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Wreaths Across America Day ceremony in Devine

Grandson Robbie Brown was honored to place a wreath on his grandpa Robert Bee Browns grave at the WAA ceremony He enjoyed taking some photos as well

On Dec. 14 in the Evergreen Cemetery, the Current Events Club worked with Medina County to honor veterans.
People from around Devine gathered to honor America’s veterans, with wreaths laid down on service members’ graves.
Gary Saathoff, a veteran and member of VFW Post 3966 gave a brief history of the Wreaths Across America, an organization that began in 1992 when the owner of a Maine wreath company donated extra wreaths to be placed on graves in the older sections of Arlington National Cemetery.
This simple way to honor troops gained national attention in 2005 when a photo of the beautiful wreaths on the marble headstones began circulating the internet. Since that point, Wreaths Across America has been a national organization, encouraging Americans to remember the sacrifices of those who were so willing to sacrifice everything for their country.
Now, for the past three years, citizens of the Devine area have gathered to carry on this tradition.

Our Arabians and Devine NHS students helped out at Wreaths Across America

Placing a wreath on her great grandpa’s grave a WW1 Navy Veteran is Kyrie DuBose one of the many DHS student helping out at the Wreaths Across America Ceremony last Saturday in Devine

DMS One Act Play -1st Place

The One Act Play Cast and Crew all did a great job!

On Saturday, December 14 the Devine Middle School One Act Play cast and crew performed “The Great Pandemonium” by Pat Cook in Carrizo Springs for the District One Act Play contest competition. They brought home first place for the second year in a row, as well as a slew of other acting and crew awards.
Best Actor- Nolan Beaty
Honorable Mention Cast- Isabella Duron and Annie Dugosh
All Star Cast- Dakota Nighswander, Madelynn Mitchell, Cole Maxwell, and Griffin Blouin
Best Crew Member- Riley Hennessy
Best Tech Crew

New ESD4 commissioner pushes for homestead exemption tax break

By Anton Riecher
Medina County Emergency Services District No. 4 board commissioner Jerry Beck urged fellow board members to consider granting a homestead exemption to MCESD4 residents over age 65 during the board’s Dec. 11 regular meeting.
“In all reality it’s not really that big a deal,” Beck said. “It’s a gesture.”
Homestead exemptions reduce a home’s appraised value and, as a result, reduce property taxes. In Texas, any taxing entity may offer a local optional exemption of at least $3,000 for taxpayers either disabled or over age 65.
Beck, who joined the ESD4 board in October, compared it to the action taken by the Medina County Commissioners Court to freeze property tax appraisals for residents over 65. Beck formerly served as the Precinct 4 county commissioners.
The exemption can be granted directly by the governing body or approved by a vote of the taxpayers, Beck said. Given the cost of conducting an election and the near certainty that such a proposition would pass, the more economical route would be action by the board.
MCESD4 consists of 4,567 homesteads over which 1,936 belong to people age 65…

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Heart Gallery traveling around Devine, Lytle and Natalia…

In just a few short days, we are so happy to report that there have been mutliple families who have reached out to possibly adopt some of the children featured in the Heart Galleries around Devine, Natalia, and Lytle. If you would like to host a few Heart Gallery photos this JANUARY (which increases a child’s chances of adoption by 60% according to statistics), please reach out to The Devine News and let us know!
Also let us know if you would like to volunteer and help with this effort, moving the displays to different locations next month. Ask for Kayleen at The Devine News 830-665-2211 or come by and see us on Monday.

Local businesses, churches, organizations have made a huge impact already!

By Kayleen Holder
Huge THANK YOU to all of these churches, local businesses, and organizations for displaying photos of kiddos in the South Texas Heart Gallery for December! Y’all are the best!!! Already, we have seen a huge impact, with at least two local families starting the adoption process!
Please let me know if you are interested in displaying some of these photos of kids for adoption this January at your business!

Heart Gallery photos of children waiting for adoption are displayed at the following locations this December:
Brown Dodge
Chaparral Ford
Brown Chevy
Devine VFW
St John Bosco Catholic Church
First Baptist of Natalia
Black Creek Baptist Church
Lytle Methodist Church
City of Devine
Devine PD
Devine ISD Special Education Office
and to anyone else who wants to join in on this awesome effort to help kids find the loving homes that they deserve!!

Continue reading “Heart Gallery traveling around Devine, Lytle and Natalia…”

Students brainstorm ideas for prosthetic limbs,starting with “Pongo”

By Kayleen Holder
Editor
A simple definition of engineering is “the application of science and math to solve problems,” and that’s exactly what this group of bright, young engineers are doing, putting that definition into action.
Devine High School engineering students only stopped to take a quick photo while brainstorming ideas in class last Friday as they made plans on the best way to build a prosthetic leg for Pongo, a golden retriever who recently lost a leg.
Within just a few minutes, this team of up and coming leaders were already discussing ideas for inventing a better and more flexible prosthetic limb as opposed to what’s on the market already… creating something “that’s never been done before.”
This project may be starting small, with one lucky dog, but imagine the impact a development like this could have for others who rely on a prosthetic limb. Approximately 1.7 million people in the United States use a prosthetic limb.
As I watched this session, and listened to their ideas, I found the compassion and ambition of these young students to be very inspiring. They each contributed different thoughts and angles to consider.
An initiative by the U.S. Department of Education states “In an ever-changing, increasingly complex world, it’s more important than ever…

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Medina County supports plan for seawater desalination plant near Corpus to supply more water for Texas

By Anton Riecher
John J. Byrum, the authority’s executive director, told Medina County Commissioners that with its two major reservoirs operating at 19 percent of capacity the Nueces Basin is registering a daily deficit of nearly 235 million gallons. That deficit is expected to grow to 402 million gallons daily by 2070.
That estimate only includes population growth, not industrial demands, Byrum said.
“We need water and God gave us a big puddle of water just south of Corpu Christi called the Gulf of Mexico,” he said.
The Nueces River Authority serves as a regional water resource planning agency for all or part of 22 counties in South Texas, monitoring state and federal activities affecting the Nueces Basin. The desalination project calls for removing water yet replacing the brine as not to effect the deep sea ecology.
Support from Medina and other counties will be important when the authority approaches the Texas Legislature to fund the project, Byrum said.

Lytle author publishes first children’s book

By Catherine Richard
Lytle blogger, lab technician and mother of three will be at Shops of Lytle from 2-5 p.m. on Dec. 21 to sign her first published children’s book.
The book, which is titled “Would You Rather Bible Water Adventure,” is bilingual, with the story written in English, followed by the Spanish translation.
This is the realization of a longtime dream for Jerah Alvarado, who has always wanted to work with books, either as a librarian or a writer.
Now, Alvarado is combining two of her greatest passions in her first book series: her faith and the Spanish language.
Growing up in a bilingual household, Alvarado would alternate between speaking Spanish with her mother and English with her father. Through the years, she has come to count her upbringing as a blessing.
“It is a privilege to be bilingual,” Alvarado said. “It’s an important skill and it allows you to connect with more people.”
Now, Alvarado is hoping to share that experience with other families, who can practice reading and speaking Spanish while exploring timeless Bible stories.
She was inspired to create this book by her second daughter, who struggled to concentrate on normal children’s books. In “Would You Rather,” readers get to choose between different Bible water adventures, whether it is the story of Moses on the Nile River or the story of Jonah in the belly of a whale.
Between the bright illustrations and different stories, Alvarado aims to create a book that children will interact with and get invested in.
Despite this book being her first published work, Alvarado has been writing and creating for years.
In 2018, she started her book blog, which is called “Faith and Books”, or FAB for short. FAB has been Alvarado’s space to review books and write about faith and family. It was around this time that Alvarado also began “learning the craft,” attending writing conferences and meeting agents.
While seeking to publish this book, Alvarado connected with Mt. Zion Ridge Press. Mt. Zion Ridge Press was interested in creating bilingual books and found a perfect match in Alvarado, offering her a three-book contract and appointing her as their official translator.
“I think I started crying,” Alvarado said, “I was so happy.”
Alvarado is currently writing the next two installments of her series, while raising her daughters with her husband Robert, “surviving on coffee and thriving on grace.”
Her book is available on Amazon and she can be contacted through https://www.jerahalvarado.com/. She can also be found on Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/jerahwrites/ and Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/AuthorJerah.

Devine ISD to re-address four day week issue

By Anton Riecher
A reexamination of the controversial four-day school week proposal is anticipated for the Jan. 20 Devine ISD school board meeting, school board president Nancy Pepper announced during the board’s regular meeting Monday.
“At that time we will consider all options and make a decision on how we will move forward,” Pepper said. “Please know that the board is committed to doing what is best for both students and staff as we deliberate on this important issue.”
Pepper abstained from casting a tie-breaking vote at the school board’s Dec. 4 special session on the issue.
“I chose to abstain because the board is currently divided on this issue with varying opinions about its potential benefits and challenges,” Pepper said Monday. “I felt it was important to strive for full board support before moving forward with such a significant decision.”
Trustees Chris Davis, Carl Brown and Henry Moreno voted in support of the shorter school week with Davis offering the motion. Renee Frieda, Keri James and Alixana Buvinghausen opposed the measure.
Nearly 800 school districts nationally have shifted to the shorter week, principally as a means of recruiting teachers, saving money and boosting student attendance. Research varies on whether the reduced week translates into academic progress for students.
Speakers both pro and con took advantage of the public comments portion of the Monday night agenda to make their views known.
Teacher Emily Sadler argued that faculty is “overwhelmed, overworked, over stressed and what feels like unappreciated.”
“Teachers are going to school early, staying late, going to their classrooms on the weekends or taking work home,” Sadler said. “When teachers do this it takes time away from our own families because we’re taking care of other people’s children who we love just as much.”
Moving to a shorter school week would help “relieve some stress,” she said.
Teacher Melissa Gutierrez noted that 108 school districts in Texas have switched to the four-day schedule with another 15 districts adopting a hybrid schedule that utilizes the shorter schedule for at least a portion of the school year.
“As of last August only one Texas school had made the transition back to a five-day week,” Gutierrez said.
Teacher Rhonda Shelton told the board that districts adopting the four-day week report have reported improvements in morale among its educators.
“Right now morale is low,” she said. “A reduction in teacher turnover is a critical benefit at a time when retaining quality eductors is more important than ever.”
Teacher Kari Davis said she was also speaking as a parent with children attending Devine ISD.
“I want to stay here as a teacher,” she said. “I want my kids to be proud of being here. We need to keep the good solid teachers. They have several places they can go in this close area that would give them a different workload with a four-day work week.”
In other business, architect Bob Shelton updated the board on progress on capital improvement projects included in an $11.255 million bond issue approved by voters in 2023.
“In early October we did our final design reviews with the staff members at each campus,” Shelton said.
All construction bids for the various campuses are due by Jan. 16.
“At that point we will know the true project costs,” Shelton said.

Kirk family asks for prayers as Jett fights hard in the ICU

The family of little Jett Kirk, 7 years old of Natalia, is asking for prayers as Jett is fighting hard in the ICU this week. Jett has been in the hospital since the 9th and was transferred to the ICU on December 15 after contracting RSV and then a secondary infection. He is currently on a non-invasive ventilator.
“We came to the hospital last Monday for a sore on his back that ended up being a rare skin infection, and while that has healed, he was also positive for RSV and now he’s fighting bacterial pneumonia,” his mom Mrs. Megan Kirk said.
Jett, who also has Down Syndrome and battles Cerebral Palsy, has overcome so many obstacles in life from the day he was born, Mrs. Kirk explains. December 15 should have marked a day of celebration, as the Kirks were celebrating Jett’s 2nd Adoption Day. It’s been two years since Jett was adopted and as you can tell by that big smile, he brings joy to everyone he meets.
“He can brighten anyone’s day with his smile,” Mrs. Kirk said. “His big brothers and little sister are his whole world. He loves music, cheering on his daddy’s team (the Mustangs), and spending warm days at the baseball field. He loves fiercely. His joy is contagious.”
Through all of this, Mrs. Kirk, wants to raise a red flag about how serious RSV can be, especially those like Jett with compromised immune systems.
“A lot of people think it’s just a bad cold, but really it’s life threatening to the special needs population,” Mrs. Kirk said, who wishes to highlight the importance of protecting the vulnerable population.
“It is a horrific RSV season. The nurses say this is the worst one yet,” Kirk added.
The community has shown the Kirks a great amount of love, with ongoing fundraisers, a meal train, and more.
“We are so grateful for our community that is all over Texas that has supported us both monetarily, through prayers, or helping with our other kiddos,” Mrs. Kirk said.
Here’s the meal train link: https://mealtrain.com/kd8k0r
While the family doesn’t know what the next five minutes will hold, they know that prayers are a powerful thing and they could sure use some right now.

Water, sewer analysis puts Devine utility half a million in the red within five years

By Anton Riecher
Without appropriate water rate increases the city of Devine could find itself nearly half a million dollars short in covering expenses within the next five years, according to a utility rate analysis prepared by a non-profit consulting group.
The analysis prepared by Community Unlimited, a national organization that provides technical assistance at no cost to rural communities shows that very little growth in water sales is anticipated in the near future.
“Unless I missed something you don’t have too many new customers,” Community Unlimited regional coordinator Raul Gonzales reported to the Devine City Council on Dec. 10. “So that doesn’t help.”
The city council took action to help resolve the issue in November, approving a water rate increase ranging from 21.5 percent for low-end residential customers to 38.8 percent for high-end commercial users effective January 1.
That increase is only part one of a two-step plan that would see the lowest level water rate increase 18.14 percent by October 2025 as required to obtain $11.5 million in state financing to cover the mandated replacement of lead water lines serving local homes.
Mayor Butch Cook prefaced Gonzalez’ report with….

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