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SPORTS

ORANGE COUNTY

Commentary

FISHING

Kaz’s Korner

Capt. Dickie Colburn Page 1 Section B

Joe Kazmar Page 3 Section B

Outdoors HUNTING & FISHING Capt. Chuck Uzzle Section B Page 2

RELIGION & LOCAL CHURCH GUIDE Page 6B

County Record TheRecordLive.com

Vol. 58 No. 108

Week of Wednesday, June 6, 2018

The Community Newspaper of Orange, Texas

Orange Council puts priorities on road repairs past couple of years, Oubre explained that an existing $5 million bond is expiring in 2019, which Orange has been paying nearly $500,000 a year for, and a new bond can be taken without requiring a

raise in the tax rate. Previous discussions have talked about fixing the city natatorium (an idea not favored) and adding splash pads but the recent focus has been on recreation centers

that could host regional softball, baseball or soccer tournaments. Early estimates were for a total cost of $12 million to put an eight-field complex at Riverside, but that would in-

clude about $5 million to elevate the land and install infrastructure, Oubre said. The same complex at another location would cost $8 ORANGE COUNCIL Page 3A

Judge carries Orange history into retirement Dave Rogers

For The Record Orange City Manager Shawn Oubre, right, discusses “quality of life” improvement options with city councilmen and citizens at a workshop held at Orange Public Library Thursday, May 31. RECORD PHOTO: Dave Rogers

Dave Rogers

For The Record

Orange city council members chose road repairs over athletic complexes during a workshop held at the Orange Public Library on Thursday, May 31. Shawn Oubre, city manager, presented a list of 18 bond street projects that could be completed for an estimated

cost of $4.1 million. That and a proposed pavilion near the Orange Boat Launch were the favored projects. Oubre said he’d try to have something for council members to vote on at the June 12 meeting. During the third special meeting on “quality of life” improvements held in the

Leaky roof could delay courthouse fix Dave Rogers

For The Record

An Orange County Commissioner’s hope to complete repairs to the front of the historic Orange County Courthouse before his term expires got hit with a wet rag Tuesday. The best-case timetable for the repair and reinstallation of a marble facing delivered by architect John Dineen to Barry Burton and the other four members of Commissioners’ Court at the weekly meeting would be near the end of this year. But Dineen indicated that the problem of the marble peeling off the front of the granite building, first discovered in 2016, may be caused by a water leak that could require a big fix, with a price tag to match. Commissioners agreed early on to make a line-item transfer for $16,000 to pay HDR, Dineen’s company, for its work on the Courthouse Master Plan.

That Courthouse Master Plan has already set aside $175,000 -half of the expected marble repair cost of Crooks $350,000 in a grant with the county needing to put in a matching $175,000. That match is ready to go, Burton said. Dineen said the commissioners next had to schedule a “grant orientation” meeting with the Texas Historical Commission in the next month or so. The next step would be to remove the marble, followed by 3 to 6 weeks to design the fix and 3 to 6 months to complete construction work. But Dineen revealed that architects putting together the Master Plan believe leaking water has rusted the metal attaching the marble to the courthouse exterior.

County Business Page 3A

It’s been nearly a half century since law school buddy Grover Halliburton persuaded him to trade in the dust of south Texas for the Southern splendor of Orange, Texas. But the memories from those 46 years come pouring out of Judge Buddie Hahn as if they happened yesterday. Hahn, 74, who recently announced his plans to retire June 30 from the 260th District Court bench he was originally appointed to in 1982, remembers that he was a court-appointed lawyer for one of the men charged with the 1974 death of Orange Police Department Capt. Danny Gray. Gray was shot and killed during a scuffle that broke out during a jailbreak. Both Billy Wayne Dowden and Clifford Bransett were charged with capital murder. “I was representing a guy who was charged with capital murder and they were seeking the death penalty,” Hahn said. “He [Bransett] was found guilty, but they gave him life in prison. They didn’t give him the death penalty.” “Shortly after I was appointed judge, we had a capital murder trial in my court involving a young man, Bobby Joe Wills, shot and killed an attendant at a Simmons Drive convenience store. “He was found guilty and was given the death penalty.” More than a decade after the 1985 trial, Wills’ sentence was reduced to life in prison, where he died, Hahn said.

Judge Buddy Hahn reflects on a 34-year career as 260th District Court Judge for Orange County. RECORD PHOTO: Dave Rogers

Over a three-year period from 1988 to 1991, Hahn presided over the first lawsuit brought by some of Lutcher Stark’s heirs against the Stark Foundation. They maintained Lutcher Stark had schemed to hide assets from his first wife’s estate that his adopted sons should have inherited. “They alleged he manipulated the inventory [of Nita Hill Stark] to basically nothing,” Hahn recalled. “They said he cheated his boys out of their inheritance. “They ended up settling.” The plaintiffs received $5 million in that case. Two decades later, Stark heirs again sought a bigger piece of a family fortune in the hundreds of millions. “I recused myself,” Hahn said, “and [visiting judge]

Lee Duggan dismissed all claims.” Duggan also ruled the plaintiffs should pay a halfmillion dollars in lawyers’ fees. A year ago, Hahn sentenced Carl Jacob Broussard to 180 days in jail and 10 years probation after Broussard pleaded guilty to a hit-and-run accident that killed a mother and 6-yearold daughter as they crossed a dark roadway. “There never was a charge on him by the police department in causing the death of those two people. It was just the fact that he left the scene. “So that was a little controversial,” Hahn said. “A lot of people wanted him to be sent away. If he’d have caused the deaths that would have been another thing. But you’ve just got to

make your call and move on.” Hahn says he got to know Halliburton, who would be Orange County Judge from 1971-76, when the two attended the University of Texas law school together. “Everything was always alphabetized,” Hahn explained. A native of Sanderson, in southwest Texas, near Del Rio, Hahn graduated UT Law in 1966 and joined a law firm in Beeville, in South Texas not far from Corpus Christi. Halliburton went to work in Orange. “I’d visit him in Orange; he’d come to Beeville. We were just the best of friends,” Hahn recalled. Hahn said Orange County Attorney Louis Dugas JUDGE HAHN Page 3A

Unsung cowboys recognized at upcoming Stark Museum exhibit David Ball

For The Record

Sarah Boehme, curator for the Stark Museum of Art, in Orange, believes a portion of Western history has been ignored. “There’s very few African American art ,” she said. “Estimates are one-quarter of the cowboys were African American. They were exslaves coming West for jobs as cattle raisers. They worked with animals on the plantations and knew how to do it.” For instance, Boehme was

looking for some art in the museum of African American cowboys to also display. She discovered, however, she was hard pressed to find any. The one she did find was a chalk drawing of Bob Lemons — a Texas Mustanger who wrangled wild horses. Consequently, the museum will be hosting a special exhibit, two to be precise —

“Portraits from Cowboys of Color: Photographs by Don Russell” and “Cowboy Legends and Life.” The exhibits start June 16 and run through to Sept. 29. The Russell exhibit is based on a book he published. He spent two years taking photographs of cowboys and cowgirls at predominately African Ameri-

Left: Sarah Boehme, curator for the Stark Museum of Art, in Orange, looks at the book, “Portraits from Cowboys of Color: Photographs by Don Russell.” This exhibit, along with “Cowboys Legends and Life,” will be on display at the museum from June 16 through Sept. 29. RECORD PHOTO: David Ball

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CMYK

can organized rodeos. He also took pictures of other people of color. In addition, he interviewed his subjects and included captions with the photos. He was born in Kentucky, but he now calls Texas home. The book “Cowboys of Color” is available from standard book outlets. She said he went to rodeos and he was entranced by the visual images. “This is his only Western project,” Boehme said. “He’s COWBOYS OF Page 3A


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