Boiled Water Notice has been lifted as of Friday, Aug. 7   The Burton Estates area in McLewis is under a boil water notice. The Mauriceville Municipal Utility District issued the notice Tuesday night for residents on Craft Lane south of Fox Road, plus Moss, Kobs, Buster, Jackson and North Lewis streets. The boil water notice was issued because of a water main break on Craft Lane. People should not consume the water or use it for ice unless the water is brought to a vigorous boil. Consumers may also use bottled water. The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality requires the … [Read more...] about McLewis Water Boil Water Notice Lifted

The most eastern part of Orange County is now officially in a moderate drought, according to the U.S. Drought Monitor issued on Thursday. The rest of the county, along with all of East Texas and the Hill Country are now at least considered abnormally dry on the monitor. Last week most of the state was not considered dry or in a drought. Readings for the weekly drought monitor are collected on the Tuesday before the map is released on Thursday. Only small, scattered showers or thunderstorms have moved through the county in the past few weeks after a wet spring that left ground saturated. The … [Read more...] about Burn Bans Are Heating Up

Burglars damaged the office at the historic Evergreen Cemetery and stole four string trimmers worth an estimated total of $1,200. Orange police went to the cemetery on Jackson Street at Border Street about 6:45 Thursday morning when someone discovered the break-in. Officer T.P. Pruitt reported the office is a trailer with attachments. Two windows in the office were broken and the front door was pried open. Nothing was missing from the office. The gasoline trimmers were in a wooden attachment. Officer Pruitt said part of the wooden wall was opened to get out the trimmers. The cemetery has a … [Read more...] about Burglars Hit Cemetery

Officials from Orange County met with FEMA and the Texas Department of Emergency Management at the Orange County Expo Center on Wednesday. The meeting was regarding reimbursement by FEMA for damage done in Orange County by flooding of the Neches River earlier this summer. FEMA has certified over 100 counties including Orange that were affected in the disaster. Orange County Emergency Management Director Ryan Peabody said he submitted initially $750,000 of damage assessment countywide to FEMA of which a half million dollars was just for the county’s infrastructure. Peabody indicated the county … [Read more...] about Orange County Meets With FEMA

The Orange City Council will have its first budget workshop of the year Friday morning when the city staff presents the preliminary budget for 2015-16. The workshop will be inside the Orange Public Library in the Ira Williamson Room. In the current budget, the city had a small tax decrease and a small increase in water-sewer rates. The tax rate and water and sewer departments will be part of the discussion during budget workshops. Also, employees received a 2 percent cost of living pay raise. The workshops are open to the public.   The 8-11-15 agenda for a Joint Meeting of the … [Read more...] about Orange Budget Workshop

More home break-ins were reported to Orange police on Tuesday. One burglary at 3333 Ridgemont Drive apartments included vandalism that caused a few hundred dollars worth of damage to a unit being remodeled. The manager of the apartments called police at 8:16 a.m. after discovering the damage. Officer J.H. Kirkpatrick reported that a fire was started in the bathroom and caused damage. In addition, someone broke the toilet and water flooded the apartment with an inch of water. Kirkpatrick said a neighbor called the fire department about 5 a.m. because of a smoke smell. The fire department … [Read more...] about Burglars, Vandals Strike in Orange