The H-E-B grocery store at the Hancock Center in North Central Austin has been renovated and expanded to include more offerings for customers.

What happened: Company leaders and staff with H-E-B celebrated the grand reopening of the store at a ribbon-cutting ceremony Feb. 20.

In their own words: "Thank you, our valued customers, for your patience throughout the remodel and for allowing us to continue serving you," said Fernando Hernandez, top store leader of the H-E-B Hancock store, who has been with the company for 43 years.

The details: H-E-B spent two years renovating the Hancock Center store, which was originally built in the 1960s, said Chris Zabaneh, senior director of retail operations for H-E-B.

The 125,000-square foot store now includes a 31,000-square feet addition, featuring a:

• True Texas BBQ restaurant
• Larger Meal Simple section featuring more grab-and-go offerings
• Expanded Sushiya sushi station
• Expanded produce, bakery, deli and seafood departments
• Refreshed kitchen and seasonal sections
• Expanded beer and wine department
• Refreshed Healthy Living department
• Expanded H-E-B Curbside department

The first year of Austin Resource Recovery's new on-demand pickup service saw "overwhelming" use by residents, who placed tens of thousands of appointments and had nearly 10,000 tons of bulk trash, brush and hazardous waste collected, according to the city.

The details: ARR launched the new on-demand service in January 2025 after years of limited pilot programs for on-demand pickup services. The change was billed as a strategy to divert bulk items from landfills, limit wildfire risks, and offer flexibility to residential customers.

ARR reported the pickup service saw gradually increasing usage and high resident approval throughout last year as public awareness grew. The city will continue to monitor the service and adjust operations as needed going forward to divert even more materials, and boost public satisfaction.

Located in downtown Austin, Abby’s Learning Center promotes an open-minded learning environment specifically welcoming children with neurodiversity.

Founder Tehila Spigel ran into difficulties searching for a productive learning center that embraced her daughter’s differences as a result of her neurodiversity so she took matters into her own hands and crafted a space for her daughter and like-minded children.

What to expect: The inclusive therapy center launched its space in downtown Austin in January 2025. Inside the center, families can find an art room, a music therapy room, a library with a fish tank, a calming room, a lunch room and a gym with two of every activity.

“You'll see everything here is just utilizing friendship,” Spigel said. “I really want a community where we could just feel together and loved and families are always welcome to stop in to talk, to contact any one of us. We're always available.”

• 510 W. 15th Street, Austin

Check out the top six most-read stories from Feb. 16-19.

1. New LCRA reservoir could add 13B gallons to Central Texas water supply

2. Scheels targets an August opening for new Cedar Park location

3. Midway files suit against Hutto officials, seeks $300M in damages

4. San Pedro Limon opens additional location in Georgetown

5. Bastrop OKs $525K land buy for downtown parking

6. Bastrop park closures to begin Feb. 23

During an arctic blast last month, the Texas power grid remained stable throughout the storm and the state came away largely unscathed. The Lone Star State has not seen widespread blackouts since February 2021, when millions of Texans lost power and nearly 250 people died.

The response: In Uri’s wake, state lawmakers and the Electric Reliability Council of Texas made changes to restructure ERCOT’s governing board, mandate earlier public alerts during tight grid conditions and require that energy providers “weatherize” their facilities to withstand extremely hot or cold temperatures.

Roughly 40,000 megawatts of power—enough to serve about 10 million residential customers—have been added to the grid since 2021 and the state’s energy supply has become more diverse.

Looking ahead: State leaders have expressed confidence that the grid would hold up during “a storm similar to Uri.” Yet some energy analysts caution that rapidly rising electric demand, driven by the construction of new data centers throughout Texas, means challenges may still lie ahead.