Sherlock Breaux in the Creaux's Nest

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 hospital cases are growing but nothing about those who don’t go to hospital. So far, 51.2 percent of Texans has been vaccinated and it’s very discouraging that only 29 percent of Orange County has been vaccinated, less that one third of our citizens. Our neighboring states, Louisiana and Arkansas, are running ramped with the pandemic. With many of our citizens going in and out of these states, it’s impossible to prevent it from spreading to our people who are not vaccinated. Seventy percent of our citizens will be the spreaders. My take is by November we will see 200,000 daily cases in the country. If there is ever going to be a good outcome, the real heroes will be the folks who rolled up their sleeve and took the shot. That shot guarantees against sickness and death of others. We take a flu and shingles shot but not a shot that takes in ingredients from both vaccines. Locally, public officers, doctors, etc. need to speak out more forcefully. Athletic AD’s and coaches need to encourage their high school athletes to get vaccinated. Here is what you can almost predict, an athletic will bring the virus to the locker room and most, if not all, the team will end up in quarantine, right in the middle of the season. It’s going to get worse, far worse, if we don’t get at least 15 percent more of our citizens to realize the jeopardy they are putting everyone in, young and old alike. There is absolutely no good reason not to step up and do the right thing. I know you can lead a horse to the trough but you can’t make him drink. Even four of my own relatives are not vaccinated. They are youngsters who are listening to the propaganda on Facebook or other social media outlets. There are thousands of cases where people wish now they would not have listened to the falsehoods and had gotten a shot and saved family members or friends. *****I must move on. Please come along, I promise it won’t do you no harm.

JANUARY 6 HEARING BEGINS

“NO LOVE FEST”

A House select committee examining the events of Jan. 6 opened its investigation Tuesday with vivid, visceral testimony from four law enforcement officers who were savagely attacked as they defended the U.S. Capitol from armed supporters of President Donald Trump, delivering an emotional portrait of the insurrection’s lasting toll more than six months later. Republican leaders have boycotted the investigation and sought to blame House Speaker Nancy Pelosi for the casualties as a way of deflecting scrutiny away from Trump, who was impeached earlier this year on charges he incited the violent bid to prevent lawmakers from certifying Electoral College results and declaring Joe Biden the next president. When Rep. Liz Cheney asked how it made him feel to know that Trump had described the rioters as a “ HYPERLINK "https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2021/07/21/trump-interview-i-alone-can-fix-it/" \t "_blank" loving crowd,” Gonell’s residual anger was palpable. “It’s upsetting. It’s a pathetic excuse for his behavior, for something that he himself helped to create. HYPERLINK "https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/public-safety/capitol-riot-police-injuries-trauma/2021/07/23/e008f0f0-d8d8-11eb-9bbb-37c30dcf9363_story.html" \t "_blank" ‘Some are still suffering’: Months after Capitol riot, police who fought the mob contend with physical, psychological pain. At one point in his testimony, D.C. police officer Michael Fanone, who suffered a heart attack, a traumatic brain injury, and said he heard rioters threaten to “kill him with his own gun” — banged his fist on the witness table to accentuate how “disgraceful” it was that some Republican lawmakers were trying to make light of what he endured defending the Capitol. Their expressions of emotion were at times infectious. At several points throughout the hearing, observers and even some lawmakers dabbed at their eyes. Rep. Adam Kinzinger, stifling back tears. “For all the overheated rhetoric surrounding this committee, our mission is very simple: it’s to find the truth and to ensure accountability.” “Honorable men and women have an obligation to step forward,” Cheney said in her opening remarks. “If those responsible are not held accountable, and if Congress does not act responsibly, this will remain a cancer on our constitutional republic.” Kinzinger asked all four officers how it made them feel when people said it was “time to move on” from Jan. 6. “Does this feel like old history and time to move on?” Each responded no. When it came his turn, Hodges thought for a moment and added: “there can be no moving on without accountability.”

TURNING BACK THE HANDS OF TIME

10 Years Ago-2011

Well, at least we will get to watch some football now that the NFL and players have settled their differences. One of our Orange County boys in the NFL, Earl Thomas, has signed a contract with the Seahawks. However, as of Tuesday morning, Atlanta hasn’t resigned Orange County’s Matt Bryant. Surely they won’t let one of the best kickers in the league get away. *****Believe it or not we’re still in a drought and need more heavy rainfall. Some people have received good amounts but other areas very little. All of Texas is burning up far worse than what we’re experiencing. *****The Republicans got us in this mess. When President Clinton left office he left a $5 trillion surplus, the national debt was $5.6 trillion after 200 years. When Bush left office the $5 trillion surplus was gone and the national debt had doubled to $11 trillion and 22 million jobs were lost, eight million in the last six months of the Bush/Cheney administration. Obama didn’t inherit a bed of roses with that economy and two wars ongoing. *****Congrats to Gene Smith, new Veteran’s Service Officer. We have known Gene a long time and think he is a good choice. He is married to the former Marilyn Vaughn who was legal secretary for Wayne Peveto. The couple cares for people and has always been ready to help. Gene is very knowledgeable and wants to do a good job.*****On Aug. 1, Russell Dillow will mark his first year anniversary as owner of the Orange Sears store. The time has flown by.***** Special folks celebrating their special day this week. Our buddy Blaze Montagne turns 12 on July 28. Over the years Blaze has furnished us with deer meat, including the back strap, from deer he killed himself. Sometimes his grandfather Johnny’s deer meat gift is short the back strap. Last week he provided us with flounder that he personally caught. Blaze is an exceptional young man. His beautiful mother is Heather, the State Farm agent. Happy birthday Blaze.*****A longtime friend, going back 50 years, is Dr. Joe Majors. He and wife Mary raised their tribe in Bridge City where he was a longtime dentist and community volunteer. He served on charter organizations including the formation of Little League in the early 1960s. We are proud to call him friend. Happy birthday Doc on July 29.***Attorney Joy Dubose Simonton, daughter of Joyce and John Dubose, big sister to brother Johnny, mother to a couple of younguns, celebrates her special day. ***The “Lion” himself, Stump Weatherford, marks another birthday Aug. 2. Everyday that he’s married to Dayle is a special gift. He doesn’t need much more. ***FaceBook friends celebrating birthdays. On July 22, Ty Manuel will be a year older; July 28 Irma Dimas; July 30, Brandi Barlow; July 31, Colby Perrodin and Aug. 2, Jean Lapeyrolie. ***** On July 23, Amy Winehouse, 27, joined other entertainers who met their death at a young age. Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin and Kirt Colbane were also all 27 years old when they died. Hank Williams was only 29, Elvis was 41 years old. Amy was born Sept. 14, 1983. In most cases, if not all, the above folks threw their lives away. *****Hundreds of “Same Sex” couples wed Sunday, the first legal day to do so in New York. Other states that legalized same sex marriages are Connecticut, Iowa, Massachusetts, Vermont and New Hampshire. I just heard Grandpa shout from the grave, “Say What!”

GONE BUT NOT FORGOTTEN

Obituaries 10 Years Ago-2011

Ray “PaPa” Donnaud, 86, died July 22. Ray was an Orange native, a WWII vet, a great guy and one heck of a barbecue cook. “PaPa” was a fun guy who had a great family and was a Jack-of-all-trades. He was a giver who loved his family, friends and homeland. He and Sue were married 64 years.*****Tony Cuccio, 86, passed away Thursday, July 21. Services were held Monday, July 25. A World War II veteran, he was married 65 years to Ms. Gladys. Tony was a native of Crowley, LA. and had been a resident of Orange County since 1946. He retired from the Orange Navy Base and was an electrician.*****Bernard White, 71, of Orange, died Saturday, July 23. at his home. Funeral services will be Wednesday, July 27. He served in the United States Marines and worked as a mechanic until his retirement from DuPont. He was a member of the American Legion. Bernard is survived by his ex-wife and best friend, Mary Jo White; daughters, Sydney Moreau and Mandy White-Rogers; son, Kevin B. White; seven grandchildren; two great-grandchildren.***** Richard “Rick” Leonard Livingston, 53, of Bridge City, died Wednesday, July 20, in Orange. Memorial Services were held on Monday, July 25. Rick is survived by his mother, Jimmie Livingston; son Jonathan Livingston; grandchildren, Easton and Lynleigh Livingston.*****Sue Winn DeVille, 79, of Orange, died Thursday, July 21. A Graveside Service was held Saturday, July 23. She was a nurse and received her LVN from Lamar State College - Orange. Sue is survived by her son John Winn, Jr .; daughter Jamie Massa; son Steve Winn; She is also survived by four grandchildren, six great-grandchildren.

22 Years Ago-1999

H.K. “Knox” Clark is recovering from prostrate surgery. He’s doing well and coming home over the weekend. *****Jenna Dunn arrives from Boston for her summer vacation. She was vacationing at Cape Cod when JFK Jr.’s plane went down. The 14 years old is helping at the family newspaper. Her sister Amber works at the Louis Dugas law firm. (Law office work wasn’t her cup of tea. She went into medicine after leaving Dugas and is now an MD.)*****Doug Harrington and family return from their home in the Woodlands, Colorado. Before they returned Dow Gene and Charlotte Anderson, great friends, had mowed and cleaned up the Harrington place, which had grown up while they were away. *****Jordan Lael Kobty, 10-month-old daughter of Tarig and Sheyna Thompson Kobty, takes first runner up in the Dallas Glamour Pageant. Jordan is the granddaughter of Glenda and Denzil Thompson of Bridge City. *****Orange County grants tax abatement for Firestone expansion project.

42 Years Ago-1979

Gary Worster, 21 years old son of R.B. and Louise, brother of Steve Worster and father of one son, Jacob, lost his life in a motorcycle/auto accident Thursday August 3.  Gary was a former Bridge City and Lamar football star. *****Fannie Beaty scoots around town on a yellow Moped. *****Joe Kazmar makes a 200 yard hole-in-one at the DERA par 3 17th hole, with a #5 wood. *****Vickie Drake is engaged to marry Frank Brown, son of Edgar and Betty Brown. Dr. Brown is teaching at U.T. The couple plans a December wedding. Vickie is the daughter of Betty and Earl Drake. *****Frank Manchac, Jr. will wed Laura Ann Pachar on August 18. Her uncle, Neal Miller, will give the bride in marriage. *****Karen Leslie Smith becomes the bride of Mark Hryhorchuk. Both attended Texas A&M. *****Doug Ballard is home from the hospital after being treated for Spinal Meningitis. *****Lou and Arval Hebert are the proud parents of twins, Michael and Anna. Manson Hebert, Sr. is the proud grandpaw.

47 Years Ago-1974

Suds Package Store, on Hwy. 87, is now owned by Ed Bacon who bought it from previous owner Roy Dunn. *****Clester Andrews is the Honda and UniRoyal tire dealer at 2900 MacArthur Dr.*****Rebecca Duhon is the bride-elect of Stephen Wolfe. *****Al Zeno had open-heart surgery in Houston.

72 Years Ago-1949

Tom Butts buys the Yellow Cab Company from the Bass Brothers. Butts will own 33 of the 37 cars that operate in Orange. (Editor’s note: Can you believe 37 cabs, now not a one. Times change.)*****J. B. Peddy names five lifeguards for Orange’s new swimming pool. They are T.J. Ryan, James Wilkinson, Don Leroy Young, Voughn McCollum and Charles H. Schnatter.

77 Years Ago-1934

Julius David, 15, makes hole-in-one using a 5-iron. *****A $5,000 reward is issued for the arrest of John Dillinger’s five mad dogs. They are John Hamilton, Charles Floyd, “Baby Face” Nelson, Homer VanMeter and Richard “Tall Man” Galatas. *****Funeral services were held for Arthur S. Bancroff, 82, Orange County pioneer.

A FEW HAPPENINGS

Our own Penny LeLeux, local composer Reggie Rogers Jr. and lead bad guy John Frederick Jr. were in Nashville, Tennessee this week for the Music City Film Festival.  They traveled to be awarded for the Short Film, “Shhh” that was shot in Orange and Bridge City.  The film was the brainchild of LeLeux of Orangefield.  Penny tells us she even dug out some 30 year old fabric and made her dress for the black tie event. While enroute to Nashville, LeLeux learned that the film had been selected to be part of the Cannes Short Film Festival in France. Kudos to Penny.*****Congrats to Wendell Tilley named INVISTA Orange site manager. Tilley has been with INVISTA for 29 years.*****We are enjoying the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo but were disappointed Simone Biles didn’t compete in team competition sighting mental hang-ups. Team USA received the silver medal.*****All Orange County constables attended classes in College Station last week. No one got in trouble. The new breed of constables are a far cry from those who attended these classes years ago. There was always tales from those boys. Claybar, Gunner, Frye and Ortego are low-key guys, however, Brad sometimes gets a little excited. I hear that former Pct. 1 constable Chuck Humble is serving as a deputy for Lannie Claybar.*****Our prayers go out to our dear friend Cherry Stout who is due to have open heart surgery at St. E. in a few days. We wish her the best. Daughter Darlene Montagne will be looking after her dad, 99-year-old Pearl Harbor vet, Cedric Stout, during Cherry’s recovery.*****A few folks we know celebrating birthdays. July 29: Lisa Faulk, Johnathan Snipe, Hannah Clayton, celebrate today.*****July 30: Keith Gross, Daniel Faircloth and Chris Lopez celebrate. Danny Stevens turns 72 on this date. Also, Liam Greeson turns 3-years-old. He’s one of Mark’s five grandsons. He’s the son of Clay and Amber Greeson, both doctors in Florida, who tell us the number of COVID patients at the hospital they work at is higher than at its peak in 2020. Liam has two brothers Luke, age 4 and Rowan, age 1.*****July 31: Our buddy Stump Weatherford celebrates today. Also Dr. Amber Weidner, Laci Braus and Debbie Moerbe.*****Aug. 1: Happy Birthday to Vickie Arkeen, Megan Vogt, Terri Romero, Missy Pillsbury, Tana Thompson and our friend Judge Joy Dubose Simonton.*****Aug. 2: Our buddy Judge Roy Derry Dunn celebrates today as does Sherri Vincent and Chloe Halliburton.*****Aug. 3: Happy Birthday to Kaylon Brack, Bob Gephart, Lacey Monceaux and Joe Elam.*****The Lunch Bunch gathering last week was very interesting. Round Robin style, folks relayed personal stories. One thing I learned is even though Orange city councilman David Bailey isn’t very old he knows a lot about the old folks of Orange County’s past. He also is very astute at to what is happening around the community today. David gets around. The Lunch Bunch gathers every Wednesday, 12 Noon, at Robert’s Restaurant. Everyone is welcome. We miss seeing some of our old friends who haven’t returned to the gathering yet. We hope to see them soon.*****My thoughts as I watched the Capitol police officers testify in the Jan. 6 hearings Tuesday is that every law enforcement office in the country should be irate at how the officers were treated and disrespected with over 140 injured. Throughout life many of my friends have been in law enforcement. The cult that attacked them at the Capitol was mostly white, middle-age men, 30 to 60 years old. No Blacks, few women or young people.

CAJUN STORY OF THE WEEK

Sostan Comeaux and Elray Thibodeaux had jus left da hamburger place and was standing at da corner waiting for da red light to change when a big flatbed truck went by loaded with rolls of St. Augustine turf. Comeaux said, “Tib, I’m going to do dat me wen I win da lotary, be rich and become a Republican.”

Somewhat puzzled Thibodaux axe, “Sostan, wat you mean about dat hanh?”

Well Tib, look at dat truck, me too I’m gonna send my grass off to get cut.”

C’EST TOUT

Paxton endorsed by Trump in Texas AG race

On Monday, former President Donald Trump endorsed Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton as he seeks his third term. That also stymies one of Paxton’s primary opponents, Land Commissioner George P. Bush, the only prominent member of his family to back Trump in the 2016 election. Bush had sought the former president’s endorsement. Two months ago, Trump announced he’d support one of the two, saying, “I like them both very much.” Trump’s endorsement came on the six-year anniversary of Paxton’s indictment for securities fraud, for which he is out on bond and awaiting trial with no date set. Paxton also faces an FBI investigation into allegations by his former top aides that he accepted bribes and used his office to benefit a friend and campaign donor. Former Democratic primary field has also begun to take shape, including lawyer and former Galveston mayor Joe Jaworski and Dallas mayor and civil rights lawyer Lee Merrin. After the 2020 election, Trump and his allies filed dozens of unsuccessful lawsuits in various states challenging results. It was Paxton’s lawsuit that Trump appeared to pin his hopes on, referring to the case as “The Big One.” The court declined to consider the lawsuit. Paxton’s own “Election Fraud Unit” has yet to discover widespread fraud on the scale alleged by Trump. George P. Bush said in an interview with the Texas Tribune that he does not believe there was enough fraud in the 2020 election to validate Trump’s claims that the election was stolen. George P. should have known Trump would throw him under the bus. I suspect his dad Jeb and uncle George W. told him as much. George P. gambled on Trump and lost. No doubt Paxton doesn’t deserve a third term, he forfeited that right. Prison might be his future.*****That’s all for today. Take care, stay safe and God bless.