As the federal government reopens, Texans are starting to receive full November SNAP benefits, personnel at the Waco Regional Airport and the VA can look forward to paychecks again, and local food assistance nonprofits are looking back on increase in donations during the 43-day shutdown.

More about the project:
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In addition to utility and drainage infrastructure upgrades, plans include a 7-acre park centered around a naturalistic water feature over Barron’s Branch, lined with walkways and commercial buildings offering retail and restaurant space on the first floor, with residential and office space above.

As part of the the initial $167 million phase of downtown redevelopment, a park and mixed-use development are planned on neighboring school property that now houses a track and tennis courts.

The city aims to incorporate the history of the school site at 500 N. University Parks Drive into designs for its overhaul, slated to include demolition of the Jefferson-Moore High School building that opened in 1971 and construction of a minor league ballpark there.

The land around the school's track covers a tunnel carrying Barron's Branch into the Brazos River, where the city plans a 7-acre park surrounded by commercial development. It would include a naturalistic waterway lined by walkways, water recirculating from the river and new drainage infrastructure.

The school property is central to the estimated $167 million first phase of Waco's downtown redevelopment project, a sweeping 12- to 20-year plan developed by Hunt Development Group for more than 100 acres of mostly city-owned land along the Brazos River on the northwest end of downtown.