Hometown News For Orange County, Texas
Hometown News For Orange County, Texas
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After 35 years of doing everything from climbing poles to dealing with government leaders on its behalf, Johnny Trahan has a long history with Entergy Texas. And a new connection with Orange County history. Southeast Texas’ power company, Entergy Texas, announced late last month its intention to build a $1 billion clean energy Advanced Power Station in Bridge City. That news came approximately two and a half years after Trahan, newly retired as Entergy’s customer service manag...
Orange County Airport Manager Missy Pillsbury, center, was named the Texas General Aviation Airport Manager of The Year at last week’s Texas Aviation Conference last week in San Marcos. Pillsbury, a longtime tax office employee, has been Airport Manager since 2014 and took over as full reins of the operation in 2018. The state has more than 400 general aviation airports but Pillsbury’s nomination, sent in by the airport’s base pilots, flew to the top of the heap. “Oran...
If you live on the East Side of Orange and always wake up with the sun, you’d better start putting money aside for a reliable alarm clock. The Orange County Coastal Storm Risk Management Project, or “Ike Dike,” could delay sunup for hundreds – nay, thousands – of expert home remodelers who have done it themselves more than one time lately. Instead of watching the sunlight poking through the trees, residents must now wait for it to first climb up over a 14-foot floodwall or may...
Orange County is among nine Texas counties with the worst COVID-19 hospitalization rates. After pointing that out to her social media followers, Orange City Council member Terrie Salter said Texas Governor Greg Abbott “is reckless” for issuing orders that prohibit schools and businesses from requiring their students, workers and customers wear masks intended to slow the spread of COVID-19. “To issue an order to ban any business or government entities from making reaso...
Business looks to be booming in Orange County. Entergy Texas has chosen a site near the company’s Bridge City plant as the finalist for a new $1 billion power plant, County Judge John Gothia said. An announcement of the power company’s plan to begin the permitting for the plant could come as early as Wednesday, he said. Also, Orange County is set to hear an Aug. 24 tax abatement request concerning the new Eagle Point medical complex which hopefully could provide details about...
You could call Orange County Sheriff Deputies Brandon Mojica and Chris Arriola dog lovers. Their 3-year-old Belgian Malinois Shepherds definitely – to quote McGruff – take a bite out of crime. Bad guys won’t want to see their dogs up close. “Having them makes people second-guess whether they want to run from us,” Mojica said. “They can see and sense and smell a lot more than me and my partner,” Arriola said. Orange County had deployed dogs on patrol in the past, but when Lane...
When it comes to COVID-19 vaccines, Orange County, Texas, has one of the lowest rates of vaccinated residents in one of the least vaccinated states in the nation. In the last week, active cases in the county have more than doubled from 141 to 315, county officials revealed at Tuesday’s Commissioners Court meeting. Tuesday’s was the first public update since the county’s Emergency Management Office last posted figures, along with a breakdown by age groups and genders, on June 8...
Lamar State College Orange, Lamar Institute of Technology and Lamar State College Port Arthur, known collectively as the Lamar State Colleges, will further reduce tuition this fall thanks to an additional $17 million in funding in the recently approved state budget. This new funding allows the three public, two-year institutions serving Southeast Texas to reduce tuition and mandatory fees to $1,770 per semester (based on 15 semester credit hours). Combined with the first...
Although the number of COVID-19 infections in Orange County are a long way from their January peak, cases are once again on the rise in Orange County. This week's report of new cases includes the first confirmed case of the Delta variant of the virus in the county. Joel Ardoin, Orange County Emergency Management Coordinator, offered that report to The Record Newspapers Monday. A Vidor resident tested positive for the Delta variant of COVID-19, Sharon Whitley, the Hardin County...
In a public workshop allowing taxpayers to speak for or against the presence of game rooms in unincorporated areas of Orange County, the “nays” had it all to themselves Tuesday. The “ayes” were no-shows. The 45-minute discussion drew a full-house crowd of about 50 to the County Commissioners courtroom and ended with County Judge John Gothia pledging the county will put forth its first game room regulations within a month. Ten residents who took their turn at the podium and all...
Lamar State College Orange partnered with the Orange County Economic Development Corporation in enticing Optimus Steel to expand in Orange County. Now the college in downtown Orange is announcing it’s ready to partner with the company to help it staff up. “We are thrilled that Optimus Steel has chosen to expand its footprint in Orange County,” LSCO President Dr. Tom Johnson said. “LSCO is committed to providing an educated and skilled workforce in the community for compani...
The Texas State University System, the one that includes Lamar State College Orange and the others in Beaumont and Orange, is getting an injection of Southeast Texas. Orange native Stephen Lee and former Orange County Republican Party Chairperson Sheila Faske have been appointed to six-year terms on the nine-person board that oversees operations of seven universities and colleges. "I'm super excited to start a new chapter in my life," Faske said. "This is a great honor," said...
College anglers seeking a final spot in August’s Carhartt Bassmaster National College Championship will weigh their catches in Orange Friday and Saturday. Texas B.A.S.S. Nation’s College National Championship Qualifier will take off July 9-10 at 6 a.m. each morning at the Orange Boat Ramp on the Sabine River and weigh-in there at 3 p.m. each afternoon. The winning two-man team will earn a trip to Waddington, N.Y., to fish in the Aug. 12-14 Carhartt Bassmaster National Col...
The latest fundraising effort to help Orange County’s least fortunate has taken off like a bottle rocket on the Fourth of July. “We have had overwhelming response,” Michelle Tubbleville said of “Food Truck Friday,” a weekly event that has seemingly outgrown its beginnings in just two weeks. Food Truck Friday is sponsored by Orange County Disaster Rebuild, a non-profit started by Tubbleville, a longtime county employee moved to Special Projects Coordinator to help with thos...
As Orange County begins the road to its 2022 budget, a few of their road warriors would like to weigh in. County precinct commissioners and constables are letting it be known they’d like some help with mounting automobile expenses. “I’m trying to build this office up,” said Precinct 2 Constable Jeremiah Gunter. “It could be a moneymaker for the county. “But to make a lot of money, I have to have money to travel and go to schools.” In a salary scale finalized in September 201...
Lamar State College Orange is getting new leadership for its Process Technology/Instrumentation Program as Cheryl January replaces a retiring Earl Geis as director. Geis, who has led the program for 10 years, is retiring as program director in August but will remain part of the program as an adjunct instructor, LSCO announced in a news release. January, a staff member and adjunct instructor at LSCO for 15 years, will become the new Process Technology/Instrumentation Director....
A member of Bridge City's first city council in 1970, former mailman David Hock commemorated Bridge City's 51st anniversary as an incorporated city with a visit Tuesday afternoon. He liked what they've done with the place. "It looks good," said the 83-year-old Hock, who now lives in Orange. That 51st anniversary of Bridge City becoming an incorporated city is July 7. Incorporation passed by a 60-40 margin on July 7, 1970. The current city council has six members, plus Mayor...
Robert Bergeron, Bridge City’s Assistant Chief of Police, will run the department until a new Chief is named, City Manager Jerry Jones said. Paul Davis, Police Chief for his hometown since 2009, is officially retiring Wednesday, June 30. A reception honoring Davis was held Wednesday morning at City Hall. “The assistant chief, his lieutenants, sergeants and all the people who have their jobs will continue to do them,” Jones said. “That’s Assistant Chief Robert Bergeron,...
Zoning changes that would allow two Bridge City landowners to build 12 housing units on four vacant lots currently zoned for single families moved ahead Monday night. After neighbors of the proposed construction voiced strong opposition to the changes during a public hearing at City Hall, the city's Planning and Zoning Commission voted 5-2 to recommend Bridge City's City Council authorize the zoning changes to multi-family residential at its next meeting, set for 6 p.m....
The Orange County Sheriff's Office has spent almost $2 million in asset forfeiture funds in the past year to better equip its 150 employees. Since Sheriff Lane Mooney took over from an early-retiring Keith Merritt on July 1, 2020, the department has added 20 new vehicles (13 SUVs, 6 pickups, 1 jail van) at an average cost of $45,000; one new armored SWAT military vehicle for $225,000; a $26,000 computer server, a $21,000 software update; two K-9 dogs for $10,000 each; a sniper...
Former U.S. Congressman Beto O’Rourke wants Texans to fight Republican voter suppression acts by taking to the phones. O’Rourke, who appeared in front of a crowd of 300 outside the Julie Rogers Theater in Beaumont last week, wants Democrats to call their state representatives and detail their objections to Senate Bill 7. He wants them to call the White House and make sure President Biden gets the votes needed to pass the For The People Act in the Senate, then signs it. Sen...
Cutline: A panel of the new Orange County floodplain map shows the area of Pinehurst and West Orange. (Courtesy FEMA) FEMA finalizing new floodplain map Dave Rogers For The Record The Federal Emergency Management Agency is encouraging Orange County residents to examine new flood maps that become effective Dec. 16, 2021. To access the Orange County preliminary maps, go to this web address: https://hazards.fema.gov/femaportal/prelimdownload/searchLoad.action and at the bottom...
It was kinda like getting back on the bike. There were a hitch or two observed in the first week of the first non-delayed Lions Club Charity Carnival in a handful of years but that didn't spoil the fun. "Everybody out there was pleased," event co-chairman Pam Honeycutt said of opening week June 16-19. The three-weekend event continues Wednesday through Saturday for the next two weeks at Lions Den Park at the intersection of MacArthur Drive and Adams Bayou, near downtown....
County Treasurer Christy Khoury banked $516,000 in sales tax receipts for the county from the month of April. That ½ of a cent sales and use tax rebate from the state of Texas is 7% higher than the figure from a year ago. According to the state comptroller’s website, Orange County is 15.7% ahead of sales tax receipts from last year at this time. “Despite the pandemic, the entire state’s sales tax is the highest in recorded history,” County Judge John Gothia said. “It’s al...
With Hurricane Season here again, Bridge City Mayor David Rutledge has been leading the push for citizens to sign up with STAN. That’s the Southeast Texas Alerting Network and it serves Orange, Jefferson and Hardin Counties. “We’ve been in it for a while,” Rutledge said. “We’re just making a concerted effort to make sure everybody knows about it. “With Hurricane Season coming on, we’re making an extra push to be durn sure everybody stays informed.” STAN is a messaging and not...
