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Crux Climbing Center
The climbing facility features 48-foot-tall climbing walls; rope climbing; bouldering; strength training, fitness and yoga spaces; locker rooms and saunas; a kids area; wellness space with recovery; remote work pods; and outdoor turf space. 

• Opened May 5

• 220 Ralph Ablanedo Drive, Austin

Coming soon

The Lucky Duck
The bar is slated to open its second location in South Austin. Its first location off Sixth Street offers signature cocktails, beer, seltzer, and a food menu with burgers, wings, loaded fries, chicken sandwiches, fried pickles and breakfast tacos.

• Opening in May

• 2105 Lynnbrook Drive, Austin

In the news

The Little Darlin’
The bar has offered drinks, eats and an outdoor space in South Austin since 2016. The business celebrated its 10th anniversary with live music, free t-shirts, tattoos and live screen printing in April.

• 6507 Circle S. Road, Austin

A planned consolidation of city technology workers is moving forward after weeks of pushback from some affected employees.

Updates to Austin's technology processes are among several government efficiency and cost-cutting efforts underway at City Hall. The plan initiated last year would eventually reorganize hundreds of information technology staff across all city departments under the roof of Austin Technology Services, or ATS.

The "One ATS" process is supported by city management based on findings from consultants, who reported Austin's IT spending is out of line with peers and that a centralized model could improve city systems. But it's been opposed by many impacted employees and their union due to concerns about public services and safety.

Some City Council members agreed and were readying to advance a formal request to halt the ATS reorganization this month. That measure was withdrawn after a recent public review and based on new assurances about the program from City Manager T.C. Broadnax.

From a new Target in Austin to elementary school construction in Leander ISD, here are five of the most expensive projects filed with the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation in the Austin metro this week.

1. Leander ISD Elementary School No. 32 ($65 million): The new elementary school will be 117,000 square feet. According to the district, the school is projected to open in 2028 and follow the same design used for recent elementary schools.

2. Paramount Theatre Restoration ($21.7 million): This project includes a partial renovation of the existing theater, and will be completed in the summer of 2027. 

3. Target ($19.3 million): A Target will anchor The Village at Dripping Springs shopping center. 

4. Lake Travis Fire Rescue ($8 million): This project involves the demolition of the existing fire station and construction of a new one.

5. Conner Tract Parking Addition ($2 million): This project involves an overflow parking addition for Liberty Hill ISD north of the existing Liberty Hill High School campus.

Roughly 76,000 fewer students were enrolled in Texas public schools this academic year than the year prior, according to May 11 report.

The overview: The 2025-26 school year marks the second recorded enrollment drop in recent history, according to Texas Education Agency data collected since the 1987-88 academic year. The first decline happened in the 2020-21 school year, at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Hispanic students accounted for 81% of the enrollment loss in the 2025-26 school year, the policy research group Texas 2036 found.

The local impact: School districts across Community Impact’s coverage areas are in the process of closing and consolidating campuses, citing enrollment declines and budget shortfalls. Statewide data shows that 130 campuses have been selected for closure in the past two years.

What they're saying: “This year, we are down students, and these [drops] are somewhat more accelerated than statewide demographic trends indicated,” TEA Commissioner Mike Morath told lawmakers May 11. “We cannot tell you the precise cause of this. We just know that it has occurred.”