Hometown News For Orange County, Texas
Hometown News For Orange County, Texas
Sorted by date Results 51 - 75 of 520
Meals on Wheels thriving again with new director Orange County's Meals on Wheels program, which suffered what the citizens' board described as a "crisis" in late April, is now thriving again with a new director and income. Kristen Ross, a native of Orange with experience in public healthcare, is the new director. Also, Golden Triangle Polymers donated $15,000, plus a fundraiser for the group sold $1,657 barbecue sandwich lunches. Meals on Wheels in Orange County delivers hot,...
Sales tax payments to entities in Orange County have mainly been keeping steady increases, except for the city of Orange, which is down about $1.8 million for the year. The Texas Comptroller's Office has sent the share payments this month to the entities that collect sales taxes. The payments cover sales in the month of July. Orange County was slightly down for July this year compared to last year, but was up 4.84 percent for the year to date. The county received $618,581 for...
As Meri Elen Jacobs taught journalism at West Orange-Stark High School for more than 20 years, she also wrote and took photographs for local publications. Now that she's retired, she's written a book about a subject that she could not have imagined. The book is "Navigating Prison from the Outside" with the subtitle "A practical and spiritual guide to help parents through the first few years of their child's lock-up." Her son, Stevan Smith, was sent to prison in 2018 for...
Bridge City was filled with unusual sights Saturday evening. Lights from colorful hot air balloons glowed through the skies and a seemingly endless line of cars was full of people lining up to get into the first Hot Air Glo Balloon Festival. The crowd of an estimated 6,500 people has drawn enough enthusiasm for the Bridge City Chamber of Commerce to begin thinking of bringing the hot air balloons back next year. "It was amazing," said Mandy Lyda, chamber director about the...
Cowboy Church of Orange County has opened their new covered arena and is now ready to kick off an old-fashioned Trade Days with farmers market at the end of the month. Pastor Harland Strother said the 40,000 square foot arena will seat more than 1,000 people with more room to seat 200 in lawn chairs. The arena also has a professional concession stand with new equipment. The congregation of the church on FM 1078 outside of Orange voted to build the arena for many uses,...
The Bridge City-Orangefield area has a lot going on at the end of the week and people are breathing a sigh of relief as Hurricane Francine moved away from the upper Texas coast. The Bayou Bowl Classic football game between the Cardinals and Bobcats will be on Friday night and the Bridge City Chamber's Hot Air Balloon Glo Festival will be Saturday evening with giant hot air balloons, 11 food trucks, live bands, and performances by high school dance teams. The designation "Bayou...
Kaycie Gunn grew up with cameras, but instead of still shots, she liked video. She enjoyed making moving shots and adding music to them. For the past decade, she's had a video business that includes drone photography. But those studio still portraits are in her blood. She's now been studying under her father, Chris Gunn, to learn the techniques and lighting needed for the profession. She is now becoming the fourth generation to operate Gunn Studio, which opened in Orange in...
The chair of the Orange County Republican Party on Tuesday presented Commissioners Court with a resolution asking that meetings be held at a time "more accessible to the working class." Chair Cheryl Warren requested the meetings move from the 10 a.m. Tuesday time to sometime 6 p.m. or later. The resolution from the county Republican organization says a morning meeting "is an unrealistic time for tax paying working citizens to attend." The request comes two weeks after...
More than a century ago when long automobile road trips were rare, Orange leaders joined a unique group of business and civic leaders to build one of the first transcontinental paved highways through the U.S., the Old Spanish Trail. The Old Spanish Train Association formed in 1915 when the businessmen met in Mobile, Alabama, to begin the private effort to make a paved roadway for motoring traffic. Members paid $100 a month, or $3,115 in 2024 money, with the dues going to...
The 21st Century's leading adage is "you can't trust everything you read on the internet." That is especially true during a divisive, controversial time in national politics with a big election on November 5. When it comes to seeking correct election information, the Orange County Elections Administration Office is the place to find answers to questions. The office, under the direction of Donna Alford, is at 206 Border Street to the west of the main courthouse. The number is...
Early September temperatures in Orange County still reached 100 degrees last year, but this year, sweater weather is coming a bit early after a rainy front moves through. Look for clear skies and lows in the 60s for the weekend, according to the U.S. Weather Service in Lake Charles. Not only will the feel of fall be here, but the longrange forecast calls for the cooler temps to continue through next week and the big kickoff to fall activities and festivals. Bridge City is...
Labor Day was made a national holiday to celebrate the contributions of blue-collar workers to America's economy. On Monday, September 2, the Orange County Courthouse and city halls will be closed for the holiday along with state and national offices. However, the men and women who pickup garbage will not be getting a day off. The cities of Bridge City, Orange, Pinehurst, Vidor, and West Orange will have their regular garbage schedules during the week. Pinehurst has...
Orange County Judge John Gothia said the East Roundbunch Road swing bridge will not be open to car traffic for another two-and-a-half to three weeks. Commissioners Court got an update on the bridge that takes vehicular traffic across Cow Bayou from County Engineer Corey Oldbury. The county and the Texas Department of Transportation work together to keep the bridge operating. Federal marine laws require road bridges allow boat traffic on navigable waters like Cow Bayou. The...
The Texas Municipal League reports that David Rutledge is the acting city manager of Bridge City. He also serves as mayor. The information on the group's website of incorporated cities in the state. Word from numerous sources is that the man who served as the city's new manager for only seven months resigned. The Bridge City City Council meeting on the night of August 20 had an agenda item listed as a closed-door executive session to "deliberate the employment, evaluation, sep...
Orange County Judge John Gothia is proposing a property tax rate slightly lower than the current rate. During a tax rate hearing Tuesday morning, he suggested a rate of 51 cents per $100 valuation, down from 52.2 cents per $100 valuation. Commissioners Court is set to vote on the new tax rate along with a general operations budget of $53.56 million during a meeting September 10. The new budget will begin on October 1 and the new property taxes will be due at the end of...
Sales tax revenues for June were up from last year for most of the local entities. However, the county had a decrease in monthly sales, though it still has collected more for the year to date compared to last year. The city of Orange continues to see a steep drop in sales tax collections during the past few months, and is down nearly 24 percent in revenues for the first eight months of the year in comparison to the same time last year. The sales tax information comes from the...
Bridge City High graduate Chase Shugart moved up to Major League Baseball this week as the Boston Red Sox promoted him from their AAA team the Worcester Red Sox. Local fans may get to see him soon as the Red Sox will be playing in Houston next week against the Astros. Games are set for 7:10 p.m. Monday, August 20, and Tuesday, August 21, then at 1:10 p.m. Wednesday, August 21, all at Minute Maid Park. Shugart, 27, is a right-handed pitcher and for the past three years has...
Annette Payne lives in the Cove neighborhood of Orange and went to the old Cove school there. For years, she watched as the abandoned, sprawling school buildings deteriorated with broken windows. But that decay is gone and Monday, she helped the city of Orange and local industries celebrate the rebirth of neighborhood with a sprawling park and recreation area on the land where the school once stood. "We had a lot of people here that went to school here, that still live here, l...
The Texas Historical Commission has approved two new local historical markers, one for the City of West Orange, and the other for the Orange Paper Company, founded in the early 1901 that operated more than 90 years. Meritta Kennedy, who is on the West Orange City Council and a member of the Orange County Historical Commission, did the research and wrote the application for the marker for West Orange. Ken Steppe, a retired paper mill executive who helped open the...
Bridge City can expect more traffic problems this week as the Texas Department of Transportation plans to close one lane of the Rainbow Bridge on Thursday and one lane of the Veterans Memorial Bridge on Friday. TxDOT warns to expect delays in travel time and to be cautious of road crews. The closures are for contract inspectors to check the bridges. The Rainbow Bridge lane closure will be from 7 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. on Thursday, August 15, with the lane closure on the Veterans Me...
The Bridge City school district this year is letting all students at the elementary and intermediate school have a free breakfast and lunch each day, thanks to a program f rom the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the community eligibility program. Students at the middle school and high school will need to apply and meet family income or special needs like being in foster care to qualify for free or reduced-price meals. BCISD Food Service Director Maggie Joubert said in a...
Brush up your dance steps and show off your shag. You might win money. A shag dancing contest with a $100 prize is part of Blues Fest on Saturday, August 10, at the Orange Boat Ramp's Riverside Pavilion. The dance contest will be part of a day and evening of music featuring local musicians and professional blues bands. The headliner is LJ Echols, known for his blues and Southern Soul. He grew up in a small town in Mississippi in a musical family and started a gospel group....
Teachers at Orange County public schools are back to work for the 2024-25 school year with students to begin classes next week. West Orange-Cove students will start on Monday, August 12, with the other districts, Bridge City, Little Cypress-Mauriceville, Orangefield, and Vidor getting students on Wednesday, August 14. On Tuesday for the first time, teachers and administrators from all five school districts gathered for a convocation at West Orange-Stark High School's new...
Karen Fisher jokes that she even hates herself when she writes her self a check to pay for her property taxes. "I hate that Karen Fisher," she jokes. Fisher has been the elected Orange County Tax Assessor-Collector for nearly eight years and Wednesday is her last day after working in the office for 32 years. It's been a tradition for decades for checks to pay property taxes and the vehicle registrations collected in the office to be written to the personal name of the tax...
The OCARC Fishing Tournament provides more than a chance for local amateur anglers to win money for their catches. The supports clients at the sheltered workshop and brings people together to celebrate the special adults. The tournament is always held on the first Friday and Saturday of August and this Saturday will be the 36th. Thanks to local businesses, prize money this year is going up with $500 for the top prize in the four major categories, bass, speckled trout,...
