Texas, Beaumont | featured news

Click through the gallery above to see entries from the Junior League of Beaumont's 2017 gingerbread home contest.

Fourth graders at Hamshire - Fannett Elementary School gathered for a balloon release in memory of classmate Trevor Chesson Friday. Many of the students and staff wore camouflage in honor of his love of the outdoors.
Members of the Chesson family, including his parents Shane and Aimee Chesson, joined in the event, and received hugs and greeetings from the children before gathering for a group photo.

Orange County residents debated the accessibility of health care and a possible tax rate increase at a town hall meeting Thursday before voters decide whether to create a hospital district later this month.
Baptist Hospital in Orange ended inpatient care in 2015 and shuttered its emergency room in January 2017, forcing residents to travel outside the county for care.
One proposed solution is to create a hospital district, an entity that would be run by a board of directors and could collect taxes to fund a hospital or partner with a private company to operate one.