Athletic club Life Time opened off South Lamar Boulevard just in time for the New Year.

The details: The newest spot for Life Time is located in The Bouldin, a mixed-used development that features two restaurants—Postino and Paperboy—and apartments.

Inside, the facility is a 57,700-square-foot club spanning over the first two floors of the building.

The background: This is Life Time’s fifth location in Austin. The first opened in North Austin in 2005.

• 1301 S. Lamar Blvd., Ste. 100, Austin

Austin Animal Services will soon have a new permanent director after nearly a year under interim leadership, with animal sheltering veteran Monica Dangler set to fill the position in February.

The details: Dangler was selected through a national search process that left three finalists up for consideration last month, including two Austin-based candidates. She most recently served as an executive leadership consultant for the department of animal services in Riverside County, California, and previously led shelters in Kyle and Tucson, Arizona as well as coordinating events for the Pennsylvania Humane Society.

The background: The arrival of a new Austin Animal Services director follows years of scrutiny of the city animal shelter, including internal audits, and last year's adoption of a new strategic plan for the department.

North Austin community members now have an environment to enjoy working from home or ordering a drink while playing with adoptable cats at Sydney’s Cat Lounge.

The specifics: Launched by Quin Whiddon and Alex Whiddon, the space is part of the duo’s nonprofit, Sydney’s Sanctuary. The nonprofit was founded in 2024 with the mission to save cats in need.

While at the cat lounge, community members can book time slots to visit the lounge and play or co-work with the adoptable cats while enjoying one of the lounge's drinks. Drinks include water, coffee options, specialty sodas, wine, nonalcoholic cocktails and beer and herbal teas. The space is also available for private events.

3407 E. Seventh St., Austin

Texas charter system Harmony Public Schools launched a new virtual learning platform on Jan. 5 that allows students across the state to take high school courses online.

The overview: The Harmony Online Learning program includes dozens of courses aligned with the Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills standards, all of which are self-paced, according to a news release.

More details: Students can choose from dozens of courses in core subjects, electives, Advanced Placement and Career and Technical Education, according to the program’s website. The offerings aim to help students complete credit recovery, get ahead with their requirements and access courses not available at their home campus. Credit earned through Harmony may be applied toward high school graduation requirements depending on local district policies, per the release.

One more thing: Interested families can enroll online, and spring courses begin Jan. 12, per the release. The cost of tuition per course is $325, a spokesperson from Harmony Public Schools told Community Impact.

Approximately three dozen new Texas laws are scheduled to take effect Jan. 1, impacting how artificial intelligence is used in state government, when local officials can raise taxes after natural disasters and how much of businesses' inventory is taxed.

The background: The changes come after Texas’s biennial legislative session ended in early June. Gov. Greg Abbott signed over 1,100 laws passed by state lawmakers, many of which took effect in June or September.

The details: Some of the bills becoming law in the new year are:

• House Bill 9, which will expand a tax exemption for business owners
• House Bill 30, which will tighten regulations on counties' and cities' abilities to raise tax rates after natural disasters
• House Bill 149, which will regulate the fast-growing AI industry
• House Bill 247, which will exempt certain border security infrastructure from property tax increases
• House Bill 1399, which will create a property tax exemption for stores selling animal feed
• House Bill 2508, which will establish a property tax exemption for the surviving spouse of certain military members