Hometown News For Orange County, Texas
Hometown News For Orange County, Texas
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Orange County Judge John Gothia disagreed Thursday with allegations that he and Commissioner Johnny Trahan were at fault for holding private bargaining sessions aimed at a new contract for the county’s deputy sheriffs. Gothia acknowledged Thursday that the Orange County Sheriff’s Employees Association was seeking more pay and the continuation of a “just cause” clause, which allows for arbitration in disciplinary circumstances inside the department. He said the non-pos...
Lamar State College Orange (LSCO) is thrilled to welcome Keith Jones, Ed.D., to the Gator Family as the new Associate Dean of Technical Studies. Kristin Walker, Dean of Health, Workforce, and Technical Studies, has charged Dr. Jones with leading the technical education programs, including Instrumentation, Industrial Technology, Maritime, Process Technology, and Welding, developing new programs, ensuring students and faculty have resources to be successful, connecting faculty...
School boards and message boards have all seen an overload of angst over COVID-19, cases of which are skyrocketing among school-aged youngsters. While four parents opposed to schools imposing a mask mandate appeared at an Orangefield board meeting in August, others are voting for everyone to wear a mask. Or to just stay at home. "A concerned parent" emailed her plea to a Little Cypress-Mauriceville board meeting a week ago. "My son tested positive today for Covid after one...
If you’re scoring at home on the secretive backroom meetings between Orange County and its sheriff deputies, well, chalk up one for the deputies. County Judge John Gothia said Tuesday afternoon that Commissioners Court had agreed to extend the pre-impasse deadline for an additional 15 days to Sept. 22 and proposed three dates, at 2 p.m. Sept. 13, 2 p.m. Sept. 15 and 2 p.m. Sept. 16 for open-to-the-public negotiations. Tuesday’s announcement came after the issuance of two gri...
Kirk Roccaforte, longtime Bridge City mayor, recalls his first look at his hometown after Hurricane Ike made landfall on Sept. 13, 2008. The mayor and other key city personnel spent the night of Sept. 12-13 in a school building in Little Cypress, away from the storm's worst but close enough to get back in a hurry. "When I topped Cow Bayou Bridge, all I saw was water. "It was a really sinking feeling. I didn't know what was going to happen. I didn't know if we could survive...
NOTICE OF MEETING AND AGENDA OF THE COMMISSIONERS’ COURT OF ORANGE COUNTY, TEXAS, SEPTEMBER 14, 2021 Notice is hereby given that the Commissioners’ Court of Orange County, Texas, will hold a Public Hearing regarding the Proposed Orange County Budget of Fiscal Year 2021-2022 on Tuesday, September 14, 2021 at 10:00 a.m. in the Commissioners’ Courtroom of the Orange County Administration Building, 123 South 6th Street, Orange, Texas for the following purpose to-wit: HEARI...
Thankfully, Hurricane Ida didn't come Texas' way, but that didn't stop the Orange County Sheriff Office from pitching in to help. Sheriff Lane Mooney sent two teams to assist in disaster recovery efforts in an area where winds wiped out nearly all of the infrastructure. The first team included the department's drone unit, members of the department's narcotics unit and Jasper Constable Joe Sterling. This team assisted the Terrebonne Parish Sheriff Office located in Houma,...
Legendary lawyer and philanthropist, Walter Umphrey, who led the Texas trial team that secured billions in a landmark settlement with Big Tobacco and who donated millions of dollars to charitable causes over the course of his lifetime, has passed away. The 85-year-old died of natural causes in Beaumont, Texas on September 7, 2021. "Walter Umphrey was more than just a lawyer," said Joe Fisher, Managing Partner of Provost Umphrey, the law firm Mr. Umphrey co-founded. "He was a...
Mandy Lyda is in her third week as the new director of Bridge City Chamber of Commerce. She's been busy learning all the procedures and gearing up for upcoming events, the first of which will be the monthly coffee to be held next Tuesday at COS Printing in Texas Ave at 8 a.m. Lyda is an Orange County native. She was raised in Mauriceville and graduated from Little Cypress-Mauriceville High School. Lyda moved away from the area for 20 years when she and her husband ministered...
Bridge City ISD will be hosting renowned motivational speaker Damon West in a free community event next Tuesday, September 7 at 7 p.m. The event will be held at the Bridge City Elementary School cafeteria. The public is invited to attend. Sentenced to sixty-five years in a Texas prison, Damon West once had it all. Damon West, M.S. Criminal Justice, is a college professor, nationally known keynote speaker and best-selling author (with best-selling author and motivational speake...
Jo Harris says her family's Orange Mercantile store is having a run on horse, cattle and swine de-wormer. "Normally, I'll keep six or seven bottles on the shelf, and when I run out, I just order six more bottles and they come in a few days," Harris said. "I have ivermectin ordered since Aug. 9, and every week, I order some more. I've ordered 36 bottles one size, 18 bottles another size and two more of a third size. "But I haven't had any on the shelf to sell since Aug. 9." Ive...
Allen Romero has hunted alligators, "since I was born." His earliest memories of going on hunts with his father and grandfather were at the age of 4. "My daddy and my grandpa hunted alligators all their life." Romero just celebrated his 79th birthday last week and currently lives in Bridge City. That equates to a lifetime of hunting. "My grandpa came over to Johnson's Bayou in 1924," said Romero. "My daddy was about 8 years old. Daddy was born in 1916. They lived there till...
Josh Smalley’s 10th season as Orangefield’s head football coach and athletic director opened with a bang last week. His veteran Bobcats, coming off back-to-back postseason berths, walloped Anahuac 46-13, with a veteran line leading the way for three backs to surpass 100 yards each in rushing. “We’ve got a lot of room to improve,” Smalley said, eyeing this week’s schedule. “Woodville will be a difficult challenge.” Preparing his team for difficult challenges has been Smalle...
Update: It took a jury about three hours Thursday to find Yovhanis Roque guilty of Capital Murder for the death of his 2 year old daughter Savannah. As a result, he will automatically be sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole. Trial testimony began Tuesday in the case of Yovahnis Roque,28, who is accused of the February 2019 murder of his two-year-old daughter, Savannah. The state is seeking Capital Murder charges. If found guilty, Roque could face up...
As COVID-19 infected another 691 of its residents this week, Orange County signed up with Jefferson, Jasper and Newton counties to establish an infusion center in Beaumont to treat the infected before they have to go to the hospital. Also: * West Orange-Cove schools became Orange County's first school district to defy Gov. Greg Abbott's order against requiring students and teachers to wear masks. * Orange County Commissioners voted unanimously to grant a 10-year tax abatement...
Part of new Bridge City football coach Cody McGuire's promoting his new program to players involves championship aspirations, as depicted by a Michael Jordan six-ring photo and game balls from Austin Westlake's back-to-back state championships. RECORD PHOTO: Dave Rogers The Friday night lights go on for keeps this week as the 2021 Texas high school football season kicks off. At least one team – Bridge City – will be plenty familiar with the lights, though. Under new head coa...
Orange's City Council approved a proposed balanced 2022 budget of $25 million Tuesday night, and members expressed delight that the city, under City Manager Mike Kunst, had set aside another $12 million as a reserve fund. "I'm ecstatic we've hit the magic numbers we had discussed," Councilman Brad Childs told Kunst. That led to council's approval of a three-year plan by Kuntz to spend down an extra $1.7 million left in the kitty. Kuntz proposed spending $700,000 in 2022 for...
Carroll Holt wasn't born in Orange. His family moved to the city right after the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor, Dec. 7, 1941. Holt was 6 years old. "My daddy worked the shipyards," said Holt. His family was part of the swell that swarmed the city when shipbuilding for War World II became a huge boom for the city. Orange grew almost overnight from a population of around 7,500 to over 70,000. It created a huge housing shortage, but the Holts were lucky. "We had a three-bedroom...
Sunday, First Baptist Church Bridge City will host a free Outdoorsman Banquet in the Family Life Center 5-7 p.m. open to the public. "It's a little something we're trying to do to gather men together," said Pastor Keith Royal. "It's a little fish fry banquet. There will be music." Royal said there are also plans for some classic cars to be on display and a few vendors will be on hand. "We've got someone that does duck calls...someone that does some wounded warrior events....
George Bohn has been a train ‘nut’ for more than 60 years, and says it’s an inherited trait, having picked it up from his dad, who began collecting model train sets in the 1930s. But Bohn, a board member of Friends of the Depot who could tell you weeks in advance all the details of Thursday’s visit to Orange by the largest-ever steam locomotive, is small potatoes when it comes to going the extra mile. “We’ve got a member of our model train club in Orange who’s a snowbird,” Bo...
School bells rang Wednesday morning, signaling the start of the 2021-22 school year for about 10,000 students on the south and east ends of Orange County. The first day of school for Bridge City, Orangefield and West Orange-Cove school districts is Aug. 11 and Little Cypress-Mauriceville schools open up Aug. 16. How many show up was the big question going in. “The biggest challenge right now is we don’t know what to expect as far as students,” Mike Kelly, Bridge City super...
After 35 years of doing everything from climbing poles to dealing with government leaders on its behalf, Johnny Trahan has a long history with Entergy Texas. And a new connection with Orange County history. Southeast Texas’ power company, Entergy Texas, announced late last month its intention to build a $1 billion clean energy Advanced Power Station in Bridge City. That news came approximately two and a half years after Trahan, newly retired as Entergy’s customer service manag...
Orange County Airport Manager Missy Pillsbury, center, was named the Texas General Aviation Airport Manager of The Year at last week’s Texas Aviation Conference last week in San Marcos. Pillsbury, a longtime tax office employee, has been Airport Manager since 2014 and took over as full reins of the operation in 2018. The state has more than 400 general aviation airports but Pillsbury’s nomination, sent in by the airport’s base pilots, flew to the top of the heap. “Oran...
Monday was 'Meet the Teacher' day at Orangefield with first day of class for students on Wednesday. Windee Jenkins, a paraprofessional at Orangefield ISD for 16 years has worked on all three campuses. "We help the special needs teachers with the children," said Jenkins. "We're an extension to the teacher." She has also driven a special needs bus for the district for 14 years. Jenkins also coached jr. high sports for four years in the mix - volleyball, basketball and track. She...
