A Department of Public Safety Trooper was working an accident on I-10 near FM 1136 on Wednesday night.  While working the accident, another vehicle struck the troopers patrol car which then struck the trooper.  The trooper was conscious at the scene but was taken to a Beaumont hospital.  Authorities also stopped the vehicle that struck the trooper.

Three new houses are going up in Orange, according to city building permits issued in June. Two of the houses are part of the federal hurricane recovery replacement dwellings for low-income homeowners. The other is for the local Habitat for Humanity. The total value of the three houses is $278,000. Two homeowners added features to take advantage of the summer months. A permit for a $23,500 outdoors kitchen and patio was issued for a house on Post Oak. A $65,000 swimming pool is being installed on Tall Oak. Air-conditioning contractors were busy in June with six home systems going in for a total of $35,120. A $24,718 addition is being building on Luther Street and two people are adding storage buildings to their homes with the total of $5,700. Gilbreath and Company is installing a $20,000 new billboard at 1810 Interstate 10. A take-out restaurant at 1804 16th Street added a $3,400 barbecue. Permits were issued for one commercial fence and one residential fence for a total of $8,000. A residence on Sunset Drive received a permit for a $3,500 outdoor irrigation system and the new Crawdad's convenience store at 4080 Interstate 10 installed a $1,500 irrigation system.

Orange police are investigating a copper theft at a house in the 800 block of Moss Street that is owned by Orange City Councilman Bill Mello. Mello called police about 10 a.m. Monday when he discovered the theft at one of his rental properties. The copper had been cut out of a central air-conditioning unit. The Marze insurance agency at 2408 16th Street wasn't the only victim of burglars during the weekend. A utility trailer was parked at the back of the office and someone broke the locks on it. Orange police report that at least $2,000 worth of power tools were stolen during the break-in.

Diane Dotson, Program Director and Instructor of Information Technology at Lamar State College-Orange, was recently recognized by the Cisco Networking Academy as an Advanced Level Instructor. This award recognizes Dotson as one of the top 25% instructors globally in the following areas: Participation in online instructor communities, number of professional development opportunities completed, attention to student needs, student performance, and use of resources. Prior to her teaching career that began at LSC-O in 2003, Dotson worked in “corporate America” for more than 15 years. Earning her Bachelor’s Degree in Management Information Systems and Master’s Degree in Educational Technology Leadership, Dotson is passionate about teaching and loves to see her students succeed. Dotson is the student sponsor for the AITP (Association of Information Technology Professionals) student chapter at LSC-O. She strongly encourages her students to join this organization as it not only enhances IT development during the academic career, but assists in professional development, supports IT education, and seeks to advance national policies on IT that improves society as a whole. Lamar State College-Orange has been a member of the Cisco Networking Academy for over 10 years. LSC-O uses the Cisco Networking Academy to teach the four CCNA courses and the PC hardware/software class. The Cisco Networking Academy is part of Cisco Systems, Inc., the worldwide leader in networking that transforms how people connect, communicate and collaborate. Lamar State College-Orange offers courses in the Cisco curriculum and upon completion of the program Dotson’s students have the opportunity and are employed in the local area businesses, plants, and school districts. Registration is open and she encourages all those interested in the computer information field to come and register for classes.

The officers of St. Mary Catholic Student Council and NJHS attended the Texas Association of Student Councils Summer Leadership Workshop Training in Sherman, TX at Austin College. The officers attended meetings and training to bring back to share with the students at school and the community. While at the leadership workshop, Shelby Smith, president of the student council was elected president of her council and was honored by giving a speech at the banquet. Student Council officers are: Shelby Smith, president; Megan Do, vice president; Elizabeth Johns, secretary; Adrian Willingham, treasurer; Amber Lester, Historian and Krystal Lester, Advisor Assistant. Officers for NJHS are: Megan Do, President; Shelby Smith, vice president; Elizabeth Doan Secretary and Nicholas Wilson, Historian. The Student Council advisor, Angie Smith attended and worked on staff as the secretary and technology coordinator for the workshop.

The Lutcher Theater for the Performing Arts is preparing for it's 35th Anniversary Celebration and Season Ticket Packages are on sale now at www.lutcher.org or by calling the Lutcher Box Office at 409-886-5535. The Lutcher Theater offers a Premiere Package of season tickets for patrons desiring ten to fifteen shows. This package ranges in price from $310 to $819 per person, depending on seat location and show selection. For patrons desiring four to nine shows, the Spotlight Saver Package is available allowing patrons the opportunity to create their own combination packages. This package ranges in price from only $80 to $590 per person, depending on seat location and show selection.

The City of Orange Economic Development Corporation has a new board president and two new board members. Now the corporation is ready to make a decision on investing money in a plan to develop the old Southern Printers Building in downtown. The economic development corporation met Tuesday before a regular meeting of the Orange City Council. City Manager Shawn Oubre said a joint meeting of the two groups will be held August 5 at 6 p.m. to discuss economic incentives for real estate developer Michael Wray to buy and renovate the old building. The Southern Printers Building is across the street from the city's riverfront boardwalk and pavilion. Wray plans to have apartments on the second floor of the old building and have a restaurant and shops on the first floor. The Economic Development Corporation directors voted to make George Mortimer president of the board. He is replacing Ben Culpepper, who passed away in May. In addition, Shane Johns and Councilwoman Mary McKenna took their seats on the board. The corporation rules require three of the seven board members be City Council members.  more

Rickey Land believes there’s no reason why every person shouldn’t know CPR.  As the Director for the Emergency Medical Technician (EMT) program at Lamar State College - Orange, Land is more than qualified to know the importance of the life-saving measure as well as many other aspects of emergency medical care. Land shared his knowledge with the Kiwanis Club of Orange, TX, Thursday afternoon where he discussed the benefits of the recently revived EMT program at LSC-O. Since starting in 2010, Land said the program has about 15 students per semester with plans for expansion within several years. In its first graduating class, the program had 9 students. more

The Sheriff’s Office announced the retirement Monday of a valuable asset. K-9 Shadow will retire effective July 31 after 9 years of service with the Sheriff’s Office. Age has caused Shadow to have problems with its hips and can no longer perform law enforcement functions. Sheriff Keith Merritt handled K-9s for more than 14 years when he was a constable one for nine years and another for almost six years, and said it is not uncommon for active dogs to begin to have trouble with their hips after the time Shadow has served the county. Merritt admitted the K-9s become very close to their handlers and are like part of your family. In the nine years of sniffing out contraband drugs and criminals, Shadow has many stellar moments. Sheriff Merritt remembers several times Shadow was at the top of its game. Whether it was going into a dark wooded area to find a suspect that might injure a deputy or locating a stash of drugs the dealer hid that eluded another K-9, but not Shadow, Merritt stated Shadow got the job done. Shadow’s handler with the department Corporal Russell Hall is looking at another Belgian Malinois like Shadow to be his new K-9 partner. Shadow will spend its retirement years with Hall. Sheriff Merritt added a press conference will be called when a replacement is found, and Shadow will be given a more formal farewell from the department.

The first of two public hearings to annex three tracts into Bridge City was held Monday night. Brad Taylor the co-owner of Sterling Shipyard in Port Neches spoke to the city council about his company wanting to expand and move their business to Humble Island which would fall into the extra-territorial jurisdiction being annexed by Bridge City. Taylor’s company has received a tax incentive from Port Arthur to pay for utilities if they move, and Taylor is concerned if there will be a lengthy delay caused by confusion on whether Bridge City or Port Arthur has jurisdiction on the island. Taylor hopes for a quick conclusion to the annexation which would put the property his company wants to build on in Orange County and they could talk to Bobby Fillyaw about incentives because they are ready to move at any time. City Manager Jerry Jones said Bridge City has looked to annex the area since about the time of Hurricane Ike. Jones assured Taylor that there will be no question the area will be in Bridge City’s jurisdiction after the annexation. Jones pointed out that the annexation is not stepping on Port Arthur’s toes, but added that if Port Arthur has been taxing the property it might owe somebody a bunch of money. Apparently, the previous owner of the island had property that extended across the Neches River, and that might have caused confusion on jurisdiction. The second public hearing on the annexations will be 6 o’clock this evening at the City Hall in Bridge City.

Bridge City is trying to make itself more attractive to businesses. The Planning and Zoning Commission met with the City Council Monday night for two public hearings to hear comments on two separate requests to rezone single family residential properties as commercial or office zoned properties. There was no opposition to either request at the public hearings. Afterwards the planning and zoning commission met in a regular session. Vice Chairman of the commission Steve Quibodeaux said both requests were approved by the commission. He added the planning and zoning commission has been trying to approve more properties in the city for commercial to get more businesses and benefit the city. One request wants to expand a day care center located on Miller Drive and the second request is to build a new office across from its fabrication facility on Nevils.