Hometown News For Orange County, Texas
Hometown News For Orange County, Texas
Sorted by date Results 1 - 25 of 487
All the voting machines in Orange County have been calibrated and tested before being put out to the public. Plus, the machines are not connected to any internet server or wifi connection to allow hacking. Orange County Elections Administrator Donna Alford made these assurances late Tuesday as accusations flew on a political Facebook page. The unverified comments drew so much attention that Precinct 2 County Commissioner Chris Sowell issued a Facebook statement reminding...
The burn ban for Orange County is extended until further notice of the county judge as the county continues to be in a drought with windy conditions and grass fires breaking out. Commissioners Court Tuesday voted to extend the burn ban previously called by County Judge John Gothia. He said Orange County was the first to declare a burn ban in this area, but other counties have joined in. Other business included awarding a construction contract for the new Public Health...
The ghostly people from Orange's past will come out to the downtown area Saturday as Heritage House Museum presents its Eighth Annual Historic Ghost Walk. Family-friendly walks will be from 3 p.m. to 6 p.m., and "night fright" walks will be from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. The event to teach true stories and facts from Orange's history has become the museum's main fundraiser. High school drama students dress in costumes from different periods and tell true history researched and written...
Orange County voters will be able to go to polls on a Saturday and a Sunday this year as early voting for the tight presidential race, plus others, will start on Monday, October 21. Local races for some in the county will be to elect directors for the governing boards of Orange County Emergency Services Districts 1 and 3. The districts provide fire and rescue services to areas in the county. District 1 is for Vidor and District 3 is for Little Cypress. Also, the Orangefield IS...
The tower is already lit at night with the letters LSCO beaming across downtown and providing a new landmark, plus a beacon for higher education. For more than 110 years, the dome of First Presbyterian Church, and a few years later, the dome of First Baptist Church have been the eye-catchers of Orange. LSCO's new Academic Building with its tower is now the focus. LSCO President Dr. Tom Johnson will host a grand opening of the new Academic Building on Wednesday, November 6, at...
A cell phone video by a man in a pickup truck facing Green Avenue showed a school bus traveling eastbound on Green seconds before a police shootout started that left a man dead. The Texas Department of Public Safety said the man led police on a high-speed chase along Texas Highway 87 after Bridge City police got a call about shots being fired in a neighborhood. As of Tuesday evening, authorities had not released the identification of the victim. The chase and shooting left...
People traveling from Port Arthur to Bridge City for the next three days should plan on a lane closure for the Veterans Memorial Bridge area from 8:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. The Texas Department of Transportation announced the let lane of State Highway 87, also known as State Highway 73 in Jefferson County will be closed Wednesday, October 16; Thursday, October 17; and Friday, October 18, from 8:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. The lane will be closed from Levee Road in Port Arthur to Ferry...
The longtime Toyota dealership in Orange has a new name, a new giant Texas flag, new construction plans, and a new owner. That owner, Rick Jones, though, isn't focusing all on the visible. He's pledging a new reputation for the dealership along Interstate 10. "There's no where else but to go up," he said. "It was 1,000 percent a troubled dealership." The previous owner of the past decade became part of talk around the county concerning misleading advertising and sales...
As people across Orange County awoke to cool fall temperatures on Tuesday, the gates to the 14th annual Scarecrow Festival at Shangri La Botanical Gardens opened to bring autumn colors and activities for all ages. Schools, churches, businesses, civic clubs, and families design and set-up scarecrow displays along the walkways of Shangri La. Groups from throughout the area participate and attendees will be able to vote for their favorites in different categories. The gardens...
Kids will be able to experience being a real-life super hero during the Orange Fire Department's annual Open House on Monday, September 14, from 5 to 7 p.m. The free event for families will be at the city's Central Station, at Elm Avenue and Seventh Street in the Old Orange Historic District. Activities will include a kids-size firefighters obstacle course with participants practicing using ropes and hitting a target with water from a hose. Inflatable bounce toys will also be...
The Orange Train Depot is having another Bingo fundraiser event on Sunday, October 6, at the depot, 1210 Green Avenue in Orange. Doors open at 2 p.m. and Bingo games will start at 2:30 p.m. Entry is $25 per person and only 80 tickets will be sold at the door that afternoon. The fee includes 15 rounds of Bingo with a prize for every winner, plus mimosa drinks and light hors d'ouevres. Door prizes will also be awarded. The Orange Train Depot was built about 120 years ago as the...
Kids will be able to get free pumpkins in a variety of colors, sizes, and shapes Sunday afternoon at the end of Orangetober. The city of Orange's annual fall celebration will begin Friday evening and continue into Saturday at the Riverside Pavilion by the Boat Ramp off Simmons Drive. It's become a tradition after the festival for people to get more than 10,000 pumpkins set up to decorate the pavilion area. The decorative and colorful displays have become a popular place to...
Monday, October 7, is the deadline to register to vote in November's general election that includes the presidential race and a race for a U.S. senator from Texas. The presidential race is between Vice President Kamala Harris and Former President Donald Trump. Incumbent U.S. Senator Ted Cruz is running for another six-year term and facing Democrat Colin Allred, who is a member of the U.S. House of Representatives. In Orange County, all local offices have uncontested...
For the first time, Heritage House Museum is selling advance tickets to the annual Historic Ghost Walk through downtown Orange. The ghost walk this year will be Saturday, October 26, with family-friendly tours from 3 p.m. to 6 p.m., and "fright night" tours from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. Tour groups leave every 10 minutes. Historic Ghost Walk started in 2016 and this will be the eighth annual one after missing one during the Covid pandemic. The ghost walk begins at Heritage House...
Bridge City Mayor David Rutledge said the city's public library's hours are changing, but the library will still be open 35 hours a week as before. Beginning Tuesday, October 1, the library's open hours are Mondays through Fridays from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. The previous hours were 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Mondays, Tuesdays, and Wednesdays, then 1 p.m. to 7 p.m. on Thursdays, and 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Fridays. The library has not been open on weekends. "We did this to make sure we could...
Chevron-Phillips has spent so far nearly $340 million locally in conjunction with the construction of the Golden Triangle Polymers plant off Highway 87 South. Heather Betancourth with Golden Triangle Polymers gave the information to Orange County Commissioners Court on Tuesday. The report covered the second quarter of 2024, or the months of April, May, and June. The reports and requirements to spend money with local companies and hire local people was part of the conditions...
The Bridge City City Council is working with a consulting firm once again to help in the search for a new city manager to become the city's third manager in two years. The council was set to meet Tuesday evening and then go into a closed-door executive session to discuss the position, criteria for the selection, and candidates. Slavin Management Consultants based in Georgia is helping with the search with job applicants applying online or by letter through the company, which t...
Meals on Wheels thriving again with new director Orange County's Meals on Wheels program, which suffered what the citizens' board described as a "crisis" in late April, is now thriving again with a new director and income. Kristen Ross, a native of Orange with experience in public healthcare, is the new director. Also, Golden Triangle Polymers donated $15,000, plus a fundraiser for the group sold $1,657 barbecue sandwich lunches. Meals on Wheels in Orange County delivers hot,...
Sales tax payments to entities in Orange County have mainly been keeping steady increases, except for the city of Orange, which is down about $1.8 million for the year. The Texas Comptroller's Office has sent the share payments this month to the entities that collect sales taxes. The payments cover sales in the month of July. Orange County was slightly down for July this year compared to last year, but was up 4.84 percent for the year to date. The county received $618,581 for...
As Meri Elen Jacobs taught journalism at West Orange-Stark High School for more than 20 years, she also wrote and took photographs for local publications. Now that she's retired, she's written a book about a subject that she could not have imagined. The book is "Navigating Prison from the Outside" with the subtitle "A practical and spiritual guide to help parents through the first few years of their child's lock-up." Her son, Stevan Smith, was sent to prison in 2018 for...
Bridge City was filled with unusual sights Saturday evening. Lights from colorful hot air balloons glowed through the skies and a seemingly endless line of cars was full of people lining up to get into the first Hot Air Glo Balloon Festival. The crowd of an estimated 6,500 people has drawn enough enthusiasm for the Bridge City Chamber of Commerce to begin thinking of bringing the hot air balloons back next year. "It was amazing," said Mandy Lyda, chamber director about the...
Cowboy Church of Orange County has opened their new covered arena and is now ready to kick off an old-fashioned Trade Days with farmers market at the end of the month. Pastor Harland Strother said the 40,000 square foot arena will seat more than 1,000 people with more room to seat 200 in lawn chairs. The arena also has a professional concession stand with new equipment. The congregation of the church on FM 1078 outside of Orange voted to build the arena for many uses,...
The Bridge City-Orangefield area has a lot going on at the end of the week and people are breathing a sigh of relief as Hurricane Francine moved away from the upper Texas coast. The Bayou Bowl Classic football game between the Cardinals and Bobcats will be on Friday night and the Bridge City Chamber's Hot Air Balloon Glo Festival will be Saturday evening with giant hot air balloons, 11 food trucks, live bands, and performances by high school dance teams. The designation "Bayou...
Kaycie Gunn grew up with cameras, but instead of still shots, she liked video. She enjoyed making moving shots and adding music to them. For the past decade, she's had a video business that includes drone photography. But those studio still portraits are in her blood. She's now been studying under her father, Chris Gunn, to learn the techniques and lighting needed for the profession. She is now becoming the fourth generation to operate Gunn Studio, which opened in Orange in...
The chair of the Orange County Republican Party on Tuesday presented Commissioners Court with a resolution asking that meetings be held at a time "more accessible to the working class." Chair Cheryl Warren requested the meetings move from the 10 a.m. Tuesday time to sometime 6 p.m. or later. The resolution from the county Republican organization says a morning meeting "is an unrealistic time for tax paying working citizens to attend." The request comes two weeks after...
