Hometown News For Orange County, Texas
Hometown News For Orange County, Texas
Sorted by date Results 426 - 450 of 484
Property owners in Bridge City will be paying more in school taxes this coming year, but the increase is nothing unexpected. Voters in May approved a $72 million bond election to construct new buildings and improve other ones. The tax increase is to pay off the bonds, which are a kind of loan. Based on calculations from the legal numbers provided by the Bridge City ISD, the owner of a home at the average value in the district will pay $77.94 a year more. For someone making...
Once a year, Orange's history comes alive as local high school drama students dress up and tell true stories from the past. The Heritage House Museum in downtown holds the Historic Ghost Walk in October. The date this year is Saturday, October 15. Because of the success of the past ghost walks, Heritage House is turning the event into a fundraiser and festival. "We never expected the Historic Ghost Walk to become so popular," said Adam Conrad, president of the Heritage House b...
The Stark Museum of Art will have a free family day event with activities and crafts on Saturday, August 27, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. The museum is in downtown Orange at 712 Green Avenue. Families can tour the museum's galleries and take a look at a special exhibition of local artwork. Students from the museum's Summer Art Quest hand-colored pictures from a coloring book of places in the Stark Cultural Venues, which include the art museum, Shangri-La gardens, the Lutcher...
After a citizen complaint about speeding in the Victory Gardens neighborhood outside Bridge City, the Orange County Commissioners Court is proposing to install a four-way stop sign. Other stop sign installations to slow traffic are also in the future for two different Little Cypress neighborhoods off Highway 87 North. The court will conduct public hearings on the proposed stop signs, as required by state law, on Tuesday, August 30, at 1:30 p.m. in the Commissioners Courtroom...
The Bridge City City Council Tuesday evening voted on a general operating budget of $10.06 million budget includes a 3 percent pay increase for employees. The budget is for the 2022-23 fiscal year, which will begin on October 1. The budget goes with a proposed tax rate 48.2 cents per $100 valuation. A public hearing on the tax rate will be held a council meeting Tuesday, September 6, at 6 p.m. at City Hall. Mayor David Rutledge told The Record the city staff and council keep...
All of Orange County's public school districts have earned a "B" grade from the Texas Education Agency this year. TEA released the grades on Monday. The grades from "A" to "F" are based on a number of criteria, including the STAAR scores and improvements from past years. This was the first year since 2019 the grades were assessed because of the affect of the Covid 19 pandemic on classes. The Bridge City, Little Cypress-Mauriceville, Orangefield, West Orange-Cove, and Vidor sch...
The Bridge City ISD Education Foundation has two fundraisers scheduled to help in the effort to raise money for special school projects. The non-profit community group is sponsoring a Bridge City High School Alumni volleyball game on Friday, August 19, at 6 p.m. at the high school. Admission is $5 for adults and $3 for students. A concession stand with snacks for purchase will be open and proceeds will go to the foundation. The Bridge City education foundation was started a...
Steve Worster was probably the biggest celebrity from Orange County. He died Saturday at the age of 73. Though his peak fame coming during his teens and early 20s, the news of his death has put his name in headlines once again. He was a football running back and was one of those once-in-a-lifetime high school and college players. "We always say he put Bridge City on the map," said Darrell Segura, his longtime friend and high school teammate. The headlines of his death are on...
The new Gisela Houseman Medical Complex with hospital got another boost Tuesday when the Sabine River Authority of Texas gave $220,000 to Orange County to help pay for the infrastructure in the new construction. David Montagne, SRA general manager, and longtime Board of Directors member Earl Williams of Orange County presented Commissioners Court with a mock check. Montagne said Williams had the idea to help the county. Williams commented that a hospital will help the county...
The Orange County Sheriff's Office recruited help from county code enforcement, a county emergency services district, and the Rose City marshal to shut down three gaming rooms last week. According to a press release from Sheriff Lane Mooney, detectives with the Narcotics Division investigated the three rooms and found multiple violations of the county gaming ordinance and state gambling laws. On Wednesday, August 3, the detectives went to the Double Diamond Game Room in the...
The naked truth was revealed Thursday night at the Bridge City Chamber's roast of County Judge John Gothia. However, it wasn't him that was naked, though the question is left: Was he wearing Spiderman or Batman underwear? The Bridge City Chamber of Commerce through the years has used a "roast" of prominent citizens as a fundraiser. The roast of Gothia was the first since 2015, when Kirk Roccaforte, now a county commissioner, was roasted when he was Bridge City mayor. The...
At Bridge City High School, a time-consuming job on concrete in the hot August sun is a special right of passage. The seniors with cars get reserved parking spots and paint them in colorful designs. The senior painters were out painting Monday, a sure sign that a new school year is ready to begin. The Bridge City, West Orange-Cove, Orangefield, and Vidor public school districts start classes on Wednesday, August 10. Schools in the Little Cypress-Mauriceville district start on...
The godmother of a 5-year-old girl will spend the rest of her life in prison after a jury in Orange County last week found her guilty of capital murder. The trial of Brenika Lott, 34, of Orange was the third, and final, pending trial of child killers in Orange County. The murders of children are rare here, but in a 16-month span from February 2019 to June 2020, the county had three young children, two of them toddlers, killed by their caretakers. The godmother, the father of...
For the first time in local history residents in the four Orange County emergency services districts will vote for their own boards of directors. On Tuesday, Orange County Commissioners Court officially called the November 8th general election and will include the emergency services districts. In the past, Commissioners Court appointed the board members, usually on the recommendation of the county commissioner in the precinct where each district is located. However, the...
Last week, a gaggle of grads from the old Stark High School gathered in Orange to visit and swap tales. And yes, there was some horn tooting--on a vintage bugle from the legendary Bengal Guards Girls Drum and Bugle Corps. Bruce Beneke, Joel (Joey) Robins, David Bruce, and Chuck Dean from the Classes of 1965 and '66 were joined by Robins' kid sister, Becky Robins Smith, who still lives in Orange. One of their stops was at Heritage House Museum. While there, Bruce Beneke...
Former West Orange-Stark and Lamar University athlete Jack Dallas of Orange signed a free agent contract last week with the Philadelphia Phillies as a pitcher. He ended his career at Lamar this year by setting a school record for the most saves. His younger brother, Chad, also a pitcher, was drafted last year by the Toronto Blue Jays and is currently playing in the team's minor league farm system. The brothers are the sons of Tony and Nancy Dallas of Orange. Jack went to Lamar...
U.S. Representatives Brian Babin and Randy Weber, both Republicans, voted last week against protecting the right to birth control. Babin represents Texas District 36, which includes Orange County. Weber represents Texas District 14. The Texas Legislature moved Orange County to Weber's 14th District last year. Orange County will be in the 14th District in January. Democrats in the House of Representatives passed a bill to make the availability of birth control methods legal in...
People coveting a designer purse without a designer price can have invest in the Greater Orange Area Chamber of Commerce's latest fundraising project. Purse Bingo will have prizes of purses, bags, and totes from some of the most popular designers including Louis Vuitton, Gucci, Michael Kors, and Coach. The event will be the evening of Friday, August 5, at the Orange County Convention and Expo Center on FM 1442. The doors will open at 5:30 p.m. and games will start at 6:30...
Citizens and property owners interested in a proposed crude oil pipeline across Bessie Heights Marsh and under Sabine Lake will be able to discuss the project during a public meeting at 7 p.m. Thursday, July 21. The meeting is sponsored by environmental groups and will be at the Bridge City Senior Citizens Center, 670 West Roundbunch Road. The Record Newspapers reported this month the project by Blue Marlin Pipeline will go from Nederland under the Neches River and then...
U.S. Representative Brian Babin, who has Orange County in his Congressional district, was mentioned last week in the January 6 Committee investigating the attack on the capitol. Babin is a Republican dentist from Woodville and represents the Texas 36th District. His name was listed as being on the White House visitors log on December 21, 2020, when then-President Donald Trump called some Republican congress members to discuss disputing the presidential election. According to...
A West Orange woman died Sunday evening after apparently jumping off the Rainbow Bridge, according to the Port Arthur Police Department. The department in a media release called the death a "suicide." The death came the day after the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline began providing counselors for mental health support by simply calling 988 on a phone. The new hotline number is easier to remember than the previous 1-800-273-8255 toll free line, which is still in use. Port...
Bridge City businesses showed strong sales during the month of May based on sales tax payments to the city last week. The Texas Comptroller's Office collects the sales taxes for entities that collect them. The office keeps the state's share and then sends the amounts to entities once a month. Gasoline and fuel taxes are in a separate category and do not go to local entities. Bridge City had a 10.95 percent increase in the May sales taxes this year compared to last year, and is...
The lights from the shiny, new "city" were already glowing at night from the flatlands along the Sabine. But it wasn't official until the first week of July, 1947. Seventy-five years ago, the DuPont Sabine River Works officially began production. Eight hundred men and women were working at the plant when it opened with another 1,400 men working in construction, according to a special edition newspaper printed for the event. More than 3,500 construction workers were involved...
The USS Orleck, a navy destroyer built in Orange at the end of World War II, opened to the public on Friday for the first time at its new home in Jacksonville, Florida, on the Atlantic Coast. The ship was originally saved from the scrapyard by a preservation group in Orange, but local efforts to make it into a tourist attraction and museum did not work out. Third Coast News in Jacksonville reported that the Hyatt Regency Jacksonville Riverfront Hotel along with the...
Two people from Orange will be serving time in federal prison for sex trafficking underaged girls between Louisiana and Texas. The case shows the danger of teenagers communicating with strangers on social media. U.S. District Judge James D. Cain, Jr., of Lake Charles sentenced Kevondric Fezia, 26, and Calista Jenee Winfrey, 23, last month. Fezia was found guilty by a Lafayette jury earlier this year of sex trafficking and trying to entice a minor into prostitution. He was...
