ORANGE COUNTY
KAZ’S FEARLESS FOOTBALL FORECAST
FISHING Capt. Dickie Colburn Page 4 Section B
See Section B
SPORTS
Commentary Kaz’s Korner Joe Kazmar Page 5 Section B
RELIGION & LOCAL CHURCH GUIDE Page 6B
County Record TheRecordLive.com
Vol. 58 No. 73
The Community Newspaper of Orange, Texas
Week of Wednesday, October 4, 2017
County talks trash, set hospital election Dave Rogers
For The Record
They were talking trash at Orange County Commissioners’ Court Tuesday and there’s plenty of it to go around. But the court considered a number of matters at its first weekly session of the 2017-18 fiscal year, including one that could affect everyone’s bottom line one way or the other. Commissioners set a date of Tuesday, Dec. 19 for a county-wide special election on whether or not to establish an Orange County Hospital District.
Wording on the petition calls for the district to cover the entire county with the hospital district having Carlton the authority to levy a tax of up to 18 cents per $100 property value. Proponents say Orange County needs a hospital to attract commercial and residential development and a hospital district is the best way to attract investors for a hospital. Detractors say creating another taxing entity in the
county will be a drain on taxpayers who are currently struggling to rebuild after a national disaster, Tropical Storm Harvey.
County Judge Stephen Brint Carlton and the four commissioners introduced the idea of a hospital district to most of the county citi-
zens with a February Town Hall and several luncheon club presentations by the judge. But they say their role is
only informative, and they steer clear of opinions in public. COUNTY BUSINESS Page 3A
LCM Homecoming Royalty Crowned
Lifesavers felt ‘God’s hands’ in storm rescue Dave Rogers
For The Record
When Ron Huebel woke up Tuesday, Aug. 29, his plans were to ride out Tropical Storm Harvey in the safety of his own home. But God, he believes, had other plans. Before the day was over, he and son Chris Huebel had plucked plant worker Randy Higgs of Mississippi from his sinking pickup truck just as it filled with water and went to the bottom of a flooded drainage ditch south of Cow Bayou on FM 1442. “I think God’s hands were in it,” Ron Huebel said. “I don’t know how else to explain it.” The elder Huebel’s job takes him into many of Jefferson and Orange County’s petrochemical plants. “If you know anything about safety, it takes a chain of events to have an accident,” he said. “This was kind of the opposite: There were so many things that should’ve or could’ve gone wrong that day that didn’t. “I call it kind of a miracle.” Higgs, a veteran millwright, was working a turnaround in Port Arthur until the storm that dumped more than 26 inches of rain on Aug. 29 (and more than 60
inches on Orange County in five days) forced the bosses to shut down the jobsite and order a one-week break. He was heading home to Mississippi in his Dodge pickup, taking FM 1442 north from Bridge City to Interstate 10. He made it to a sweeping curve just south of Cow Bayou. “I was doing about 30 miles per hour and, all of a sudden, I started pushing water. I said, ‘Aw, shoot,’ and I slowed down,” Higgs said. “I saw the left (southbound) side of the highway was higher than where I was, but I couldn’t get over because of traffic. “Then a big truck, coming down the other lane, going too fast, sent a bunch of waves at me. I think those waves are what caught me and pushed me to the side.” The bottom literally fell out for Higgs. “The left end of the truck was lifted up and I was floated,” he said. “It was very scary. It really was. I’d never been in that situation.” That’s about the time Ron Huebel rolled up after what had already been an adventurous day. He and his wife DeLana, LIFESAVERS Page 2A
Little Cypress-Mauriceville High School crowned homecoming king and queen prior to Friday night’s football game. Seniors Tommy Holland and Lani Daniels were the students chosen as this year’s royalty. Other seniors in the court included Brayden Babineaux, Kourtney Baldwin, John Beeson, Meg Clark, Spencer Bonura, Haley Edwards, Ryder Huffman, McCartney Miller, Rayce Piper, Jayce Perry, Zach Robin and McKenzie Sheppard. Juniors were Jordan Alexander, Raley Broussard, Zach Casey, McKenzie Guillory, Mason Coppage, Rylee Locke, Ty Shugart and Renna Toomey. Sophomores on the court were Scout Denman, Kylie Gross, Matthew Erb, Hannah Parry, Jackson Smith and Jadyn Stack. Freshmen included Jesse Doucet, Reese Cricchio, Traevin Nelms, Lizeth De La Fuente, Cameron Smith and Faith Stanley. RECORD PHOTO: Tishy Bryant
Looks deceive for newest centenarian Dave Rogers
For The Record
She gets carded everywhere she goes. For years – nay, decades – showing new acquaintances her driving license would be the only way Mildred Prejean Piggott Purifoy could prove to people how old she is. “No one can ever guess her age,” says son-in-law Darrell Segura. “I asked a new doctor how old he thought I was and he said, ‘60,’ Mildred recalled. “I was 90 then.” So, believe it or don’t: Mildred celebrates her 100th birthday today. Her four children and their families will be there. A bad knee is her only physical problem. “My doctor said, ‘You said you were going to live to be 100. Well, add 10 years to that. I saw your blood test,’” Mildred said. “I think maybe the best thing is calling everybody’s
Mildred Piggott Purifoy and her daughter Sandra enjoy the sunshine in front of their Bridge City home last week. Purifoy, a Bridge Citizen since 1958, was born Oct. 4, 1917. RECORD PHOTO: Dave Rogers
attention the fact that you can be 100 and still have your own home and be around your children.” Why not? “She’s still experiencing new things,” says older
daughter Sandra, who lives with her. “Who would’ve ever thought we would evacuate?” Well, truth to tell, storms have forced Mildred to evacuate from her Bridge City
home several times since moving with husband Terrell “TJ” Piggott from Port Arthur in 1958. She actually evacuated from her home twice for Tropical Storm Harvey. The first, an Aug. 29 move into the Bridge City LaQuinta Inn, ended when the building lost power and she had to be carried downstairs from her third-floor room. Later, she and Sandra caught a ride with a neighbor’s home health workers to the Lake Charles Civic Center. That led to three nights spent sheltering in the LSU AgCenter in Alexandria. It wasn’t fun. But Mildred got a personal visit from Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards when someone told him that a 99-year-old woman was staying there. And guess what he told her? So, how old is Mildred? She’s so old she remembers NEWEST Page 3A
Extreme challenges = creative OF solutions Dave Rogers
For The Record
Chris and Ron Huebel were bringing a neighbor and her family home Aug. 29 when they rescued plant worker Randy Higgs from high waters that sank his pickup truck. (Photo courtesy Ron Huebel)
Improvise, adapt and overcome. It’s a problem-solving technique most often attributed to the U.S. Marines, but Orangefield ISD has adopted it since Harvey left town. Welcome to the Tarp-nasium, the Tarp-eteria, a lot of team teaching and thinking outside the box. Orangefield began school Sept. 25 with two of its three
campuses badly compromised by water damage from flooding caused a month earlier by Tropical Storm Harvey. The elementary campus was not available. The high school campus was only about 60 percent inhabitable. Everything was shuffled. “Our junior high is now a pre-K through 6. The high school is now a 7-12,” Stephen Patterson, school superintendent, explained.
At the junior high, blue tarps are used to divide the cafeteria into four classrooms. Ditto for the gymnasium. Even the teacher’s lunchroom is halved for classrooms. “The teachers eat with the students now,” Kim Smalley, curriculum director for the district, explained. “They do team teaching. They’re all so creative. I’ve been so impressed. And even though the junior high
CMYK
rooms are fine, they gave up their classrooms so the younger kids could use them.” Patterson points out the school district was as prepared as could be for a storm that caught everyone off guard. “After Deweyville flooded [in March, 2016], the district maxed our flood coverage,” Patterson said. “Our trustees took the max flood coverage we could buy, $2.5 million.”