City officials will soon consider a 66% increase to expected construction costs for the Walnut Creek Wastewater Treatment Plant expansion.

The details: The plant first opened in the late 1970s with the ability to process 18 million gallons daily, or MGD, and it's grown over the years to its current 75 MGD capacity. Actual treatment levels are closer to 60 MGD today but expected to near that 75 MGD limit in just a few years due to population growth, requiring the expansion initiative increasing capacity to 100 MGD by 2032.

Multiple contracts totaling more than $1 billion, both for the expansion and related modernization and facility improvements, were approved in 2024. An additional $600 million is now needed due to various cost escalations, according to AW.

Austin Water has anticipated securing federal and state loans for a large share of the project cost, and using local revenue bonds supported by rising utility charges.

Mandola’s Italian Kitchen is celebrating 20 years of serving Texas on March 3.

The details: The locally owned restaurant from Damian and Trina Mandola first opened in North Austin's The Triangle in 2006. Since then, it has expanded to three additional Austin-area locations including in Southwest Austin, Bee Cave and Cedar Park. Additionally, Mandola's can be found in Florida.

The counter-service restaurant offers Italian dishes alongside market items like bread, pastries, gelato and cured meats and cheeses. To celebrate 20 years March 3, each Mandola's location will be offering 20% off meals and a gift card giveaway.

Also of note: The couple also owns Trattoria Lisina, a Tuscan-inspired Italian restaurant in Driftwood.

• 4700 W. Guadalupe St., Ste. 12, Austin; 4301 W. William Cannon Drive, E-1, Austin; 12100 W. Parmer Lane, Ste. 200, Cedar Park; 12815 Shops Parkway, Ste. 400, Bee Cave

The Texas Education Agency must correct roughly 4,200 errors in its elementary and middle school curriculum, the State Board of Education ruled Feb. 25.

The overview: The changes to the Bluebonnet Learning materials, a set of state-developed textbooks, include replacing improperly licensed images, fixing formatting errors or typos and correcting factual errors.

The SBOE approved the Bluebonnet materials in November 2024. The curriculum, which became available to districts ahead of the 2025-26 school year, has been criticized for frequent biblical references in the reading materials, although proponents said the materials would help improve student outcomes.

Zooming in: Before approving the changes, several board members expressed concerns about the “unprecedented” number of issues with the state-developed textbooks, noting that Texas taxpayers will cover the costs of reprinting the updated materials, as they were developed with state funds.

“I’m very concerned that, as a board, we have set a precedent for sloppy publishing. Many times, even if it's a typo, it could become an error of fact,” SBOE member Pam Little, R-Fairview, said.