Sichuan restaurant Spicy House opened in Northwest Austin in January.

On the menu: The restaurant serves a variety of Sichuan cuisine such as dan dan noodles, konjac beer duck, pork with spicy garlic sauce and chili oil pork dumplings. Also on the menu are other meat and seafood dishes, fried rice and appetizers such as scallion pancakes, wontons and spring rolls.  The drink menu includes a honeydew melon smoothie, red bean ice with popping boba toppings, and a variety of tea drinks such as milk tea, jasmine tea and green tea.

• 11630 N FM 620, Austin

A plan to install dozens of digital advertising kiosks in public places around Austin advanced this spring. As framed by the city, the new kiosk are meant to help residents and visitors get around and access local businesses, as well as to promote civic messaging and transit information.

The details: While locations aren't yet finalized, most of downtown and parts of South, East and North Austin are now under consideration. Kiosks will be placed through a multiyear phased process with community outreach and notification of nearby stakeholders, according to Austin Economic Development. The scores of new kiosks are also expected to generate millions of dollars in revenue for the city.

The background: The wayfinding kiosk program was first requested in 2024 by Mayor Pro Tem Chito Vela, who supported the code change by highlighting his view that the kiosks will provide a benefit to transit users around Austin. Other officials and residents expressed reservations about the plan's impact on public spaces.

Dell Children’s Medical Center in Central Austin has become the first pediatric hospital to provide bone marrow transplants, also known as stem cell transplants, in Central Texas.

The impact: The procedure increases the cure rate for pediatric cancer patients, Dell Children’s doctors told Community Impact. The new stem cell transplant program means Austin-area families no longer have to leave Central Texas to receive lifesaving cancer care, said Dr. Amir Mian, the program’s medical director and division chief for pediatric oncology and hematology.

“Previously, everybody had to travel out of town, and what it meant was leaving home for more than a month, sometimes even longer,” Mian said. “Now they don’t have to ... nobody has to leave town just to get lifesaving treatment.”

How it works: The transplant involves removing a patient's bone marrow and replacing older stem cells by administering new stem cells to pediatric cancer patients through an IV, Mian said. The stem cells travel to the patient’s bone marrow and begin producing healthy blood cells that may restore their immune system.