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The Baylor Scott & White Medical Center in Austin celebrated its first cohort of students to graduate from the Project SEARCH program May 20.

The medical center partnered with Austin ISD, Goodwill and the Texas Workforce Commission to complete the program, which helped students with disabilities prepare for their future careers.

The details: Two AISD graduates with disabilities receiving special education services had the opportunity to participate in Project SEARCH, which enabled them to develop real-world work skills in a hospital setting. The students had recently graduated from high school, but are qualified to receive additional training in areas such as job skills, daily living skills and independence to transition into the workforce, according to a news release.

The students spend one week in each rotation at the hospital, from food services to pre-op, operating room and emergency imaging.

A new Levi’s store will open in Barton Creek Square this week.

The overview: Levi’s specializes in denim products for men, women and children, including jeans, shorts, shirts, dresses and other apparel.

The new story will open on the lower level of Barton Creek Square, located across from the Care Bears Play Area.

• Opening July 3

Ascension Seton opened its new Women's Hospital on June 25 at 1201 W. 38th St., bringing the first hospital of its kind in Central Texas dedicated exclusively to women's care.

The $362 million, 178-bed tower begins accepting patients June 29.

The big picture: The hospital consolidates emergency care, labor and delivery, surgery, postpartum recovery and neonatal intensive care into one dedicated building connected to the existing Ascension Seton Medical Center.

Dell Children's neonatologists staff the NICU around the clock.

Why it matters: Labor and delivery rooms at the existing Ascension Seton Medical Center have been at capacity weekly.

The new building is designed to handle 7,500 to 8,500 births a year and nearly doubles NICU capacity from 44 to up to 84 beds, all in private rooms designed for couplet care.

Here’s what residents need to know before the upcoming Independence Day holiday:

Fireworks: Fireworks are illegal within city limits without a permit. Violations can result in a fine of up to $2,000.

The city allows sparklers, smoke devices, glow toys and trick noisemakers without a permit. Wherever legal, the city recommends keeping water nearby, lighting one at a time, never relighting and keeping children away.

Travel: July 2 is expected to be the busiest day on the road. Drivers should expect heavy traffic and prepare with routine vehicle maintenance before departing. 

Riverside Drive will close between South First Street and Lee Barton Drive starting at 9 a.m. July 4 for the Star Spangled Fest at Auditorium Shores and reopen at 10:30 p.m. 

Pets: Fireworks can be distressing for pets. AFD recommends keeping them indoors in a secure, familiar environment and leaving a television on as a distraction. 

Heat: AFD advises residents to pre-hydrate, wear light-colored loose-fitting clothing, take frequent breaks in shade and know the signs of heat exhaustion and heat stroke. 

In smaller communities and cities around the Greater Austin area, demand for health care specialists has risen at a rate unmatched by access to professionals, said Ashley Price, Austin Regional Clinic's vice president of operations.

Austin Regional Clinic, or ARC, is expanding its specialty services both north and south of Austin to provide unique care to residents in the surrounding cities.

Current situation: Access to health care specialists in Central Texas can be a barrier for residents seeking medical care, Price said. While cities neighboring Austin are growing rapidly, the nation faces a shortage of both primary care physicians and specialists.

Specialists, nurse practitioners and physician assistants with ARC travel to multiple clinic locations to meet patients where there is a need, so they are not required to journey into Austin for care.

The specifics: ARC is further expanding with the opening of a Lockhart clinic on June 15, and ARC South Specialty in South Austin, opening in phases beginning June 1.

ARC also opened the Greenlawn Specialty clinic in Round Rock on Jan. 19.