The city may modify portions of three park properties—totaling approximately 3.89 acres—in Buda to provide the right-of-way, or ROW, and public utility easements needed for the Old Black Colony Road Project.

Zooming in: Buda City Council held a public hearing during a regular meeting on Oct. 20 to discuss the proposed change in parkland use.

The land includes:

• 0.42 acres of Whispering Hollow HOA Parkland

• 2.40 acres of Whispering Hollow Park

• 1.07 acres of Summer Pointe Park

A closer look: The roadway alignment shift into the parkland minimizes or avoids ROW acquisition needs for 12 property owners south of the parkland and adds slight curves to promote traffic calming, according to agenda documents. Staff analysis also concludes that the project will cost less because it requires less land acquisition.

Vineyard Vines has officially reopened its doors after relocating to a new storefront at the San Marcos Premium Outlets. 

The whole story: Vineyard Vines is now situated between Perfumania and Perry Ellis. The brand opened its new location to customers in late October.

What they offer: Founded in 1998 by brothers Shep and Ian Murray, Vineyard Vines offers a wide range of clothing and accessories for men, women and children.

• San Marcos Premium Outlets, 3939 N. I-35, Ste. 735, San Marcos

Advanced culinary arts students at Hays High School had the opportunity to participate in the 30th anniversary Food for Thought tasting event on Oct. 29.

The big picture: Food for Thought began in 1996 and features tasting menus from a variety of local restaurants. Proceeds from the event support Communities in Schools of Central Texas, or CIS, an organization that helps students in need.

Zooming in: This year, CIS invited Hays CISD culinary students to participate in Food for Thought for the first time. HCISD offers culinary arts courses as part of the career and technical education department, or CTE. There are currently 251 students enrolled in the culinary arts program at Hays High School.

"The event has asked us to prepare enough food for 600 people, and that is the largest event that we've ever been asked to cater for," Walls said. "If I didn't have such a big team of capable students helping, then there's just no way we could pull it off."

St. David’s HealthCare CEO David Huffstutler will retire in March 2027, the health system announced Oct. 15.

What we know: Huffstutler has led the system, the fourth-largest private employer in the Austin area, since February 2011. The system grew from 60 sites of care to more than 200 in Central Texas during his tenure, per the announcement. It now has nine hospitals. He will stay on as president and CEO through March and is also president of HCA Healthcare’s Central and West Texas Division.

What’s next: HCA Healthcare, the system’s hospital operating partner, is searching nationwide for his successor and expects to announce a choice in the next few months.