A 12 year old girl once found her 6 month old baby sister Hannah dead in her crib. The girl was Rachel Craig, an alumna from 2001.
The loss of her sister, along with other losses of infants Craig had heard about from friends planted a seed for a ministry in Craig’s heart.
In 2011, this seed grew to fruition in the form of Cradled.
Food stamp benefits were cut more than 47 million Americans Friday as Congress failed to renew temporary funding under the Supplemental Nutritional Assistance Program.
With the holiday season approaching, food banks across Waco are making plans to meet the growing needs of the community with a special emphasis on food insecurity, which refers to availability of food and one’s access to it.
Students will have the chance to look back in time next week during “Discover Waco’s Past.”
Emily Carrington, director of programming for the Historic Waco Foundation, and Mary Duty, Waco History Project board chairwoman, will speak about Waco’s history.
Whether you decide on a white Cinderella-shaped pumpkin or a traditional orange Jack-O’-Lantern, either makes the perfect spooky addition to any Halloween décor.
Jack-O’-Lanterns and bright orange pumpkins are a staple for Halloween decorations, and where better to find the perfect pumpkin than at a pumpkin patch?
Local nonprofit organization Shepherd’s Heart feeds 3,000 Waco families in need per month, clothes children and families, counsels the down-and-out and helps those who are homebound.
This year Shepherd’s Heart’s food pantry has fed more than 30,000 families, said Robert Gager, executive director of Shepherd’s Heart. Besides operating a food pantry, Shepherd’s Heart performs multiple other services. The organization delivers groceries to 350 homebound senior citizens per week.
With the excitement and preparation surrounding Halloween, church groups and Christians alike have a decision to make about participating in the holiday festivities. Several churches in the Waco community see the occasion as an opportunity to evangelize and serve local communities.
Anti-poverty workers from across the nation took on new roles Sunday when they put on hard hats and work boots to help rebuild recently devastated West.
The National Anti-Hunger and Opportunity Corps, an AmeriCorps Volunteers in Service to America program, attended the Hunger Summit at Baylor Thursday and Friday with their sponsor, the New York City Coalition Against Hunger.
It’s midnight on a crisp October evening and you find yourself strolling through the local graveyard, weaving in and out of tombstones with the full moon as your only source of light. There is a slight chill in the air. You can feel the terror coursing through your veins, and your heart pounds in your chest as you hear a rustle in the bushes nearby.
A glass clinked in the empty kitchen across the Central Texas house. The noise garnered the attention of Becky Nagel, lead investigator for the Central Texas Paranormal Society. The group had been contacted by the parents of twin boys who had been experiencing unexplained incidents.
From cattle rustlers to young lovers jumping off a cliff to be with each other for eternity, Waco has picked up a few ghost stories along the way.
The stories can be shared between co-workers, police officers in squad cars or children during sleepovers, but regardless of where they are told, they capture people’s imaginations.
Horror film enthusiasts, with scalpel in hand, will dissect the deeper meaning behind all the blood and gore that is the horror genre during the fourth annual Dark Mirror horror film festival.
The screenings will begin at 1 p.m. Friday in the McLennan Community College Lecture Hall Building and horror movie experts will introduce each picture.
World Hunger Relief Inc. is bringing a day filled with music, local vendors and farm-fresh food to the Waco community.
The free event, called Farm Day, will last from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday at the World Hunger Relief farm, located at 356 Spring Lake Road in Waco.
As Halloween draws near, churches across America are gearing up for the holiday and are looking for ways to put a faith-friendly spin on things.
The historically macabre holiday has received plenty of criticism from churches in recent years, but some churches are finding ways to take the element of fear out of Halloween, said religion department lecturer Dr. Joe Coker.
Through the Red Door Project, Central Texas Metropolitan Community Church is attempting to help those who are HIV positive by providing services to people suffering from the disease.
Trick or treating turns to the wild side as children and their parents are invited to attend Cameron Park Zoo’s annual Zoo Boo.
Zoo Boo is an event for children from two to 12 years of age. Zoo Boo takes place from 6 to 8 p.m. on Halloween night only.
Watergate scandal reporter Bob Woodward imparted his knowledge on presidents, politics and reporting at a live interview at McLennan Community College Tuesday night.
Woodward is most known for breaking the Watergate scandal in 1972 alongside fellow reporter Carl Bernstein, as well as writing 17 nonfiction bestsellers.
Hundreds of bones may be under your feet yet to be discovered because Waco’s fossil history runs deep.
The Waco Mammoth Site celebrated National Fossil Day by hosting the Fall Fossil Festival.
The festival took place on Saturday although National Fossil Day was on Oct. 16. National Fossil Day promotes public awareness of fossils and a greater appreciation of their scientific and educational values, according to National Park Service website. The festival featured pumpkin painting, live camels, an excavation station and tours of the site every 30 minutes.
Wacoans can strap on their ice skates for the upcoming Winter Wonderland.
After two years without a Christmas parade, the city of Waco, the Waco Downtown Development Corp., the Historic Waco Foundation and the downtown Public Improvement Project are making sure Waco will have a holiday parade and festival.
Free neutering and spaying services are now available for low-income cat and dog owners who live in the Waco area.
On Oct. 1, the Waco City Council approved Resolution 2013-585, which authorizes the city of Waco to reimburse the Animal Birth Control Clinic up to $100,000 for neutering and spaying services provided to low-income families. The service will cost the city an average of about $55 per animal.
Waco will soon become a lot more colorful.
The Color Me Rad 5k will begin at 9 a.m October 26 at BSR Cable Park in Waco, giving the Baylor and Waco communities the opportunity support a charity.
Color Me Rad is a race known for its one main feature: throwing color. Race participants can expect to finish the race with their clothes looking more vibrant than when they started.
Several businesses in the area who have excelled in hiring and accommodating people with disabilities are being honored Friday at the third annual Walk ‘N Roll event downtown, said Kim Nunn, co-chair for Walk ‘N Roll.
Walk ‘N Roll will begin after the Lex Freiden Employment Awards ceremony at 11:30 a.m. in the Waco Convention Center, where Texas employers who have enhanced and empowered the employment of those with disabilities will be recognized. A walk to raise awareness for those with disabilities will be take place from 1:45 to 2 p.m. around the convention center, followed by the recognition of local businesses and a resource fair from 2 to 4 p.m.
In honor of domestic violence month, the Family Abuse Center of Waco is having a fundraiser to support victims of domestic violence.
It will take place from 6:30 to 9 p.m. Thursday in the Phoenix Ballroom at 4101 S. Third St. Proceeds from the fundraiser will go to the Family Abuse Center Services. The fundraiser will include food, a silent auction and entertainment featuring Waco talent.
West Fertilizer Co., the West plant where an explosion took place in April leaving 15 people dead and more than 100 homes destroyed, was fined $118,300 by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration for 24 safety violations, said Sen. Barbara Boxer, D-Calif.
OSHA had not inspected the plant in more than 30 years. The findings of their latest investigation, according to Boxer, were failure to have an emergency response plan, unsafe handling and storage of anhydrous ammonia and ammonium nitrate, inadequate labeling of storage tanks, failing to pressure test replacement hoses and not having respiratory protection or appropriate fire extinguishers.
Waco Independent School District counts homelessness like no other.
Last spring, the district became the first in the state to use a federally endorsed confidential information system to collect and pool information about students who are referred to social services.
The Homeless Management Information System, also known as Bowman System’s Service Point Software, was mandated by the federal Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) to correlate HUD funding to a more precise, statistical idea of who it actually helps, said Katie Fager, Waco HMIS program analyst.
The attorney for Bryce Ashley Reed, a former West paramedic who was charged in May for illegal firearm possession, filed for an extension in the plea bargaining deadline, according to an operations clerk at the United States District Courts office in Waco.
Reed, who is out on bail, has a current trial date scheduled for Oct. 15 but Oct. 10 is the final date for Reed and his attorney to enter a plea deal for federal prosecutors to consider.
Many children in McLennan County will go home from school Fridays and not eat a meal until Monday morning at school breakfast. Pack of Hope, a local non-profit organization, is fighting to put an end to such a situation.
“There are over 26,300 children in McLennan County who are eligible for free and reduced lunch,” said Jane Bounds, president and co-founder of Pack of Hope. She said most of these students go all weekend without food.
Texas Planned Parenthood abortion providers and affiliates have filed a joint lawsuit in federal court to block two provisions of a recently passed bill, Texas House Bill 2, which would place certain restrictions on abortion clinics, effective Oct. 29. The case will be heard on Oct. 21.
“We are challenging the provisions of the bill that will have the most immediate and far-reaching impact on women in our community and in our state,” said Natalie Kelinske, media representative for Planned Parenthood of Greater Texas and Waco.
Neighborhoods without a source of healthy food deserve a second look.
That’s the thinking behind a research project Dr. Andy Hogue, director of civic education and community service program, is heading up with his African-American politics class and the Texas Hunger Initiative.
In August, the city of Waco bid adieu to two HEB grocery stores tucked in neighborhoods on either side of Interstate 35.
Five months after the West fertilizer plant explosion, the Long-Term Recovery Board has begun the distribution of funds for residents affected by the blast.
At a press conference Thursday in West, Ronnie Sykora, a Long-Term Recovery Center Board member, said the roughly $3.5 million collected from donations will be dispersed after petitioners are assigned caseworkers and necessary paperwork is filed, such as copies of medical bills, insurance claims and contractor estimates.
Sykora said West residents have an estimated $30 million in needs.
The Army Corps of Engineers closed six Lake Waco parks Tuesday as a result of Monday’s gridlock in Congress that resulted in a partial government shutdown.
Midway Park, Speegleville Park, Airport Park, Koehne Park, Bosque Park and Twin Bridges Park all closed indefinitely, said Randy Cephus, the deputy public affairs officer for the Fort Worth District U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.
