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This week’s E-edition is live!
Lytle Santa Parade always a big hit!
This beautiful home is one of many lighting up the City of Lytle during the big Christmas parade last Saturday.
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…
Read the full story at www.devinenewsmembers.com
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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Continue reading “Students brainstorm ideas for prosthetic limbs,starting with “Pongo””
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.