1. Community Impact's July edition focuses on real estate issues in the area and is in mailboxes as of last Friday. The issue includes stories on the affordable housing crisis in east Travis County and Williamson County, the resurgence of the rental market and guides on finding a home loan and starting home renovations. Our July paper also tells the stories of two local businesses — Round Rock Travel & Cruises in Round Rock and Brotherton's Black Iron Barbecue in Pflugerville. You can read all of our coverage in paper or online.

2. Hutto City Manager Odis Jones called for action on a contentious issue with the Hutto Economic Development Corporation. City council voted unanimously to run all transactions of the EDC through Jones. Jones said the EDC is "tone deaf," spending lavishly in a time when many Hutto residents are living paycheck to paycheck.

3. The state legislature is gearing up for a special session, with a number of issues involving local control on the dockett for the July 18 start date. One in particular focuses on local spending. Gov. Greg Abbott is calling for lawmakers to cap spending of cities based on population growth plus inflation. He has already advocated for limiting the revenue intake of cities through Senate Bill 2, which would cap the rollback tax rate. The proposed local spending cap tackles the issue from another angle.

4. Homes in Round Rock, Pflugerville and Hutto grew in median price for the most part from last June until this June. Homes located in ZIP codes 78660 and 78717 were the aberrations from this trend, decreasing in price from the June 2016 number.

5. The first location of Aldi in the Austin area is hosting a hiring event on Tuesday. Aldi offers full health insurance and dental coverage to employees averaging 25 or more hours per week with a 401(k) program also available. Construction on the Pflugerville location at 1414 FM 685 has begun.