The city of Georgetown will apply for around $70 million in federal transportation grants from the Capital Area Metropolitan Planning Organization and the Texas Department of Transportation.

Assistant City Manager Nick Woolery presented several priority projects at a City Council workshop Oct. 28.

The details: Georgetown will request CAMPO funding through its fiscal year 2026-29 open project call under the Surface Transportation Block Grant. The STBG is the “largest sum of federal money that … cities and non-TxDOT entities can have access to for major road projects,” Woolery said at the meeting Oct. 28.

The city will submit four projects to CAMPO and one to TxDOT’s highway safety improvement program.

The timeline: Georgetown will finalize the grant requests and bring them to City Council for approval in January. The CAMPO deadline is Jan. 23.

Cities should hear back about the final award decision in mid-to-late summer, Woolery said.

Sky & Co Jewelry store opened near downtown Georgetown in late October. This is local jeweler Efrain Montes' third location.

Check it out: With locations in Georgetown and Taylor, the full-service jewelry store offers custom designs, battery replacement, repairs, engraving, cleaning and appraisals. Sky & Co specializes in engagement rings, bracelets and chains.

Montes celebrated the grand opening of his University Avenue location last month with a ribbon cutting celebration.

• 723 W. University Ave., Ste. 103, Georgetown

Texas is the nation’s largest energy producer, leading other U.S. states in both natural gas production and renewable energy generation, data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration shows. Yet as people, businesses and data centers continue to move to the state, experts say Texas leaders need to harness new strategies to make energy more affordable and ensure the state power grid remains reliable.

The details: Amid high inflation nationwide, energy prices are on the rise in Texas, and residents are feeling the strain, experts said at the Texas Energy Summit, which ran from Nov. 4-6 in Austin.

In a June 2025 report, the Texas Energy Poverty Research Institute, a nonprofit research organization, found that 65% of low-income Texans recently engaged in “energy-limiting behaviors,” such as turning off their air conditioning to reduce electric bills or underheating their homes in the winter. 

What they're saying: Experts said state lawmakers and officials could invest in energy efficiency and residential demand response programs to tackle affordability and grid reliability issues.