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The Veterans Memorial Monument Association, Municipal Development District and the City of Natalia will host a Memorial Day Service on Sunday, May 24th, 2026 at 7:00 pm at the Veterans Memorial Monument.
Everyone is welcomed. Please bring your own seating.
We will pay TRIBUTE to all men and women who gave the Ultimate Sacrifice in defense of our Country.
Memorial Day starts the Annual Name Drive to add new names to the monument. Criterion is that the name of the individual who served our nation needs to have been born in Medina County, raised in Medina County or is living in Medina County. The cost for names to be engraved on the Monument will be $175 per name. The deadline for all names to be turned in will be September 1st, 2026. Forms can be picked up at the Natalia Municipal Development District Office, City of Natalia Office or on line at: cityofnatalia.com. Click on Community Places & Events, click on Natalia Veterans Memorial Monument name Registration Form, fill out necessary information and mail to the address on the form. Or you can also drop off the form at either office.

OPENING CEREMONY 10:00 at the flagpoles in front of Museum with Judge Keith Lutz and members of Rio Medina Boy Scout Troop 471, SAR, SCV
Museum and outdoor exhibits will be open until 3:00 following the Opening Ceremony.
Exhibits include blacksmith shop, antique farm implements, 19th century wagons and buggies,
SAR American Revolution and SCV Civil War reenactors, 1913 D’Hanis Brick & Tile steam engine, old school house (complete with original WPA outhouses), 1964 (unrestored) caboose, and thousands of unique items portraying the frontier beginnings of Medina County when this 1893 Southern Pacific Railroad Depot was relocated from downtown Hondo to present location (2202 18th Street) becoming Medina County Museum in 1970.
Local DRT, CRT, 4H, CCHA organizations and vendors will be selling local honey, homemade soaps, lotion, yarn, and books.
There’s room for more vendors at no charge. Vendors bring your own canopy as shade is limited. No electricity available outside of buildings. We’d love to have music (piano, fiddle, guitar, harmonica, etc). Anyone wanting to sell hot food must get a (no charge) permit from City of Hondo; no permit required for sales of cold sodas, lemonade. If you’d like to bring a box lunch picnic, bring your picnic quilt and lawn chairs to eat under a shade tree.
The theme is Patriotic as we will be honoring our Veterans and our Nation’s 250 Years of Freedom so dress in Red, White and Blue; Veterans wear your Military insignia ballcaps. It’s also fun to dress in pioneer costume.
Come join in the fun!
For more information please contact Director @ 830-538-3911

Two local races will end with the runoff election ongoing right now. Early voting continues until May 22, and Election Day is May 26th.
Vying for the JP 3 spot is Teresa Koch and Michael Sanchez.
Cindy Modgling-Everett and Kimberly Bermea are running for the Medina County Clerk seat.
For the runoffs, Early Voting began this week, May 18-22, and Election Day is Tuesday, May 26.

By Anton Riecher
Concern about land rights, health issues and cost of a proposed 370-mile power transmission line project to connect San Antonio to the Permian Basin in West Texas monopolized the discussion during a town hall meeting May 13 at the Devine Veterans of Foreign Wars hall.
Brandon Herrera, a Republican congressional candidate for the Texas 23rd District, urged those tracking efforts to win regulatory approval for the 765-kilovolt Howard-Solstice transmission line project to contact not one, but all their elected representatives able to bring influence to bear.
“Everyone should be hearing about this from you because they need to know that this is an issue that they should be advocating for as well,” Herrera said. “That might be enough to push them over the edge, that maybe they make a phone call and maybe that call has a little bit of influence to push things down the line.”
Wes Virdell, representing District 53 in the Texas House of Representatives, and members of the Hill Country Preservation Coalition were also on hand.
Only a few transmission…LOGIN TO CONTINUE READING at www.devinenewsmembers.com. You will get instant access to our full E-edition, and begin getting the newspaper delivered to your home next week for $36 a year in Medina County. Support important local city, county, and school news like this!

By Kayleen Holder
Editor
In a packed house, the Devine City council, zoning commission, as well as two of our local county representatives took time to listen to the concerns, questions, and thoughts of local citizens in regards to impending and ongoing data center development in the Devine area and Medina County in general–and there were a lot. A total of about 60 people signed up to speak, most of them local city and county residents.
“We are here to look at both the opportunity and the risk based on facts,” Mayor Butch Cook said before opening up the podium.
The co-founder of Texas Energy Group, Ryan Nuckolls, gave a presentation on the facility’s projected plans. He discussed water use, and plans to produce half of the power the site will use by building a gas-powered power plant on site. So the 800 Megawatt site (which is the largest in Medina County), will rely half on the electric grid, and half on power produced by its own power plant using natural gas.
The City has two major things to decide on: Will it annex? And will it offer tax abatements?
Nuckolls declined to provide his contact information for additional questions, but stated the company wants to be part of the community and answer the community’s questions.
He stated that there would be 8-9 buildings on the site including an electrical substation and a power plant. When asked if they owned the property or leased the property, he said his company has the “developer rights” and he was unsure who the actual customer coming into the site would be.
“Who owns it? Who will run it? Who are we going to be dealing with for the rest of our lives?” local resident Heather Yanta asked.
“A hyperscaler data center operator will eventually come in and own the property,” Nuckolls said, noting they had several reputable clients.
TX Energy Group’s presentation stated that the entire facility is projected to use the 1.7 million gallons for the initial fill, though it will be staggered, and that won’t need to be replaced for approximately 15 years–except for a 2% evaporation rate which is an annual evaporation rate according to Nuckolls.
The developer stated the closest building on the site will be about “5,000 feet away from the closest community in Devine”. The site is a half mile from Devine City limits on Hwy 132 near the intersection of I-35.
Developers stated they would try to route traffic down I-35, and not through downtown Devine.
TJ Richardson was one of many residents who spoke.
“They are going to ask a lot of us, and so we need to ask a lot of them,” Richardson said.
Former County Commissioner Jerry Beck suggested that the center use “effluent water (treated water) that’s spit out of the sewer plant”. There are in fact, some data centers that do use effluent water so this appears to be a viable option if council pursued it.
Some speakers suggested that local leaders…LOGIN TO CONTINUE READING at www.devinenewsmembers.com. You will get instant access to our full E-edition, and begin getting the newspaper delivered to your home next week for $36 a year in Medina County. Support important local city, county, and school news like this!