DOWN LIFE’S HIGHWAY
ORANGE COUNTY
Roy Dunn- Columnist Page 7 Section A
Capt. Dickie Colburn Page 3 Section B
FISHING
SPORTS
RELIGION & LOCAL CHURCH GUIDE
Commentary Kaz’s Korner Joe Kazmar Page 3 Section B
Page 6B
The Record TheRecordLive.com
Vol. 58 No. 84
Distributed FREE To The Citizens of Bridge City and Orangefield
Week of Wednesday, December 20, 2017
Commissioners salutes BC native Katie Cogbill Dave Rogers
For The Record
A mother’s concern over the health of her child took Katie Dial Cogbill away from Orange County. The twists and turns of that journey brought her in front of Orange County Commissioners’ Court Tuesday. She returned as Senior Airman Katie Mae Cogbill, who was named Airman of the Year for the U.S. Air Force’s 19th Airlift Wing. “As a member of the Air Force also, I know they don’t just give these awards out,” County Judge Stephen Brint Carlton, a major in the Air Force Reserve, said. “It takes a lot of work, especially to win at a wing level. So, congratulations.” Commissioners and the Judge unanimously approved a resolution to honor her. Cogbill, 28, the daughter of Vickie Scales and Wayne Dial, graduated from Bridge
U.S. Air Force Airman Katie Cogbill, front right, is all smiles after being honored Tuesday by members of the Orange County Commissioners’ Court, back row, from left, Johnny Trahan, Barry Burton, Stephen Brint Cartlton, John Gothia and Jody Crump; and, front left, Lanie Brown from the office of U.S. Rep. Brian Babin. RECORD PHOTO: Dave Rogers
Hospital hopes fade with vote Dave Rogers
For The Record
Orange County voters hated the idea of a hospital district even more than they loved Donald Trump last year. Eighty-three-point-five percent of the voters in Tuesday’s special election rejected the measure to form a hospital district that would have authority to levy taxes. Only 16.5 percent of the 7,600 voters marked their ballot in favor of creating a
process supporters say is necessary in order to gain better medical care for Orange County, the largest county in the state without a hospital. “I think it’s a clear message that Orange County wants less government and less taxes,” David Covey, chairman of the county’s Republican Party, said. Orange County voted 80 percent in favor of Republican Donald Trump in the HOSPITAL Page 3A
A Merry Good Time
City High School in 2008 and married Daniel Cogbill. Their son, Barrett, was born in 2010, and was diagnosed with autism about a year later. The couple sought the best treatment for Barrett and decided what Orange could offer wasn’t enough. “We just didn’t feel like he was getting the resources he needed here,” Katie said, “and I have a cousin who was in the Navy, who also has an autistic son, who got really good resources for her son. “That’s what really made me think, ‘OK, the military might be the way to go.’ And it turns out that it really was.” Katie joined the Air Force in 2014 and, after basic training, attended Aerospace Medical Services Technician School, becoming a certified EMT. She earned an advanced certification in pediatrics in
2015 and was most recently responsible for patients at the Women’s Health Clinic at Little Rock [Arkansas] Air Force Base. She has won the Air Force Outstanding Unit Award, the Air Force Good Conduct Medal. She was honored last week in the U.S. House of Representatives by Congressman Brian Babin for being named Air Force Medical Service Aerospace Medical Technician of the Year for Air Medical Command. “It was all really based on my son,” she said of a military career that has her headed to a new assignment at Malmstrom Air Force Base in Great Falls, Montana. “The medical world is something I’ve always wanted to be in, anything medical-wise,” she said. “I am planning to try to get into a nursing program through COUNTY BUSINESS Page 3A
BC’s Chiasson earns Rogers Award Dave Rogers
For The Record
Bridge City native Charlotte Chiasson retired from her job at Lamar State College-Orange with the close of the Fall 2017 semester. But no one expects her to end her years of giving back to her hometown. “I’m going to miss her, but I know she’s going to continue to step forward and do a whole lot of things for her community,” Gwen Whitehead, LSCO Vice President, said last week, when Chiasson was presented the Julie and Ben Rogers Community Service Award. The presentation was made in a short ceremony Thursday, Dec. 14 at Lamar University in Beaumont. The Rogers Family set up an endowment in 1979 to annually provide a $1,000 cash award to a member of the Lamar University faculty or staff who made a significant contribution to
Lamar State College-Orange Vice President Gwen Whitehead, left, and Regina Rogers, right, present Charlotte Chiasson with the Julie and Ben Rogers Community Service Award Thursday, Dec. 14 at Lamar University in Beaumont. Chiasson, retiring Administrative Assistant at LSC-O, was one of four recipients for 2017. RECORD PHOTO: Dave Rogers
public service in Southeast Texas. The award was expanded a decade later to recognize four annual winners, one representing each of the four regional campuses carrying the Lamar name. Dr. Freddie Titus was this year’s award recipient from
Lamar University, Sherry Kilgore the winner for Lamar Institute of Technology and Scott Street won for Lamar State College Port Arthur. Regina Rogers, daughter of the couple who spent their lifetimes sharing their
wealth by giving back to their community, saluted the 2017 award winners as “very, very worthy of being recognized” and “people who are giving of themselves to the community in addition to giving to the schools. “You’re spreading love in your community and making a difference,” Rogers said. “The transformational differences from your acts of goodness and kindness and your acts of commitment and dedication were extraordinary.” Charlotte Schexnider Chiasson is a Bridge City High School grad. She spent 15 years working for the Bridge City Chamber of Commerce before going to work for Lamar State College-Orange, where she served as administrative assistant to Suzonne Crockett, Director of Education, CHIASSON Page 3A
Bengal, Coast Guard vet outlasts Harvey Dave Rogers
For The Record
More than 400 people attended Breakfast with Santa at Judice’s Cajun Café in Bridge City on Saturday, Dec. 16. Children under 12 dined for free. Owners Al and Nickie Judice pose with Santa, Robert Sanford.
Nearly 80 years after being at the center of a momentous time in the history of Orange, Ruby Parks had a frontrow seat for local history’s latest chapter. As Tropical Storm Harvey dumped inch after inch of rain on Orange Aug. 29, the 94-year-old widow was rescued by boat from her twobedroom home near Northway Shopping Center as floodwaters rose. “I’ve been blessed my
whole life, but I found out since Harvey just how much my kids love me,” she said recently. After a nearby niece helped her to dry land, Parks’ son Boyd came from Port Neches to gather what keepsakes he could and take charge of the house. Then Ruby moved to Virginia for a short time, to live with daughter Lynda and her family. Meanwhile, Boyd and his wife found Ruby found her a new place to live, in an RUBY PARKS Page 3A
Ruby Parks of Orange went from playing a bugle with the Bengal Guards to a World War II hitch in the Coast Guard. Tropical Storm Harvey chased her out of her home last summer. RECORD PHOTO: Dave Rogers
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