County Record Vol. 56 No. 12
The Community Newspaper of Orange, Texas
Week of Wednesday, July 2, 2014
County sues Vidor developer for filling flood way David Ball
For The Record
A Vidor businessman is being sued by Orange County for loading fill material into a flood way. Douglas Manning, assistant county attorney, told the Orange County Commissioners’ Court at their Monday afternoon meeting the lawsuit is against developer Sonny Stevenson of Parkwood Land Company for creating a public nuisance. The lawsuit will be filed in the U.S. District Court of the eastern district of Texas. Joel Ardoin, code compliance officer, said FEMA told the county the fill material must be removed from the east bank of the Neches River at the Purple Heart Memorial Bridge
on Interstate 10. Likewise, the county is suing to abate it. Ardoin said the if the problem is not corrected, Orange County will be THIBODEAUX penalized by FEMA. The worst case scenario would be for county residents flood insurance costs to increase. At the last commissioners’ court meeting on June 23, Precinct 4 Commissioner Jody Crump asked the court for the status of where Stevenson’s permit was in the process of approval or disapproval. Stevenson filed a request to the code compliance office on
Finley murder remains unsolved
Still no arrest 12 years later
Debbie Schamber For The Record
Dannarriah Finley would have been 17 on her birthday July 22, but her life was taken from her when she was just 4 years old. Orange County still mourns the loss of a little girl who was taken from her home on July 4, 2002. Her lifeless body found four days later near the water’s edge in a remote part of Pleasure Island in Port Arthur. All that remains of the young girl’s life is memories and a few belongings. Her gravesite marks the place where her tiny body was buried. Among the pine needles is a faded photo of her during happier times and some tattered, sun-bleached artificial flowers . The house where she once lived was destroyed in 2005 during Hurricane Rita when a tree fell through it. Since then the city of Orange has removed the remains of the place she once called home. As the nation was preparing to celebrate the Fourth of July holiday, Dannarriah’s killer had plans of their own and had taken her from her bed late that night. Jamie Arnold, Dannarriah’s mother, reported her
One of the last photos of Dinnarriah Finley.
missing from their residence located in the 1000 block of 4th Street. Arnold told investigators she had last seen her daughter asleep at 4 a.m. in a white floral shirt and purple shorts. When she awoke at about 10 a.m., her daughter was nowhere to be found. Arnold told the officers it was not uncommon for her to leave the front door unlocked at night because her mother often came by the house. Once the news was out, the city was flooded with volunteers to help search for the 4-year-old girl with the shy smile and long braids. Some volunteers brought helicopters and horsDANNARRIAH Page 3A
March 28, 2014. County Judge Carl Thibodeaux said no action was taken by the court, but he wanted a decision for Steven-
son by the following week. Stevenson was informed this week his permit was denied. Precinct 3 Commissioner
John Banken thanked the Orange County Sheriff’s Office, Road & Bridge Department, the emergency management de-
partment and others for their response to the natural gas leak COUNTY BUSINESS Page 3A
Happy Birthday Bridge City 44 Years Ago This Week Bridge City Became A City David Ball and Mark Dunn For The Record
The United States of America isn’t the only one celebrating a birthday in July. The city of Bridge City will be observing its anniversary when it came into existence on July 7, 1970. Though the city has been around for more than four decades, the last 10 years may have been the most eventful according to Mayor Kirk Roccaforte. “There’s been a lot of ROCCAFORTE trying times the last 10 years,” he said. “I became mayor eight years ago. Hurricane Ike hit six years ago in 2008.” Roccaforte said in spite of Bridge City being devastated by the hurricane, the city has bounded back really well. “Bridge City is rolling along real well. It’s on the rise; on the increase,” he said. This was the first time the city of nearly 9,000 residents had flooded. Roccaforte pointed out other portions of the Golden Triangle have also flooded and have come back. “The Groves area once flooded and it didn’t deter their growth,” Roccaforte said. Follwing Ike, the city began rebuilding its infrastructure and the citizens did an “excellent job” in coming back, keeping Bridge City a “very special place,” he said. The city has been hardening its facilities, placing generators in strategic places to keep the lights running so that electricity won’t be lost in emergency situations. Nearly all the streets were under water and since most
Preston “Red” Wood at his desk as Bridge City’s first mayor in 1970.
C.W. “Bubba” Hubbard recalled the founding of Bridge City in an interview with The Record prior to his death in 2005. RECORD PHOTO: Mark Dunn
have been repaired. “We have rebuilt 98 percents of our roads,” Roccaforte said. “We’ve done quite a bit of infrastructure for wastewater. The sewer plant
has been rebuilt and projects are still going on.” Another project the city continues to work on is appealing recent FEMA flood elevation maps. Roccaforte
said the city has been successful with a coalition of other governmental entities CITIZEN ‘FOR’ Page 2A
Civil Rights era remembered in 50th year Larry Johnson For The Record
H • SHERLOCK BREAUX Page...................... 4A • Obituaries Page.......................6A •Dicky Colburn Fishing...................1B • CHURCH NEWS Page................ ......5B • CLASSIFIED ADS Page......................6B
The Rev. Franklin Gans could had lived anywhere after his service in the U.S. Marine Corps. He chose to return to Orange. “I was the first black teacher in an integrated school. That meant a lot to me. Orange, Texas led in integration,” Gans said. “It was an educational thing for all of us. I was just teaching children.” Gans has also been involved in the civil rights movement all of his life and a member of the NAACP for more than 50 years. In fact, he’s a lifetime member and vice president of the local chapter.
It was also 50 years ago that the Civil Rights Act of 1964 became the law of the land. The Civil Rights Act of 1964 is the nation’s premier civil rights legislation, according to National Park Service website. The Act outlawed discrimination on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, or national origin, required equal access to public places and employment, and enforced desegregation of schools and the right to vote. It did not end discrimination, but it did open the door to further progress. Gans said conditions growing up in Orange such as Jim Crow laws created a need for a civil rights organization such as the NAACP. Velma Jeter and Essie Bellfield were the first to
get a local chapter stared in Orange. “We want to reach out and unify,” he said. “We support local issues and support elections and forums. We can’t endorse candidates but we can let them speak and present them to the public.” Some issues are larger than others and need a community voice, such as, trying to stop a Confederate flag from being erected at a Confederate veterans memorial at the intersection of I-10 and MLK Drive. Other issues are smaller such as discrimination on the job. Gans added the idea of placing a confederate flag at the intersection is an “insulting thought.” The Orange NAACP was successful in a placing a
smaller flag rather than a large one. “The monument looks nice, but I think most Orangites don’t support it,” he said. Gans’ involvement in civil rights has been a lifelong journey. “I became interested in civil rights as a boy,” he said. His parents, Matthew and Mary Gans, would read to their children about tragic events, such as lynchings. They would tell their children things wouldn’t always be so bad, it would get better and to not be bitter. Gans went to Ruffs College in Mississippi at the same time student, James Meredith, was integrating the University of Mississippi and he had to be es-
corted by National Guard troops. “I wanted things to be different for my children. I wanted them to have a more balanced way of life,” Gans said. “I was inspired by Dr. King. He told us people should be judged not by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character.” For instance, his son is a helicopter pilot for the Houston Police Department. Gans said he follows Dr. King’s approach to nonviolence and he has worked with both blacks and whites for social justice. He added not only does the NAACP assists black citizens, but they support what is right for all. Though many CIVIL RIGHTS Page 3A
Join the Fun at Friday’s 4th of July “BORN ON THE BAYOU” CELEBATION At the foot of Bridge City’s Historic Swing Bridge - 5 p.m.