Crunch Fitness will open a new location on Research Boulevard in North Austin.

The overview: The company’s gyms include large free weight areas, a variety of workout machines and cardio equipment. Crunch Fitness offers group fitness classes as well as relaxation and recovery services, such as a sauna, HydroMassage, tanning and red light therapy.

The new location will also feature a Pilates studio available to those with the gym’s top-tier membership.

• 8716 Research Blvd, Ste. 100, Austin

The city of Austin has launched the Austin Bond Dashboard to help residents track progress on capital improvement projects. Developed by Capital Delivery Services, phase one of the dashboard rolled out on Oct. 1 to support transparency and accountability.

Learn more: The dashboard features information on projects funded by the city's 2016, 2018, 2020 and 2022 General Obligation Bonds, which total $2.45 billion with $1.72 billion spent. Users can search for projects and bond programs to find:

• Information and summaries about propositions and individual project details
• Charts depicting project funding and spending
• Status updates showing if a project is anticipated, in design, in construction, completed or cancelled

Stay Tuned: For phase two of the launch, Capital Delivery Services will link projects to their geographic location to enhance the Geographic Information System. The department is also welcoming feedback from Mayor Kirk Watson and the city council.

In 2015, the Texas Legislature passed a law changing the amount of time students are required to spend in public schools from 180 days to 75,600 minutes per school year.

More than a decade later, some state senators are considering again mandating the number of days schools are open, citing concerns about student performance in districts that use condensed weekly schedules.

The details: At least 181 districts and 572 campuses used four-day school weeks in the 2024-25 school year, per Texas Education Agency data.

A TEA study found that during the 2022-23 school year, students attending school four days per week had lower performance in certain subjects on the annual State of Texas Assessments of Academic Readiness than students at five-day schools.

"There is not a benefit that I see for a four-day school week for the child," Sen. Donna Campbell, R-New Braunfels, said. "We know there's learning loss. What is the advantage of a four-day [week]? Because I see none except to please somebody who wants to be off more days."

A new efficiency audit shows a homeowner with a home of average taxable value could see higher property tax bills if Round Rock ISD voters approve a tax rate increase in November.

Auditors also shared insights about per-student funding and staffing in a presentation to the board of trustees Sept. 17.

The gist: A Nov. 3 ballot measure proposes to provide a 2% general pay raise for employees, increase starting teacher pay to $58,000 and address pay compression throughout the district.

Should the tax rate election pass, representatives of third-party auditor CG Strategies said a homeowner with a home of average taxable value could pay $219 more per year than if the measure were to fail.

The local impact: The statutorily mandated efficiency audit shows RRISD receives slightly less in per-student funding than the state average and peer districts. It also shows the district has a slightly higher proportion of its operating budget dedicated to payroll, with the highest expenditures per student being instruction, maintenance and school leadership.