The Austin Current

Austin is confronting a stubborn housing paradox: Rents have fallen from their pandemic-era highs, but eviction filings continue to climb. With filings continuing to run at record levels, city leaders are searching for a more effective way to keep people in their homes as lower-income renters struggle with housing and everyday expenses and advocates warn that a new state law could make it harder for tenants facing eviction to respond.

The Austin school district ended the 2025-26 school year with a $105 million deficit, $10 million deeper than district leaders estimated just two months ago and more than five times the shortfall trustees expected in June 2025. The latest figure, presented to trustees Thursday night by Chief Financial Officer Katrina Montgomery, is not yet audited.

Austin City Council on Thursday moved to fast-track new regulations that could keep large data centers out of the city, accelerating a process that otherwise would stretch into next spring. The unanimous vote reflects growing urgency at City Hall over hyperscale data centers, which council members say could strain Austin’s water and electric systems and disrupt surrounding neighborhoods.

When a shrinking church proposed to turn its property in a wealthy South Austin neighborhood into homes for lower-income families, neighboring homeowners revolted — petitioning the Austin City Council to halt the project. Neighbors complained the 64-unit development — nestled in a desirable neighborhood just a block from the South Congress shopping district — would be out of character with surrounding single-family homes. The complex, they told city officials, would be too tall.

Austin City Council Member Paige Ellis will not seek another term in office after her petition to run again was rejected, according to the city of Austin. Ellis represents District 8, which includes parts of South and Southwest Austin. Last week, Ellis submitted a petition with more than 3,400 signatures to the City Clerk. Austin’s city charter states that candidates who have reached their term limit can seek an additional term if they get support from 5% of qualified voters in their district.

When the Texas Education Agency takes over a district and replaces an elected school board with hand-picked appointees, everything changes. Insiders become outsiders. Trustees lose power. They can’t vote, control the budget, make policy decisions, hire a superintendent or legally represent the people who elected them into office. That could happen to Austin ISD’s school board.

The Austin school district’s latest state accountability ratings trace a familiar line across the city. Schools earning the Texas Education Agency’s lowest grades remain concentrated in many of the same historically underserved neighborhoods east of Interstate 35, where campuses serving high numbers of economically disadvantaged students continue to face steep academic challenges, reinforcing a pattern education experts say extends well beyond Austin.

The recent surge in water- and energy-intensive artificial intelligence data center construction has forced lawmakers across the country to find ways to protect limited local resources. Now Austin is too. As AI use has skyrocketed, so has the need for data centers to house the servers that power it. The facilities can be expansive — some spanning more than 1,000 acres — and resource-intensive, consuming hundreds of millions of gallons of water a year and requiring more than 100 megawatts of power.

Austin City Council Member Paige Ellis has submitted a petition to seek a third term for her District 8 seat. While council members are usually limited to two four-year terms, city rules say she can run again if she has the support from her constituents. To seek an additional term, the Austin city charter states that a council member must garner support from 5% of qualified voters in their district. Ellis’ district covers parts of South and Southwest Austin.

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