Hometown News For Orange County, Texas
Hometown News For Orange County, Texas
Sorted by date Results 676 - 700 of 15391
Wednesday, March 1, from 10 a.m. - 3 p.m., Bill and Ellen Nickum and their staff will be marking 50 years as a State Farm Agency in Bridge City with an open house at 1930 Texas Ave. Everyone is invited to stop in for a visit and refreshments. Bill Nickum started the agency with a card table in his bedroom in 1973, going door to door, building the agency one customer at a time. The four years before that, he was an insurance adjuster. "I was dealing with agents; with their clai...
December Christmas season sales were mostly stagnant across Orange County as sales tax collections were down from the year before. The Texas Comptroller's Office has sent sales tax payments to the entities covering December and only the city of Orange beat the inflation rate. Orange had a 6.97 percent increase for December 2022 compared to December 2021. The county collected 3.19 percent more, while other cities had slight decreases or stayed basically the same.i The U.S. infl...
Filing ended this past Friday for city council and school board elections in May. The cities of West Orange and Pinehurst, along with the Bridge City and Little Cypress-Mauriceville school districts, will be able to cancel their elections. State law allows board and council elections without contested races to be canceled. The city of Bridge City has the Place 3 council seat being contested after incumbent Tammi Fisette decided not to run. Bryant Champagne and Kenneth Prosperi...
The tree landscape in Texas is made up by a variety of species. From ponderosa pines in West Texas to oaks in Central Texas to dogwoods in East Texas, trees play a vital role in our ecosystem and provide countless benefits. But, what about species that cause negative impacts – invasive species? Simply put, there are three basic categories of tree species: native, non-native and invasive. Knowing where tree species fall into these categories may seem like trivial i...
A Civil War battleground and memorial commemorating an attempted Union assault on Sabine Pass has reopened after repairs from Hurricane Harvey. Sabine Pass Battleground State Historic Site in Port Arthur is back open to the public seven days a week, from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. The site closed in fall 2022 for seawall repairs and other construction projects. Admission is $5 per car and RV spaces are available to rent for $40. A self-guided tour of the site is available for all to...
Orange County is already getting money from the Chevron Phillips Chemical plant under construction. County Judge John Gothia said the company has paid nearly $2.4 million for a building-drainage permit on the acreage where the $8.5 billion plant is being built. Gothia said the county had put the money in reserves, or savings, and it is not included in the 2022-23 budget. However, that is changing. Commissioners Court Tuesday voted unanimously to move $500,000 of the money to t...
West Orange-Stark High School had a special day Saturday as the baseball field was named in honor of graduate and former New York Yankee shortstop Andre Robertson. The school board voted to name the field at Ronnie Anderson Stadium in honor of Robertson, who still lives in Orange. Robertson's brother, Roderick, is a school board member for the district and is also a former pro player. Also, the school added the late coach and teacher J.B. Bearden to the school's hall of...
Pete Runnels, one of the most colorful local politicians in modern Orange County history, died Saturday at the age of 79. Offices he served in were Orange County judge and Pinehurst mayor. He was known for his easy-going personality and his quick smile. Besides serving in public office, he worked with local civic groups through the years and he started the annual Pinehurst Labor Day Picnic for senior citizens. "He was a good guy in everything he did," Orange County Commissione...
What is now Orange County had an unusual start in that some of its original settlers were members of a free Black family, the Ashworths. Records show they first moved across the Sabine River from Calcasieu Parish, Louisiana, in 1831. William Ashworth was the first to come to Texas, followed by brothers Aaron and Abner. Their father, James, who was also free, had been in Louisiana since the 1700s. In the hardscrabble life of the pioneers, they had to work all the time to...
AUSTIN, TX - Lamar State College Orange (LSCO) President Dr. Tom Johnson testified this week before the Texas Senate Finance Committee. President Johnson shared the wonderful progress the college has made over the past year and sought additional funding for the next biennium. “At Lamar State College Orange, we’re dedicated to the goals of a Talent-Strong Texas,” President Johnson said. Dr. Johnson shared with the Committee that three-fourths of LSCO graduates are first...
The Orange Fire Department has promoted four firefighters and Chief John Bilbo held a pinning ceremony last week. Cody Caples and Joel Gilbert were promoted to become battalion chiefs, and Matthew Slagle and Hunter Isbell were promoted to captain. Shown Isbell, Slagle, Caples, and Gilbert....
AUSTIN — Every February for the past 21 years, countless volunteers have offered up their time to help search for and remove abandoned crab traps. Crab traps left in the water can foul shrimpers’ nets, snag anglers’ lines and “ghost fish” which allows traps to unintentionally kill fish trapped inside as well as create unseemly views. To date, more than 40,000 abandoned crab traps have been removed from Texas coastal waters. From Feb. 17 to 26, Texas coastal waters will be c...
The streets of downtown Orange will be crowded on Saturday, February 11, as kids and adults watch colorful lighted floats and catch shiny beads during the annual Mardi Gras parade. The parade is the end of a variety of festivities that kick off on Thursday evening with a free Together Thursday concert sponsored by Dow and the United Way of Orange County. The performance at the City of Orange Riverside Pavilion off Simmons Drive will feature the Spazmatics, an cover band of...
As 1965 civil rights protests led to the "Bloody Sunday" beatings in Alabama, Orange citizens elected their first Black public official. Elzie Odom was elected to become a trustee in the old Orange Independent School District. He did not serve long because a job promotion took him across the country. He never lost his interest in public service and later became the first Black mayor of Arlington, Texas, where a recreation center is now named in his honor. He wrote a memoir in...
J.B. Arrington turned a routine meeting of Orange County Commissioners Court into a memorable event as the 98-year-old local legend sought support for preserving breast milk. Arrington, who is a World War II veteran, recently closed his J.B.'s Barbecue restaurant after 50 years in business. Before that, he was the longtime agriculture teacher at the old Stark High. Arrington spoke during the citizens comments part at the beginning of the meeting. He began by thanking...
It's deja vu all over again for the Bridge City City Council. Once again, the council is looking for a new city manager. Mayor David Rutledge said Brent Walker resigned from the job after serving only "a year and six days." "He went to a smaller town for bigger money," Rutledge said. "He came in and we provided a good stepping stone." Bridge City was Walker's first city manager job. Previously, he had worked as the assistant city manager and finance director for Dalhart in the...
Cheryl January at LSCO has people of all ages and backgrounds coming to her office to learn about getting a new career. Some have even been teachers with four-year college degrees. They are looking into becoming a process operator in the booming petrochemical plants, oil refineries, and liquid gas units across Southeast Texas and Southwest Louisiana. The jobs are needed in the longtime plants or the newer ones, including the $8.5 billion Orange Chevron Phillips plant under...
When John R. Frederick Jr., of Mauriceville, learned about the Christian film production, "The First Step," being planned for Southeast Texas by Jerry Loncon and Studio 220 Films, he jumped in with both feet. He not only auditioned, but also offered to help in any way possible with the production. "I'm actually in a film coming up as a character but also Jerry blessed me with the capacity to be a producer," said Frederick in a podcast of "The Barefoot Director" recently....
Orange County had two tornadoes, with one determined to be an EF-2 that traveled 25.6 miles from Orangefield northeastward through Little Cypress and into Niblett's Bluff in Louisiana. The tornado caused two injuries and damaged numerous frame houses, RVs, and mobile homes. At times, it was 500 yards wide with peak winds of 120 mph, according to a survey from the National Weather Service in Lake Charles. Meteorologist Doug Cramer with warning coordination out of Lake Charles...
Sales during November were stagnant compared to the same month in 2021, according to statistics from the Texas Comptroller's Office. The office in January sent payments covering the month to entities with a sales tax. Orange and Emergency Services District 3 were the only entities with more than a slight increase. Because the payments were the first of the year the entities have received, the comptroller's office does not give year-to-date payments. Bridge City has a 1.5...
A tornado went through Orange County and touched down in three areas, with Orangefield having the most damage, Orange County Emergency Management Director Joel Ardoin said Tuesday night. He had reports of two injuries. In one, a woman was taken by ambulance to an area hospital, though he did not know the extent of her injuries. In another incident, an off-duty law officer inside his house was hit in the head by a tree limb coming through the roof. He had to have stitches. The...
The 62nd annual banquet of the Bridge City Chamber of Commerce was held Monday night at the Bridge City Community Center. Cil Dixon was named Citizen of the Year for her years as a CASA volunteer advocate and current board member. Her husband, Sherby, and three of her four children, along with other family members were present to witness the honor. "The children that we're serving don't have what we have," said Dixon. "I have a huge family. I have people that love me, support...
Soon, residents of Bridge City will be able to stop in after work for a glass of fresh brewed beer on the way home. After almost three years of planning, the first craft brewery will be opening its doors in February on Ferry Drive. Hop Avenue Brewing is the brainchild of Donny Delatte who lived in Bridge City for four years and currently lives in Nederland. He partnered with brew master Bill Mungai from Pittsburg, Penn. Mungai currently lives in Shreveport and plans to move...
The description of Orange's new hospital in 1921 sounds like a peaceful retreat for anyone, not just those needing medical care. "This delightful hotel for the sick is situated in one of Texas' oldest towns-Orange-looking out over the gardens and housetops to wide flat distances fringed by tall pines, while just out of sight the Sabine River winds towards the Gulf of Mexico and is an inland waterway of great commercial value," said a slick brochure booklet printed for the open...
Orange County is another step closer to getting a new hospital-medical center as the city of Orange has issued a $6.95 million permit for the interior work. The exterior has been under construction for more than a year. The permit was issued to Arch-Com Corporation, a national construction company that has a division specializing in healthcare facilities. The new medical complex is being developed by NexCore and Christus Southeast Texas Health Services. It is set to include a...
