Port Lavaca Fire Department responded to a fire on Main Street and successfully contained the blaze with no injuries reported First responders were dispatched to Make Me Chic Hair Studio at 216 E They found the building on fire and were told that one individual was on the building’s second floor Calhoun County EMS and Magnolia Beach Volunteer Fire Department also responded to the fire “There was a report that there was a man trapped upstairs We did not locate anyone upstairs and instead found the gentleman on the backside of the building where he had already made his way out,” Luna said PLFD firefighters forced entry into the building through a locked door firefighters cleared the structure of any other individuals and extinguished the blaze inside “There were no injuries at all,” Luna said “We were able to perform a quick knockdown on the fire and limit the fire to the structure where it started; the fire did not extend upstairs or to the adjacent buildings.” Luna stated that while the cause of the fire was unknown it began at one of the cosmetology stations located near the front of the salon Neighboring businesses and owners also allowed PLFD entry into their buildings to ensure that the fire had been contained and no smoke damage had been sustained “We were definitely very motivated to avoid it becoming like other Main Street fires,” Luna said “We did have to force entry through the front door due to several locks The door was locked when we arrived on scene.” https://www.facebook.com/RedBarnPortLavaca/ Port Lavaca – As the holiday season hits the Lone Star State you’ll find Port Lavaca native Veronica Koliba putting the finishing touches on one of her favorite nativity sets because when it comes to Christmas “It’s the most important thing,” she says “We didn’t intend to do this,” said Veronica “I would have no idea that I would’ve been collecting this many nativities five years ago.” Veronica has a fondness for the figurines that make up the manger that depict the night Christ was born “Artists are just so creative in depicting the Nativity that it was just inspiring,” said Veronica Inspiring enough to convince her to buy hundreds of nativity scenes in a few years and put them all on display at the old Red Barn in Port Lavaca “This is a carved one from Schellenberg,” said Veronica and that’s why I put it on a carousel is so that you could see all the detail.” This array of religious art came to be back in 2020 when Veronica wanted people from around the coast to bring their nativities to display together So Veronica decided to carry the cross herself and create this incredible collection on her own “I grew up with two Catholic grandmothers that were very set up my affinity for the Nativity,” explained Veronica That it was more about getting together and praising Jesus and not so much the material part of it but I guess what I hope I bring to it is that I like my collecting and I like collecting and then we just happen to have a place that everybody can come see this That’s what I think of Christmas now is sharing my love for what I do or our vocation of collecting these things and bringing them to people that can see them all together.” Finding a unique nativity is now an everyday undertaking and Veronica searches high and low and so that’s how the collection grew and about a hundred each year,” said Veronica because we have plates and puzzles everywhere Hunting down these holiday sets can sometimes turn into an all day affair we bought at Shiner Church Picnic back in September of ’21,” said Veronica a ladies blouse that I just needed out of the way so we get to the next item We waited 13 hours because we were there at 11:00 and it ended at midnight and it was the last item.” From crystal and yarn to coke cans and recycled paper many of these nativities are made with unique materials including some rock-solid displays of faith “What people expect when you hear nativity is that it’s Mary just looking down at baby Jesus and we’ve got ones made of pinto beans Imagine trying to figure out how to display all these crazy and classical displays but I try to get you different textures and colors and heights and stuff to get your eyes flowing a little differently,” said Veronica The themes of the nativities can be very interesting There’s even nativity that takes a nod from the Lone Star State Joseph and Jesus and the Alamo,” said Veronica I’d love to have them as the kings.” that’s one of the things with the collection this big you have to have something different to really keep people interested,” said Veronica You’ll also find nativities from across the world depicting cultures from across the world And it’s that moment that you realize Christmas truly does bring a lot of the world together to celebrate a special moment from over 2000 years ago “I think that there’s enough art culture and religion in here in so many different representations of the Nativity that people that it’s just a phenomenal expression of people’s artistry and their faith and spirituality.” there are few things that can bring us together like faith It reaches the furthest corners of the globe and right here in the Lone Star State it seems the star of Bethlehem would fit just fine in the Texas skies It’s definitely just about the Nativity,” said Veronica This website is using a security service to protect itself from online attacks The action you just performed triggered the security solution There are several actions that could trigger this block including submitting a certain word or phrase You can email the site owner to let them know you were blocked Please include what you were doing when this page came up and the Cloudflare Ray ID found at the bottom of this page This story is published in partnership with Inside Climate News, a nonprofit, independent news organization that covers climate, energy and the environment. 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PORT LAVACA — Few people still fish for a living on the Gulf Coast of Texas dilapidated harbors barely recall the communities that thrived here generations ago one group of humble fishermen just got a staggering $20 million to bring back their timeless way of life They’re buying out the buyer of their catch starting the largest oyster farm in Texas and dreaming big for the first time in a long time It’s all thanks to one elder fisherwoman’s longshot crusade against the petrochemical behemoth across the bay a fourth-generation shrimper from the tiny town of Seadrift took on a $250 billion Taiwanese chemical company the largest sum ever awarded in a civil suit under the Clean Water Act that money is beginning to flow into some major development projects on this mostly rural and generally overlooked stretch of Texas coastline Wilson dreams of rebuilding this community’s relationship with the sea and reviving a lifestyle that flourished here before global markets cratered the seafood industry and local economies shifted to giant chemical plants “I refuse to believe it’s a thing of the past,” said Wilson “We’re going to put money for the fishermen The fishing cooperative has only just begun to spend its $20 million It’s the largest of dozens of projects funded by her settlement agreement Others include a marine science summer camp at the Port Lavaca YMCA a global campaign to document plastic pollution from chemical plants a $500,000 study of mercury pollution in Lavaca Bay and the $10 million development of a local freshwater lake for public access “They are doing some wonderful things,” said Gary Reese He also received grants from the fund to build a pier and a playground pavilion at other county parks The fund resulted from a lawsuit Wilson filed in 2017 under the Clean Water Act which enables citizens to petition for enforcement of environmental law where state regulators have failed to act By gathering evidence from her kayak over years Wilson demonstrated that Formosa had routinely discharged large amounts of plastic pellets into local waterways for decades These sorts of lawsuits typically result in settlements with companies that fund development projects managing attorney at the National Environmental Law Center in Boston But seldom do they come anywhere close to the dollar amount involved in Wilson’s $50 million settlement with Formosa “It’s a real outlier in that aspect,” Kratka said environmental organizations in Texas sued a Shell oil refinery in Deer Park and won a $5.8 million settlement in 2008 that funded an upgrade of a local district’s school bus fleet and solar panels on local government buildings In 2009 groups sued a Chevron Phillips chemical plant in Baytown and won a $2 million settlement in 2009 that funded an environmental health clinic for underserved communities One reason for the scale of Wilson’s winning was an unprecedented citizen effort to gather plastic pollution from the bays as evidence in court While violations of permit limits are typically proven through company self-reporting Wilson mobilized a small team of volunteers “This was done by everyday people in this community that’s what built the case,” said Erin Gaines an attorney who previously worked on the case for Texas RioGrande Legal Aid Wilson’s settlement included much more than the initial $50 million payment Formosa also agreed to clean up its own legacy plastic pollution and has so far spent $32 million doing so And the company committed to discharge no more plastic material from its Point Comfort complex — a standard which had never been applied to any plastics plants across the nation Formosa consented to regular wastewater testing to verify compliance a specially engineered contraption analyzes the outflows at Formosa Formosa pays a $65,000 penalty into Wilson’s trust fund It’s small change for a company that makes about $1 billion per year at its Point Comfort complex those penalty payments have totaled more than $24 million in addition to the $50 million awarded in 2019 It goes into a fund called the Matagorda Bay Mitigation Trust Wilson evaluated grant applications and allocated the money to government entities registered nonprofits and public universities Now an independent panel administers the fund Many locals who know her story assume that Wilson is rich now But she never got a penny of the settlement “They cannot believe I would do this for the bay and the fishermen,” she said “It’s my home and I completely refuse to give it to that company to ruin.” Formosa also writes grants for community development programs although none of them approach the size of the Matagorda Bay Mitigation Trust In response to a query from Inside Climate News, the company provided a summary of its community spending over 30 years including $2.4 million on local and regional environmental projects $2 million for a new Memorial Medical clinic $2 million to upgrade local water treatment systems $1.3 million for local religious organizations and $1.2 million on scholarships for high school seniors The company has contributed $6.3 million for regional roadway improvements donated 19 houses to the Calhoun County Independent School District and built a classroom in restored wetlands Its annual employee golf tournament raises $500,000 for United Way charities and its national headquarters in New Jersey gives $1 million each year to local charities In Point Comfort it has programs to plant trees protect bees and restore monarch butterfly habitat “Formosa Plastics has always believed in giving back to the community and approximately 30 years ago established education religious and scholarship trusts,” the company said in a five-page statement Formosa has taken steps to address environmental challenges and reduce the environmental impact at its Point Comfort complex Formosa has installed pollution control systems to reduce the release of plastic particles has partnered with industry experts to develop better filtration methods and is monitoring emerging technologies for opportunities to improve environmental stewardship The Point Comfort complex has also improved stormwater drainage to reduce plastics in runoff and is engaging with community advocates to identify sustainable solutions “We understand the importance of protecting the environment and the communities where we operate and we remain steadfast in our commitment to transparency and continuous improvement,” the statement said Wilson fondly recalls the bustling fishing community of her youth in Seadrift the thrill of the catch and a regular intimacy with spirits of the sea “That is as close to nature as you can get.” There are no fish houses in Seadrift today Almost all the old businesses were bulldozed or boarded up Wilson’s own brothers took jobs at the giant petrochemical plants growing onshore But every day off they spent back on the water when she started complaining about water pollution from Formosa Powerful interests denounced her and no one defended her But Wilson never gave up speaking out against pollution in the bay She is family and I will fight for her,” Wilson said “I think everyone else would let her be destroyed.” Wilson began to get calls from employees at the plant pastures and beer joints to talk about what they’d seen They told her about vast amounts of plastic dust and pellets washed down drains and about the wastewater outfalls where it all ended up she began to find the substance for her landmark lawsuit millions and millions of plastic pellets that filled waterways and marshes Wislon filed her petition in federal court then continued collecting evidence for years before trial It was the first case over plastic pellet pollution brought under the Clean Water Act then a contract attorney with the nonprofit RioGrande Legal Aid and lead attorney for Wilson’s case a researcher at the University of Texas Marine Science Institute named Jace Tunnell had just launched a project in 2018 to study water pollution from plastics manufacturing plants little was known about the scale of releases of plastic pellets into the oceans from those industrial facilities was beginning on a shoestring budget to methodically collect and catalog the nurdles in hopes of getting a better picture of the problem a fourth generation Gulf Coast native and a second generation marine scientist heard about a fisherwoman who was also collecting nurdles up the coast Wilson claimed to have gathered 30,000 nurdles in 10 minutes Tunnell would typically collect up to 200 in that time “The nurdles were just pluming up back there,” Tunnell said “It really was an eye opener for me of how bad Formosa was.” Wilson and her small team of volunteers were pulling up huge amounts of plastic from the bay system and logging it as evidence stinky plastic outside the federal courthouse and brought the judge out to see She also cited Nurdle Patrol’s scientific method for gathering pellets as a means to estimate overall discharges in the bay “Diane was able to use Nurdle Patrol data in the lawsuit to seal the deal,” Tunnell said finding Formosa had violated its permit limits to discharge “trace amounts” of plastics thousands of times over decades Formosa opted to negotiate a settlement with Wilson rather than seek a court-ordered penalty the two parties signed a consent decree outlining their agreement and creating the $50 million Matagorda Bay Mitigation Trust Wilson signed over $1 million to the Nurdle Patrol which Tunnell used over five years to build an international network with 23,000 volunteers and an online portal with the best data available on plastic nurdles in the oceans They’ve also provided elementary and high schools with thousands of teaching kits about plastics production and water pollution “There’s no accountability for the industries that release this,” Tunnell said as he picked plastic pellets from the sand near his home on North Padre Island in early December The trust’s largest grant programs are still yet to take effect Wilson allocated $10 million to Calhoun County to develop a 6,400 acre park around Green Lake The county will begin taking bids this month to build phase one of the project which will include walking trails and birding stands Later they’ll build a parking lot and boat ramp The county brought this property in 2012 with hopes of making a park county officials planned to build an RV park with plenty of pavement But funding from Wilson’s trust forbade RVs and required a lighter footprint to respect the significant Native American and Civil War campsites identified on the property “It’ll be more of a back-to-nature thing,” Reese said we hope to be able to provide a quality facility for the public thanks to Matagorda Mitigation Trust.” the largest grant from the trust has gone to the fishermen Wilson allocated $20 million to form a cooperative at the docks of Port Lavaca — an unlikely sum of money for seamen who struggle to feed their families well Wilson dreamed that this money could help bring back the vanishing lifestyle that she loved most of the remaining commercial fishermen on this Gulf coast come from Mexico and have fished here for decades retirement plans or guaranteed daily income But it’s an ancient occupation that has always been available to enterprising people by the sea “It’s what we’ve done our whole life,” said Homero Muñoz a board member of the fishermen’s cooperative who has worked the Texas coast since he was 19 widespread reef closures by Texas authorities and opposition from wealthy sportfishing organizations force the commercial fishermen to compete for shrinking oyster populations in small and distant areas the fishermen have little power to negotiate on low prices for their catch set by a few big regional buyers The buyers distribute it at a markup to restaurants and markets across the county “There isn’t anyone who helps us,” said Cecilio Ruiz a 58-year-old father of three who has fished the Texas coast since 1982 To help the fishermen build a sustainable business Wilson tapped the Federation of Southern Cooperatives an organization based in Atlanta originally founded to help Black farmers and landowners form cooperatives in the newly de-segregated South director of cooperative development and strategic initiatives at FSC money is the biggest obstacle for producers wanting to form a collectively owned business He’d never seen a case where a donor put up millions of dollars to make it happen “Opportunities like this don’t come around often I can’t think of another example,” Courtney said “We saw this as something that history was compelling us to do.” In 2020 Courtney started traveling regularly to Port Lavaca discussing the concept of a cooperative and studying feasibility had trouble understanding Courtney’s English at first But they knew someone who could help: Veronica Briceño the daughter of a late local fisherman known as Captain Ralph she translated between English and Spanish around her father’s business and the local docks and harbors a 40-year-old worker at the county tax appraisal office She’d learned to fish on her grandfather’s boat Her father left her four boats and she couldn’t bring herself to sell them She joined FSC as a volunteer translator for the project all they know how to do is really just work,” she said They leased an old bait shop with dock space at the harbor in Port Lavaca and renovated it as an office Then in February 2024 they officially formed the Matagorda Bay Fishing Cooperative composed of 37 boat owners with 77 boats that employ up to 230 people Now Briceño has a desk at the office where she helps the fishermen with paperwork permitting and legal questions while coordinating a growing list of contracts as the cooperative begins to spend big money Negotiations are underway for the cooperative to purchase a major local seafood buyer processing operations and supply contracts for about $2 million “I hope they help carry it on,” said Curtis Miller which was founded by his uncle in the 1960s “I would like to see them be able to succeed.” Many of the cooperative members have worked for Miller’s Seafood during the last 40 years The company handles almost entirely oysters now and provides them wholesale to restaurants on the East Coast The cooperative has also leased 60 acres of bay water from the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department to start the largest oyster farm in Texas FSC is now permitting the project with the Texas General Land Office and the U.S “That might be the future of the industry,” said Miller the members discussed options for a $2.5 million purchase of more than 7,000 oyster cages to install on the new farm They talked about plans to visit and study a working oyster farm The cooperative is finalizing a marketing and distribution plan for the farmed oysters The project would give two acres to each oysterman to farm and would finally do away with the frantic race to harvest the few available oyster areas before other boats do liberty to go to our own piece of water,” said Miguel Fierros third-generation fisherman and father of three “It’s a unique opportunity I don’t think we’ll ever get again.” hopes that the practice of oyster farming will bring a new generation into the seafood industry here Neither of her kids plan to make a living on the water like her father or grandfather who always encouraged the family to find jobs with health insurance and retirement can realize the dream of a local fishing industry with dignified pay and benefits maybe her grandkids will be fishermen someday “We’re going to get a younger crowd actually interested,” she said Most of their money still remains to be spent They would like to buy a boat repair business to service their fleet now an internationally recognized environmental advocate this all just proves how much can be accomplished by a stubborn country woman with volunteer helpers and nonprofit lawyers she hopes these projects will help rebuild a fishing community and bring back the fishermen’s way of life Disclosure: The Texas General Land Office and Texas Parks And Wildlife Department have been financial supporters of The Texas Tribune, a nonprofit, nonpartisan news organization that is funded in part by donations from members, foundations and corporate sponsors. 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