Hometown News For Orange County, Texas
Hometown News For Orange County, Texas
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In 1962, the year I was first elected to the Legislature, John Connally was elected governor in a very close Democratic Primary. He succeeded by narrowly defeating a young candidate named Don Yarborough. Connally, with his good looks and handsome demeanor looked the part of a governor. Ability to perform is a great benefit in the political arena. He majored in drama while at the University of Texas undergraduate school which served him well. He went on to law school and...
This week Hurricane Nicholas made landfall, impacting the coastal region of Southeast Texas and neighboring counties. Though the storm hit as a hurricane, it was later downgraded to a tropical storm and then to tropical depression. There are 19 counties under the disaster declaration and five are in Senate District 3, including Jasper, Liberty, Montgomery, Newton, and Orange Counties. If you have been affected by Hurricane Nicholas, please complete the Self Reporting Damage Survey found on Texas Department of Emergency...
The Apostle Paul used his own life to illustrate God's amazing grace. He wrote in Romans 7:24-25 under the inspiration of God, "O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death? 25 I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord. So then with the mind I myself serve the law of God; but with the flesh the law of sin." In I Timothy 2:15, Paul spoke clearly of his own unworthiness, calling himself the chiefest of sinners. It says, "This is a faithful saying, a...
This article will be the beginning of a series in which I will examine and comment on the various governors in office during my political career. I served in the Legislature during the tenure of eight different governors. In effect, this series will be remembrances of occurrences during my tenure in office and my relationship with the various governors. In Texas the governor’s office originally was extremely weak. It was established by the constitution adopted in the 1800s f...
GREAT COVERAGE OF 9-11 ANNIVERSARY I was really impressed with all the coverage Saturday on the 20th anniversary of 9-11. All the networks did a great job. What amazed me the most was how much real-time video they had. Also I learned that Bin Laden took between three and four years planning the attack. Think about how everything had to fall right in place. First, eight Afghanistan men had to learn to speak English then take flight instructions. They worked in teams of two,...
Everything regarding our current monthly storm event is still “iffy” as we are well aware of the potential consequences of a rain maker that decides to park on top of us. Even as I am writing this column, our power is blinking on and off! There is no doubt that fish adapt to the conditions Mother Nature throws their way, but they have really been challenged over the past three years. In the last two weeks the trout that had been holding on the beaches and jetties went from moving into the lake to wondering what the hell is...
This weekend, we recognize the 20th anniversary of the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001. We remember and pray for all the Americans who were killed during the attacks on the World Trade Center, the Pentagon, and Flight 93. Let us never forget. Here are five things happening around your state: 1. Governor Abbott calls third special session Governor Abbott announced this week that he will be calling the Legislature back for a third time starting September 20. One of the most important topics the legislature will cover in...
Abbott's Approval Rating Lowest Ever A couple of weeks ago I wrote that Texas Gov. Greg Abbott seemed to be losing favor with women voters. I found that women, especially those with school age children, are unhappy with his handling of COVID-19. Those I spoke with accused Abbott of playing politics with their children's health with his mask mandate. A Texas Politics Project Poll, done before the new state law that allows anyone to sue doctors, cab drivers or others who help pr...
Luke 8:23-25 "But as they sailed he fell asleep: and there came down a storm of wind on the lake; and they were filled with water, and were in jeopardy. And they came to him, and awoke him, saying, Master, master, we perish. Then he arose, and rebuked the wind and the raging of the water: and they ceased, and there was a calm. And he said unto them, Where is your faith? And they being afraid wondered, saying one to another, What manner of man is this! for he commandeth even th...
A weekly column from Sen. Robert Nichols by Sen. Robert Nichols, Senate District 3 We continue to hold our friends in Louisiana in our prayers after Hurricane Ida made landfall as a Category 4 hurricane this week. Texas was proud to send a Chinook helicopter, 14 crew members, 30 fire engines, and 132 firefighters to aid in hurricane recovery efforts. Here are five things happening around your state: 1. COVID-19 antibody treatment center opens in Nacogdoches The Texas Division...
LABOR DAY BOUGHT, PAID FOR WITH HARD WORK As the years go by, celebrating the efforts of the working men and women, who through their crafts built so much of this country, has diminished. Proud union members went to school, worked years as apprentices and in time moved up to journeymen, totally skilled in their craft. Even today, the best skilled labor still comes from union craftsmen. What happened? Where did so many union jobs go? I'll tell you, but first let me remind you a...
On August 27, 1908, Lyndon Baines Johnson was born near Johnson City, Texas. LBJ would go on to become a US Congressman, US Senator, the Vice President under President John F. Kennedy, and finally the President of the United States. His birthday is celebrated as a state holiday. Here are five things happening around your state: 1. Elections bill advances in the House The House is set to consider Senate Bill 1, the election integrity and security bill. It passed the House Commi...
TEXAS AND VOTER SUPPRESSION Texas is preparing to pass a sweeping voter bill that is designed to hamper minorities and elderly at the polls. Republicans are using the specter of cheating at the polls to push through voting restrictions that are not needed. They are selling the story that our elections are under attack and that the only defense is to limit voting access. Its political manipulating based on a lie. The bill will be awful. While they claim it will be harder for...
On August 17, 1786 frontier icon and brave defender of the Alamo, Davy Crockett was born in Tennessee. Throughout his life, he acquired a reputation as a sharpshooter, hunter, and outdoorsman. He left his home state of Tennessee when he was 49 and set out for Texas. He arrived here in February 1836 and joined the Texas Revolutionaries at the Alamo. On March 6, 1836, he died during the Battle of the Alamo. Here are five things happening around your state: • Proposed amendments to Texas Constitution This week, Governor A...
Summer is drawing to a close and back-to-school season is here. TxDOT asks all Texans to be aware of school zones and school buses as children head back to campus. Remember to slow down for school zones and be prepared to stop for stopped school buses. Here are five things happening around your state: 1. Second special session begins This week Governor Abbott called a second special session starting on August 7. For this special session, he added several more agenda items to the call from the first special. Some of the new...
SENATE PASSES BIPARTISAN INFRASTRUCTURE BILL (MAJOR VICTORY FOR BIDEN) The Senate voted to approve a roughly $1 trillion bill to revamp the nation’s infrastructure on Tuesday, delivering a bipartisan breakthrough on legislation that includes key portion of President Biden’s domestic agenda. The final vote was 69 to 30, with 19 Republicans and 30 Democrats voting yes. Vice President Kamala Harris presided over the final vote. The bipartisan bill represents the first part of...
The Battle of Nacogdoches occurred 185 years ago this week. On August 2, 1836, a group of Texas settler defied an order from a Mexican Army commander and did not surrender their weapons. This battle is often referred to the opening gun of the Texas Revolution. The revolutionaries were successful in this first conflict and cleared East Texas of military rule, allowing citizens to meet in convention without military intervention. Here are five things happening around your...
Jonah 2:1 "Then Jonah prayed unto the Lord his God out of the fish's belly…" This world dishes up some very interesting stuff. Don't misunderstand me, I love life and having a heart created by the Lord in His saving grace, I am always learning how to negotiate all of those interesting problems the devil, or the world throws at me or something of my own doing. As much as we find sweet times in daily life from time to time, so do we encounter problematic ones. Every now and t...
The Battle of Nacogdoches occurred 185 years ago this week. On August 2, 1836, a group of Texas settler defied an order from a Mexican Army commander and did not surrender their weapons. This battle is often referred to the opening gun of the Texas Revolution. The revolutionaries were successful in this first conflict and cleared East Texas of military rule, allowing citizens to meet in convention without military intervention. Here are five things happening around your state: 1. Texas Historical Commission approves plan for...
THE PANDEMIC OF UNVACCINATED When the pandemic hit the United States we prayed for an answer, otherwise millions of Americans would die. God answered our prayers. In record time two vaccines hit the market. Before enough people could get vaccinated over 600,000 people had died from COVID-19. Now a more contagious virus has hit. Delta Variant, 100 times more infectious than COVID-19 is spreading throughout the country. Fortunately the God-sent vaccines are also effective for Delta. Hospitals all over the country are filling...
“A good coach can change a game. A great coach can change a life,” said John Wooden, college basketball coach. My daughter, Jessica, was fortunate to have a coach who changed her all too brief life. Coach Frank gave her a second chance to actually play softball and more importantly believed in her. She carried the lessons she learned with her, such as not giving up and hard work pays off for the remainder of her life. Jessica will forever be 21 years old since gallstones too...
The 2021 Olympic Games have begun in Tokyo, Japan. Over the next few weeks, we will all get to watch and enjoy the very best the United States has to offer compete on a global scale. I'll be watching and cheering on our Olympic athletes, particularly the 40 athletes who are from Texas. Here are five things happening around your state: 1. Grandmother of Juneteenth Opal Lee honored in Senate Last week, Fort Worth activist Opal Lee was recognized in the Texas Senate with a...
IT’S GOING TO GET WORSE—FAR WORSE I have real concern about what the Delta Variant, blending with COVID-19, will look like come mid to late September and possibly spiking in October. Last week our reporter Dave Rodgers wrote about the first Delta case in the county being in Vidor. We are getting little to no information about how rapid that first case has spread. We don’t have information as to how many virus cases are now spreading through the county. We know that hospi...
Even though many House members and some State Senators are still in Washington, D.C. to break quorum, special session continues in Austin. The State Senate has enough members at the Capitol to continue working on important legislation we've been called to address. Though these measures cannot be finally passed until the House has a quorum, the Senate's work continues. Here are five things happening around your state: 1. Elections bill passes the Senate The Texas Senate passed...
FROM THIS DAY FORWARD Billionaire Richard Branson has hurled the world into a new orbit. Aboard his own winged rocket ship Sunday, he brought Astro-Tourism a step closer to commercial space travel. He beat out richer rival Jeff Bezos. Branson, age 71, and five crew members from his Virgin Galactic space tourism company, reached an altitude of 53.5 miles over the New Mexico desert, experiencing four minutes of weightlessness, witnessed the curvature of the earth, then glided...
