Texas Beef Traders, a meat and wine shop in Lakeway, offers locally sourced meats, curated wines, beef tallow beauty products and a variety of fresh items to accompany meats, including chimichurri, seasonings and barbecue sauce.

The background: Austin resident Darin Williams opened Texas Beef Traders in 2021.

Previously, Williams worked for nearly two decades in the wine industry in Washington, yet returned to Texas during the pandemic.

Williams initially wanted to open a winery, but after friends connected him with the local ranch and meat industry he turned his ambitions to Texas Beef Traders.

The details: Texas Beef Traders receives meat shipments from two different ranches, both within 100 miles of the storefront. The meat is cut by butchers on a ranch in Mason, Texas and delivered to the storefront weekly.

The Pecan Street Festival is back for its 50th biannual event on Sept. 12 and 13 at the Hill Country Galleria in Bee Cave.

The event: The Pecan Street Festival is a free two-day art festival showcasing a variety of local vendors and over 300 artists.

Beyond the assortment of local vendors, the festival features live music, food and activities for kids and adults. Guests will find carnival rides, art workshops, interactive pop-ups, street magicians, face painting and more.

• Admission: Free

• When: Sept. 12, 11 a.m.-9 p.m.; Sept. 13, 11 a.m.-8 p.m.

Across Texas, the taxes that homeowners pay to their local school districts went down by about 13.6% in 2025, one state senator found.

The overview: Across the board, many Texas counties mailed out reduced property tax bills for the 2025 tax year, Sen. Paul Bettencourt, R-Houston, reported. During a Sept. 1 hearing of the Senate Local Government Committee, he said the average homeowner's property tax bill went down by about $140 last year, falling from $1,037 per year in 2024 to $896 per year in 2025.

Texas' 2026-27 budget includes $51 billion in property tax relief, previous Community Impact reporting shows. Unless the legislature rolls back existing tax exemptions, the state will be required to spend that much or more on tax relief in future bienniums.

How it works: The state does not charge property taxes, meaning homeowners are taxed by local entities such as school districts, cities, counties and municipal utility districts. The Texas Legislature, however, can place limits on how much local governments raise taxes annually and require tax exemptions for certain groups.