Texas, Beaumont | featured news

A second 15-year-old boy has been certified to stand trial as an adult and is charged with capital murder in the killing of a pregnant Beaumont woman and her infant daughter. Corey Spencer, the alleged gunman in the June 6 murder of Kera Teel, was certified in 317th District Court on Monday. Teel, 19, was seven months pregnant when she was shot in the parking lot of the Sienna Trails apartment complex just before 2 a.m. during an attempted robbery. Kyndal Teel died after her birth at a Beaumont hospital. Johnny Phifer, 15, was certified on Nov. 30 to stand trial as an adult.

Port Neches-Groves' emblematic totem pole will disappear for at least two years while the Neches Federal Credit Union builds a new branch on the corner of Magnolia Avenue and Merriman Street, under an agreement in which the school district swaps eight acres for the NFCU's nearby branch office.
In October, the PN-G Board of Trustees approved trading the corner lot for the credit union branch on Magnolia, interim superintendent Jimmy Creel said.
That office will become the district's new central administration building.

Friends and acquaintances turn up at Carlton Greathouse's home in Devers, random objects in hand.
"Can you make a guitar out of this?" they ask.
Greathouse, 52, breaks out in a broad grin as he replies in a deep Texas drawl, "Oh yes, I can. Yes, I can."
He jokes that he could likely make a musical instrument out of a person if he could get them to stand still long enough.
Shovels, tin cans, cigar boxes, brooms, toilet seats, a bed pan, and an old painted cow skull - these are just a few of the items stacked in piles throughout his home workshop.
Each awaits its transformation.

A look back at 2017 with Enterprise photojournalist Ryan Pelham

The historic Pines Theater in Silsbee, which was shuttered by AMC Theaters after Tropical Storm Harvey, could reopen as a new entertainment venue, according to a city official.
Christy Sanders-Heisner, executive director for Silsbee Economic Development Corp., said three proposals have been floated to revive the 70-year-old landmark.
The first would turn ownership over to the Silsbee Little Theater, one of the longest running community theater groups in Texas, she said.
The second would involve the Downtown Silsbee Revitalization group.

One person has died in an accident on Texas 105 near the Jefferson-Hardin County line, DPS Sgt. Stephanie Davis said.

Area families got a boost to their holiday cheer during a toy distribution held by members of the New York Fire Department and other volunteers at Community Christian Church in Orange Saturday. Retired and active members of the NYFD held the event at three area churches, including North Baptist Church in Orange and St. Anthony's Basilica in Beaumont. It was part of the Stephen Siller Foundation Tunnel to Towers' efforts to help bring Christmas to families throughout Southeast Texas in the wake of Tropical Storm Harvey's devastating impact on the community.