{"id":293633,"date":"2026-05-14T23:23:11","date_gmt":"2026-05-14T23:23:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/293633\/"},"modified":"2026-05-14T23:23:11","modified_gmt":"2026-05-14T23:23:11","slug":"stay-in-the-know-with-bastrops-5-most-read-april-stories","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/293633\/","title":{"rendered":"Stay in the know with Bastrop&#8217;s 5 most-read April stories"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\tFrom a film studio groundbreaking to a new virtual learning option for Bastrop ISD families and more, here are the five Bastrop stories readers clicked on most in April.<\/p>\n<p>1. <a href=\"https:\/\/communityimpact.com\/austin\/bastrop-cedar-creek\/development\/2026\/04\/06\/204-texas-breaks-ground-on-nearly-600-acre-film-studio\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">204 Texas breaks ground on nearly 600-acre film studio<\/a><\/p>\n<p>The landscape is changing just west of Lovers Lane in Bastrop, as Alton Butler broke ground on 204 Texas\u2014a nearly 600-acre film studio complex local officials expect will boost the local economy.<\/p>\n<p>The project by Los Angeles-based Line 204, a production rental company, experienced several delays in response to water and utility infrastructure issues, in addition to permitting and regulatory hurdles. It was previously on track to open in 2025, as <a href=\"https:\/\/communityimpact.com\/austin\/bastrop-cedar-creek\/real-estate\/2024\/07\/19\/204-texas-to-blend-southern-charm-with-hollywood-style-filmmaking\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">reported by <\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/communityimpact.com\/austin\/bastrop-cedar-creek\/real-estate\/2024\/07\/19\/204-texas-to-blend-southern-charm-with-hollywood-style-filmmaking\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Community Impact<\/a> in July 2024.<\/p>\n<p>2. <a href=\"https:\/\/communityimpact.com\/austin\/bastrop-cedar-creek\/government\/2026\/03\/31\/edgeconnex-plans-second-data-center-campus-in-bastrop-county\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">EdgeConneX plans second data center campus in Bastrop County<\/a><\/p>\n<p>A $1.4 billion data center campus is being built in Cedar Creek, and the developers already have plans for a second Bastrop County location.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis would be one of the largest data center campuses in the United States, if not the globe,\u201d said Evan Pierce, vice president of site development for EdgeConneX. \u201cThis is going to be our marquee campus of all the campuses we have across the globe.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>3. <a href=\"https:\/\/communityimpact.com\/austin\/bastrop-cedar-creek\/government\/2026\/04\/17\/bastrop-council-replaces-city-development-code-aims-to-help-future-growth\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Bastrop council replaces city development code, aims to help future growth<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Bastrop residents and developers will see future growth shaped by a <a cmp-ltrk=\"Article Links\" cmp-ltrk-idx=\"0\" data-mrf-link=\"https:\/\/www.cityofbastrop.org\/upload\/page\/0107\/docs\/Chapter%2014%20-%20Bastrop%20Development%20Code%20-%20April%2015%202026.pdf\" data-mrf-recirculation-id=\"Article Links_0\" href=\"https:\/\/www.cityofbastrop.org\/upload\/page\/0107\/docs\/Chapter%2014%20-%20Bastrop%20Development%20Code%20-%20April%2015%202026.pdf\" mrfobservableid=\"7bcd93b9-9b34-48e1-a856-4206275fb752\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">new set of land-use rules<\/a> after City Council replaced the city&#8217;s development rules with the Bastrop Development Code.<\/p>\n<p>City officials said the shift was needed after the B3 Code proved difficult to use in practice, with concerns ranging from drainage to parking and site design.<\/p>\n<p>4. <a href=\"https:\/\/communityimpact.com\/austin\/bastrop-cedar-creek\/education\/2026\/04\/21\/bastrop-isd-to-launch-virtual-academy-this-fall-applications-open-april-24\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Bastrop ISD to launch virtual academy this fall; applications open April 24<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Families have until May 15 to apply for the district\u2019s new Virtual Learning Academy\u2014a pilot program launching this fall for the 2026-27 school year with fully virtual and hybrid options.<\/p>\n<p>The program is open to students in and outside of the district, including students who are currently homeschooled, enrolled online elsewhere or just looking for another public school option.<\/p>\n<p>5. <a href=\"https:\/\/communityimpact.com\/austin\/bastrop-cedar-creek\/government\/2026\/04\/01\/mural-planned-for-south-end-district-in-bastrop\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Mural planned for South End District in Bastrop<\/a><\/p>\n<p>The Bastrop Cultural Arts Committee has an open call for artists as part of the South End District mural project.<\/p>\n<p>It will be located on M.L.K. Junior Drive and is projected to take approximately three to four months to be completed.\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"From a film studio groundbreaking to a new virtual learning option for Bastrop ISD families and more, here&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":293634,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[91492,132,134,133,107207,107204,107205,107208,48898,107203,51277,91493,107206],"class_list":["post-293633","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-austin","tag-204-texas","tag-austin","tag-austin-headlines","tag-austin-news","tag-bastrop-county-data-center","tag-bastrop-development-code","tag-bastrop-isd-virtual-learning-academy","tag-bastrop-most-read-stories","tag-bastrop-news","tag-bastrop-texas","tag-edgeconnex","tag-line-204","tag-south-end-district-mural"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/293633","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=293633"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/293633\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/293634"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=293633"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=293633"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=293633"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}