The Downtown East project in Pflugerville is expected to reach substantial completion on Dec. 18, according to a Sept. 22 presentation to City Council.

The update: Deputy City Manager Emily Barron said city staff will move into the new City Hall in late December, and it will be open to the public on Jan. 4.

Staff training in The Monarch recreation center will begin in November, and the current recreation center will close Jan. 10. The soft opening of The Monarch will take place in mid-January, with a ribbon cutting in February, city staff said.

A closer look: As part of the Downtown East project, a new traffic light is being installed at FM 685 and Main Street.

The city and the Texas Department of Transportation are reviewing the spacing of the intersections and the timing of the signals.

One more thing: City Council gave final approval to a lease agreement with Two Brews LLC, the operator of West Pecan Coffee + Beer, for space in the new City Hall. The cafe is expected to open in January.

Polished Smiles of Round Rock, a comprehensive dental services provider, opened in mid-September near the city's border with Hutto and Georgetown.

Zooming in: Patients at the practice will be seen by Drs. Daniel Im and Laura Maxey, who provide a full range of oral health services, including general, restorative, cosmetic and emergency dentistry.

• 4450 University Blvd., Ste. 150, Round Rock

Musical duo Brooks & Dunn and singer-songwriter Ella Langley will headline Georgetown's Two Step Inn country music festival April 17-18, 2027.

Presale tickets will be available to the public this Friday, Sept. 25, at noon.

The lineup: This year's festival will have 30 musical acts across three stages, according to the event website.

The lineup includes the two headliners, as well as notable musical acts such as:

• Parker McCollum

• Sheryl Crow

• Flatland Cavalry

• Whiskey Myers

About the event: One-day tickets start at $169, while two-day packages begin at $289, according to the event website.

The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality must stop issuing new permits for data centers, Gov. Greg Abbott said Sept. 21.

The overview: His order expands an existing pause on data center development in the state amid consistent public criticism of the booming industry. Abbott, who is running for a fourth term as governor, has recently moved to slow the growth of data centers after calling Texas “the epicenter of AI development" last year.

The context: Hundreds of proposed data centers are currently being audited by the Electric Reliability Council of Texas, which operates the state power grid.

Some developers may be able to get around the ERCOT pause by building in-house power infrastructure that is not connected to the grid, experts have said.

However, any construction project impacting at least 1 acre of land requires permits from TCEQ.

What they're saying: "As Texas faces increasing pressure on our water supplies and electric grid, we need to ensure that data centers operate efficiently and sustainably," said Luke Metzger, executive director of Environment Texas.