Four local road projects listed on TxDot’s 10 year plan
In this week’s edition, Gary Borders reports on State Capital Highlights which includes a short article on the comment period for TxDOT’s 10-year plan, which is currently underway, ending on August 5. Upon further research, it was noted that there are four projects totaling over $475 million dollars in our area coming from SA to northeast Medina County which made the 10-year plan. These projects on the Southwest side of San Antonio going into the Castroville area include:
The board of volunteers who oversee the local ambulance service in Devine and Natalia discusses buying two gently used EMS units as they prepare to take over operations locally. EMS service has been provided by a large private company for years (Allegiance EMS). Pictured are board members George Morales, Tony Martin, Viola Potter, Shelley Watson, and Juan Zamora. Coordinator of the ESD4 Christy Merendon and newly hired ESD4 Director Jason Miller is also pictured as well as Pat Bourcier, District Chief for Allegiance which currently serves the area.
By Anton Riecher A letter of intent giving Medina County Emergency Services District No. 4 right of first refusal on two used ambulances due to be retired by a suburb community near Dallas was approved by the ESD4 board of commissioners at their July 2 regular session. EMS Director Jason Miller said the opportunity comes at a time when finances for the district are extremely tight. The district recently approved the purchase of two new ambulances in preparation for taking over operations this fall currently provided by Allegiance Mobile Health. However, the two “gently used” 2016 ambulances belonging to the city of Coppell are available at a “very reasonable” price, he said. “I’d be very surprised if you found another truck at that price or less,” Miller said.
Aint rained since June 20th and we got a chance of some this week so, pray for just enough to fill Medina Lake and make the creeks run. Ten or eleven inches oughta do it.
By Anton Riecher Medina County commissioners voted Monday to accept a $542,000 Federal Emergency Management Agency grant for flood mitigation assistance administered through the Texas Water Development Board. On a motion by Precinct 3 Commissioner David Lynch, seconded by Precinct 4 Commissioner Danny Lawler, the commissioners voted unanimously to accept the funding for development of a county wide flood mitigation plan.
The 3rd Annual Stuff the Backpack and Health Fair is set for July 17, 2024 at 4:00 pm in Devine at the DSAC. At this event they will have school supplies and backpacks for students to choose from to prepare for the upcoming school year. They will also have health vendors and the Medina County Health Unit present to help families with various health needs and questions.
Huisache Ramblings – Bob Oberlender (7/7/2024) Dear Editor, On the 14th I fly to Milwaukee, Wisconsin to attend the Republican National Committee’s (RNC) Republican Party National Convention as a delegate. I am a little concerned that I have not been able to find out a few things. Things like when and where does the RNC’s Platform and Resolutions Committee meet. There have been news articles suggesting that the Committee will meet behind closed doors. When I tried to chase down the info by contacting Republican Party of Texas (RPT) leadership, I have been told that this is false. But no one yet can give me a schedule.
Our week in review … Officers handled 66 calls for service! That kept them busy, with only 20 traffic stops last week. Those included 7 citations and 13 warnings. It was an unusually slow week for traffic, but I expected it as two of our “traffic” guys were on vacation and the night shift guys made a lot of arrests! Nothing to pass on involving property crimes! We didn’t have any thefts, burglaries, or criminal mischiefs reported last week. Lots of “small-time” criminals take vacation around the 4th of July and our “big-time” criminals headed to the coast to prepare for some looting when the storm hits. This combination made for a good week for us. Disclaimer: Neither of my above observations will pass a fact check, as I tend to just run with stuff that comes up in my head as I am typing away.
City of Hondo Parks and Recreation will be hosting the Beat The Heat 3 on 3 Basketball Tournament at 9 a.m. on July 27 under the TA Lopez Park Pavilion. Teams of three can compete for cash prizes with the chance to win the $400 first place prize. Ten teams will be taken with a $40 registration fee per team. July 24 is the deadline to register to play. Applications can be picked up at the Rec Center or the Golf Course. Both men and women can compete in this tournament and participants must be 16 years and older.
I wanted to share some training that we sent out to our public health volunteers. UT Health San Antonio provides an online training to educate the workforce and public about the Texas opioid crisis. In this training you will also see how to administer Naloxone and how you can order free doses if you want. I say Naloxone but most people still use the term Narcan, which is a brand name and that’s ok. There are more formulations now, so I will stick to the generic name. Some of our volunteers have done the training and said they feel more confident about the issue. Some have ordered the free naloxone and feel more confident if they needed to use it.
The City of Natalia and Municipal Development District would like to thank everyone who participated in the Blood Drive held on June 29th, 2024. “With your generous donations, we exceeded the goal of units needed and fifty one people were helped with donations. God’s Blessings to you all!” said NMDD Chair Ruby Vera. Look for information on the next blood drive soon, and be part of something big!
