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Officials celebrate new Southwest crew base at Austin airport

Austin leaders celebrated the opening of a new Southwest Airlines crew base March 25, a part of the airline's local expansion plans supported by an economic deal with the city that advanced last year.

The details: Southwest is now the largest carrier at Austin-Bergstrom International Airport and plans to continue growing its local presence. The crew base, or a hub for airline employees, is a key feature of Southwest's new incentive agreements with both the city and state. It's eventually expected to create more than 2,000 jobs over the coming years, mainly pilots and flight attendants with positions paying an average salary of $180,000.

Southwest previously said the crew base would open this March with around 335 pilots and 650 flight attendants, and would grow its headcount to around 2,000 by mid-2027.

 
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Austin’s I-35 cap-and-stitch vision faces uncertain funding future

The outlook for Austin's ambitious plans to cover stretches of the redesigned I-35 with public amenity decks remains unclear due to the high costs of constructing the project, which city staff advised not to fund as of this spring. 

The details: The Texas Department of Transportation's multibillion-dollar Capital Express Central will widen I-35 and lower interstate lanes below street level from downtown to North Central Austin. As that work continues, a local "cap and stitch" program to add decks covering the highway was proposed as a city mitigation of the state project.

What you need to know: City Council committed last year to pay TxDOT $104 million to add a series structural supports along I-35 needed for any future decks to be built. But no funding has yet been set aside for the development of caps and stitches or public amenities, now projected to cost more than $600 million, and city staff recommended against any financing for the project as of this spring.

 

Austin Water debuts Home Water Reports to help residents track usage, save money

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Your Weekend To-Do List

Check out these weekend events across the metro area.

Wildflower Spring Market

Cedar Park Kite Festival

March 28, 10 a.m.-5 p.m.; March 29, 11 a.m.-4 p.m.
Austin

March 28, 3-7 p.m.
Cedar Park

More info

More info

 

Austin Water Lantern Festival

Easter in the Park

March 28, 5-9 p.m.
Leander

March 28, 6 p.m.
Bastrop

More info

More info

 
To submit your own event, click here.

CI Texas
Texas to prohibit purchases of candy, sugary drinks with SNAP benefits

Beginning April 1, Texans can no longer use food stamps to purchase sweetened beverages and candy.

How we got here: During the 2025 legislative session, Texas lawmakers passed Senate Bill 379, which prohibits Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits from being used to purchase candy and sweetened drinks. In August, the federal government approved a waiver allowing Texas to implement the prohibition beginning April 1.

Texas will be the ninth state to prohibit SNAP benefits from being used on sugary items, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

How it works: Under SB 379, Texans will not be allowed to use their SNAP benefits to buy sweetened drinks containing any artificial sweeteners or at least 5 grams of added sugar, according to the Texas Health and Human Services Commission. SB 379 also bans the purchase of candy with Lone Star Cards.

It is up to Texas businesses to determine which items are no longer SNAP-eligible, update their store purchase systems and train staff to recognize the newly restricted items, according to the HHSC.

 

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