George Alvin Whitten, 84, of Carthage, TX, passed away on Thursday morning, August 11, 2022, in Longview, TX. He was born on February 3, 1938, in Natchez, MS. George married May Thompson on August 30, 1972, in San Antonio, TX. They lived in Natalia, TX and later moved to Carthage in 1992. George served in the United States Air Force for 20 years and retired as a Master Sergeant in 1975. After retirement, he was a car salesman and later transported oil for Plains Scurlock Permian. After retiring from the oil and gas industry, he became a helpful, smiling face in several auto part shops in Carthage. He worked at O’Reilly, ABC and NAPA. George was a generous, loving and caring husband, father, grandfather and friend. He would help anyone in need. He enjoyed spending time with his family and beloved animals, tinkering with cars and working outdoors. He was of Baptist faith and a member of the First Baptist Church of Natalia. George was preceded in death by a son, George Wells. He is survived by his wife, May Whitten; children, Rhonda Patterson and husband Kyle, Cynthia Miles and husband Darren, Sheila Haley, Wanda Sullivan, and honorary daughter, Lisa Perez; grandchildren, Nicole and Daniel Patterson and honorary granddaughter, Genie Blasingame; and siblings, Charles Frazier, Sheila Bahanon and Elaine Weeks. Cremation arrangements have been entrusted to the Jimerson-Lipsey Funeral Home. A guestbook may be signed online at www.jimerson-lipsey.com. A memorial is planned in Natalia, TX at a later date.
Floyd Dale McOsker passed peacefully into eternity on Saturday afternoon, August 20 as he napped in his recliner. He was born March 6, 1927, in Faulkner, Oklahoma, to Cleve and Edna Arndt McOsker. Shortly after his birth the family moved to Donna, Texas, in the Rio Grande Valley to farmland bought by his grandfather, David Arndt. Floyd told stories of his early days there during the Great Depression. He was “forced” to run away from home with his big sister when she packed his clothes into a wagon and told him they were leaving. His mother, Edna, taught him to sew on her treadle sewing machine. He had made those clothes and wasn’t going to lose them. There were stories of a yo-yo string so long that he had to stand on the roof to use it. Once as he walked to school barefoot, a stranger picked him up, took him to town, bought him a pair of shoes, then sent him on to school. The family moved back to Oklahoma in the late 1930’s. Soon after his parents divorced, and Floyd moved to California with his father, Cleve. After Cleve’s death, Floyd returned to Oklahoma, then to Kansas where he lived with his aunt and uncle, Clarence and Grace Wolgamot. As a teenager, he worked as a migrant grain harvester following crops from Kansas north. In 1943 Floyd enlisted in the Marine Corps. After basic training he was sent to Okinawa where he trained for the planned invasion of Japan. Following the end of the war he served in northern China. In the late 1940’s Floyd moved to San Antonio to work with his brother-in-law, Cameron Ayres, as a framing carpenter. Eventually Floyd, his brother, Kenneth, and Cameron, formed M&A Construction Company. For many years they framed new homes for builder, Ray Ellison. Prior to retirement, Floyd and his partner, Doug Cross, established Liberty Homes. They created several subdivisions in the northwest quadrant of San Antonio. For over 20 years, Floyd served as trail boss for the Laredo Trail ride each February. It was in this capacity that he met his dearest friend, Jim Chessher. They enjoyed a close comradery long after Floyd retired from his trail bossing duties. In retirement Floyd enjoyed golfing, maintaining his place south of Lytle, and building the occasional custom home in company with his sons, Matt and Bruce. Floyd was preceded in death by his parents, his first wife, Nancy Bivins McOsker, daughter Sharon Pilgrim, son Roger Santos, and sons-in-law Jeff Zuercher and John Renken. He is survived by his wife, Doris Ohlinger McOsker, and his children: Linda (Dean) Tankersley, Matt McOsker, Benny Santos, Bruce (Yajaira) McOsker, Paula Adams, Audree Gierisch, Becky Fenton, Brenda Renken, Patty Pressley, and Cindy Zuercher, 23 grandchildren, 27 great-grandchildren, and 2 great-great-grandchildren. Floyd leaves behind him a legacy of integrity. He was deeply loved and highly respected by all who knew him, especially his wife and children. Visitation will be held on Wednesday, August 31, 2022 from 9:30 am – 10:30 am at Hurley Funeral Home – Lytle, 14822 Main Street, Lytle, Texas 78052. Funeral Service will be on Wednesday, August 31, 2022 at 10:30 am at Hurley Funeral Home Chapel with the service being conducted by grandson, David Tankersley. Interment will follow at Black Hill Cemetery in Atascosa, Texas on IH 35 and Lucky Road. For personal acknowledgements, please visit www.hurleyfuneralhome.com Arrangements entrusted to Hurley Funeral Home – Lytle, 14822 Main Street, Lytle, Texas 78052.
When you look at the call volume, only 47 calls, it might appear it was a slow week. It was a busy one with 9 reported property crimes, more on that later. Officers conducted 71 traffic stops which resulted in 63 citations and 8 warnings. Let’s get the arrest activity out of the way, we had 4 arrests last week. Here we go with my simple numbering system to help me from getting confused: #1 – The detergent theft lady from last week was located by Ofc. D. Lopez, she was given a citation and released. #2 – Ofc. Pena conducted a traffic stop on Main Street and found the driver to be intoxicated. He was booked into the Atascosa Co. Jail. #3 – Ofc. A. Lopez responded to a disturbance on N. Prairie St. A male was arrested for assault causing bodily injury (family violence) and booked into the jail in Jourdanton. #4 – Ofc. Pena observed a single vehicle accident and arrested the driver for DWI, he too was checked into the jail in Jourdanton. Property crimes reported last week: #1 – A rear door to a home under construction on Lonesome Dove was taken. #2 – A laptop valued at $1,000 was taken from a vehicle parked at the H.E.B. Plus. #3 – A complainant reported that an unknown male took a folder full of personal papers from her unlocked vehicle, this occurred at the Dollar General. #4 – A light blue 3-wheel bicycle was stolen from a residence on Oak St. #5 – A complainant reported that an unknown person entered their business on Main St. and took approx. $60 worth of misc. brass fittings. They slid under a garage door that was left just barely open. #6 – A resident on Huckleberry Dr. reported the theft of a trash can. #7 – Criminal mischief was reported at the IH-35 Park & Ride, a truck tractor was damaged in an attempted break-in. #8 – On Sunday evening (8/21) a complainant reported that his 2020 Dodge Ram Rebel p/u was stolen while parked in the 15000 Blk. of Main St. He had left it in a parking lot for a 24-hour period and the keys were left inside. #9 – Later that evening officers took a report of a 2003 Ford F250 taken from the H.E.B. Plus parking lot. It was recovered several hours later by S.A.P.D. Now, we have a lot of investigating to do. I took three days of leave and headed east with the family. The first stop was Livingston/Onalaska to spend a night with my wife’s sister and her family. We dropped off a couple of the kids and headed to Monroe, La. for a conference my wife and oldest daughter wanted to attend. I was mostly along for the trip to take care of the baby. After a couple of nights there we headed back to pick up the kids. We slid into Lytle on Monday night; I was 30 minutes late to the city council meeting. As usual, I did a good bit of eating at good places. I can’t resist touching on a few high points: The Main St. Café in Carthage (TX): Catfish & frog legs plate lunch, fried okra, and coleslaw. (I opted out of the frog legs and got extra catfish). Don Chuy Mexican Grill (West Monroe, La.) – The chips and salsa. The Ranch House Café (Leesville, La.) – The crawfish etouffee and chocolate chip cookies. Let’s end this out with cornbread from 3rd On Main Kitchen in downtown Bryan (TX). On a side note, to this already side note, downtown Bryan has really been fixed up since I was a kid there in the early 80s, other than Woolworths and TSO there wasn’t much reason to go downtown. Now back to something official. I testified in district court early last week over in Jourdanton at the Justice Center. I have said before that place is lovely. I just found out the whole second floor is not being used and hasn’t been built out. I can’t believe somebody hasn’t cut a backroom deal to fill that place up with those 8-Liner gambling machines. The cops would never suspect an illegal casino on the second floor of the justice center. All the traffic at all hours of the night could be attributed to the courts running around the clock to catch up from a COVID backlog.
Annistyn Markwordt (left) is bright eyed and all smiles for her first day of school. She dreams of becoming a babysitter when she grows up and graduates in 2035.Brayden,Kynzee, and Harlynn Mann were all ready for the big day this past Monday, August 22 as Devine ISD students and staff headed back to the classroom.
As of Aug. 16, 97% of the state is in some level of drought, ranging from abnormally dry to exceptional. The Texas Tribune reports that this is the worst drought in the past decade, but has not surpassed the trials of the 2011 drought. More than a quarter of Texas currently faces exceptional drought conditions, compared with almost three quarters during the same time period in 2011 Sources: Texas Tribune and US Drought Monitor
Ethan Santos runs the ball up the middle and down the right side.
The Devine Warhorses will host their first football game at home this Friday, August 26, kickoff is 7:00 pm against SA Memorial in a non-district game. JV does not have a game on the schedule for this week. Natalia Mustangs will travel to Jourdanton to take on the Indians; kickoff is 7:00 p.m. in a non-district game. The JV will host Jourdanton on Thursday at 5:30 at home in Natalia. The Lytle Pirates will travel to Jefferson; kickoff is 7:30 p.m. in a non-district game. The JV will play at Jefferson on Thursday at 5:0 0 p.m.
A pursuit between this vehicle and Medina County SO ended in a rollover on the I-35 access road near Lytle this past Wednesday, August 17. Five undocumented migrants and the driver were all transported to University Hospital. Courtesy Photo.
Several recent incidents at the local Walmart in Devine have residents on edge. Reports of men following and approaching female shoppers have come in one after another on social media. Two of the men actually followed a woman out of the store. Devine PD is asking victims to please call them instead of just posting online, so they can identify subjects and address the situation. “In one case, the two men actually followed a woman out of the store and all the way to the frontage road, and were on both sides of her vehicle, on bicycles, from what I understand,” Chief Kandi Benavides stated. “She took a different route home, but still, no one called us. After seeing social media posts, I followed up with a few of the women in these cases because I want to get to the bottom of it.” So far, police made contact with one juvenile male and one adult male from Guatemala who were identified. “The two men who were identified were spoken to. We let them know we are aware of what has been occurring and unless they are shopping at Walmart, they don’t need to be there,” Chief Benavides said. “They did not really have an explanation as to why they were there.” Benavides notes that Devine PD has officers patrolling in Devine 24/7. “There is no excuse for this kind of behavior and we won’t tolerate it,” Benavides said. “Please call us and we will send someone immediately. We will make contact with you, and then address the suspects, so that it is properly documented. So if it happens again, and it is the same subjects, then we can take further action.” “A third subject (seen in footage) will be contacted when we are notified of his return to Walmart in Devine,” Devine Lieutenant Chris Andrews said. “Unfortunately, we were not notified until after the fact in these cases. We made contact with each victim for every post that was brought to our attention,” Andrews added. “If something occurs, please notify the police department immediately, and/or store management.” Earlier this August, one local family shared their story of one of these incidents. “First, my daughter was approached by a man who started speaking Spanish to her. She acted like she didn’t understand him, so he moved closer to her and repeated it until she got out of line and moved to another register. She asked for someone to walk her to her car. It scared her to death,” the family stated. “The next night, while I was at Walmart, I could tell I was being followed by two men with an empty basket. I called my husband to come to the front and pick me u. In the meantime, my husband noticed there was a white van in parking lot with Mexico plates and a man standing out by it talking on the phone. Then another man came out of the stores and got in the van. I will not be going back there. They need to hire security officers!” Devine PD is urging citizens who encounter situations like this to please call 830-663-4403. After 5 pm, this same number will transfer to county dispatch who will notify an officer in Devine immediately. “We have to be aware of our surroundings everywhere we go,” Chief Benavides adds. “Some of these women have said they felt something was not right but didn’t want to bother us. So instead they asked an unarmed employee to walk them out to their car. So I asked, without a weapon, what could that person have done to stop someone from harming you? Follow you gut–if something doesn’t feel right–please call us. We are here to help. We want our community to feel safe.”
There will an important meeting at the Moore Community Center this Thursday, August 25 at 7pm regarding a solar farm project that has been proposed. Frio County Commissioner Graf and County Attorney James Sindon will be there to talk about some details on the potential Black Creek Solar project. This is a very important meeting for all of the citizens who live in our small community because risk of devaluing our land, and environmental and health concerns.
New water pipes sit ready to replace asbestos lines in the City of Devine.
By Anton Riecher The Devine City Council voted 3-0 to approve a $3.47 million bid by a Burnett County construction company for water system improvements during a regular session held Aug. 16. Qro Mex Construction, Inc. of Granite Shoals won the project with the best of six bids submitted. Other bids ranged up to a high of $5.667 million. “I want to say that Qro Mex is a very good company,” City Engineer Raul Garcia Jr. told the council. “We’ve worked with them and they are currently working on a project here in Devine right now. I think this is a very good bid for the council to consider.” A motion to approve the bid was made by Josh Ritchey and seconded by Debbie Randall. Council members Angela Pichardo and David Espinosa were not present. The contract is funded through a loan obtained from the Texas Water Development Board as part of the Drinking Water State Revolving Fund. The fund, authorized by the Safe Drinking Water Act, provides low-cost financial assistance for planning, acquisition, design, and construction of water infrastructure. Included in the project is installation of 20,343 linear feet of 8-inch water main, 3,327 linear feet of 5-inch water main, 6,613 linear feet of service line, plus various valves, hydrants and fittings. Garcia told the council he has met with Qro Mex to review issues with previous improvement projects involving other companies “so that these issues don’t come up again.” “We are confident they are going to follow our guidelines and work with us unlike our prior contractor,” Garcia said. Work on the project is expected to begin in mid-September, Garcia said. See article on tax rate and other council matters inside.
