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H H H H H YOUR HOMETOWN NEWSPAPER SINCE 1960 H H H H H

The       Record TheRecordLive.com

Vol. 51 No. 43 Week of Wednesday, January 25, 2012

The Penny Record of Bridge City and Orangefield • Founded 1960

OCYRA Drawdown: rib eyes, rodeo Penny LeLeux

BCCC accepting nominations for Business, Citizen of the Year Staff Report

For The Record

The Bridge City Chamber of Commerce is accepting nominations for Business & Citizen of the Year through Wednesday, Feb. 8,. All nominations need to be in a sealed envelope marked to the attention of the nominating committee, either mailed or delivered to the chamber office at 150 West Roundbunch, Bridge City, TX 77611. Current office hours are Monday through Friday 1-4 p.m. However, if no one is there you may place it in the mail slot. The Business of the Year & Citizen of the Year awards will be given to a deserving business and citizen in recognition of their outstanding contributions directly to the City of Bridge City/ Orangefield Area during the past year. The award recipients will be honored at the Bridge City Chamber of Commerce Annual Banquet to be held on March 8, 2012 at 6:30 p.m. at the Community Center. Criteria for the Business of the Year -The narrative and supportive materials should stress how the business’s volunteer efforts benefited the quality of life within the community, and describe how the nominee displayed exemplary: • Staying power: A substantiated history as an established business • Growth in number of employees: A benchmark to judge the impact of the business on the job market. • Increase in sales and/or unit growth: An indication of continued growth. • Innovativeness of product or service offered: Illustrations of the creativity and imagination of the nominee. • Response to adversity: Example of problems faced in the business and the methods used to solve them. • Evidence of contributions by nominee to aid community oriented projBCCC SEE PAGE 3A

Inside The Record • SHERLOCK BREAUX Page..................... 4A • Obituaries Page......................7A •Dicky Colburn Fishing..................1B •Outdoors Weekly Chuck Uzzle..........4B • CHURCH NEWS Page......................7B • CLASSIFIED ADS Page......................8B

For The Record

What would you pay for a steak dinner for two? In Orangefield Saturday night, they were going for $100. One hundred and seventy-four people took the Orange County Youth Rodeo Association up on their offer of a rib eye steak dinner with all the trimmings for themselves and a companion in the 2nd annual OCYRA Draw Down held at the Orangefield Jr. High School. “Danny Brack from K-Dan’s did the cooking,” said Carol Winfree. “He did it last year and he enjoyed it so much, he wanted to do it again this year.” “It’s our one fundraiser we hold a year,” said Chad Jenkins, president of O.C.Y.R.A. “We feed everyone a rib eye steak, potatoes and all the trimmings and all the proceeds go directly right back to the children. Every dime we raise goes right back to support those young people that were standing right here in front just a second ago.” Jenkins was referring to the 16 teens from Orange County that participates in events with the Texas High School Rodeo Association and the Jr. High division. “We help the kids go to the state finals in Abilene. It helps support and pays for entry fees and costs of that nature.”

The ticket included a chance to win a prize valued up to the $2,500 grand prize won by the

last number drawn. In this drawing, you wanted your number to stay in the

hopper until the very end, there by the name of the event; they were “drawing down” to

OCYRA DRAWDOWN PAGE 3A

Drug seizures buy cops new gym Penny LeLeux For The Record

Kacie Lummus and Jaycie Young man the registration desk at Saturday’s Draw Down supporting the Orange County Youth Rodeo Association. RECORD PHOTO: Penny LeLeux

Incoming senator getting to know turf David Ball

For The Record

State Sen. Robert Nichols will represent Orange County in the Legislature beginning January 2013 and he has already made eight trips to the county from Jacksonville since last summer. He was in town Tuesday morning to become more acquainted with the area. “I like to meet new people and revisit those I have met before,” he said. “I want to open up lines of communication and understand the issues that are important to Orange County. I’m very pleased with the reception I have received. The people seem to be pleased that I’m interested.” The current elephant in the room for Texas politics is redistricting. Nichols said both the Legislature and the courts have drawn redistricting maps which have not affected Nichols’ Senate District 3. “It has left the area the same. It’s not in question. Technically, Orange County begins in Senate District 3 January 2013 when the Legislature goes into question,” he said. “From a practical standpoint, I can’t wait until then. People will be seeing more and more of me.” Senate District 3 covers 18 counties to the north and west of Orange County. Nichols said Orange County will change from being one of the smallest counties in their district to being one of the largest in Senate District 3. The state is waiting on federal courts in San Antonio and Washington, D.C. to make a decision on redistricting in Texas. Nichols estimates a decision will be made by Feb. 6 because both Republicans and Democrats have presented their information to the courts. He cautioned, however, the

the last number. A silent and live auction was also held that evening. The last item auctioned off was the 175th event ticket. The winner of the last ticket not only had another chance at a prize, but they were guaranteed a money prize of either the $2,500, $1,500 or $500 because the number wasn’t placed in the hopper until there were only two numbers left. Danny

State Sen. Robert Nichols is seen during a tour of Orange County on Tuesday. RECORD PHOTO: Mark Dunn

courts have no timeline to adhere to and both parties have urged them to make a decision so Texas can get on with its Spring primary. There’s also a possibility Texas may have two primaries this year which Nichols said would be “horrible.” He believes the two primaries would not only affect the Presidential and U.S. Senate race in an adverse way, but it would affect over 2,000 local races statewide in a negative way. Switching gears, Nichols, a former Texas Department of Transportation commissioner, next addressed the upcoming Interstate 10 construction from Adams Bayou to the state line. “I’m very pleased TxDOT will continue construction on I-10 to the state line. I want to be of some encouragement to them. This action is supported by the communities in the county,” he said. Nichols is of the opinion TxDOT would eventually do the project, though the sooner the better. “I met personally met with the district engineer and [Pct. 4] Commissioner [Jody] Crump about what we needed

to do. The evaluation team reconsidered bridges that didn’t need to be rebuilt and updated construction estimates made before the Recession. Nichols thinks the project when completed will allow traffic to flow better in the community and freeway economic development. “Transportation infrastructure is important to commerce. Construction is painful in the short-term but it will have long-term benefits,” Nichols aid. Another transportation asset for the county is the Port of Orange. “There’s a lot of economic opportunities for your port,” he said. “Orange is sitting on

the threshold of an economic boom. You have the interstate, rail, the intracoastal waterway and the port. You have one of the largest petrochemical complexes in the world. You have thins most communities are looking for. You’ve got all the ingredients. You also have the college (Lamar State College-Orange).” Addressing issues pertaining to the petrochemical industry, Nichols believes the Environmental Protection Agency needs to ease off on air discharge permits so industries can build additional units. As a member of the Natural SENATOR NICHOLS PAGE 3A

Orange County Sheriff Keith Merritt informed commissioners Monday of his intentions to create a fitness center for law enforcement officers with drug seizure money. “This is a project we have MERRITT been working on for the better part of a year now, back and forth with the Justice Department,” said Merritt. “We finally got the clearance from them.” There are very strict regulations governing what drug money can be used for, but the purchase of fitness equipment is one of the things that “they highly encourage” said the sheriff. Merritt said that in the past, memberships at some of the areas gyms were maintained for the purpose of keeping officers fit which can be critically important at times, especially for the S.W.A.T. team. “We haven’t done that in a while and this will alleviate all that,” said Merritt. “It’s commercial grade equipment.” He said it would be the same equipment that would be in found in any of the local gyms. COUNTY BUSINESS PAGE 2A

Orange County Auditor Debbie Rawls retiring

Debbie Rawls, Orange County auditor, will retire on Jan. 31. Rawls joined the county as assistant auditor in 1994 and worked her way up to her current position. Her department is under the direction of the district court and is funded through Orange County Commissioners Court. “I’m ready to do something else,” said Rawls. She is thinking about volunteering with the Salvation Army. Rawls also plans on spending time traveling to visit family in North Carolina. That’s where her sister and nieces live. “I don’t have any grandchildren yet,” she said. She is looking forward to what the future holds, but knows she will miss her fellow employees. RECORD PHOTO: Penny Leleux

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