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After a year-long court battle, details of Kirbyville school superintendent Tommy Wallis' contentious tenure and forced departure from his previous district will be made public, a Travis County judge ruled late last month. Wallis, who was forced to resign from Bryan ISD last fall, sued the district and the Texas Attorney General's Office to block the release of information related to his time at the district in response to records requests from Bryan-College Station area media. He was hired by Kirbyville CISD in March 2017.

An engineer who inspected the construction site at Beaumont's Exxon Mobil refinery after a contract worker died last month criticized the methods used to rig pipes at the facility, according to documents filed as part of a lawsuit in a Jefferson County court.
Yesenia Espinoza, 31, was killed Dec. 1 while working at the site. Her husband filed a suit last week against Bechtel and Echo Maintenance, who employed contract workers at the construction site, alleging that their negligence caused Espinoza's death.

Think of it as anti-camouflage.
The large, dull green traffic control boxes that dot downtown Beaumont are being transformed into permanent art exhibits as local creatives, taking a cue from big-city artists, transfer their vision to the blank steel slates.
It's common for large municipalities to upgrade benches, statutes and blank concrete walls. After a trip to Toronto, a friend of Beaumont City Council member Virginia Jordan suggested the idea to add some color to downtown.
"Everyone says these pops of color just add charm and beauty," Jordan said.

Beaumont Police arrested a man they say witnessed a fatal shooting at a car wash last week after he fled from police this afternoon.

While some prefer staying indoors with hot coco and a warm blanket, other Texans headed out to state parks to kick off 2018.