The News

BISD teacher indicted in theft of flag girl money

Alisa Boutte

Wednesday, March 21, the Jefferson County District Attorney’s Office released the indictment handed up by a grand jury March 15 alleging Beaumont Independent School District special education teacher Alisa Boutte committed third-degree felony theft by taking money from the parents of students at Central High School while acting in an official capacity.

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Ribboncutting marks the official opening of new projects in Port Arthur

The City of Port Arthur held a ribbon cutting for the Pavilion and People's Park on March 21.

“We’re excited about the possibilities that it brings to Port Arthur,” City of Port Arthur spokesperson LaRisa Carpenter said.

The city believes the Pavilion and Peoples Park are “key elements that will help to ignite and sustain downtown re-development,” Carpenter said in a press release.

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Court receives threats as capital murder trial jury selection goes on

Joseph Colone

On trial accused of murdering a woman and her teenage daughter because one of his victims had fingered him in a then-pending gameroom robbery case, Joseph Colone sits in Judge Raquel West’s Jefferson County 252nd District Court shackled to the floor under the constant watch of Jefferson County sheriff’s deputies. Starting Monday, March 20, Colone was brought to court to begin the long and arduous process of selecting a jury to hear the defendant’s capital murder case.

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Game wardens pursue four-wheelers and deputies search for marijuana at Sea Rim

Games wardens with the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department (TPWD) chased a group on four-wheelers at Sea Rim Park on March 22 and later apprehended a suspect in the crime. The next day, Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office (JCSO) Aviation Unit deputies found a stolen four-wheeler that had been involved in the chase while looking for bundles or marijuana along the shore.

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State attorney’s office intervenes in felony case against former BISD electrician

Calvin Walker (right) and his trial attorney in the federal case, Dick DeGuerin

Former Beaumont Independent School District contract electrician Calvin Walker, under state indictment for allegedly defrauding and illegally collecting millions of dollars from BISD and the city of Port Arthur, has challenged the constitutionality of the pending state criminal prosecution to the United States Supreme Court (SCOTUS).

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