Bastrop City Council will soon operate under a new schedule after amending its rules of procedures during a meeting Aug. 26.
The details: Although regular meetings have been held on the second and fourth Tuesday of each month, they will now be held on the first and third Tuesday of each month, according to city documents.
Bastrop City Secretary Michael Muscarello cited House Bill 1522, which took effect Sept. 1, that requires agendas to be posted three business days prior to a meeting, excluding the day of posting and the day of the meeting.
“I don’t know how long we’ve had our meetings on the second and fourth Tuesdays, but they’re changing to the first and third Tuesdays,” Place 4 council member Kerry Fossler said during the meeting. “The requirement is Wednesday, so agendas will be out to the public on Wednesday of the week. I just want the people to know because those are some pretty significant changes.”
Elgin residents just got a taste of something special—homemade popcorn made with big flavor.
The details: Popcorn Love in Elgin offers a variety of gourmet popcorn with sweet, savory and classic flavors.
Leroy Hargrove, who owns Popcorn Love with his wife Tometra, saidtheir storefront—which offers discounts for veterans and law enforcement officers—on N. Main Street is the “perfect location.”
“It’s right there on the corner of Main Street and Depot Street across from the park where all the action happens, so we thought it was a no-brainer,” Hargrove said.
The community, he emphasized, has been incredibly welcoming.
The approach: The process of establishing Popcorn Love began with the need to purchase a kettle corn machine—a piece of equipment the Hargroves sourced from a seller in the Arlington area.
“When we took it back home, I burnt about four or five batches trying to figure it out,” Hargrove said. “But I finally got the measurements, temperature and everything down, and we’ve been going ever since.”
International Balloon Museum brings interactive, inflatable art exhibit to Northwest Austin
International contemporary art company Balloon Museum opened a pop-up exhibition at the former Louis Shanks furniture store in June.
A closer look: The Let's Fly—art has no limits—exhibit features a variety of inflatable art pieces for patrons to interact with. The exhibit is inspired by concepts of freedom, flight and lightness, exploring air as a symbol of limitless travel and movement, according to Balloon Museum information.
The Austin museum will run until Nov. 2, according to the company's website.
The background: With more than 7 million visitors worldwide, Balloon Museum has opened pop-up exhibits across the globe, including in Rome, Paris, Madrid, London, Berlin and Singapore. Pop-up locations in the United States have included New York, Atlanta, Miami, Los Angeles and Las Vegas.
What to know: Most Texas school districts required to display donated Ten Commandments posters under state law
Most Texas public schools are required to display donated posters of the Ten Commandments in classrooms under Senate Bill 10, a state law that took effect Sept. 1.
The details: On Aug. 20, a Texas federal judge temporarily blocked the following 11 school districts from displaying the Ten Commandments:
Alamo Heights ISD
Austin ISD
Cy-Fair ISD
Dripping Springs ISD
Fort Bend ISD
Houston ISD
Lackland ISD
Lake Travis ISD
North East ISD
Northside ISD
Plano ISD
Attorney General Ken Paxton appealed the ruling and directed other school districts to begin displaying donated copies of the Ten Commandments.
The debate: Proponents of SB 10, including Paxton and Republican state lawmakers, have argued that seeing the Ten Commandments on a daily basis will help Texas students better understand U.S. history and learn about morality.
Some religious scholars have stressed the importance of teaching students about religion in an “appropriate educational context.” Democratic lawmakers have expressed concerns that non-Christian students will feel left out or be bullied by their peers for not following the Ten Commandments.
