Hometown News For Orange County, Texas
Hometown News For Orange County, Texas
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Cheryl January at LSCO has people of all ages and backgrounds coming to her office to learn about getting a new career. Some have even been teachers with four-year college degrees. They are looking into becoming a process operator in the booming petrochemical plants, oil refineries, and liquid gas units across Southeast Texas and Southwest Louisiana. The jobs are needed in the longtime plants or the newer ones, including the $8.5 billion Orange Chevron Phillips plant under...
Orange County had two tornadoes, with one determined to be an EF-2 that traveled 25.6 miles from Orangefield northeastward through Little Cypress and into Niblett's Bluff in Louisiana. The tornado caused two injuries and damaged numerous frame houses, RVs, and mobile homes. At times, it was 500 yards wide with peak winds of 120 mph, according to a survey from the National Weather Service in Lake Charles. Meteorologist Doug Cramer with warning coordination out of Lake Charles...
Sales during November were stagnant compared to the same month in 2021, according to statistics from the Texas Comptroller's Office. The office in January sent payments covering the month to entities with a sales tax. Orange and Emergency Services District 3 were the only entities with more than a slight increase. Because the payments were the first of the year the entities have received, the comptroller's office does not give year-to-date payments. Bridge City has a 1.5...
A tornado went through Orange County and touched down in three areas, with Orangefield having the most damage, Orange County Emergency Management Director Joel Ardoin said Tuesday night. He had reports of two injuries. In one, a woman was taken by ambulance to an area hospital, though he did not know the extent of her injuries. In another incident, an off-duty law officer inside his house was hit in the head by a tree limb coming through the roof. He had to have stitches. The...
Single mothers with unplanned pregnancies will now have a Christian-based support group as the Bridge City-Orangefield Ministerial Alliance teams up with the international Embrace Grace program. Melissa Isaacs, director of the Ministerial Alliance, said the 12-week course will begin on Wednesday, January 25, in the evening and continue on Wednesday evenings until completed. The pregnant women will have mentors who have faced similar situations. The courses will include...
The description of Orange's new hospital in 1921 sounds like a peaceful retreat for anyone, not just those needing medical care. "This delightful hotel for the sick is situated in one of Texas' oldest towns-Orange-looking out over the gardens and housetops to wide flat distances fringed by tall pines, while just out of sight the Sabine River winds towards the Gulf of Mexico and is an inland waterway of great commercial value," said a slick brochure booklet printed for the open...
The National Weather Service has rain in the forecast Saturday, but parents will have a place to entertain and educate their children as the Stark Museum of Art hosts a free Family Day from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. The museum on Green Avenue in historic downtown Orange has activity-filled family days quarterly. This time, the special day is timed with the museum's "Art: It's Elementary" exhibit in the education hall. The museum will display selected artworks from students ranging in...
Orange County is another step closer to getting a new hospital-medical center as the city of Orange has issued a $6.95 million permit for the interior work. The exterior has been under construction for more than a year. The permit was issued to Arch-Com Corporation, a national construction company that has a division specializing in healthcare facilities. The new medical complex is being developed by NexCore and Christus Southeast Texas Health Services. It is set to include a...
If Orange County had an anthem, it would be played as Economic Development Director Megan Romero Layne receives a silver medal for having one of the top development deals of 2022 with the new ChevronPhillips chemical plant. Chevron Phillips, along with partner QatarEnergy, announced in November the new $8.5 billion polymers plant would be built here. Business Facilities magazine and website gave the Orange County Economic Development Corporation a silver medal for being the...
Local barbecue legend J.B. Arrington is closing shop and selling out. The last day to get the tinder smoked brisket with its tangy signature fat-free sauce will be Friday the 13th. Not only is Arrington closing the restaurant, he's selling it with all the equipment, plus the landscaped 1.5 acres it sits on, along with the two-bedroom house next to it. "Miss Mary and J.B. are too old and too tired," he is telling people through handwritten sign posted on the front door....
Chemical plant operators are making $200,000, Orange Mayor Larry Spears Jr. said at a planning meeting last week. More of those high-paying jobs are coming to Orange County in the near future, along with thousands of construction jobs needed to build the new $8.5 billion Chevron-Phillips plant. Also, the county is working on tax incentives for an $850 million ethane terminal on the Neches River. Even thousands of more jobs will be added as the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers...
County Judge Pro-Tem Johnny Trahan called Commissioners Court to the regular meeting Tuesday afternoon, but not enough people were there to make a quorum for a legal meeting. Two of the commissioners were at a special school to train commissioners, while County Judge John Gothia was called to Austin for business. However, knowing there might not be enough people to hold a meeting, the court advertised a special called meeting for Wednesday at 2 p.m. with identical agendas....
Nominations for Bridge City Citizen of the Year and Business of the Year will be accepted through the Chamber of Commerce until Friday, January 6. Chamber Director Mandy Lyda said nominations may be emailed to her at [email protected]. Nominations should include the name of the person, or business, and why they should be honored. Written submissions on paper may be made at the chamber office, 150 West Roundbunch Road, during regular business hours. The chamber is open...
Entergy Texas has given a total of $105,000 to non-profit groups providing food for those in need with three of those groups helping in Orange County. The local agencies getting the special grants from Entergy stockholders are Meals on Wheels by the Orange Community Action Association, the food pantry of the United Christian Care Center of Vidor, and the Southeast Texas Food Bank. The Southeast Texas Food Bank helps provide food to various groups including some in Orange...
As dawn broke the morning of Friday, December 23, the temperatures in Orange County had dropped to 17 degrees with 15 mph north winds and gusts even higher. The wind chill dropped to 2 degrees. A few days later, the temperatures were in the 70s. But local residents shouldn't ditch their warm clothes and unwrap their pipes. Historically, the worst freezes have hit in mid-February, most particularly around Valentine's Day. That includes the long, hard freeze of February 2021....
People wanting to seek elective office to serve in local governing positions have a chance to run for city councils and school boards in May, but they need to decide because filing for the positions begin this month. Most school districts and cities will have elections for boards and councils on May 6. Filing will begin on Wednesday, January 18, and end on Friday, February 17. Candidates will file with the respective city secretaries or in the offices of school...
New Year's Day celebrations aren't only for a new year. For Orange County elected officials, New Year's Day is also a time for taking the oath of office for a new term. This year, the oath of office ceremony will be held at 1 p.m. Sunday in Judge Courtney Arkeen's 128th State District Court, the largest room in the courthouse complex. It is traditional for friends and families of the officials to attend, with cake, coffee, and punch Th This year, Orange County will have two...
As Orange County went from a year ending in 2 to a year ending in 3, residents had good news about an industrial boom, bad news about epidemics, and a good turnout of Republicans at the voting boxes. But that year was 1952 into 1953. Some of the same news could be said about 2022 and 2023. For the New Year's edition of the daily afternoon Orange Leader, the newspaper reported the old year ended with the announcement that three new chemical companies announced they would build...
Bridge City merchants had strong sales in October as sales tax returns surged more than 18 percent compared to the year before. Orange County and the cities of Pinehurst and West Orange also had strong increases. The sales tax incomes to cities and county were reported by the Texas Comptroller's Office. The office sends out the payments to the entities each month for sales two months earlier. Bridge City, with a 1.5 percent sales tax, received $173,654 for the month, compared...
Orange County Commissioners Court ended 2022 with a meeting that was short in length and sweet on compliments. Precinct 2 Commissioner Theresa Adams Beauchamp was able to attend her last meeting before her term expires on Saturday at midnight. Her husband drove her to the administration building and she used a walker to slowly make it down the long hallway to the commissioners meeting room. Two weeks earlier, she had been in a wheelchair after falling and breaking a hip. She...
Anyone living in Mauriceville for the past few years has run into Chris Sowell. He's worked with youth sports leagues, 4-H, and is president of the Mauriceville Heritage Association. He's delivered meals to shut-ins. He's shown up with a chainsaw to cut storm debris. "I found a passion for helping my community," he said. He's assisted so many people that they kept asking him to run for county commissioner. This year was right, especially when the incumbent Precinct 2 Commissio...
Stores in downtown Orange were full of "fine" and "elegant" food and wares one hundred and twenty years ago as the city drew shoppers from all over the county. Luckily, a Christmas Eve tragedy was averted thanks to H.F. Frazee and other "gentlemen." They grabbed the bridle of a horse that had gone wild, saving the two young Depew ladies who were in their buggy on Fifth Street. The evening Orange Daily Tribune reported the "Exciting Runaway" that morning at Ortmeyers...
Christmas and New Year's are on Sundays this year which means garbage schedules in the five largest Orange County cities will run as normal with no skipped days. The government offices have announced their holiday closings for the next two weeks. Though offices will be closed, first responders will work those days. Orange County offices at all locations will be closed Thursday December 22, Friday December 23, and Monday December 26. For the New Year's break, the closing will b...
Santy Roberts, owner of Roberts Ford on Green Avenue, wanted to help for the Christmas season this year and decided to have a festival dubbed Jingle Bell Rock Out. She didn't realize the Saturday event marked her first anniversary of assuming the dealership. "It's the holiday season and we wanted to get the community together," she said. It was also a time for the community to meet the Roberts "family" at the dealership, the employees who help keep it running. Will Palasota,...
Theresa Beauchamp poses with other members of Orange County Commissioners Court as she was honored for serving as Precinct 2 commissioner. She is retiring when her term ends December 31. Theresa Adams Beauchamp has spent the past four years walking along rural roads and stomping through ditches. But she's ending her term as Orange County Precinct 2 Commissioner in a wheelchair. Instead of sitting up with the rest of the court, she sat in the wheelchair at a staff table. On...
