County Record TheRecordLive.com
Vol. 58 No. 80
The Community Newspaper of Orange, Texas
Week of Wednesday, November 22, 2017
Ex-employee set to take on county judge Dave Rogers
For The Record
Kenneth Luce, one of the first county employees to quit after Stephen Brint Carlton took over as Orange County Judge, has signed up to run against him. Luce, 54 of Vidor, had indicated earlier in the year his intent was to run for county commissioner, “but a lot of people have encouraged me to run for county judge,” he said. Luce didn’t need a lot of persuading. “Orange County is lacking growth,” he said. “Our economic development is not working. We have not had any real significant growth in this area.
“We can’t continue to spend money if we don’t have a good tax base.” Luce was the county’s Luce Deputy Emergency Management Coordinator when Carlton was elected in November 2014 but said he resigned after Carlton hired Ryan Peabody to be his boss in 2015. “I didn’t like the direction he [Carlton] was taking Emergency Management. I felt the direction he was taking it with person he hired was not where I wanted to be.” Carlton fired Peabody in
July of 2016. In all, Carlton has hired four Emergency Management Coordinators since taking office less than three years ago. Luce was one of two Republican candidates to register in the past week for the
2018 election. Orange attorney Steven Parkhurst also filed paperwork with county Republican Chairman David Covey. Parkhurst, who is seeking the 260th District Court bench being vacated by Judge
Buddie Hahn because of age limits, is so far running unopposed in the Nov. 6, 2018 general election. Luce will take on Carlton in the March 6, 2018 GOP primary to determine the Republican candidate for
November. Another who has earlier announced he would run in the GOP primary is Pinehurst Mayor Pete Runnels, a former county judge. COUNTY ELECTIONS Page 3A
Orange musician, 92, is still picking
County EDC awards Harvey Recovery grants
Doug Burch, 92, picks his guitar while Tony Wolfford keeps time on a snare drum Tuesday in Orange. Burch, a World War II vet, hosted regular Friday night jam sessions before Tropical Storm Harvey and is aiming to resume soon. RECORD PHOTO: Dave Rogers
Dave Rogers
For The Record
Johnie Spencer of Spencer Marble & Granite accepts a $5,000 grant check from Jessica Hill, executive director of the Orange County Economic Development Corp. Tuesday at the County Administration Building. In an effort to assist local businesses harmed by Tropical Storm Harvey, the OCEDC awarded $5,000 Small Business Recovery Grants to 40 Orange County businesses. RECORD PHOTO: Dave Rogers
Dave Rogers
For The Record
Forgive Jessica Hill if she felt a little bit like the Publishers Clearinghouse folks Tuesday. The executive director of Orange County’s Economic Development Corporation spent the day Tuesday giving out checks. She was issuing $200,000 worth of Harvey Small Business Disaster Recovery Grants issued by OCEDC to help qualifying small businesses in the aftermath of the record flooding caused by Tropical Storm Harvey. Each was for $5,000. Forty grants were awarded. “Everything was very positive,” Hill said Tuesday afternoon. “Everyone is just delighted that we’ve made it through this process. It’s the first help they’ve received from anyone. “They’re all small businesses, anywhere from retail to residential, attorneys, medical suppliers, a good mixture of different industries.” The $200,000 was made available in part through the
reallocation of the EDC’s restricted funds. From Oct. 23-Nov. 3, a total of 148 applications were submitted. “They started arriving early that first morning -- really the night before,” Hill said of the people dropping off applications. “It went very smoothly.” Applications were reviewed in the order they were submitted and verified by a committee of OCEDC board members. The first 40 verified applications were awarded the funds. The remaining qualified applicants were noted in the order in which they were received and will be awarded grants if additional funds become available. “I wish we could do more”, said Hill said. “There are 108 businesses we have not be able to assist and even more that did not apply. “I am extremely thankful for the patience and cooperation of all those who submitted applications and served on the review committee. COUNTY EDC Page 3A
Doug Burch can’t wait to get back to his Friday night jam sessions. The music stopped for the 92-year-old Orange guitar man when Tropical Storm Harvey flooded his comfortable home. Since then, he’s been staying with cousin Tommy Wolfford and his family while workmen restore his place. “The house is coming along pretty good,” he said Tuesday. Imagine just a bit and one can already hear the strains of “Faded Love” coming from his guitar. “It’s how we kick off the program when we have a jam,” he said, referring to the old Bob Wills song.
Country-western performers like Bob Wills and Bill Monroe were Burch’s music heroes, along with Roy Acuff and Floyd Tillman. Burch figures he’s been making music since he was 14, a span of 80 years. He was traveling with a band before he went into the Navy during World War II and even played with the band at the Chiefs’ Club at Pearl Harbor. After spending two and a half years as an aviation machinist island-hopping from one airbase to another as the Americans leapfrogged northward to Japan, Burch returned to Orange and worked a variety of jobs. He drove a truck for Montgomery Wards and
was stocker for Krogers on 16th Street. And always, he played music. Burch’s band, Doug Burch and the Texas Skyliners, had an everyday 30-minute show on Orange radio station KOGT. “We played every day from 6 to 6:30 a.m.,” he said. “Later, we switched to afternoons. “We played country music and people sent in requests. One song I did, people thought I wrote and I never told them I didn’t, was “Dust On The Bible.’” Burch’s band didn’t play the Grand Ole Opry. “We didn’t go across country, just around here,” he said. “We played night clubs and beer joints, the Eagles Lodge.”
Burch’s band included fiddle players Clifford Monty, Arthur Green, steel guitarist Jimmy Mansel, brother Woodrow Burch on upright bass, among others. Some of his recent jams have included banjo player Louise Ricks and another brother, Ray Burch, on electric bass. Besides guitar, Doug Burch plays mandolin, fiddle and harmonica. “When I get my home fixed back up, we’ll start back playing again, from 6:30 to 9:30. We had a lot of people there. That garage was full,” Burch said. “I don’t worry about what people think. Just play the best you can do. That’s what I always do.”
Meetings set to discuss hospital vote Dave Rogers
For The Record
Speakers for and against the Orange County Hospital District will be featured, along with Q&A, at two informational town hall meetings set for Nov. 30 and Dec. 5. Lamar State College-Orange will host the two-hour sessions at its new Cypress Center, 209 Green St., from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. each evening. “The whole reason for this town hall is because there were a few concerns,” Kelli Patin, one of the event organizers, said. “We knew that
there was a lot of information out about the hospital district, but I wasn’t sure it was accurate info. “This is important stuff. Orange County needs to know more of it.” A local group called Care for Orange County led the petition drive that resulted in the Dec. 19 county-wide election to establish a hospital district. A vote for the district would create a new taxing entity that could levy taxes up to 18 cents per $100 valuation. The creation of a hospital
district would make a county hospital eligible for federal funds and is expected to bring investors to build a hospital. Orange is the largest city and county in Texas not to have a hospital. The town halls will feature an explanation of the ballot options by County Judge Stephen Brint Carlton and 10 minutes each of arguments for and against by advocates Ross Smith (for) and David Covey (against). A question-and-answer session for audience members will follow.
CMYK
Early voting for the election begins Dec. 4 and runs through Dec. 15. The town halls are being sponsored by Lamar State College-Orange and KOGT. “We hope the public shows up, not just from Orange, but Bridge City and Vidor, and listen with an open mind,” Patin said. “They can ask any questions they might have in regards to the hospital vote. We’re hoping that the county does take an interest in this, because it affects the whole county. This is important for the whole county.”