Dickie Colburn: Fishing See Page 1B
Cooking with Katherine See Page 8A Kaz: Trades Affect Astros
The Record
Page 1B
TheRecordLive.com
Vol. 51 No. 16 Week of Wednesday, July 27, 2011
The Penny Record of Bridge City and Orangefield • Founded 1960
County decides on redistricting lines project Greg Hayes For The Record Commissioners’ Court decided Monday that there will be no need for a Plan B, as they voted unanimously to proceed with Plan A of the precinct redistricting lines project, as drawn up by Rolando L. Rios and Associates. Through Plan A, voting box 11 will be moved into Precinct 3 from Precinct 2 and voting box one will also be moved from Precinct 3 and into Precinct 1.
Precinct 4 will remain as it was with no changes. C o u n t y Judge Carl Thibodeaux said that Plan DUBOSE B would have split the City of West Orange across three different precincts and would have been more confusion than it was worth. “In Plan A, 90 percent of West Orange will be in Precinct 1,” Thibodeaux said.
Now that the court has given its approval, the new lines will be sent to the Justice Department in Washington. Rios said that the county should get the go ahead from Washington within two months so that the new lines and voting box locations
can go into effect. “I’m sure they will approve it,” Rios said. “The county will not be able to hold an election until these changes go into effect.” In other business, Emergency Management director Jeff Kelley told the court that
recent weather conditions have the county in a position to continue with the burn ban lifted. “We are looking pretty good on wet conditions for the next week or so,” Kelley said of forecast predictions. “Although the burn ban was lifted, we did
Meet ‘Gene’ Smith new Veterans Service Officer
BC track star headed to Junior Olympics
Mike Louviere For The Record The Orange County judge and the four county commissioners were faced with a difficult two part question. They had to decide how to get the Orange County Veterans Service Office back to serving veterans in the shortest amount of time, and who to select to fill the position of veterans service officer. After only a few days the office was once again serving the veterans. The county administration was advertising for candidates seeking the VSO position. Last Tuesday, members of commissioners court met with the final four candidates and gave each a 30 minute interview. After reviewing the qualifications of each candidate and their impressions of the interviews the court decided to hire F. E. “Gene” Smith as the new VSO for Orange County. Smith was born in Port Arthur, lived in Orange for a short time, graduated from Victoria High School in Victoria, Texas in 1957, then came back to Orange in 1959 to join the workforce at DuPont Sabine River Works. He has lived in Orange since then, except for periods of time serving in the Naval Reserve.
Inside The Record • SHERLOCK BREAUX Page..................... 4A • Obituaries Page......................7A •Dicky Colburn Fishing..................1B • Kaz’s Korner Joe Kazmar...........2B • CHURCH NEWS Page......................7B • CLASSIFIED ADS Page......................8B
The Record Digital Edition Online Now
leave the disaster declaration in place due to the drought conditions. Due to the heat, the state is seeing a lot of road damage.” Precinct 2 Commissioner Owen Burton said that road damage is not the only thing Orange County should keep an eye on. “We’re also seeing a lot of tree damage,” Burton said. Kelley said that tree debris removal is another example of why he chose to leave the disaster declaration in place, for assistance purposes.
Taylor Wendt For The Record At 14 years old, it’s hard to imagine that a girl could already be an amazing athlete. For Alexus Henry, however, this expectation has already been met as she is one of the top track stars in her school, and more impressively, headed to compete in the Junior Olympics. Alexus Henry, a soon to be freshman at Bridge City High school, is already at the top of the sports world at Bridge City. Since the seventh grade,
F.E. “Gene” Smith takes over as Orange County Veterans Service Officer. RECORD PHOTO: Mike Louviere
Smith began his 30 years of service with active duty in the Navy aboard the aircraft carrier Valley Forge, working on the flight deck. When the opportunity came to join the Construction Battalion, or Seabees, Smith jumped at the chance to join. “I enjoyed my time in the Seabees. There is a lot of pride and tradition in belonging to that outfit. We often worked hard, but when there was time to relax, we took it, and played hard. The Seabees are a group that builds camaraderie. We relate to things and experiences that other Navy outfits know nothing about. Of course the non-Seabees feel the same way about their units,” said Smith. As Smith’s time in service increased and he rose in rank, he was called to active duty and recalled several times. His naval reserve unit was based at Barksdale Air Force Base in Shreveport, La. “Once I asked to transfer to a unit that was closer to home. They sent me to Gulfport Miss.,” said Smith. “It was three miles closer to Orange. I also spent a little time in a unit in Dallas.” In the reserves he served as the senior enlisted training advisor. He was called to active duty prior to Desert Storm and also during Desert Storm. In 1987 Smith was a Command Master Chief. He was recalled to active duty. While on active duty he was the only naval reservist to ever serve as an enlisted training advisor. “I took a lot of kidding about that from the regular Navy guys. At times I had to remind them that some of the names they were calling me were two words, not one,” said Smith. Smith is coming into the job MEET ‘GENE’ SMITH PAGE 2A
Jordyn Ewing, a 2011 graduate of Bridge City High School, has become the fifth Strutter to become a Kilgore Rangerette.
Ewing becomes Rangerette Fifth BCHS Strutter to become Kilgore Rangerette Darla Daigle For The Record Nestled in the modest sized town of Kilgore, Texas is an organization that is steeped in history and tradition that has also become world renown. Becoming a part of this group is not only a difficult task but also an honor. Qualifying to be one of the Kilgore Rangerettes is an accomplishment met by only a few young ladies yet for the fifth time a former Bridge City Strutter has made the famed group. Jordyn Ewing, 2011 graduate of Bridge City, has become the newest from this area high school to hold a coveted position with the ground breaking group that drill teams world wide use as a pattern for their own. This past Friday, after a week filled with auditions, training and judging Jordyn found name on the sign during the eventful Sign Drop, along with 35 other young women. The 72 member team is composed of 36 incoming Freshmen and 36 returning Sophomores. It is known for it straight, high field kicks, jumping splits and military
precision. The uniform colors of red, white and blue with the white western styled hat, white leather forearm sleeves and wide belts has changed little since their inception by Gussie Nell Davis in 1939. They were the first Drill team of their kind, and hold an esteemed position of traditional values and excellence. Still, Jordyn didn’t start out her dance career with the Rangerettes being her end goal however she did start dance young, “I started taking dance when I was two,” she states with a broad smile, “as soon as I was eligible!” She has since danced almost 17 years at Taylor’s Dance Studio and has taken many of the disciplines that, consequently, helped her make the Rangerette team. “I took ballet, of course, ballet is a foundation. Once you get that the other forms of dance are structured around it. Ballet helps you with your technique in the other areas.” Jordyn goes on to explain she additionally EWING PAGE 3A
Alexus Henry, 14, of Bridge City will be a participant in the ASATF National Junior Olympic Track and Field Championships.
Alexus has been high jumping for Bridge City and has made remarkable progress, considering she has only been competing in the sport a few years. Alexus realized her potential in the seventh grade when she scored first place in district in the triple jump, long jump, and high jump. Then in eighth grade, she scored first place again in the long jump and high jump. Because of her dedication, Alexus has scored a spot to compete in the USATF National Junior Olympic Track & Field Championships this week at Wichita State University in Kansas. At Regional level for the Junior Olympics, where she competed with about eight other girls, Alexus scored second place in high jump with a jump of 5’3”. The competition for the USATF Championship takes place in six two-year age divisions, with athletes generally JUNIOR OLYMPIAN PAGE 3A
• Award Winning Hometown News