Construction on The Barton, a 402-unit multifamily housing development along West Hwy. 71, began Oct. 6.

The overview: The Barton will be located on over 60 acres near Southwest Parkway and West Hwy. 71, and is being developed by OHT Partners, an Austin-based multifamily developer and contractor.

The complex will feature a mix of three-story garden-style buildings and two-story townhomes, offering one-, two- and three-bedroom units ranging from 702 to 1,584 square feet.

Community amenities will include two resort-style pools, a 9,000-square-foot clubhouse, a 1,500-square-foot fitness center, coworking spaces, two pickleball courts, a 1.4-acre dog park, a trail system and multiple community courtyards.

Over 40 acres of the 60-acre property will be designated green space, according to a press release from OHT Partners.

What's next: The first units are expected to be completed in early 2028, with the rest of the development finished at the end of 2028, per the press release.

Candidates for Austin City Council races in this year's November election raised more than $159,000 and had over $817,000 available as of September.

Five council seats will be on the ballot this fall: East Austin's District 1 and District 3, District 5 in South Austin, Southwest Austin's District 8, and District 9 in Central Austin.

Candidates were required to submit 30th day before election finance report on Oct. 5.

Also of note: Multiple candidates across Austin’s five City Council races failed to meet deadlines for filing required financial disclosures this year, violations of local and state ethics rules that can be punishable as misdemeanor offenses. Weeks after Austin's SFI and PFS deadlines in late September, some candidates across all five Austin races on the ballot—in council districts 1, 3, 5, 8 and 9—had yet to file their forms, as previously reported by Community Impact.

Going forward: Election Day is on Nov. 3. Early voting begins Oct. 19 and ends Oct. 30.

In 2015, the Texas Legislature passed a law changing the amount of time students are required to spend in public schools from 180 days to 75,600 minutes per school year.

More than a decade later, some state senators are considering again mandating the number of days schools are open, citing concerns about student performance in districts that use condensed weekly schedules.

The details: At least 181 districts and 572 campuses used four-day school weeks in the 2024-25 school year, per Texas Education Agency data.

A TEA study found that during the 2022-23 school year, students attending school four days per week had lower performance in certain subjects on the annual State of Texas Assessments of Academic Readiness than students at five-day schools.

"There is not a benefit that I see for a four-day school week for the child," Sen. Donna Campbell, R-New Braunfels, said. "We know there's learning loss. What is the advantage of a four-day [week]? Because I see none except to please somebody who wants to be off more days."