McAlister’s Deli officially opened in Hutto this week.

The overview: The restaurant hosted a grand opening celebration May 18, offering the first 100 guests free sandwiches for a year. The fast-casual eatery offers a variety of classic sandwiches, such as a reuben, chicken salad, Italian, French dip, Cuban and more. Patrons will also find salads, soups and baked potatoes.

McAlister’s offers a variety of dining options, including curbside pickup, delivery, catering, pick-up station and dine-in.

• Opened May 18

Several events are lined up in the Pflugerville and Hutto area for the rest of May and into June. Check out this noncomprehensive list of upcoming things to do.

Spring Book Fair: All ages are invited to visit the Pflugerville Public LIbrary for a Scholastic Book Fair. The fair is an opportunity for young readers to stock up on their Summer Reading books. The fair, proceeds from which will benefit the library, will run from May 22-29.

• May 22-29, 1-6 p.m.

• May 30, 4-11 p.m.

• June 13, noon-11 p.m.

The latest data from Unlock MLS shows signs that the housing market is ticking up in Central Texas, with higher year-over-year home sales and homes selling closer to their original listing price.

The details: Representing the Austin-Round Rock-San Marcos metropolitan statistical area, or MSA, the data released May 12 shows residential home sales increased 2% year over year in April for the MSA, reaching 2,648. That's the highest number of monthly home sales so far this year, up from a 0.5% year-over-year increase in March and decreases in both January and February. 

“What stands out in April’s data is the shift in buyer psychology and overall market momentum," said Vaike O’Grady, market research advisor at Unlock MLS, in a news release. "Many buyers who had been delaying their home search took advantage of the temporary dip in mortgage rates we saw earlier this year and moved quickly once conditions became more manageable."

Increasing pending and closed sales point to a market where buyers are "stepping into the market with more urgency," O'Grady said.

Check out the latest transportation projects across the Austin metro. 

Upcoming projects
Bee Cave Road AI traffic signals
Project: West Lake Hills will install nine artificial intelligence traffic signals along Bee Cave Road to try and improve traffic efficiency along the corridor.
Update: City Council moved forward with funding the traffic signals April 22.

• Timeline: TBD
• Cost: $360,000
• Funding source: city tax revenue proceeds, general fund

• Timeline: August 2024-summer 2027
• Cost: $52.4 million
• Funding source: Williamson County 2019 road bond

The Texas Supreme Court on May 15 denied Gov. Greg Abbott’s request to remove state Rep. Gene Wu from office after the Houston Democrat led his colleagues in a walkout to protest congressional redistricting last summer.

The details: In the court’s majority opinion, Chief Justice Jimmy Blacklock ruled that because Wu and other House Democrats “voluntarily returned” to the Capitol two weeks after their August departure, it was not necessary for the court to get involved.

The court also rejected a petition by Attorney General Ken Paxton to expel Wu and 12 other Democrats over the walkout, consolidating the two requests in one ruling.

What they're saying: Wu celebrated the ruling in a May 15 statement, saying that "the Constitution does not let a governor erase voters’ choices when their choices are inconvenient to him."

Abbott's office argued the governor's August lawsuit helped end the walkout and said the state was prepared to fight future quorum breaks: "If Democrats abandon their offices again, the governor will bring them right back to the Texas Supreme Court."