A federal jury has decided Orange County should pay $2,617,000 to the family of a man who died in the county jail in October 2011. The jury returned the verdict today after a week of testimony during a trial in Beaumont. 41-year-old Robert Montano died in the Orange County Jail five days after he was arrested for public intoxication. Attorneys for Montano's family told the jury he had been held in a medical cell for five days without food or water. At the time of the death, a spokesman for the Orange County Sheriff's Office reported Montano had been on so-called "bath salts," a concoction of … [Read more...] about Jury Awards Family

A 53-year-old man from Vidor was sent to a Beaumont hospital Thursday evening after he was shot in the leg when a pistol fell out of his pocket. Orange police report the man did not have a concealed handgun license. At this time, no charges have been filed. Police were called at 6:25 p.m. Thursday to a convenience store at 7411 South Highway 62 at the Interstate 10 intersection. Officer Justin Kirkpatrick reported that the man had bought ice and was at his car breaking up the ice to put into a cooler. The man had a .38 caliber Derringer pistol in his jacket pocket. It fell out and fired when … [Read more...] about Man Shoots Himself

  Marriage License: Issued By The Office of Brandy Robertson, Orange County Clerk For the Week of February 9, 2015 thru February 13, 2015. Albert S. Kissinger and Tessa L. Roden, Elmer O. Coburn Jr. and Dorothy J. Yust, Tony L. Mills and Angela M. Reeves, Jonathon LeJeune and Rhonda G. Cates, Chad E. Shields and Malinda S. Vail, Robert C. Fuller and Heather M. Stout, David J. LeBlanc and Lisa A. Terrell, Jonathan B. Gusman and Lisa L. Sanchez, Harold J. Richard and Judy N. Smith, Omar E. Price and Kanisha A. Crabtree, Richard D. Drouillard Jr. and Marianne E. Toohey, Rodney L. Glisson and … [Read more...] about Going to the Chapel

At approximately 4:50pm Wednesday, there was a four vehicle crash at the crest of the Rainbow Bridge. All vehicles were traveling from Bridge City towards Port Arthur. A 2011 Nissan pickup truck was traveling westbound on the Rainbow Bridge. Due to stopped traffic ahead, the Nissan had stopped and a 2001 Chevrolet SUV began to slow down behind the Nissan. As the Chevrolet slowed down, it was struck from behind by a 2006 Lincoln SUV which pushed the Chevrolet into the Nissan. Just as the Lincoln struck the Chevrolet SUV, it was struck from behind by a 1999 Dodge Durango. The driver of the … [Read more...] about Accident on Rainbow Bridge

The restoration of the old First Baptist Church in downtown Orange continues to lead construction projects. The Stark Foundation, which owns the building, received a City of Orange building permit in January to install a $2.5 million air conditioning-heating system by Honeywell International. The foundation has previously had two other building permits totaling more than $1.2 million for a new roof and renovations. In addition, the foundation has demolished the other buildings on the former church campus on Green Avenue. The foundation will use the century-old domed building for classes and … [Read more...] about Construction Projects

Several tourism sponsors in Orange County will be getting checks in the next week from the County Auditor. The Commissioners Court headed by County Judge Pro Tem David Dubose voted unanimously Monday on awarding Hotel Occupancy Tax funds to seven applicants for the HOT funds that had been approved by County Auditor Mary Johnson who was wanting to pay all the HOT funds checks at the same time, but there are a couple of applicants for the funds that did not have their proper paperwork. Monday’s action will at least pay those applicants that are incompliance which has the president of the Greater … [Read more...] about Commissioners Meet Dec. 15