Hometown News For Orange County, Texas
Hometown News For Orange County, Texas
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The Orange Chapter of American University Women last week awarded two graduating high school girls with scholarships to help them pursue their career dreams through higher education. Both have chosen fields in which they can help others and were inspired seeing others dedicated to serving people. Asia Stewart of West Orange-Stark and Jessica Johnson of Little Cypress-Mauriceville were honored during a special AAUW luncheon at the Garden District. Unfortunately, Stewart had to...
Sales taxes were mixed across Orange County for April, with Bridge City and Pinehurst showing slight drops for the month this year. However, the sales across the county remain stable compared to last year. The information is from the Texas Comptroller's Office and the monthly sales tax returns to the local entities have been sent. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics shows the inflation rate was 4.9 percent for April of 2023 compared to April of 2022, meaning average prices...
The Orangefield ISD school board has appointed former member Dr. Ronald Risinger to fill the vacancy created when Jude Graffagnino resigned his position. Graffagnino resigned earlier this year. The board could have called a special election to replace Graffagnino, but instead opted to appoint someone to serve the rest of his unexpired term. That term will end with an election in November 2024. Risinger previously served two terms on the school board and recently was the chair...
The East Roundbunch Road swing bridge has been working three months, now, and in May opened and closed 41 times. Orange County Road Engineer Corey Oldbury gave Commissioners Court the information during a regular meeting on Tuesday. The county has had problems with the old mechanisms on the swing bridge operating, especially with parts difficult to replace. In recent years, the swing bridge over Cow Bayou in Bridge City has had to be closed to vehicles and left open for bayou...
Though filing is still months away, candidates are already announcing their runs for local offices in the 2024 Republican primary races. Last week, David Covey of Mauriceville, a former Orange County Republican chair, announced he will run for the District 21 Texas Representative seat currently held by Republican Dade Phelan of Beaumont, who currently serves as Texas Speaker of the House. District 21 includes Orange County and Phelan is the first local state representative to...
Like celebrations more than 150 years ago, Juneteenth in Orange will include music, food, fellowship, and prayer. The Orange Mardi Gras Krewe de Onyx is sponsoring its Second Annual Juneteenth Festival this weekend at the Orange Boat Ramp off Simmons Drive. Gates will open at 4 p.m. on Friday, June 16, Saturday, June 17, and Sunday, June 18, for a variety of live musical performances. All events are free, but food and drink vendors will charge for their items. People should...
Orange County Commissioners Court Tuesday was set to hear a report on the needs for setting rules and standards for RV park developments, but new state rules made the court delay. County Engineer Corey Oldbury said he was set to give his findings and suggestions, but Assistant County Attorney Denise Gremillion said she still needed to study recent state laws on what the county can do. The issue is important to the county because of the influx of construction workers to the...
Two big traffic changes are scheduled for Orange County, one on Interstate 10 and the other on Highway 87 between Bridge City and the new Golden Triangle Polymers plant site. Orange County Commissioner Johnny Trahan announced at Commissioners Court Tuesday that the Texas Department of Transportation will be having lane closures on the interstate this weekend in Orange. The closures will be from 8 p.m. Friday, June 9, through 5 a.m. Monday, June 12. The eastbound traffic lanes...
Before a Commissioners Court meeting began in 1983, Marcelle Adams, a retiree who became interested in Orange County government, was seen talking sternly to the county engineer, who stood a head taller than her. As she talked, she pointed her index finger at him and poked him in the chest. Not many women 40 years ago would have done that. But Adams didn't stop with that encounter. She decided to run for office and later become the first woman to join what she late called "the...
Fifty-two businesses in Bridge City are participating in a summer scavenger hunt that can make the winner $500 richer. The Bridge City Chamber of Commerce is sponsoring the contest as a way to introduce more of the public to local businesses and what they offer. Besides the grand prize, a number of the merchants and business services are handing out special gifts to scavenger hunt players who visit them. Chamber Director Mandy Lyda said the scavenger hunt, which started this...
Gisela Houseman of Orange County was honored by the Press Club of Southeast Texas this past weekend as "Newsmaker of the Year." The businesswoman and philanthropist has been instrumental in getting Orange a new hospital-medical complex with the donation of prime commercial property along Interstate 10 and Highway 62. It is being named the Gisela Houseman Medical Complex in her honor. The Record Newspapers Penny Leleux won a second place for her column remembering her...
Orange County has an elite group that gets to stay at the big fishing tournament and river festival all weekend long. All they have to do to reach the status is work as a volunteer 20 hours a day for at least four days, plus dozens of more hours during the week. They set up what is now called "Camp Bass," which is a group of six or seven RVs that the volunteers bring so they can spend the night at the Boat Ramp and Riverside Park for the four-day long Bassmasters Elite...
Orange and the Sabine River will be the focus of the nationwide Bassmasters Elite professional fishing tournament this weekend as the county hosts its fifth tournament and River Festival. The tournament will run Thursday, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, with the professional weigh-in from the exclusive Bassmasters stage will be each day at 3 p.m. at the Orange Boat Ramp off Simmons Drive. Besides the fishing attractions, families will find local food booths, a kids fishing...
The two major rivers, along with Sabine Lake, and several bayous have provided centuries of indigenous people and settlers a way to travel, eat, and relax. Orange County's waterways are now drawing national attention through professional fishing tournaments, but fishing has always been important to residents. The indigenous Attakapa ate fish, shellfish, and alligators, along with lotus and cattail roots. To pay tribute to the waterways and the long history of fishing and...
The new Golden Triangle Polymers plant has already spent nearly $53 million in Orange County and has spent $17.6 million on local companies for contracted work. Officials from Chevron Phillips, owner of the $8.5 billion plant site being readied for construction, gave the figures in their first quarterly report to Orange County Commissioners Court Monday. However, even though commissioners were pleased at the industrial news, the meeting had a touch of sadness. Commissioners...
Memorial Day is set aside as a special day of tribute to the men and women who have lost their lives while serving in the U.S. military. But in Orange County, remembrances of those lost in wars is part of our everyday life, though some may not know those tributes. The special day is rooted in the first years after the Civil War as loved ones decorated the graves of the tens of thousands of soldiers who died during the conflict, which killed more Americans than any other war....
Orange County residents will be able to get the latest update on the 26.3 mile levee system plan during a virtual meeting Thursday with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. The corps' latest projections call for the construction to begin in 2025 and last through 2030, with the system being finished in 2031. The virtual meeting will be online through the corps' Galveston district website from 6 to 7:30 p.m. Thursday, May 25. The corps last held an online update this past October....
Father Jim Sichko, a Roman Catholic priest who has traveled the world as a missionary of mercy for Pope Francis, will return to his hometown this weekend to celebrate his 25th anniversary of his ordination. The graduate of West Orange-Stark High School has become internationally famous for his giving as he raises money to give away. He has helped thousands of people after disasters and through personal tragedies. He also hands out cash or gift cards to strangers as a way to br...
Sales tax returns for March showed increases for Orange County and the cities of Orange, West Orange, and Vidor. However, payments to Bridge City and Pinehurst were down compared to 2022. The Texas Comptroller's Office recently sent the payments to the entities for their share of sales taxes in March. The U.S. Department of Commerce reports the inflation rate for March 2023 was 5 percent. Orange showed the biggest increases with a jump of 38.8 percent in the March returns...
Highway traffic won't be the only thing affected by the construction of the new $8.5 billion Golden Triangle Polymers plant. Barges will be hauling huge modular pieces for the plant and other heavy equipment up Cow Bayou to State Highway 87. The plant has announced the formation of a Marine Offloading Facility, or MOF, along the bayou near the state highway. According to a map the company released, the MOF will be near the High Tides restaurant area in Bridge City. The site...
All nine of Bridge City High School's students in the certified nursing assistants program passed their certification tests recently. The students also toured the Lamar University Nursing School in Beaumont. The CNA program operates under the school's CTE, Career Technical Education program. The Bridge City ISD now has a new CTE center under construction at the high school...
Now that the city of Orange has a recreation center, the city is sponsoring a youth sports camp for the first five weeks of the summer. The camp will be for students ages 7 through 12 and will be open from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Tuesdays and Fridays. The cost will be $40 per camp, or $180 for all five of the camps. Breakfast and lunch will be provided. It will be the city's first summer recreation program for youth in nearly 30 years. In the 1960s, the city sponsored morning acti...
Orange County used a federal grant to buy equipment and worked months to get central vote centers, where all county registered voters may cast a ballot, no matter where they live. The first time to use the vote centers was for the May 6 city council and school board races. Local officials endorsed the central voting system. The Orange County elections administrator touted the method as way "to improve access and increase turnout on Election Day. Now, the Texas Legislature...
Port Arthur and Beaumont are state certified as "film friendly" by Governor Greg Abbott and the Texas Film Commission, but Orange County is being represented big in the annual Boomtown Film Festival in Beaumont this weekend. Penny LeLeux of Orangefield is the festival's director this year, plus actor Woody Almaguer, a Bridge City graduate, and John Frederick Jr. of Mauriceville will be participating in panel discussions. Besides films and filmmakers, the festival includes a...
A strong thunderstorm bringing tropical storm-force winds, blinding rain, and hailstones up to an inch raced across Orange County Monday afternoon causing widespread outages damages. Gusts of up to 67 mph were recorded in downtown Orange, according to meteorologist Stacey Densen with the National Weather Service in Lake Charles. Videos show straight line winds of almost the same force continually blowing from the Orange County Courthouse area. Though a tornado warning was...
