As he talks about the thousands of white egrets living in the trees just feet from his house, Temple resident Leroy Gossett pauses for a moment in mid-sentence.Not a pause to reflect

The Temple City Council Thursday unanimously approved the 1.3 acre plat for the H-E-B/Market Place Subdivision at the intersection of Loop 363 and 31st Street.Temple Planning and Zoning Commission authorized the plat in May after it was resubmitted.The original proposal was approved by the commission in December 1999 but was unanimously denied by the council in March due to concerns about how the shopping center would handle increased traffic brought by the store's expansion.The plat had been repeatedly tabled at February council meetings at the company's request to give the firm a chance to address the issues but city staff still found the plans lacking. by Jonathan Walburgh

Temple City Council unanimously approved preliminary plans for a downtown park and walkway area and a complex that could house the city's police, central fire department and municipal court operations at a Thursday special meeting.The proposed area downtown would stretch from Central Avenue to Martin Luther King Jr. Drive and include the Santa Fe Depot and neighboring gardens, said Ken Cicora, Temple Parks and Leisure Services director. by Jonathan Walburgh

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The Western Professional Hockey League will be holding its annual offseason meetings beginning today in Scottsdale, Ariz. The meetings are scheduled to last until Monday. Aside from the usual league business, the most important portion of the sessions will be the pair of drafts held Monday

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