Pflugerville voters may be asked to weigh in on 14 charter amendments during the November election.

During its July 26 meeting, Pflugerville City Council approved an ordinance on first reading with the proposed amendments to the City's Home Rule Charter. The amendments were recommendations from the city’s 2026 Charter Review Commission.

The details: City Council forms a group of Pflugerville residents every five years to suggest changes to the charter, according to a city news release. The charter is the city’s legal governing document that defines the organization, powers, function and essential procedures of the city government.

Next steps: City Council will consider a second reading of the ordinance Aug. 11. If adopted, a special election will be held Nov. 3, 2026.

Brotherton’s Black Iron Barbecue’s last day in business will be Aug. 30, the Pflugerville restaurant announced in a Facebook post. 

The background: John Brotherton partnered with Black Iron Eats in 2017, which later became Brotherton's Black Iron Barbecue. Brotherton, who gained a reputation for philanthropy and championing other local business owners, died in early 2024.

Brotherton’s offers traditional Central Texas-style craft barbecue and landed on Texas Monthly's Top 50 BBQ joints list in 2021.

More details: In the Facebook post, the business stated it has “been a struggle” since January, citing the current economy and cost of beef, as well as the restaurant’s parking situation at its current location.

“To all of our customers: thank you so much for all of your support over the last nine years,” the post reads. “Especially after the passing of John Brotherton, you continued to show up and show us so much love. If it wasn’t for you guys, we wouldn’t have been able to make it this long.”

• 15608 Spring Hill Lane, Ste. 105, Pflugerville

The Travis County Parks Foundation's Park Stewards Program, a volunteer development program in its first year, turns residents into ambassadors for their neighborhood park. 

The gist: Over several months, participants move through learning modules on conservation and nature before completing 20 hours of service in their park and earning a patch naming them a steward of that park. The program is free and open to anyone, regardless of expertise.

Get involved: The foundation is recruiting for its fall cohort at Southeast Metropolitan and Reimers Ranch parks, with applications opening online in early August. Sessions run two hours monthly, and one-time stewardship days are open to anyone who can't commit to the full program.

Check out the latest transportation projects across the Austin metro. 

Upcoming projects

I-35 at Inner Loop Interchange

Project: The project includes the design and construction of improvements to the interchange between SE Inner Loop and I-35 in Georgetown.

Update: All work for the project has been put on hold pending TxDOT advancing the design of I-35.

• Timeline: TBD

• Cost: TBD

• Funding source: Williamson County 2023 road bond

Ongoing projects

Oak Hill Parkway

Project: The Texas Department of Transportation is currently reconstructing Hwy. 290 in Oak Hill, transforming the existing four-lane, undivided roadway to a six-lane divided highway with new frontage roads and 14 miles of shared-use paths.

Update: As of July, drivers can now travel on newly opened mainlanes, frontage roads and ramps. Drivers can expect ongoing painting, landscaping, asphalt paving, striping and shared-use path improvements to cause lane closures.

• Timeline: 2022-26 (total project)

• Cost: $677 million allocated for the entire project

• Funding source: TxDOT

Texas is halting the approval of new data center projects until state regulators can audit all data centers seeking to connect to the power grid, Gov. Greg Abbott announced Aug. 3.

The overview: The governor directed the Public Utility Commission of Texas and the Electric Reliability Council of Texas to conduct “a comprehensive verification and audit” of all data center applicants “before any additional data centers are approved to move forward.” 

Data center regulation has emerged as a bipartisan issue in recent months, and the move comes amid both growing public criticism of Texas’ booming data center industry and recent political pressure for Abbott to respond.

Zooming in: Abbott asked the PUC and ERCOT to collect information about the tax exemptions each data center is collecting; details about each project's anticipated water and electricity usage; and how data center developers will work to limit noise, light pollution and other impacts on local communities.

Officials did not say how long the pause would last or when the audits would begin.