Texas, Beaumont | featured news

While many celebrate the new year, a home in Beaumont, Vidor and Port Neches caught fire. No injuries were reported.

After several years of plentiful crawfish in January, suppliers are warning of a delayed and possibly shorter season because of Tropical Storm Harvey and a recent harsh cold front.
When Harvey dumped more than 50 inches of rain on Southeast Texas, local crawfish ponds flooded.
"Harvey did a number on me," said Red Tailz Crawfish farmer and owner Mike Bingham. "My ponds were under water for 10 days, and I'm pretty sure all of the babies got flushed right out."
His ponds off Texas 124 in Fannett and the picnic area where he boils crawfish are still covered in sand and mud.

The federal government typically spends up to $150,000 apiece — not counting utilities, maintenance or labor — on the trailers it leases to disaster victims, then auctions them at cut-rate prices after 18 months of use or the first sign of minor damage, the Associated Press has learned.

Despite chilly winter weather days after Christmas, several people on Wednesday protested the Confederate monument in Orange, which has faded from the public spotlight after provoking controversy in years past. Tracie and Jeremy Parzen, who live in Houston, visited family for the holidays in Tracie's hometown of Orange. They decided now was as good a time as ever to take a stand against what they view as a "hurtful" and "insensitive" monument. "Some people see the flag and they blow it off," Tracie Parzen, 42, said. "They don't think much of it ...

Larry Melvin's relief was short-lived.
The Rose City resident had drinkable water last week for the first time since Tropical Storm Harvey hit. As soon as he received news that the town's boil notice had been lifted, his focus shifted back to where it's been for months: rebuilding.
"Of course it's nice that we don't have to boil water anymore, but that's not even close to the end of it," Melvin said. "You get some good news, but then I look up and realize I don't have a kitchen right now. I've got countertops laying in the front yard.