Hometown News For Orange County, Texas
Hometown News For Orange County, Texas
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POLITICS AIN’T WHAT IT USED TO BE Early politicians required feedback from the public to determine what the people considered important. Since there were not telephones, TV’s or radios, the politicians sent their assistants to local taverns, pubs, and bars. They were told to ‘go sip’ some ale and listen to people’s conversations and political concerns.’ Many assistants were dispatched at different times. ‘You go sip here,’ and ‘You go sip there.’ The two words ‘go sip’ were eventually combined when referring to the local...
9-11 RECALLED ON 15th ANNIVERSARY Only twice in the history of the United States has our country been under attack by outside forces. This Sunday, September 11, is the 15th anniversary of 9-11, 2001. The Japanese attacked at Pearl Harbor on Dec. 7, 1941. I recall exactly where I was when I heard about both attacks. It’s something you never forget. When the first tower was hit on the morning of September 11, I was sitting at my desk watching my old black and white TV, a gift from Uncle Jim McKay. I told Dwayne Morse, an e...
CAJUN FRIENDS FACE LONG RECOVERY People around the country who have never had to deal with flood waters have no idea what South Louisiana is going through. We do because we have had to rip everything out of our homes and put it out on the street. In Louisiana many businesses, large and small, and more than 100,000 homes are now facing that problem. Only 15 percent of the residents have flood insurance. If it wasn’t for the Federal Government and FEMA many people would have no chance to recover. Think about waking up t...
THE U.S. SHOWS ITS GREATNESS Swimmer Michael Phelps of the U.S. owns the all-time record for Olympic swimmers, a record that will probably not be broken in our lifetime. Twenty-three golds, 28 medals in all. Runner Carl Louis and runner Usain Bolt are a distant second with nine gold's each. The only American who has a shot of catching Phelps is swimmer Katie Ledecky. She’s a six time Olympic medalist who looks like a model. She has already broken 13 world records in world competition. There are others also like swimmer Nathan...
RECORDS FALL AT RIO 2016 I’ve always enjoyed the summer Olympics. The 2016 games in Rio are no different. My only regret is that I don’t have more time to watch the variety of events. In the evening NBC has mostly been showing swimming, gymnastics and beach volley ball. In most cases the events were held earlier and the results shown. Of course swimmer Michael Phelps is the big draw but the USA has a great team of swimmers. With 10 more days left we will be witness to the world’s great athletes. No one stops to think about...
5 YEARS SINCE MASS SHOOTING--OPEN CARRY GOES IN EFFECT Monday marked 50 years since Charles Whitman, a 25 year old student and former Marine, climbed the tower at the University of Texas with an arsenal of high powered weapons and began killing. For an hour and a half he fired below at students and passers-by, killing 15 people and injuring 30 others in what became known as the first mass murder of its kind in America. To us who lived it that incident stood out in our minds for years. Then came similar shootings around the...
HISTORY IN THE MAKING The speech Monday given by Michelle Obama at the Democratic convention will long be remembered right along with the great speeches of all times. I had been thinking that the best speech of the convention would be delivered Wednesday night by President Obama but he will have to go some to top the First Lady. It was a perfectly written speech and no one could have delivered that particular speech any better. The first day of the convention featured some other outstanding speakers, including Sen. Corey...
EX-SERVICEMEN COMMITTED RECENT POLICE KILLINGS Again we have witnessed mass killings with assault weapons. The shooting deaths of police in Dallas and now in Baton Rouge were committed by lone gunmen using semi-automatic weapons. What’s different about these killings is that in both cases the gunmen were former military service members. Police say rage may have driven the Baton Rouge police killer. He saw combat in Iraq and Afghanistan. Gavin Long, 29, served five years in the Marines. Micah Xavier Johnson, 25, is a former A...
A SAD DAY IN DALLAS A lone gunman, a military man, went on a shooting rampage as a peaceful protest march came to an end last Thursday causing it to become the deadliest day for law enforcement since 9-11. Five police officers died and nine others were injured in the Dallas attack. President Obama, Vice-president Biden and former president George W. Bush and their wives attended the memorial for the downed officers in Dallas. A lot of rubbish has come out about the incident by talking head Rush Limbaugh. who called the...
SOMETIMES THINGS DON’T GO RIGHT I hope you had a good holidayweekend and everyone returned safe and sound. As far as us, we worked on the Fourth to get this issue out. We were still having internet problems but hopefully that‘s now been fixed. It took a near miracle to get a paper out last week. We had absolutely had no internet service and a much needed phone line was down for several hours. We did some maneuvering that finally produced results but it took a long, nerve racking time. I would have bet it couldn’t be done...
THANK GOD FOR OUR INDEPENDENCE Lower gas prices, strong consumer confidence and a strong economy will lead to more families hitting the road this Fourth of July weekend. A record 41.3 million Americans will be traveling. This tops the previous record set in 2007. This summer, for the same reasons, all time vacation travel records are expected to be broken. The number of travelers is expected to be 10.7 percent higher than the average number during the last 15 years. AAA estimates that United States drivers have saved $20...
LOOKING BACK AT A SIMPLER TIME I was just noticing in our 40-Years Ago-1976 column all the entertaining events Mark Dunn attended, on the companies dime of course. It just doesn’t seem possible that was 40 years ago. I was much younger and Mark was just a pup. He had the good fortune of covering the big stars of the time, including George Harrison. He went backstage with some, with others on their bus. Mark probably shot thousands of photos of the stars; a great life for a youngster. The point I want to make is that 40 y...
DEADLIEST MASS SHOOTING IN UNITED STATES HISTORY A 29-year-old American will go down in history for committing the worst mass shooting in U.S. history. Omar Mateen was born in New York where he attended public schools. The shooting that killed 49 people and injured 58 others took place in the wee hours of Sunday morning, June 12, in an Orlando, Florida gay night club. The act of terrorism was also a hate crime. Mateen used an assault rifle to shoot over 100 people, some as man...
ALI REMEMBERED LOCALLY At age 74 Muhammad Ali died June 4, 2016 in one of his many quotes he said, “Live every day as if it were your last because someday you’re going to be right.” He lived a fascinating life and is the only heavyweight champion to gain the title three times. His boxing record, 56 wins, 37 TKO’s, with only five loses. Out of all his fights, he proved his character the most in his battle with Parkinson’s disease. He never lost his zest for life, a real champio...
WHAT ARE THE ODDS Today, Wednesday, June 1, the hurricane season begins for 2016. An average season is predicted with 10 named storms between now and November 30. Five will reach hurricane status and two will become category three or stronger. My guess is that we will have one major storm in the Gulf but it could land anywhere between Florida and Mexico. A 2,000 mile span. The odds are we won’t be in the eye of the storm this year.*****I have a long way to go. Please come along, I promise it won't do you no harm. R...
LCM BEARS-BC CARDS ON MOVE The Bears face Jasper in a one game take all in the Regional Semi-Finals. The Bears won the flip and will play Jasper at Little Cypress-Mauriceville Thursday under the lights at 7 p.m.*****The Bridge City Cardinals will be away for a three game series against Waco Robinson. Game one will be played Thursday at 7 p.m. at Sam Houston State University in Huntsville. Game two and three, if necessary, will be played Saturday starting with game one at 5 p.m. The Third game would start at about 8:30 p.m....
A DOUBLE DISASTER Last Thursday evening County Judge Brint Carlton terminated head of Orange County Emergency Management Ryan Peabody. He had been hired by Carlton in early 2015. Peabody was due to turn in his inventory Friday but due to being ill it was put off. We are not aware if he has done so or singed his termination papers. Missy Pillsbury, Airport and Loss Control Manager, has been named interim Emergency Manager by Carlton. The job falls under the sole authority of the judge and doesn’t require a vote or ok by C...
WELCOME TO ANOTHER EDITION I have a long way to go and I’m running late but I’d be proud if you came along, I hope to report on a little bit of everything. Grab a seat and come along, I promise it won’t do you no harm. THE BOTTOM OF THE BARREL For months Donald Trump insisted he would finance his own campaign. He destroyed his 16 opponents saying he was the only candidate not taking campaign donations. “I’m not going to take any money,” he said. At a news conference last month he also said, “I will repel the influence ped...
DEAR OLD MOM What I believe is one of the most important days of the year is coming up this Sunday. It’s Mother’s Day. No one deserves more to have a day of their own named after them than a Mother. In most cases, no one in your lifetime will help make your load lighter. A Mother’s love is irreplaceable, her loyalty can always be counted on. She will help cushion some of the hard knocks. If you are fortunate enough to still have your Mom you are truly blessed. Some day when she’s gone you will fully realize how much she rea...
THE DIFFERENCE A WEEK MAKES So much can happen in a week, since we last sat here to knock out another column that spans many more years than I had signed up for Prince died, Manziel was indicted and Tom Brady will have to serve a four game suspension because of “Deflategate.” Prince, a game changer in popular music, died Thursday, April 21 at his Paisley Park compound. He was 57 years old. The artist that turned music on its ear was found unresponsive in an elevator. Nearly a week has gone by and I’m surprised that it has t...
FLOOD WATERS AND LOOPS The rains came Monday morning. Several places got more than we did but I saw water on roads, in yards and everywhere. In several places the water was too deep to drive through. I saw way more water coming out of the river banks after Monday’s rain than I did during the ten day mandatory evacuation. I still can’t get over how silly that was. A big waste of money. Over the last four weeks, it’s been a guessing game where and when commissioners court would meet. They met in Vidor, met on Wednesday, didn...
CLUTCH SHOT LIFTS VILLANOVA TO CHAMPIONSHIP I had picked Oklahoma and North Carolina to be in the championship game. Oklahoma didn’t show up, they looked like a bad high school team. Villanova beat them by 44 points. So it was the Wildcats and Tar Heels Monday night in a great game. Villanova hit a three-point, buzzer beater, with zero time left to beat North Carolina 77-74 to win the National Championship. It’s Villanova’s first national title since 1985. Most of that group was in attendance, including their old coach Rolli...
EASTER GONE, PECANS NOT BUDDING YET Here’s hoping you had a good Easter holiday. Creaux and I did off like bandits. Each year Marlene Merritt gives us a big, chocolate rabbit that we eat on for a year. Never out of chocolate thanks to Marlene. This year, she loaded us down with Peeps in a variety of colors. Creaux loves Peeps. We got a few other goodies that made for a great Easter basket. *****As of Tuesday morning the old Pecan tree hadn’t budded yet. It’s about three weeks late. What’s up with that? All my life I’ve been t...
HAPPY EASTER TO YOU AND YOURS Well, spring arrived Sunday, after a very mild winter. It brought its usual Easter week cold front. The only bad thing about great, mild winter weather is that it never got cold enough to kill the bugs. Our gardens will be invaded with the pests, probably some of those white flies that are so hard to get rid of. ***** Let me let you in on a good thing. Our friends at Robert’s Restaurantwill open Easter Sunday. They usually don’t open but this is a special occasion. Robert, who is very com...
SUPER TUESDAY—IT'S DONE—MOVING TOWARD NOVEMBER Sen. Bernie Sanders has expanded his double digit lead among millennial in the Democratic presidential race. However, a new USA Today/Rock the Vote poll finds a way for Sen. Hillary Clinton to solve her generation gap and that is to go heads up with Donald Trump. In November voters under 35 would choose Clinton by a crushing 52 percent to 19 percent. Among whites she would be backed by nearly 2-1, 45 percent to 26 percent. With Hispanics she wins 4 to 1, 61 percent to 14 per...
