BEST FISHING IN TEXAS
MUSTANG INSIDER
WITH MERI ELEN JACOBS
Dickie Colburn Page 1B
See page 1B
SPORTS NEWS & OPINION
OUTDOORS WEEKLY Capt. Chuck Uzzle Page 6B
JOE KAZMAR
Page 2B
County Record Vol. 53 No. 24
The Community Newspaper of Orange, Texas
Week of Wednesday, September 18, 2013
Orange moves forward with funded projects Debby Schamber For The Record
The City of Orange Public Works Department has many projects underway with some of them in the forefront as
Farmers’ Market has new Saturday hours Staff Report For The Record
The Orange County Farmers’ Market now has new hours on Saturdays. It will be open from 8-11 a.m. in order to better serve the public. Stop by this week for purple hull peas, muscadine grapes, jams and jellies, homemade baked goods, homemade granola, a large variety of yard plants, and house plants. If you are a gardener and want to make some extra cash, just bring your fresh produce to the Orange County Farmers’ Market. New vendors are always welcome, and there is no fee. For information, contact any of the Market Coordinators, Jean Fregia 409670-6121, Joann Risinger, 409-920-2577, or Debbie McHenry, 903-539-0245. The market is sponsored by Texas AgriLife.
H • SHERLOCK BREAUX Page...................... 4A • Obituaries Page.......................7A •Dicky Colburn Fishing...................1B • CHURCH NEWS Page......................5B • CLASSIFIED ADS Page......................6B
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they continue to make Orange a better place to live. Round 2.1 of the Cooper’s Gulley Stormwater Pump Station is currently under construction. The $5 million project is slated to be completed in August 2014. The East Orange Street project is about 95 percent complete. The street project costs $1.4 million and city officials are waiting on the paperwork to wrap it up. They are preparing to continue the asphalt street overlay project on Cherry Street from Third to Tenth Street in the near future, according to Jim Wolf, director of the city of Orange public works and engineering department. The money for these two projects comes the federal government as the 2.1 Hurricane Ike and Dolly funding. Hurricane Dolly made landfall in Texas in July 2008 while Hurricane Ike was the thirdcostliest hurricane ever to make landfall in the United States and the costliest hurricane in Texas history in Sept. 2008. The federal government combined the funding to local governments under one program. The city also has projects referred to as 2.2. The $3.2 million project is divided between two projects. One of the projects is a $3.1 million project which will provide a concrete lining of the Cooper’s Gully drainage ditch. The project is going to possibly start in the summer of 2014. As part of the funding, in addition, they intend to spend $50,000 on lighting at the Central Fire Station. City officials are planning to advertise for bids and possibly begin ORANGE Page 3A
The Tunnel Boat Races begin Sept. 20 through the 22nd.
RECORD PHOTO: Larry Trimm
Tunnel Boat racing just part of the fun in Orange Debby Schamber For The Record
The area around the City of Orange boat ramp located at 1000 Simmons Drive will once again be buzzing with excitement when the Tunnel Boat Races begin Sept. 20 through the 22nd. Racers are from Texas, Louisiana, Florida, Oklahoma and as far north as Detroit and Chicago. Spectators can certainly feel the thunder from the roar of the motors as the tunnel boats race toward the finish line. This family oriented event
It will be a showdown on the Sabine starting Friday with live music, food booths and boat races. PHOTO: Larry Trimm
provides a safe environment, but the high speed of the racing boats still creates an exciting environment. Race times are from 3 p.m. to 6 p.m. on Friday and 9 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. on Saturday. The finals are scheduled to begin at 3 p.m. on Sunday. “This is the 6th year the event will be held, which is organized and funded by the City of Orange Convention & Visitors Bureau, and approved by the City Council in an effort to promote TUNNEL BOAT Page 3A
Kaycie Gunn: Girl with a different beat Penny Leleux
For The Record
She had a bit of swagger when she walked into the office, not the usual gate of most Southeast Texas girls. Then again, she’s not like most girls. When Kaycie Gunn heard her first sounds of a beat box, she was hooked. She was in the lunch line with one of her friends, her freshman year in high school when her friend
Kaycie Gunn
subconsciously beat a few bars. “Wow, that’s cool,” Gunn told her friend. It started a search for knowledge about “beat boxing” and “rap.” Beat boxing is the art of creating a musical beat of drums and base sounds with your mouth. Gunn said she also started writing rap songs. When she completed her first one she said, “It was awful.” But that
didn’t stop her. Recently she started getting exposure at open mike nights and won a competition in Georgia in June. There were over 50 artists involved. She said the went back to the hotel to rest while the competition continued. “The next day they called and said I won it. I was pretty stoked!” Last weekend, she returned to Georgia to defend her title. There was such a long line of
competitors, it took a while just to find out what time she was to perform. The winners were scheduled for 1:15 a.m. She said it was actually after 2 a.m. before she got to perform. She was shocked to se BRich in the audience. He is one of the biggest Rap managers and promoters according to Gunn. Also on hand was B.o.B. and Play Boy Tre, two very popular KAYCIE GUNN Page 3A
Commissioners move agenda forward Debby Schamber For The Record
It was business as usual as Orange County Commissioners met Monday afternoon. First on the agenda was to file into the minutes a direct deposit from the State Comptroller of Public Accounts in the amount of $323,520. These funds represent the one half cent sales and use allocation
quarter funding. In for the month of July. addition, $6,177 and a The money was credbill $24,995 was paid ited to the general opto Maverick Commuerating fund for the nications from the county. general fund for the Approved by comcounty portion for the missioners was to pay Shelter of Last Resort. the bills presented to Precinct 4 Commisthem. They were sioner Jody Crump $91,568 to the Orange Thibodeaux asked county departCounty Appraisal ment heads to watch District from the general fund to pay for the fourth their spending.
‘It’s tight,” he said. Orange County Judge Carl Thibodeaux asked Jeff Kelley, of Orange County Emergency Management, if he had anything such as a burn ban to report. Kelley responded by telling the court, a burn ban was not necessary although the KDBI stats are “creeping up.” Before adjourning, three different departments entered a report on their latest hap-
penings. A representative from MIS department submitted a brief statement regarding their various trainings they had attended in addition to the various projects they were working on or completed. Mark Wimberly of the Maintenance Department also updated commissioners on the various happenings within his COUNTY BUSINESS Page 3A