Hometown News For Orange County, Texas
Hometown News For Orange County, Texas
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BUM BORN HERE 99 YEARS AGO “BUM” NFL Coach Never Forgot His Roots O.A. “Bum” Phillips was born Sept. 29, 1923, at home on John Street in Orange, Texas. “Bum” the most popular and well known native to ever come out of Orange County would be 99 years old this week. All of Bum’s children were born in Orange, including son Wade, who started his coaching career at Stark High. He has been a longtime successful NFL head coach and defensive coordinator. The Phillips family roots run d...
According to the Farmer’s Almanac, 2022 fall season has arrived (though it doesn’t feel like it to me), with a blistering start! Eventually, cooler temperatures will appear and if you’re like me, you can hardly wait and are ready for them…Now! As cooler days will slowly arrive, let’s take this opportunity to review turfgrass management techniques which can assist us in lawn weed control. Before “digging” into this week’s subject, let’s review the three basic weed groups, whic...
LAST QUEEN FOR A LIFETIME LAID TO REST Masses line the roads as Elizabeth is taken to castle for burial. Queen Elizabeth II’s coffin was lowered into the royal vault of St. George’s Chapel at Windsor Castle on Monday afternoon, signifying the end of a state funeral that began with a majestic service at Westminster Abbey, and a procession in London before closing with a more intimate service at the place where the queen lived in the twilight years of her life. It was a culminat...
I am beginning to suspect that aliens are taking over the world by replacing human beings with machines. I wouldn’t complain so much if the machines were more accommodating. As an example, I recently tried to reach one of my many doctors. First, I was greeted by the standard, “If this is an emergency, hang up and dial 911.” Next, I was told if I knew the extension number I could dial direct. Of course, I had no idea what my doctor’s extension number was among the many I was p...
During a recent Orange County Master Gardener monthly meeting, fellow Master Gardener, Eddie Shaw, who counts himself a fan of the rain lily, surprised me with a gift of seeds. The zip top plastic bag he gave me contained a neatly folded paper towel, clutching hundreds of shiny, black, elongated, flat seeds. He called them rain lilies, explaining rain lilies are bulbous plants which enjoy our warm, humid environment. The information and seeds he provided me piqued my interest...
YEARS LATER WORDS JUMP BACK AT ME Words you read from our Out of the Past section, 20-45-50 years etc, are words I wrote all those many years ago. I just rework them for today’s publication. Some things I wrote years ago seems like I penned them recently. Example: In 45 Years Ago, you will read about Larry Spears, no not our Mayor of Orange but the Mayor’s dad, who was a big football star who I was writing about. That seems very recent. There are hundreds of examples of mem...
Fall is in the air…well almost! Autumn officially begins in a couple of weeks, on the 22nd of September to be exact. Soon lower humidity and cooler temperatures will be upon us. It’s a great time to begin fall cleanup and preparation for vegetable gardens. September is a swing month in the garden, or as I like to call it a “preparation month”, since many gardeners, including myself, consider fall to be the best time for planting cool season vegetables, trees, and shrubs....
WATCHING 9-11 AS IT UNFOLDED 21 YEARS AGO As I sit here on the 21st anniversary of 9-11, my mind goes back to that moment. I was sitting in the office, my feet propped on the desk, the paper for that week was running late and Dwayne Marsh and I were just waiting on the truck. We were watching on what had been Uncle Jim McKay’s old black and white television when Katie Couric, on the Today Show, made the announcement and showed a picture of a plane hitting the first of the T...
While I was in the state Senate, I was invited and attended a Roundtable at Oxford on education. It was attended by educators from all over the world. Many were from countries just emerging from the dominance of the Soviet Union. One thing that all the emerging nations shared was the fact that the previous government had placed limits on what they could teach in their schools. Social studies were no more than propaganda and even some theories of math had a bias. I am seriously...
I wasn’t sure August was ever going to get over. It seems like it must’ve rained somewhere in the city every day. The unsettled weather sure reminds me that “H” season is here. (I don’t even want to say the word!) And those of us who have lived here very long know that September is usually the most active month of the Atlantic Basin “H” season for us. For the last couple of months, the City and the School District folks have been going over plans for how we respond to a...
Can you believe we are now more than halfway thru hurricane season 2022? Fortunately, there have been no tropical storm developments within the Gulf of Mexico so far and I'm going to "knock on wood", ancient superstition or not! Hurricanes not only damage homes, buildings, and other structures but severely damage plants, especially trees. Often, trees appear to weather tropical storms and hurricanes with minimal damage from high winds and excessive rainfall, then a year or...
ANOTHER LABOR DAY ROLLS AROUND Monday, September 5, is Labor Day. Over the years, Labor Day in our area was always a big day of celebration. Just a few years ago, before the Reagan years, the labor movement that grew from the textile mills of the East became a strong liberal force in our country. Labor unions in this area of Texas were responsible for all workers getting better wages, even if they were not represented by a union. Labor, in the United States today, is at an all...
Last week's article reviewed garlic (allium sativum) varieties which grow well in our climate. This week I want to share information on a wonderful companion plant to interplant with garlic: strawberries! Some gardeners would never consider companion planting strawberries with garlic because they plant strawberries in spring. But is spring really the best time of year to plant strawberries in Southeast, Texas? The short answer is no but let me provide a more detailed...
Recently I have heard much discussion about fear that the United States may descend into a socialistic type government. Generally in my conversations with folks, I have found that few of them can give an accurate definition of socialism. Socialism is defined as government controlling major means of production and distribution of goods and services. We have a republic governed by the people, but it has many socialistic features which I doubt many citizens would advocate doing...
TOP SECRET DOCS NOT ACCIDENTAL Robinson Once Luther Theater Guest Eugene Robinson, a Washington Post columnist and associate Editor, has covered the White House for decades. In the past, Robinson, was a speaker at the Luther Theater, in Orange. “Former President Donald Trump had to be determined to grab top secret files to hide them away in his Florida home. Presidents don’t accidentally end up with such sensitive files among boxes and boxes of documents hauled out of the Whi...
Early in my struggling law practice I was inclined to accept almost anything in order to gain a new client. I regularly swapped legal services for goods or services. On one occasion I was employed by a group of industrial painters who were charged with a rather serious crime. In view of the fact they were short of cash, I agreed I would represent them in exchange for them repainting a garage apartment behind my house. As agreed, they showed up bright and early one morning...
There are nearly 600 cultivars of garlic cultivated world-wide with Central Asia cultivating 120 varieties (Image courtesy Pinterest). Garlic offers several health benefits and is widely used in cooking as an herb, though technically it is a vegetable, a very pungent vegetable! Purchasing garlic, while convenient, doesn’t provide us the most flavorful experience possible. Commercially, garlic is held in cold storage before being placed into the produce section of our local m...
TIME ROLLS ON As you get older time does seem to go faster. You look at your 30-year-old Rolodex and over half of the people listed in it are now gone. That’s one reason why elder people don’t have many friends. It’s amazing how many I’ve lost in just the last 10 years. We have a great “people paper” so read us cover to cover. Margaret and staff are doing good work. I have to move on. Please come along, I promise it won’t do you no harm. RECALLING THE WORSTER YEARS “Last One t...
Texas public education has not been adequately funded since the 1940s. Under the party now in power it has gotten worse, not better. Growth in charter schools is one reason why. While some charter schools supported by well-intended nonprofit groups have done a decent job educating our children, far too many are just money-making machines which fall short on providing quality education to many of our children. Public schools and charter schools are not required to play by the...
Gardeners, hopefully most of you received rain the past week as forecast by local meteorologist. It certainly is a welcome respite and truly needed. And with the rain comes another added benefit, reduced daily high temperatures (though slight). It was enjoyable walking out to the garden mid-morning, harvesting vegetables and deciding which raised beds to plant with fall vegetables. Making mental notes for planting (I jot down in a garden planner inside), is when I realized...
TRUMP’S HOME IN FLORIDA SEARCHED Monday the FBI searched Trump’s Palm Beach, Florida home. The search, according to multiple people familiar with the investigation, approved to be focused on material that Trump had brought with him to Mar-a-Lago, his private club and residence, when he left the White House. Those boxes contained many pages of classified documents. Trump delayed returning 15 boxes of material requested by officials with the National Archives for many mon...
In this column I recently wrote about the quote of P. T. Barnum that there is a sucker born every minute. I now believe the quote was wrong. After watching the trial of Alex Jones, I am now sure there are at least two suckers born every minute. The guy made hundreds of millions of dollars peddling lies and crazy rumors about aliens being from outer space. He caused great pain and anguish by claiming the slaughter of school children at Sandy Hook School was a hoax. And, the...
Gardeners, typically I refrain from being the harbinger of sad news but on July 21st, 2022, the IUCN classified one of our most majestic butterflies, as an endangered species and added them to the endangered species "red list." For me to understand exactly what this means, and to gain a better understanding of adding a species to the endangered species red list, I did some digging (pun intended), to find out more about the IUCN and what it is they do as an organization,...
Summer is starting to wind down, seems as if everyone is getting ready for school to start. A week from today it’s going to officially open up for the fall semester. This is always an exciting time for students, teachers, administrators, and parents. For everyone who drives our streets and highways, we need to be aware of school buses running their routes, of children waiting at bus stops, of the increase in traffic during the morning and afternoon “drive times”. And pleas...
There has long been discussion about whether or not elected officials should have limits on how many years they should serve. The concept can be both good and bad. Arguments for term limits include the fact that they would require a periodic turnover and would imbue new ideas in government. Another argument in favor is that when politicians hold office too long, they begin to adopt the feeling that they, not the people, actually own the office. In my opinion, the best...
