Hometown News For Orange County, Texas
Hometown News For Orange County, Texas
Sorted by date Results 76 - 100 of 572
The weather outside was frightful but the occasion, so delightful. While rain drizzled, icy winds blew, and trucks noisily roared past on Interstate 10, a group of about 100 invited guests huddled inside a tent and celebrated the groundbreaking for the Gisela Houseman Medical Campus Monday afternoon. "What a glorious day this is. Forget the weather," said Houseman, the Orange land baron who donated 25 acres for a healthcare development near the intersection of I-10 and...
A divided school board voted 4-2 Monday night to name defensive line coach Hiawatha Hickman the fourth head football coach in West Orange-Stark High School's 46-year history. West Orange-Cove board members Tricia Stroud and Tommy Wilson voted against hiring the nominee put forward by Superintendent Dr. Rickie Harris. Board member Roderick Robertson was absent. Board member Gina Simar made the motion to hire Hickman and it was seconded by Ruth Hancock. Linda Platt-Bryant,...
Hiawatha Hickman is the nominee to become the fourth Athletic Director/Head Football Coach in West Orange-Stark history. West Orange-Cove school district superintendent Dr. Rickie Harris announced Thursday he will recommend the hiring of Hickman, the Mustangs' defensive line coach and girls' track coach the past six years, at the Monday, Jan. 24 school board meeting. Cornel Thompson, who spent 46 years as a teacher and coach in the West Orange district, retired in December...
Essie Bellfield, a civil rights pioneer and Orange's first Black and first female mayor, died Sunday morning at age 89. A funeral service will be held at Salem United Methodist Church in Orange at 11 a.m. Saturday, Feb. 5. She served as Mayor of Orange from 1997 through 2000. Nearly two decades after being elected mayor, she rejoined city government as a member of the city council. Bellfield lived an incredible life that included a 1965 civil rights march over the Edmund...
Bridge City's city council voted Tuesday night to hire Brent Walker, assistant city manager in the Texas Panhandle, to be Bridge City's city manager. Walker, who has worked for Dalhart, a city of 10,000, since 2013, was a unanimous choice. He has a master's degree in public administration, a certificate in public finance and a Class C water license. He will report for work Feb. 1, Mayor David Rutledge said. "We're really excited," Rutledge said. "We think he brings a lot of ne...
Mostly closed for repairs since mid-2017, the swing bridge on East Roundbunch Road, could be ready to reopen soon, a repairman said Tuesday. But if it happens soon, don't look for Orange County to operate it. What had historically been a favorite shortcut between Bridge City and Chemical Row is currently undergoing repairs for at least the third time since the Texas Department of Transportation replaced the old bridge a couple of years ago. The bridge was shut down in July of...
A change in state law means Texas voters who are eligible to vote by mail must request from and turn in an application to vote by mail to the county in which they live. They must register for the service each year now, election officials say. "In the past, we were able to maintain a database of people 65 and older or disabled that wanted to be automatically mailed applications," Cheryl Bradley, elections clerk at the Orange County Elections Administration office, said. "Every...
People driving from Bridge City to Orange are always watching change happen. Especially lately. First there was High Tides restaurant going in beside the Cow Bayou bridge. Then Chevron-Phillips Chemical began clearing land for a multi-million dollar project they haven't decided on. Not that long ago, the side of the road underwent another change. The old fishing boat dumped on the west side of the bridge is gone. The state of Texas spent $2.8 million in the last year removing...
Since its founding in 1952, the Orange Stationer has sold more paper and paper clips than one human being can imagine. But since they bought it in 2015, imagining has become Paul and Kim Dickerson's business. They captured Orange city leaders' imagination with a plan to convert one third of their Division Street real estate into a small business incubator called The Office Downtown. "We're a local business supply company that is ever evolving," Paul Dickerson told the City of...
Construction is set to begin next week on a widening of Farm to Market Road 1442 from Highway 408 to Highway 105. According to Sarah Dupre, Texas Department of Transportation public information officer, a turning lane will be added between the north and south lanes and each side of the road will get a 10-foot wide shoulder. "According to TxDOT, the plan is to make it safer by putting in a turning lane," Kirk Roccaforte, Orange County Precinct 3 Commissioner, said. "Hopefully...
A late-January groundbreaking is set on the Gisela Houseman Medical Campus in Orange, with grand opening expected in the spring of 2023. So said a joint New Year's Eve announcement by Christus Southeast Texas Health System and NexCore, a national healthcare real estate developer headquartered in Denver. "It's taken us a while to get all the pieces put together on it, but I'm pretty excited it's finally happening," Houseman, the Orange real estate investor who donated the land...
In an average year, Orange County puts on only three or four elections. But Tina Barrow and her three-person Elections Administration Office have no problem staying busy the other 250-odd workdays. That's because they have 54,000 local bosses – the registered voters – and a few hundred more in Austin. The Texas Legislature is always fine-tuning its voting rules and regulations. "We work year-round," Barrow said. "It takes like three months to prepare for an election, may...
David Frenzel, Orange Fire Chief for the past 25 years is set to retire in April, ending a 53-year tenure at the Fire Department that makes him the longest serving city employee in City of Orange history. He oversaw many great accomplishments, including the construction of Fire Station No. 3, the newly constructed Central Fire Station and a remodel of Fire Station No. 2. To honor Frenzel, a native of Orange who met his wife Hildy when she worked part-time at the Fire...
The Texas Department of State Health Services is reporting 47 new COVID-19 cases in Orange County, a 56 percent jump over last week's reported 30 cases. The highly contagious omicron variant has led to a sharp increase in COVID-19 cases in Texas. "It's rocking and rolling with the resurgence we're having right now," Orange County Judge John Gothia said Monday. "Our call center is receiving four times as many calls as it's been getting. We've seen a huge increase the last seven...
As the Year 2022 looks forward to taking off at midnight Saturday, Orange County leaders are looking to the west for a sign. They’re all awaiting Chevron Phillips Chemical officials headquartered in The Woodlands to disclose a go or no-go decision on a building a $6 billion ethylene plant on the southeast side of the county, north of the current Chemical Row, FM 1006. “We just want to try to get completed with this [hurricane] recovery stuff,” Orange County Judge John Gothi...
Jerry Jones was just making the jump from Director of Bridge City's Public Works Department to the office of City Manager in September of 2005 when Hurricane Rita blew through the area on the heels of Hurricane Katrina hitting New Orleans. But Jones really earned his spurs as city leader, working with Mayor Kirk Roccaforte three years later as Hurricane Ike did its best to wipe the city off the map. A Category 2 storm of 100-plus winds sent a surge of up to 14 feet of water...
Seventy-seven percent of Lamar State College Orange's 190 Fall 2021 graduates are first-generation college students. That figure is music to the ears of Dr. Tom Johnson, the school's president. Johnson and his siblings were the first in their family to attend college and he started at a two-year institution like LSCO. A total of 270 degrees and certificates were awarded earlier this month – 124 of which were associate's degrees and 146 were certificates of completion. Nine ins...
Christmas will taste different this year for many Orange County fans of Christmas turkey. Robert Ramirez says he normally prepares 300 fried turkeys and 200 more smoked turkeys for customers. Someone else is getting that business this year. But not for long, Ramirez said. He hopes to reopen Robert's Meat Market as soon as his new equipment comes in. And, in a departure from earlier statements made after a fire in July brought his business to a halt, Ramirez says he now plans...
Susanty Roberts' background is in finance. Husband Craig Roberts has been in the car biz since he got out of the service during the Cold War. Together, they hope to bring some sizzle to Orange automobile sales with their purchase of Sabine River Ford earlier this month. The new Roberts Ford is open for business with a lot full of gleaming F-150, F-250 and F-350 pickups ready to drive out. "We're here to help the community," Susanty said, "and hope the community will help us....
Bridge City Council is meeting this week in closed sessions to begin the process of replacing longtime city manager Jerry Jones. Meanwhile, Pinehurst officially accepted the resignation of Mayor T.W. Permenter Tuesday night. And the City of Orange has named Jim Sharon Bearden to replace Jerry Pennington as municipal court judge upon Pennington's retirement after 28 years on the job. Permenter, 84, said he's the oldest Pinehurst mayor ever, and he should know. He's been mayor...
Charlotte Alford, director of the Heritage House Museum, was named Citizen of the Year at the Greater Orange Area Chamber of Commerce banquet Monday night at the Shahan Center. The Heritage House also won the award for Non-Profit of the Year. Orange Stationer was named Business of the Year. The late Larry David was honored with the Lifetime Achievement award and Steve Jones was named Chamber Board Chairperson of the Year....
T'is the season for giving and Orange County Good Samaritans are pouring out their hearts and checkbooks to make the Angels sing for Christmas. Between them, the Bridge City-Orangefield Ministerial Alliance, the Sheriff's Office Orange County Blue Santa drive and the Salvation Army are supplying toys and other Christmas gifts for more than 1,000 area children and teenagers, most of their names plucked right off Angel Trees. The annual tradition of writing the name of a child w...
Only one of the dozen county positions up for election in 2022 will test an incumbent with an opponent. Only two offices will have contested races in the March 1 Republican primary. No one filed to run as a Democrat in the November election, so most of the county’s elected officials will win re-election to their jobs without contest. Precinct 3 Justice of the Peace Joy Dubose Simonton is the only incumbent facing a challenge as Candice Conroy Steele is running against her f...
Eleven grandchildren "and one on the way" are about to get some blanket coverage from Cornel Thompson. A two-time state champion head coach and the last member of the first West Orange-Stark coaching staff in 1977 turned in his letter of resignation Monday morning after 11 years as football head coach and athletic director. He's retiring as soon as a new head coach is on board. "I'm done. Stick a fork in me," the 73-year-old Thompson said just 10 days after the Mustangs ended...
A new set of memories are in store for Bridge City students and sports fans. The school district has ripped up the 70-year-old playing field at Larry Ward Stadium, as well as the track and nearby tennis courts. But look for a shiny new artificial turf football field and surrounding track and new tennis courts to be unveiled in the spring – hopefully as soon as March, says Dr. Mike Kelly, schools superintendent. "We should be finished the first week of March," he said. "O...
