Free Museum Lawn Games and Five Sunday Shows

An overcast Sunday morning offers an easy stroll before triple digits hit, leaving just enough room to browse outdoor art or catch an early swim before the afternoon warms up.

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The Lead

Developers planning high-density projects along Austin’s future light-rail lines must now build affordable units on-site rather than buying their way out. The City Council unanimously removed the fee-in-lieu option for properties within a half-mile of planned rail stations, closing a loophole in the citywide density bonus program that previously let builders direct cash into the general Housing Trust Fund. Transit advocates rallied behind the change, arguing that dedicated train corridors only succeed when lower-income workers can afford to step straight from their front doors onto the platform. Homebuilders warned the stricter mandate could stall private investment along corridors like Guadalupe and Riverside where land costs continue to climb. City staff will now draft updated site development standards ahead of next spring’s engineering reviews.

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Local Pulse

• Transit Signal Priority Expands to All City Lights CapMetro buses and emergency responders will trigger longer green lights at municipal intersections to reduce delays across town.

• Five New Traffic Signals Coming to Cedar Park Crews will install five modern signals at congested intersections along Brushy Creek Road to improve safety for suburban commuters.

• City Confirms Adult Sports Leagues Will Continue Parks officials plan to transition municipal basketball and softball operations to an outside operator instead of dropping programming entirely.

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Today's Outlook

• High 100°F · Low 79°F — Overcast
  • Heavy cloud cover will not blunt the triple-digit afternoon heat, so stay hydrated outdoors.

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What's On Around Town

• Family Day at the Museum Blanton Museum of Art (200 E Martin Luther King Jr Blvd), 10:00 AM–5:00 PM Hands-on artmaking, outdoor games, and scavenger hunts across the shaded courtyard.

• Bee Cave: 50th Pecan Street Fall Festival Hill Country Galleria (12700 Hill Country Blvd), 11:00 AM–8:00 PM Two hundred artisans, live stages, and family activities in the central plaza.

• Levitation: Sleep and Uncle Acid The Far Out Lounge & Stage (8504 S Congress Ave), 3:00 PM–12:00 AM Heavy psych riffs and outdoor sets closing out the weekend music festival.

• Chance The Rapper Moody Amphitheater at Waterloo Park (1401 Trinity St), 6:00 PM Ten-year anniversary tour of Coloring Book under the downtown evening sky.

• Barbie Dream Heist Butterfly Bar at The Vortex (2307 Manor Rd), 8:30–9:30 PM Pay-what-you-can satirical theater staged on the intimate East Austin patio.

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Spotlight & Story

• The Driskill
  • Cattle baron Jesse Driskill bought the downtown parcel for $7,500 in 1884, pouring $400,000 and six million pressed bricks into his Romanesque showplace. After devastating winter blizzards decimated his herds, he lost ownership of the grand hotel just two years later.

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Austin Daily Digest — compiled from local sources as of 6 AM. For breaking updates, follow your local newsrooms.

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