Tim Collins
Beaumont Enterprise
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Past articles by Tim:
Local landmarks, recreational sites wrecked by water
Cliff LaChance has lunch just about every day at Riverfront Park in Beaumont. But when he strolled by the Neches River this week, the park was in ruins. A bright blue picnic table rested on a pair of drainage pipes. Farther down, the concrete steps and the pavilion were cracked. "This used to be a nice place to stroll ...and have lunch," LaChance said. "Amazing what a whole lot of rising water… → Read More
Expect the price of gasoline to soar
Keith Johnson of Nederland clicked the hose into his gas tank on Friday and watched the numbers tick rapidly upward on the pump. "The prices are going up all over," he said. "That's what you get with shortages. And of course what happened to Corpus Christi." Johnson, who works for waste disposal company Republic Service, said gas prices rose in Nederland from $2.15 to $2.39 over the past week.… → Read More
Many rescuers working non-stop in disaster were also victims
On Thursday, Joshua Taylor had his first day off since signing into his shift for the Port Arthur Fire Department back on Aug. 24. Unfortunately, while Taylor was rescuing flood victims, his own neighborhood was being swamped. Now his street is littered with sheetrock from flood-damaged homes. Taylor said his house received 6 to 10 inches of floodwater - not as bad as some of his compatriots on… → Read More
How Beaumont's oldest resident weathered the storm
As Tropical Storm Harvey dropped a torrent of rain on S. 9th Street last week, Beaumont's oldest resident, 107-year-old Callie Green, weathered the storm. Green's great-niece, Marilyn Guillory, 64, said the flooding there had only ever reached ankle-deep during previous storms, but this time the water was waist-deep. Her main concern was keeping Green safe. "We took all our bedding and put it on… → Read More
Artist carves life from wood
Anyone who has taken a picture with Santa Claus at Parkdale Mall at Christmastime the past 15 years has met Richard Spinney. He's the man with the job of getting hundreds of kids to smile for the camera, but his true love is woodcarving. Spinney has been carving wooden sculptures for 35 to 40 years, regularly submitting work to the Beaumont Art League or selling his work on commission. In his… → Read More
Kindness from Beaumont cop legendary for writing tickets brings woman to tears
When Brittany Sylvester was stopped around lunchtime Tuesday, she panicked and started to cry. The 32-year-old Port Neches woman said when she saw the police officer standing at her car window, images began to flash through her mind of other traffic stops shared on social media. Stops that had gone wrong. "I was caught off-guard by my own emotions," she said Thursday. "I felt like I got hit in… → Read More
Beaumont suspends online water payment system following data breach
The City of Beaumont has suspended its online water bill payment system due to a potential data breach, chief technology officer Bart Bartkowiak said. Bartkowiak said the City of Beaumont received several notifications of unauthorized iTunes charges on bill-payers' accounts. Bartkowiak suggested any residents who have paid their water bills online between Aug. 1 and Aug. 24 to check their… → Read More
Wreck on West Port Arthur Road injures two
Two drivers have been taken to Christus St. Elizabeth following a two-car wreck on West Port Arthur Road near Avenue A. At around 4:45 p.m., Tuesday, both vehicles, a 2006 Honda and a 2015 Toyota pickup, were traveling north on West Port Arthur Road when the driver of the Honda swerved to avoid a stalled vehicle, Sergeant Stephanie Davis of the Texas Department of Transportation said. The Honda… → Read More
LU professor maps Southeast Texas heritage
Richard Gachot, associate professor of art and design at Lamar University, is currently doing a survey of historical buildings in downtown Beaumont, thanks to a grant from the Beaumont Heritage Society and the Texas Historical Commission. Gachot's map categorizes historic downtown buildings into eras, from the typical Western structures of the early Beaumont settlement days of 1838, through its… → Read More
Artist creates gardens with brushstrokes
Les Nuages stretches across the walls of Le Musée de l'Orangerie in Paris like a massive wall-to-wall window, depicting Monet's favorite subject - the water lilies in his flower garden at Giverny. Visitors often will walk into the room and marvel at the 6-1/2-foot-by-42-foot scene of clouds reflected in a pond, until they step closer and the pool becomes an incoherent mesh of brushstrokes and… → Read More
Orange Co. deputy sheriff charged with indecent exposure
An Orange County deputy sheriff has been charged with indecent exposure following a complaint filed in May. 48-year-old Brian Kenneth Foley of Orange has been released on bond following an arrest for indecent exposure, a class B misdemeanor. Foley was under administrative investigation by the Orange County Sheriff's Office and criminal investigation by the Sheriff's Office and the Texas Rangers… → Read More
Beaumont PD investigating possible homicide
The Beaumont Police Department is investigating a possible homicide on Pine Street. Beaumont PD responded to reports of a disturbance at 7:30 a.m. on the 2800 block of Pine Street near Magnolia Park. The police found one deceased man in an apartment on the block and are interviewing a second man about the incident, police officer Haley Morrow said. → Read More
Port Arthur levee damaged by shifting soil, temporary repair underway
The 250-foot section of Port Arthur's levee wall currently under repair was damaged due to soil having eroded from the front of the structure, causing pressure to build up, Phil Kelley, manager of Jefferson County Drainage District Number 7, said. Drainage District Number 7 officials have also proposed adding a steel sheet piled wall behind the damaged wall as a temporary stabilizing measure.… → Read More
Photos: Floodwall fails near Taylor Bayou
Jefferson County Drainage District No. 7 and the U. S. Army Corps of Engineers will host a press conference tomorrow, 10 a.m. to 11 a.m., at the Taylor Bayou, where they will issue a joint statement and answer questions. The release asked the public to follow the directions of public officials and to review evacuation procedures in the case of a tropical system impacting the area while repairs… → Read More
Kyle Park is grounded in Texas tradition
For anyone who's had a recent shot of fame or a lucky windfall, the drift toward hoity-toity-ness can be irresistible. A person can grow up in the country all their life, land a steady job in the big city and all of a sudden, they're at the coffee shop ordering a venti half-soy nonfat decaf organic double-shot frappuccino, with extra whip. Kyle Park, a country singer-songwriter who regularly… → Read More
Kyle Park is grounded in Texas tradition
For anyone who's had a recent shot of fame or a lucky windfall, the drift toward hoity-toity-ness can be irresistible. A person can grow up in the country all their life, land a steady job in the big city and all of a sudden, they're at the coffee shop ordering a venti half-soy nonfat decaf organic double-shot frappuccino, with extra whip. Kyle Park, a country singer-songwriter who regularly… → Read More
Deal with China gives rice farmers new hope
China previously had banned U.S. rice because of disagreements over safety protocols, but the USDA and U.S. rice groups had been petitioning the Chinese government. Just in the past 12 months, U.S. rice production has dropped 19 percent. Since the 1950s, the amount of land devoted to rice farming has shrunk from more than 600,000 acres to 187,000. → Read More
Crockett Street venue becomes temporary gym for local boxers
Visitors to Beaumont's Crockett Street entertainment district could be greeted any given night by the sight of kids lifting weights, waving battle ropes or pushing training machines along the cobbled street. That's because Victory University, formerly the Beaumont Boxing Club, recently left a gym on 11th Street and now operates out of The Gig. Coach Shedrick Lewis said the facilities at The Gig… → Read More
Robbery reported at Beaumont credit union
The financial institution is located at 7505 Eastex Freeway near the Texas 105 exit. → Read More
Suspect identified, warrant issued in King's Pharmacy burglary
The Port Arthur Police Department identified the suspect in the burglary of King's Pharmacy on July 14 as Jovon Hopkins and encourage anyone who knows the whereabouts of Hopkins to call (409) 983-8680. The PAPD posted a video on their Facebook page which showed the suspect lowering into King's Pharmacy with a black garbage bag, a pair of black gloves and a face mask, which had fallen off. The… → Read More