Submitted by BP Press Relations

July 30, 2010 - Orange Beach, AL (OBA) - Today BP announced it has hired Witt Associates, and its CEO James Lee Witt, to support BP’s work to restore Gulf Coast communities in the wake of the oil and gas spill in the Gulf of Mexico.

Witt Associates, a public safety and crisis management consulting firm, founded by former FEMA Director James Lee Witt, has unrivaled experience in emergency response, recovery, and mitigation. The firm has successfully worked in the Gulf region and across the nation to engage with key stakeholders and manage transparent and accountable long-term recovery efforts.

July 28, 2010 - Orange Beach, AL (OBA) - Updated on July 30, 2010 @ 10:32am - Today's Town Hall meeting saw Mayor Tony Kennon fired up about BP's poor handling of claims filed by Orange Beach residents. Two citizens told their stories of a lack of response from BP on their claims - one is closing his business and the other is about to lose his home. Mayor Kennon then blasted the attending BP rep saying their positive media campaign has perpetrated a fraud on the American people and calling them "bald faced liars".

The two minute clip below is an excerpt from the meeting with Mayor Kennon's comments.

Below is the full video from Wednesday's Town Hall Meeting.

submitted by Bob Czyszon,

July 28, 2010 - Orange Beach, AL (OBA) - While the oil spill has restricted boating activities this summer, there are no restrictions on "Boating Safety". The Orange Beach Flotilla of the Coast Guard Auxiliary is offering a "SAFE BOATING" course on Saturday, August 14th. The course will be held at the Orange Beach Community Center (27235 Canal Road) from 7:45 AM to 4 PM. The Auxiliary will also be doing free Vessel Safety Checks so come to our class and bring your boat to the front of the Orange Beach Community Center and our Vessel Examiners check it.

by OBA Editor

July 22, 2010- Orange Beach, AL (OBA)- This week's Orange Beach Town Hall Meeting about the BP Oil Spill provided a lot of new information, including updates on crisis counseling, business consulting, hurricane preparedness, vessel of opportunity, and the claims process.

Coastal Resources Planner Nicole Woerner gave an update on NOAA's assessment of the marine mammals in our backbays. In short, our dolphins appear to be fine and the one dolphin that was found dead appears to have died from natural causes.

Orange Beach Engineer Kit Alexander reported on the air and water testing. In addition to the EPA and the Alabama Dept. of Public Health, the City of Orange Beach is conducting its own water and soil testing. So far, all testing shows that the toxicity levels are below allowable thresholds. The city is continuing to fly double red flags to warn the public that we still have oil in our waters.

Orange Beach Fire Chief Forney Howard reports that the overflights are showing no new oil headed to our shores but there is still light sheen showing up on our waters. Chief Forney also talked about this week's meeting of the emergency managers regarding hurricane preparedness.

July 21, 2010- Orange Beach, AL (OBA)- Alabama Commissioner of Conservation and Natural Resources Barnett Lawley has issued an order to open all previously closed waters in the Orange Beach area. These waters were previously closed as a result of the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill.

Beginning on July 21, 2010 waterways in Cotton Bayou, Terry Cove, Old River Bayou St. John, Perdido Pass and all canals leading into these waters were open to boating traffic. There is a "Idle Speed Only- No Wake" rule still in effect for these waters.

Boggy Point and Cotton Bayou boat launches in Orange Beach is still closed to recreational traffic. Happy Harbor, next to Tacky Jack's in Orange Beach, has limited capacity to allow for launching. And because the waters are open again they have resumed boat rentals. Due to limited space we recommend that you call in advance if you want to launch your boat at Happy Harbor. Their phone number is 251-981-1910.

The Orange Beach Community Website was first launched in 2006 and we decided it was time for a facelift. While the look has changed, our goals remain the same- providing our visitors with the latest news, weather and information specific to our community. 

Here is a quick overview of the information available on the menu at the top of every page.

Home -  The Home Page will change frequently during the course of the year. 

Blog - Hand picked headlines and blurbs of articles about the Orange Beach Community.  This page is updated early each morning, usually before the sun comes up, and throughout the day as new articles are published.

News - Follow the latest news about the community. Here you will find various news feeds for our region as well as the headline list of hand picked article from the Orange Beach Blog.   

Weather - Live Orange Beach Buoy Feed, Animated Radar & Satellite Images, Temperatures, Moon and Tide Data, and Video Forecasts specific to our area. This page takes a few seconds to load, but is filled with useful weather tools. 

Orange Pages - An alphabetical index of businesses and information for our community. 

Restaurants & Bars - A complete listing of all of the Restaurants and Bars in our area.  

Fishing - Complete list of Charter Fishing services available on the Alabama Gulf Coast. From backbay and river fishing to near and offshore fishing.  Find the boat and the captain that is right for your group. 

Golf - A Golf Map and list of the world class golf courses in our area. 

Fun Things To Do - A page of Fun Things.  Here you'll find fun things to do and links to more information about the Fun Things you can do along the Alabama Gulf Coast. 

Lodging - Looking for a vacation rental?  Here you will find featured vacation rentals and the OBA Custom Condo Rental Search Engine that only searches vacation rental websites specific to the Alabama/Florida Gulf Coast.  

Events Calendar - Upcoming Events Calendar for our area.  Want to keep up to date with events in our area, this is your page.