Dickie Colburn: Fishing See Page 1B
Cooking with Katherine See Page 8A
Hometown Highlights
Page 1B
County Record The Community Newspaper of Orange, Texas
Vol. 51 No. 10
Week of Wednesday, June 15, 2011
Burn ban sparks fireworks in county
Nicole Gibbs
For The Record
The burn ban and fireworks were some of the major topics at the regular session of Orange County Commissioners’ Court Monday. Parts of Orange County have reached the highest level on the Keetch-Byram Drought Index. Jeff Kelley, Emergency Management director, advised commissioners to keep the burn ban in effect. The county is 16-20 inches short of rainfall this year. Kelley said the
Norris and Windell Broussard.
county hasn’t seen drought conditions this severe since 2000. Several people from the fireworks inKELLEY dustry came to speak before the court this week since commissioners banned aerial fireworks at last week’s court session. Jaime Peltz representing Joe’s Hogwild Fireworks asked the court not to place a total ban on fireworks. She said fireworks are
regulated by the Consumer Product Safety Commission. According to Peltz, fireworks are tested for safety “to make sure they are not the fire hazards people think they are.” She stated it is the misuse of
fireworks that causes fires. Peltz said closing the short window of sales opportunity is very detrimental to not only fireworks stands but also area organizations. Volunteers man their booths for a per-
centage of the sales. She also said there is an additional two percent sales tax on fireworks in Texas that goes into a fund specifically for volunteer fire departments. “All they have to do is apply for these benefits.”
Joe Daughtery, President of Texas Fireworks Association said less than 1 percent of fires are from fireworks. He asks them to just prohibit use beCOUNTY BUSINESS PAGE 2A
H OC All-Stars shine in East Team victory H
RECORD PHOTO: Darla Daigle
FATHER’S DAY . . .
Building of a family legacy Greg Hayes
For The Record
Sitting in a humble home off Hwy. 62 in Orange sits a gentleman whose fingerprints are in thousands of area homes. Not figuratively but literally. Drifting in and out of a 87
Inside The Record • SHERLOCK BREAUX Page..................... 4A • Obituaries Page......................7A •Dicky Colburn Fishing..................1B • Kaz’s Korner Joe Kazmar...........4B • CHURCH NEWS Page......................7B • CLASSIFIED ADS Page......................8B
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years worth of memories, Norris Broussard, easily recalls details of stories and events, times and dates from over half a century past. His hands are still the hands of a workingman and his face riddled with the lines of age and years of earning a well-deserved rest. Work is what Broussard has known for ninety percent of his life. “I quit school at age fourteen to learn carpentry from my uncle,” Broussard said. “He and my aunt were raising me and they were poor.” His uncle, a cabinetmaker, that made a meager living in the fields of building and other jobs, taught him and did so well. “I worked with him for seven years,” Broussard says informatively, “ I made a buck-fifty a day with room and board and that was big money for me.” He continues to describe other jobs his uncle did for a dollar a day all heavy labor working for the Hunter Canal in Louisiana, where Broussard was born and raised. There were elements of the work ethic and skills he obtained from his uncle that stayed with him his whole life but those initial skills were only the foundation. Marrying in 1947 he and his wife struck out for a better life. He didn’t find his way to Texas by accident but came looking for more money, which he found. Landing in Texas City in 1950, Broussard found himself with a jump in pay from $1 an hour to a huge increase of $2.50 an hour. He also learned new crafts quickly and his sharp mind used those new skills effectively. FATHER AND SON PAGE 2A
Zach Sonnier representing the LC-M Bears shakes hands with famed UT Longhorn Steve Worster during introduction ceremonies for the second annual Southeast Texas Ford Dealers All-Star Classic played at Lamar in Beaumont on Saturday. Sonnier put in an incredible performance for the East Team being named Offensive MVP in the 20-13 victory over West. RECORD PHOTO: Mark Dunn
WOS teacher Meri Elen Jacobs wept as she steps on the field symbolically carrying the No. 12 jersey of fallen Mustang quarterback Reggie Garrett Jr. The jersey will be hung in the high school.
Wilson Washington represented the West Orange-Stark Mustangs for the East Team. Washington was named Defensive MVP in the East Team victory. RECORD PHOTOS: Mark Dunn
See Story and Additional Photos Section B
Landmark Peveto tax bill turns 35-years old Greg Hayes
For The Record
Wayne Peveto spends most of his time these days working with cattle and horses on his 3500-acre ranch north of Orange. Once, he stood on the floor of the Texas House of Representatives, getting legislation passed and going head-to-head with politicians. He finds his cattle and horses less stub-
born. “I enjoy them much more,” he said with a chuckle. This year marks 32 years since Peveto got his tax-appraisal bill passed, known as The Peveto Bill, which revolutionized the tax-appraisal process across the state. Peveto’s bill created the appraisal districts that operate in every county of the state. Before, each county could perform it’s own appraisals, as well as each city,
school district and any other special district, such as drainage districts. “The county could appraise your property at one value, and the city could appraise it higher,” he said. “The school district could appraise it at another value. There was no remedy for the taxpayer. (The legislature) was dispensing money to school districts without even knowing PEVETO BILL PAGE 3A