities were safety improvements, road bonds and park bonds.

Japanese fast-casual restaurant Pepper Lunch is coming to Hutto, Mayor Mike Snyder confirmed in a Facebook post. 

The gist: Pepper Lunch will be located in the Sprouts development at the Northeast corner of Hwy. 130 and Hwy. 79, where a Jason's Deli and Longhorn Steakhouse have also been announced.

The restaurant is centered around a unique dining experience in which meals arrive on a 500-degree cast-iron plate so that diners can then mix, season and finish cooking their meals themselves.

• Opening TBD
• Northeast corner of Hwy. 130 and Hwy. 79

With large parts of the state under an extreme heat warning or heat advisory through July 23, the operator of Texas’ independent power grid is projecting record-breaking electric demand this week.

What's happening: As of 3 p.m. July 22, there were 90,027 megawatts of demand on the grid with 113,543 megawatts of power available, according to the Electric Reliability Council of Texas' real-time supply and demand dashboard. One megawatt of electricity can power about 250 homes during peak times.

This would break ERCOT’s current demand record of 85.5 gigawatts, which was set during an August 2023 heat wave. ERCOT spokesperson Trudi Webster cautioned that this week’s demand records are preliminary.

What it means: Texans should not expect a grid emergency during this week’s extreme heat.

ERCOT previously projected that demand would surpass 92,000 megawatts this summer, due to high temperatures, moderate rainfall and the growth of data centers.

This week's triple-digit temperatures come during the sunniest parts of the day, allowing the state to rely in part on solar energy to power the grid.