Child in CPS program dies in house fire

Photos by Mark M. Hancock / © The Beaumont Enterprise

Officials investigate a fatal home fire in Deweyville on Tuesday, March 13, 2007. The fire, which took place on Friday, killed James Montgomery and his girlfriend's 21-month-old girl daughter.


Deweyville fire chief Mark McCall (left) talks with other officials during an investigation a fatal home fire in Deweyville. The child, Trinity Hantz, had been removed from the home and placed with nearby relatives by Child Protective Services. The relatives returned Trinity to her mother against CPS orders the day before the fire.


Deweyville firefighter Justin McCullough removes fire line tape after officials investigated a fatal home fire in Deweyville. CPS is filing a civil action against the relatives for neglectful supervision. The Texas fire marshal's office is expected to release their findings in two weeks.

Please read "Fire victim wasn't supposed to be in home" by Ryan Myers.

Newton women

Mark M. Hancock / © The Beaumont Enterprise

Newton County deputy Cynthia Hall (left) and Assistant Criminal District Attorney Misti Weeks Spacek (right) pose for a portrait at the district attorney's office in Newton on Wednesday, June 28, 2006. Both are the first females to occupy their county positions.

Prisoner manhunt

Photos by Mark M. Hancock / © The Beaumont Enterprise

Newton Country officials leave the Newton County Correctional Center to search for an escaped prisoner in Newton, Texas on Tuesday, June 13, 2006.


Newton Country officials search for an escaped prisoner along Texas Highway 87 in Newton County. Rudolfo Garcia-Lopez, 38, escaped from the Newton County Correctional Center, a the privately operated facility, on Monday and remains at large.


Newton Country officials search for an escaped prisoner in Newton County, Texas. Rudolfo Garcia-Lopez is an Idaho prisoner serving a 20-year sentence for aggravated assault and a 12.6-year sentence for attempted kidnapping.


Newton Country officials search for an escaped prisoner in Newton County. He escaped the prison after protesting, among similar issues, which cable television programs were available at the prison.


Newton Country deputies Scott Duncan (from left to right), Thomas Anderson and Jerry Amburn search for an escaped prisoner along a logging road in Newton County.

Please read "Manhunt scours Newton County woods" by F.A. Krift and Jacqueline Lane.

Update: 15 June 2006
Please read "Newton jail escapee caught" by F.A. Krift.
 

Evacu-lanes

Alex Robledo with Crabtree Barricade Systems of Beaumont melts an evacu-lane symbol onto the shoulder of Highway 87 near Newton on Tuesday, May 2, 2006. The shoulder will be used as a north-bound traffic lane during the next hurricane evacuation.


Mark M. Hancock / © The Beaumont Enterprise

Bon Wier's new fire truck

As we saw last year, the Bon Wier volunteer fire department's station was ripped open by a fallen tree during Hurricane Rita. The tree not only damaged the station but it crushed one of the department's two fire trucks.

Although the department was able to use a jack to make the truck drivable again, it was no longer a safe vehicle.

The volunteer fire department of Brighton Township, Penn. heard of Bon Wier's problem and donated a fully-equipped 1973 Mack fire truck to replace their damaged truck.


Photos by Mark M. Hancock / © The Beaumont Enterprise

Both the damaged (front) and newer (background) fire trucks sit in front of the Bon Wier VFD station in Bon Wier, Texas on Thursday, Feb. 9, 2006. The volunteer fire department received a fully-equipped 1973 Mack fire truck from the Brighton Township, Penn.


Fire chief Jim DuBose unhooks a donated fire truck at the VFD station in Bon Wier.


The Bon Wier VFD sign reflects off the door of a donated truck from the Brighton Township VFD.


Volunteer firefighters Carl Davis (left) and John B. Roy (right) help guide a donated fire truck off a trailer in Bon Wier.


Bon Wier volunteer firefighters take the new truck for a spin in Bon Wier.
 

Offensive Player of the Year

Mark M. Hancock / © The Beaumont Enterprise

Newton High School senior Toddrick Pendland poses for a portrait at the school in Newton on Wednesday, Dec. 21, 2005. Pendland was named by The Beaumont Enterprise as the Offensive Player Of The Year after Newton won the state championship.

Mark-O-Rita

Mark M. Hancock / © The Beaumont Enterprise
Port Arthur police S.W.A.T. teams prepare to secure the city after Hurricane Rita hit on Saturday, Sept. 24, 2005.

When Hurricane Rita crashed into Southeast Texas and Southwest Louisiana on Saturday, Sept. 24, 2005, it was the third-strongest hurricane in recorded history. Damage estimates top $8 billion.

The proud people of this area immediately got to work repairing and replacing what they could. However, many hard-working folks lost homes, businesses or both. Some communities simply vanished and only memories and mortgages for toxic sand remain.

I suggest donating to The Salvation Army. It would do the most good. We're working to find a more efficient donation system for the folks in this area who will need help for many months.

The majority of Hurricane Rita images appear in the September and October 2005 archives. Below is a list of individual posts or viewers can see the entire months' work by clicking on the linked words in the previous sentence.

Please use the Back button on your browser to return to this page.

20 Sept. - Tuesday
Pre-Rita run on Wal-Mart
Krogering for supplies

21 Sept. - Wednesday
Hurricane Rita (text)
Patience at Home Depot
Leaving home

22 Sept. - Thursday
Mini Rita update (text)
Police help evacuate
Special needs evacuation
The calm before the storm

23 Sept. - Friday
Braced for Hurricane Rita
Braced for Hurricane Rita continued
Watching Hurricane Rita

24 Sept. - Saturday
Hurricane Rita hits
Hurricane Rita aftermath: Beaumont
Hurricane Rita aftermath: Port Arthur
Vidor post-Rita
Mauriceville feed and grain

25 Sept. - Sunday
No mass after Rita
Trying to help his neighbors
Untangling after Rita
Crystal clear damage
Beaumont emergency center
Ford Park: formerly shelter from Katrina
Market Basket's conditional opening
O'Hare's helps after looted
Fuel arrives before power

26 Sept. - Monday
Fuel line wait
Tornado damage during hurricane
Airport heavy metal
Testing communication
Sandwiched
Damage is clear from above
Orange hit hard
Clean and secure
Shrimp boats

Sept. 27 - Tuesday
Temporary communication
Mauriceville Red Cross shelter closes
Bridge City
Sunk shrimp boat
Port Neches
Groves
Nederland Windmolen

Sept. 28 - Wednesday
Salvation Army feeds Beaumont
Recovery continues in Beaumont
More Beaumont damage

Sept. 29 - Thursday
Parkdale Mall activity
Post office wait
Lake Charles, La. suffers storm surge
Vinton motel closed
Boomtown post-Rita
Port Arthur neighborhoods sealed
Port Arthur's "Best-kept lawn"

Sept. 30 - Friday
Self reliant
FEMA goes house-to-house
Free flat repairs
Clear Channel team coverage
Chainsaw sharpener
Looters sent to hell
Trash deposit center

Oct. 1 - Saturday
We're surviving, but tired (text)
Rebuilding Target
SBM chainsaw ministries
Park crew

Oct. 2 - Sunday
Still going... (text)
Hungry hummingbirds
Morning activities
Working despite losses
Elks Lodge fire

Oct. 3 - Monday
Hurricane Rita's aftermath - one day's work

Oct. 4 - Tuesday
Abundantly blessed
Mail returns to Silsbee
Brooks Brothers does its best
Rita survivor T-shirts

Oct. 5 - Wednesday
Bank's reopen
Lion's Carnival
Bayou ecological damage

Oct. 6 - Thursday
Buna VFD
Bleakwood: A Red Cross success
Bon Wier VFD: no immunity

Oct. 7 - Friday
After-Rita funeral

Oct. 8 - Saturday
Hamshire VFD survival celebration
Sabine Pass
Spraying into the night
Chainsaw sunset
Emergency food

Oct. 9 - Sunday
Taking a breather (text)

Oct. 11 - Tuesday
Working against two hazards

Oct. 12 - Wednesday
Log loader
Meat juice
Found dog
Beaumont evacuees return

Oct. 13 - Thursday
Souvenirs
Tired

Oct. 20 - Thursday
How to cover hurricanes (text)

Oct. 21 - Friday
Holly Beach, La. is gone

Oct. 24
Holly Beach isn't there (text)

Oct. 27
Cameron, La.
Oak Grove, La.
Holly Beach drainage ditch
Johnson's Bayou, La.

Nov. 16
Texas Highway 87

Nov. 23
"Rita Captured" is available

Nov. 24
Displaced Thanksgiving

Nov. 26
Cameron two months later

Dec. 7
Silsbee library setback

Dec. 15
Bryan's 797 chefs

Dec. 20
Happy Birthday

Dec. 22
Forgotten Rita evacuees

Dec. 24
FEMA Christmas

Dec. 27
Cameron three months later

Jan. 6
Shangri La Gardents post Rita

Jan. 7
Cameron evac order lifted
Orange reshade

Jan. 10
Walker performs at home

Jan. 12
Baseball field repairs

Jan. 13
Reconstruction's benefit

Jan. 24
Getting some help

Feb. 2
Tillman's Bar-B-Q

Feb. 9
Bon Wier's new fire truck

March 14
Gingerbread Square

March 30
Holly Beach recovery
Creole recovery

April 6
West Side story

April 12
West Side story

April 22
Concrete canoe races

May 6
Evacu-lanes

May 20
Johnson Bayou graduation 2006

June 24
Cameron Parish still faces insurance challenges

July 7
Texas Roadhouse completed

Aug. 18
Extreme fire engine

Sept. 24
Hurricane Rita:   Texas
Hurricane Rita:   Louisiana


Oct. 21
Cameron recovery celebration

Dec. 6
Sabine Pass Santa

Dec. 20
Cameron hospital reconstruction

Enough for now,

Bon Wier VFD: no immunity

Photos by Mark M. Hancock / © The Beaumont Enterprise

A fire department engine is visible through the gaping hole in the side of the Bon Wier Volunteer Fire Department station in Bon Wier on Thursday, Oct. 6, 2005. A tree fell onto the sheet metal building during Hurricane Rita.


A fire department engine is visible through the gaping hole in the side of the Bon Wier Volunteer Fire Department station in Bon Wier. Unlike other area VFDs, the station was unfit to serve as an emergency center for the community.

Although the county is severely damaged and on the FEMA disaster declaration list, the American Red Cross has given confusing information to rural residents.
 

New school, new murals

Charles Tucker of Channelview paints a mural on the gym wall at the new Deweyville High School in Deweyville on Thursday, August 11, 2005. He has painted most school murals from Brownsville to New Orleans including the Toyota Center.

Mark M. Hancock / © The Beaumont Enterprise