The city of Austin is taking legal action against what the city has described as an unauthorized billboard on Bee Caves Road, with one of two potential upcoming court dates set for Jan. 7. 

Diving in deeper: An Austin Development Services Department representative confirmed Aug. 18 that the billboard’s owners, Media Choice, had not taken the appropriate action required in the city’s Notice of Violation within 14 days of its issuance July 30.

Following this, the city is pursuing legal action on two municipal court cases: 

• A land use violation for the property owner, scheduled for a Jan. 7 bench trial
• A Notice of Violation for a Structure Violation, for both the property owner and billboard owner Media Choice; although scheduled for a Dec. 17 hearing, the judge postponed consideration of the case but a new court date was not scheduled as of press time

Lake Travis ISD officials are planning to expand the district's pre-K program in 2026-27, expanding to two new campuses and adding more classrooms on its existing campuses. 

The gist: LTISD currently serves about 194 pre-K students across Serene Hills, Lake Travis and Lake Pointe elementary schools. In order to better meet community needs, officials are planning a "significant expansion" which will include a new program with multiple classrooms at West Cypress Hills Elementary and Lakeway Elementary, and additional classrooms according to capacity and need at Serene Hills, Lake Travis and Lake Pointe.

Some context: The district has consistently had a waitlist for this program. There were 119 students waitlisted this year, and 121 students waitlisted last year. A classroom was added at Serene Hills and Lake Pointe in 2022-23, along with another class at Lake Pointe in 2023-24.

"Our goal is to accommodate the entire waitlist," said Lyndsae Benton, executive director of curriculum and instruction.

Next steps: Staff are planning marketing and community engagement efforts in January ahead of program applications opening April 1. 

Check out the top trending stories from the Austin Metro Dec. 15-18.

1. 11,985-square-foot retail center to be built in Bastrop’s Adelton community

2. Austin Community College enrollment increases by nearly 10%

3. Melina neighborhood to bring 840 homes near Georgetown

4. Dozens of Lake Austin properties move to disannex; city to lose nearly $300M value

5. 320-unit multifamily development coming to Steiner Ranch area

6. Check out these trails and road projects in Round Rock

Community Impact compiled important holiday travel-related information, including what to know about traffic and airport activity, gas price data, and driver safety tips ahead of the year-end travel season, which runs Dec. 20-Jan. 1.

The overview: Texans should give themselves extra time to reach their destinations the weekend before Christmas, with many travelers expected to hit the road Dec. 21-22. Congestion is also expected as some Texans return home Dec. 26, according to INRIX, a transportation data company.

Minimal traffic is expected Dec. 24-25 and Dec. 31-Jan. 1, although AAA warned in a Dec. 10 news release that unexpected delays could arise from severe weather or crashes.

For the first time, more than 8 million people nationwide are expected to take domestic flights during the year-end holidays.

More information: Texas drivers will likely pay less for gas this holiday season than in recent years, AAA fuel data shows. On average, one gallon of unleaded gas costs about $2.51 in Texas as of Dec. 18, down from $2.65 one year prior.