Mid-January campaign finance reports offer an early look at Austin's 2026 City Council races, as candidates for five seats raised almost $140,000 and had nearly $800,000 on hand heading into the new year.

The details: The local November ballot will feature elections for half of Austin's geographic council districts, including districts 1, 3, 5, 8 and 9. The District 1 seat will be open for the first time in eight years due to council member Natasha Harper-Madison reaching her term limit, while the other four races are expected to include incumbent council candidates facing any challengers.

This month's semiannual campaign reports cover financial activity from the second half of 2025, and two incumbents—District 3's José Velásquez and District 9's Zo Qadri—led fundraising through that period with each drawing more than $27,000. Qadri was also the top political spender to end last year. And he, District 5 council member Ryan Alter, District 5 challenger David Weinberg and District 8 council member Paige Ellis were the only candidates with more than $100,000 available heading into 2026.

New yoga and pilates studio Present Practice opened to patrons in downtown Austin in early January.

The details: The business offers 14 non-heated and warmed classes each day, including Hot Power Vinyasa, Hot Sculpt, and Hot Mat Pilates. The studio hosts international retreats and yoga teacher trainings.

Present Practice is expected to open a cafe this spring serving beverages from Desnudo Coffee.

The backstory: Present Practice was originally founded as Yoga Hōm by Morgan O’Hare and her husband Ryan O'Hare.

The 6,000-square-foot studio for Present Practice is more than three times the size of the previous Yoga Hōm studio. The rebranded business's new location in downtown Austin was previously home to Wanderlust Yoga and YTX Yoga.

• 206 E. Fourth St., Austin

Amid enrollment growth across a majority of its programs, Austin Community College is reporting significant growth across workforce and health care programs. 

What you need to know: The community college district shared an update on enrollment Jan. 20, the start of the spring 2026 semester. 

Data updated as of Jan. 16 shows enrollment is up 7% year over year. More students are also choosing to remain with ACC semester to semester, the report shows, with returning students up 9% compared to 2025, and 23% compared to 2024. 

Austin ISD will regain ownership of Mendez Middle School in South Austin next school year.

The big picture: Charter school and nonprofit partners have operated the AISD campus for more than a decade to help improve low academic performance. On Jan. 16, the district announced it will retake the school this fall after the campus earned a B accountability rating in 2025.

The details: Senate Bill 1882 incentivizes districts to partner with open-enrollment charter schools, higher education institutions, nonprofits and government entities with the goal of raising academic outcomes for students, according to the Texas Education Agency.

Charter school network Third Future Schools took ownership of Mendez in 2022—during which the campus received a B accountability rating followed by C ratings in 2023 and 2024. In 2025, Mendez received a B rating of 89 out of 100.

What’s next: In August, AISD will take over “Mendez’s academics, operations, staffing, and campus leadership with the goal of sustaining and accelerating the progress Mendez has made,” an AISD spokesperson said.

An electric vehicle sales center and a new residential building are among the newest projects filed with the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation. Here are five of the most expensive projects filed with the TDLR in the Austin metro this week.

1. Gunter Street residential building: A five-story, multifamily building with a five-story parking garage is planned near the East Seventh Street H-E-B.

• Location: 1135 Gunter St., Austin
• Estimated timeline: May 1, 2026-Aug. 1, 2028
• Estimated cost: $80 million

• Location: Kelly Lane, from Moorlynch Avenue to Weiss Lane, Pflugerville
• Estimated timeline: Oct. 1, 2026-March 31, 2030
• Estimated cost: $40 million