ORANGE COUNTY
Outdoors HUNTING & FISHING
FISHING Capt. Dickie Colburn Page 2 Section B
Capt. Chuck Uzzle Page 2 Section B
SPORTS
Commentary Kaz’s Korner Joe Kazmar Page 1 Section B
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County Record TheRecordLive.com
Vol. 60 No. 13
The Community Newspaper of Orange, Texas
Week of Wednesday, August 28, 2019
County sets table for chem plant abatement ange County in this endeavor that we are looking forward to.” Earlier, commissioners took the first step toward what Gothia said was a plan
to give all county employees a 2% raise. They did it by voting 4-1 to advertise plans for a 2% raise for all county elected officials – with Precinct 4 Com-
missioner Robert Viator voting “nay.” They voted 5-0 to propose a 2% raise for County Auditor Pennee Schmitt, who reports to the county’s state
district judges. The vote for a Reinvestment Zone now makes it possible for the county and COUNTY BUSINESS Page 3A
Granger Chevrolet hosts All-Star Open House Event . . .
Jessica Hill, director of Orange County Economic Development Corporation, appears before county commissioners Tuesday asking for a Reinvestment Zone for land recently purchased by Chevron Phillips Chemical. RECORD PHOTO: Dave Rogers
Dave Rogers
For The Record
Orange County Commissioners voted unanimously Tuesday to establish a 1,600acre Reinvestment Zone that might one day be home to
one of the world’s largest chemical plants. “This is a big moment for all of us in Orange County,” County Judge John Gothia said. “I certainly want to thank Chevron Phillips for their consideration of Or-
Dow Chemical to sponsor concert series Dave Rogers
For The Record
Dow Chemical, the new kid in town, continues to bring its own housewarming gifts to the city of Orange. At Tuesday night’s City Council meeting, the company now operating the 70-year-old DuPont plant announced a $20,000 grant to put on a series of downtown concerts in October. “I just love Orange. I like what’s going on here,” Stacey Gautreau, public affairs director, said. She said a pair of free concerts titled “Together Thursdays” had been tentatively scheduled for Thursday, Oct. 10 and Thursday, Oct. 24 at the Riverfront Boardwalk
and Pavilion in downtown Orange. Details will be available in September, she said. “This is a family-friendly concert series. Bring your lawn chairs and have fun,” Gautreau said. “We believe this is a great way to celebrate the diversity of our community and also, music is always a great way to come together.” Orange Mayor Larry Spears, Jr., is a health and safety manager at Dow Chemical, who began years ago with DuPont. “Dow also donated $50,000 to our local Little League organizations,” Spears pointed out, “and now they’ve re-
Ralf Mimms of Granger Chevrolet in Orange shows off a beautiful new 2019 Corvette during the annual Granger’s Chevrolet All-Star Open House Event at the dealership on Saturday. The event kicked off a month long sale that ends Sept. 30 and featured a classic car show, hotdogs, apple pie and Chevrolet. 5Point Credit Union is a co-sponsor of the event offering special rates to new Chevy buyers until the sale ends. RECORD PHOTO: Stump Weatherford
DOW CONCERT Page 3A
Retirement adds up for math teacher Susan Kazmar Dave Rogers
For The Record
She was born in the Show Me state but for more than 40 years Susan Kazmar showed her math skills to Orange school students. “I was always good at math,” said the veteran of 45 years in classrooms from Columbia, Missouri to Orangefield. “It’s where I made my very best grades.” Kazmar’s love for and skills for teaching math made her one of Orange County’s top teachers for more than four decades. But she says she’s retired for good this time. “I really am through,” she said in an interview Monday, a couple of days before class-
es began in West OrangeCove schools, where she did most of her teaching. “None of my friends believe Kazmar me. My doctors don’t believe me. But I am.” When Kazmar thinks back on her teaching career, one of the things she remembers most is tutoring Earl Thomas for a second try at the SAT test. “He would come to my office once a day or maybe more,” she said. Thomas, best known
around here as a former Mustang All-Stater, an AllAmerican football player at the University of Texas and an All-Pro NFL safety, did so well after working with Kazmar, “they wouldn’t take it,” she said of the College Board. But Kazmar’s appeal to the SAT people worked. Thomas was on to college. And he didn’t forget the help she’d provided. “His mother called and invited me to his 21st birthday party,” Kazmar said. “We’ve stayed in touch.” She shows off a photo of SUSAN KAZMAR Page 3A
Susan Kazmar, left, and her husband Joe spend time with Orange All-Pro football player Earl Thomas after a 2014 game in Seattle.
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