April 13, 1964 SMU Coach Hayden Fry was the featured speaker at the Vidor Athletic Booster Club’s Athletic Awards and Appreciation Dinner held April 18, 1964 at the Pine Forest Elementary Cafeteria. Fry was All-State Quarterback of the 1946 Texas State Champion football team from Odessa.

The only F5 tornado ever to touch down in the northernmost part of the Lone Star State tore through the Texas Panhandle on Apr. 9, 1947 leaving death and destruction in its 100-mile-long wake.

For the first time since 1878, Texans will see their first total solar eclipse next month. Total solar eclipses are rare because the sun, the moon, and the Earth must align such that the moon moves in between the sun and the Earth. Only people who are within the path of totality will be able to see the full effects of the eclipse. The path of totality encompasses a large swath of Texas including the DFW metroplex, Tyler, Austin and the Hill Country, and Del Rio. The eclipse will happen on April 8.

Dear Rusty: I just saw an article which said that certain spousal options were going away, but there are still good options for when a spouse can claim. I am filing for my Social Security to start in October when I turn 70. My wife’s full retirement age (FRA) is in December, and she now plans to file then for half of what my FRA benefit would have been (our original plan was for both to file in August). My wife’s main reason for delaying until her FRA is to lock her into my maximum benefit if she has to someday change to Survivor’s Benefit. Will this be gone for us? Neither of us was born before January 1, 1954. Please advise. Signed: Planning for Both Dear Planning: I expect that the article you refer to was speaking of the option to claim only a spousal benefit first and allow one’s personal SS retirement benefit to grow. That option was available only to those who were born before 1954 and had reached full retirement age. As you now know that option is not available to you.

5 years ago April 4, 2019: Former Orange County Judge Carl Thibodeaux officially took up the gavel to preside over the Orange County Commissioners’ Court this week replacing Judge Dean T. Crooks, who resigned.

One economist is calling it “the most profitable 22 minutes in Texas history,” according to the Texas Standard. The total solar eclipse on Monday, April 8 is expected to draw up to a million visitors to the Lone Star State, especially in its narrow path of totality.

We Claim Social Security? Dear Rusty: I am almost 63 and my husband will be 61 soon, and we are looking to see when our best time would be to start our Social Security benefits. We would like to know if one of us qualifies for benefits from a previous marriage from 1984 to 1995.

5 years ago March 28, 2019 The Orange County Commissioners’ Court voted unanimously on Wednesday to appoint former Orange County Judge Carl Thibodeaux as the replacement Orange County Judge to serve from now until December 31, 2020. Last week the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) announced that it has obligated the last $1.4 million in Hurricane Harvey Recovery reimbursement funds for Orange County’s Tropical Storm Harvey storm debris collection mission 10 years ago March 28, 2014 Vidor Girls Soccer had a record-breaking season ending in a three-way tie with Nederland and Port Neches Groves based on points.

The on-again, off-again state immigration law is once more on hold while the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals considers its constitutionality. Senate Bill 4 would allow state and local law enforcement officials to arrest and deport people suspected of entering the state illegally from Mexico, the Austin American-Statesman reported. The U.S. Supreme Court last Tuesday removed a temporary hold on the law, which allowed it to take effect for several hours before the 5th Circuit court again stopped SB4 from being enforced while it considers its constitutionality.

“Was the late secretary of war removed in consequence of his attempt fraudulently to give to Gov. Houston the contract for the Indian rations?” an Ohio congressman asked on the floor of the U.S. House of Representatives on Mar. 31, 1832.