Student Council members represented Little Cypress-Mauriceville High School at a Texas Association of Student Councils (TASC) Advanced Leadership Workshop at Mo Ranch February 14-16, 2014. Theresa Beckett, Sydney Smith, Madison Miller, Savanna Smith, McKenzie DiLeo, and Kaylee Patillo were LCM’s delegates to the workshop, which included students from across the State of Texas. During the three days of leadership training and idea sharing, they gained the tools and the knowledge necessary to not only improve student council effectiveness in their local school but also to enhance their personal leadership skills. Savanna Smith, a senior, served as a Junior Counselor for the Mo Ranch Workshop. Three more LCM HS students were selected to be Summer Workshop Junior Counselors for the coming summer. Sophomore Madison Miller will be at a high school workshop at Texas State in late July-early August. Freshmen Sydney Smith will work a middle level workshop, also at Texas State in mid-July. Kaylee Pattillo, also a freshmen, will serve as a junior counselor at a middle level, one-day workshop in Houston in September. According to Student Council Sponsor, Stacey Smith, “This is a great honor for these ladies.” From left, Theresa Beckett, Sydney Smith, Madison Miller, Savanna Smith, McKenzie DiLeo, and Kaylee Patillo.

Two hundred and forty-seven Entergy customers around the Oak Creek Village and Woodmont neighborhoods were without power until 7:30 Monday evening. The outage started at 8:07 a.m. when a large oak tree fell on transmission lines. The outage originally affected 6,000 customers from Allie Payne Road southward through parts of Pinehurst and Orange to about Park Avenue. Crews rerouted lines to get most of the power on within two to four hours. However, the neighborhood near the tree has posed the biggest problem. Entergy spokeswoman Debi Derrick said the company had to bring in special equipment from a different area to deal with the tree and the lines. The large oak fell on lines but did not break them. The fallen tree put a lot of tension on the lines. For safety reasons, the special equipment was needed to lift the tree off the taut lines. That type of equipment is not something the company typically needs so it was not available in Orange.

Found male puppy reddish brown with white color on chin & chest in Oak Creek Village 2516 Black Oak Drive. Call Lydia 988-8417.

- Orange police tracked down someone with a couple of counterfeit bills Saturday night at a local hotel. Police first went to a hotel in the 2600 block of Interstate 10 Friday afternoon when a desk clerk reported getting a fake $20 bill. Hotel personnel called again Saturday morning with another bill that proved to be fake. Police went back once more on Saturday night. Officer M.T. Roush reported that he went to a room where the customer had been paying in cash. The man said he didn't know where the counterfeit bills had come from. The officer looked through $400 in cash the man had and didn't find any more fake bills. However, the officer arrested a woman in the room who had two municipal court arrest warrants, one for speeding and the other for failure to appear in court.
 - Also during the weekend, a man living in the 500 block of Gardenia Street called police at 9:37 a.m. Sunday to report that someone had shot out the passenger side window in his pickup truck with a BB gun. On Sunday at 1:23 p.m., officers went to the apartments on College Street to investigate a burglary of a pickup truck. Polarized sunglasses, a strobe-style flashlight, tackle box with gear, and a small amount of cash had been stolen.

Bridge City - The Southbound lanes of SH87 at Cow Bayou will be narrower beginning March 5 in preparation to switch all traffic over to the taller Cow Bayou Bridge. Northbound traffic will move to the taller bridge possibly the following week. Traffic will stay on the taller bridge until the historic swing bridge has been restored.

The Little Cypress Intermediate and Little Cypress Elementary Community Resource Walk is scheduled for Friday, March 7, from 7:35 a.m. to 2 p.m. It will be on the LCI campus, 2300 Allie Payne. This award-winning project attracts between 1,000 and 1,500 parents, community members, and students from other Little Cypress-Mauriceville campuses each year. Besides stressing the importance of staying fit, the schools’ students collect donations of food, toiletries and baby supplies to be donated to Orange Christian Services, Salvation Army, Rainbow Room and Garth House. This year HEB is a collection site for those in the community who would like to participate. Along with the walk, LifeShare Blood Center will have mobile collection units available from 7:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. for those who would like to donate blood. This event is also supported by area restaurants that cater the exhibitors Hospitality Room. Many of the exhibitors are organizations, which provide assistance to families in need. For additional information, call 409-886-4245. LCI and LCE received a proclamation from the County Commissioner’s Court, proclaiming March 7 as “Orange County Charities Day.” Standing in front of the Commissioner’s and County Judge, are LCM Superintendent Dr. Pauline Hargrove, LCI Nurse Kelly Meadows, LCE Nurse Shari Chesson, LCE Principal Kayla Casey, Paulette Bellett with Orange Christian Services and Brian Braud with the Little Cypress Lions Club.

Orangefield High School senior, Shelbi Haney, placed 2nd in the Protégé Art Contest with her painting entitled "How to Kill a Hummingbird." The contest was held at the Art Museum of Southeast Texas and spotlights the best of high school seniors in the area. Only 20 pieces of art were selected from almost 200 entries. Haney received an 8-semester scholarship to Lamar University as well as $200 towards art supplies. Her work, along with the other 19 in the show, will be on display in the art museum in Beaumont, before touring until May, 2014. From left: Dr. Ben Petty, Orangefield High School principal; Shelbi Haney; and Sherry Windham, Orangefield High School art teacher.

When Michael O'Connor went to Stark High School in the 1950s, he knew exactly what he wanted to do. When he graduated in 1955, he headed to Los Angeles to study his chosen field. That led him to a career which helped make him a member of the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences. For a number of years, he would dress in his tuxedo and sit in the audience for the annual Academy Awards presentations. He had a special ticket because he was on the nominating committee for his division-- animation. O'Connor was an animator and writer for hundreds of TV and movie cartoon shows during more than 30 years in Hollywood. He died in 1992 at the age of 54 from complications of diabetes, a disease that was diagnosed when he was still in high school. It might be hard to find anyone in Hollywood who worked with so many stars. His list includes Sleeping Beauty, The Pink Panther, Bugs Bunny, Scooby Doo, Fat Albert, Archie, He-Man, Gilligan, Captain Kirk, Tom and Jerry, and on through the years to Bart and Homer Simpson. more

Pinehurst had a late filing for city council Friday afternoon. Suzy Permenter, wife of former councilman and mayor Billy Permenter, is running for a spot on the council. She is also the sister-in-law of former mayor T.W. Permenter. She is the third person running for two at-large positions up for election this year. The other candidates are incumbent John Zerko and former council member Mike Anderson. Current council member Ron Cowling is not seeking re-election because he is running for Orange County Precinct 2 commissioner.
The Orange County Drainage District had a candidate withdrawal today from the election for the board of directors. Bubba Simpson had filed to run for the Precinct 1 seat. That leaves Kenneth Pigg as the only person running for the Precinct 1 spot. Bill Dixon, who has long held that spot, is not running. Dixon is not running this time. Incumbent Karl Stephenson is running for the Precinct 3 seat against challengers Hal LaPray and Woodrow 'Woody' Dugas. Incumbent Brent Peveto is unopposed for the at-large position. No other new filings or changes were made on Friday. The cities of West Orange and Bridge City, along with the Bridge City and Little Cypress-Mauriceville school districts will be able to cancel their elections because only incumbents filed and there are no contested races.
The Orange County Courthouse and state offices will be closed Monday for Texas Independence Day. No other local public offices will be closed. Commissioners Court will meet Tuesday.

Little Cypress-Mauriceville High School visual artists have been busy this semester preparing their work for various contests. The 28th Annual Protégé' Contest, held at the Art Museum of Southeast Texas (AMSET) and sponsored by Market Basket, had their award's on Thursday, February 20. There were 122 area seniors who entered the contest and the judge, a professor of Art from TSU in Houston, selected 21 as accepted pieces in the show. Both Ivy Casteel, with her handmade necklace, and Emily St. John, with her painted chair, made this select group. Five Honorable Mentions, including Ivy Casteel, received a $50.00 gift certificate from Michael's. Emily St John was among the top three winners in the competition, and will receive a four-year scholarship to Lamar University and a $150.00 gift certificate from Michael's. According to Betsy Kaufman, LCM art teacher, “I am so proud of Emily and Ivy's talent and hard work. I have signed up to have the 21 top pieces that are now a traveling exhibit, to be on display at the LCM library from March 24 through March 28.” Another contest that has kept students busy creating is the Houston Livestock and Rodeo Art Contest. These pieces go through several rounds of competition before winners are announced. Two of LCM’s Gold Medal Winners and one Best of Show are still in a competition, which will result in winners being included in an art auction. Students participating in the Rodeo Art contest are, from left to right, Bailey Burnett-Gold Medal Winner, Rachel Schick - Second Place ribbon, Alexis Snyder - First Place ribbon, Kevin Henderson- First Place ribbon, Brianna Cart - First Place ribbon, Kirty Weatherly - Gold Medal Winner, Shannon Boozer – Third Place ribbon and Emily St. John-Best of Show.

The Little Cypress-Mauriceville UIL Prose/Poetry Team took First Place Speech Team Award at the Sabine Pass UIL Academic Practice Meet on Saturday, March 1. Placing in Finals were (from L to R) Connor Alexander – Sixth Place Prose, Jacob Richard – Fourth Place Prose, Tyler Regan – Third Place Prose, Alex Borel – Second Place Poetry and Rebecca Sanford – Fourth Place Poetry. Students are coached by LCM Theatre Director Cory Broom.

St. Mary Catholic School celebrates success after the Diocesan Science Fair held at Kelly High School in Beaumont. Students applied and researched the scientific method in creating projects that require using this method. Students worked on these projects for 2 months with the help and guidance from their science teacher, Mrs. Daphne McInitre. St. Mary student Spencer Johns won “Best in Show”, 1st place winners were Lydia Covington and McCartney Miller and 3rd place winners were Sarah Gonazlez and Victoria Doan; Eli Vigil and Dalton Wimberley; and Olivia Fuselier. St. Mary school entered 13 projects and celebrated taking home 5 awards.

On Friday, February 28, students at Little Cypress Elementary participated in a nationwide effort to “Read the Most Coast to Coast.” They are among hundreds of thousands of students joining in this Third annual reading challenge. “Read the Most Coast to Coast” encourages students to read more and take part in a one-day effort to beat the record for the number of Accelerated Reader Quizzes taken in one day. Last school year, students across the nation set a new one-day record of 4,409,622 quizzes. At Little Cypress Elementary, approximately 400 students took part in this shared effort to top a national reading record. All participants received a Certificate of National Participation. Pictured are second grade teachers (L to R): Iva Peasley, Kathleen Thibodeaux, Julie Landry and Sandra Davis.