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Wednesday, September 2, 2020
Volume 31, Issue 36
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Fall Sports Preview Winnie Stowell Hospital District Cancels Election By Wade Thibodeaux  The Winnie Stowell Hospital District Board of Directors met in regular session on Wednesday, August 19, 2020 at their new office located at 520 Broadway in Winnie, Texas. One of the main items of business was the cancelling of the upcoming election slated for November 3, 2020. The election was able to be cancelled due to the fact that the existing three directors all signed up for re -election and nobody else placed their name on the ballot as a challenger. Therefore, Edward Murrell, Anthony Stramecki, and Jeff Rollo will remain as directors for the organization. In addition to the cancelling of the election, the board was able to cancel any ballot placement drawings, and a contract with Chambers County for the administration of the election, as well as any necessary paperwork dealing with an election. The board dealt with
the normal approval of the minutes from previous meetings and the approval of the financials, as well as receiving all of the committee and staff reports. The directors approved a small IGT(Intergovernmental Transfer) for uncompensated care and then held off on appointing a new director to fill the vacant position of Raul Espinosa who moved away to live with his family. One resume was received for the vacant position and the personnel committee was going to set up an interview with the applicant at a later date. Persons interested in applying for the vacant position should contact the Winnie Stowell Hospital District at 409.296.1003. The next regular meeting of the Winnie Stowell Hospital District Board of Directors will be Wednesday, September 16, 2020 at 6:00 pm. at the District's office located at 520 Broadway in Winnie, Texas.
I-10 Concrete Barriers Replaced By Wade Thibodeaux   The concrete barriers that held back so much water on the North side of Interstate 10 are being replaced with new barriers that have slots underneath them to allow the water to move to the other side of the barrier. TxDot began this process on Monday, August 31,
2020 and hopefully the new barriers will alleviate flooding on the North side of Interstate 10 during extreme periods of rain such as recent hurricanes and tropical systems. Local resident Richie Devillier, who flooded twice, has been persistent in requesting the change
Fire Destroys Home in Stowell
By Wade Thibodeaux  Local volunteers responded to a house fire during the early morning hours of August 26,2020. Crews were awakened around 2:15 am with the call for help in the 500 block
of East Main Street in Stowell. Winnie Stowell Volunteer Firemen extinguished the blaze, but from all appearances, the house was a total loss. Firemen were summoned back to
the same address later around 6:00 am as the house had re-ignited and was on fire again. All indications are that the occupants of the house had evacuated for Hurricane Laura the day before and
no one was home or injured in the blaze. The Chambers County Fire Marshal's office is investigating, but no cause has been determined as of press time.
with TxDot officials as well as elected officials and was certainly glad to see the new barriers being installed.
replace 23 sections of concrete barrier along Interstate 10 in Orange and Chambers Counties. These updates will aid greatly in mitigating future flooding of the corridor. “I’ve heard from many residents in Orange and Chambers Counties who are being impacted by repeat flooding
along the Interstate 10 corridor after heavy rain events,� said Babin. “My staff and I have had numerous conversations with community leaders and leadership at TxDOT about this unfortunate situation. Last October, I visited a specific section of I-10 in Winnie, known to flood regularly,
and met with local landowners as well as TxDOT officials to discuss what could be done. At the time, I requested that TxDOT investigate and determine what was interrupting the flow of water causing the flooding and that they quickly work to find a solution. (contd on page 8)
U.S. Congressman Brian Babin (TX-36) released the following statement applauding the Texas Department of Transportation’s ( T x D O T ) announcement to
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