Category: Top News Stories

By Anton Riecher
A burn ban for Medina County in effect since Dec. 1 has been extended an additional 90 days beginning Feb. 28 by county commissioners on the recommendation of Emergency Management Coordinator Mark Chadwick.
Using the Keetch-Bryam drought index as a fire risk barometer, Medina County ranks 704 out of a possible 800 as of Feb. 23, placing the county in “a really extreme potential for fire,” Chadwick said.
On a motion by Precinct 3 Commissioner David Lynch, seconded by Precinct 2 Commissioner Larry Sittre, the Medina County Commissioners…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 Anton Riecher
Permission for a Wyoming-based company to use city owned property adjoining the Lytle wastewater treatment plant as the location for a pilot program to extract and condense humidity from the atmosphere as a sustainable water source was granted by the Lytle City Council at its Feb. 23 meeting.
City Administrator Zachary Meadows said the project proposed by 109 Capital Partners LLP calls for construction of a special facility to test its evaporation process technology in the United States.
“Tonight, we are presented with a license agreement for your consideration between 109 Capital Partners and the city of Lytle for the construction and operation of an atmospheric water tower,” Meadows said.
These systems typically extract humidity from the air and condense the resulting moisture into potable water as an alternative to drilling wells in rural regions. The agreement…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 Anton Riecher
In four separate unanimous votes during its Feb. 23 meeting the Medina County Commissioners Court approved establishing assessment revenue to support the first public improvement district for the 472-acre Viera subdivision.
The newly established PID will cover the cost of roadway improvements, drainage and landscaping for a 114-area of the new subdivision, said R.J. Rios with McCall, Parkhurst and Horton, special counsel to the county for subdivision development.
“If everything goes to plan with public improvements, Public Improvement Area No. 1 will be completed and then deed to the county in the fourth quarter of 2026,” Rios said.
A PID is a defined, geographically designated area established by a city or county under state law to fund…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 Angelica Ariza and Kayleen Holder
Amando and Ofelia Bustos, of Devine, are celebrating 59 years together. Their granddaughter nominated them to be featured in our Local Love Story series, explaining how the example her grandparents have set is “my true definition of love”.
“They have had their ups and their downs and leaned on God through it all,” said their granddaughter Haley Bustos. “Our foundation was rocked when my grandpa got sick and seeing my grandma take his hand and love him through it. She loves him with every breath she has.”
They met at the Azteca Dance Hall, Mrs. Bustos explained. She was just 20 when they met and he was 22, young, full of energy and not expecting that one dance would change everything.
“I was working and he asked me to dance for the first time. It was love at first sight! After that first dance we were inseparable,” she said.
They got married in Devine, July 12th, 1967, and are proud to have 2 children, 6 grandchildren, and 9 great grandchildren.
Mrs. Bustos was born in Black Creek but grew up in Devine, a place she’s always proudly called home. Her husband Amando, is originally from San Diego, TX. He first came to Devine for work, taking a job helping build I-35. What started as a work opportunity then became something much more. A new home and the beginning of their love life together in Devine.
“We didn’t waste any time. We got married right away six months after we met,” Mrs. Bustos.
He proposed at a local baseball game, no ring no big production and she said yes without hesitation.
“He asked me to marry him and I said yes!” she added.
She received her wedding band on their wedding day. The ceremony was simple but full of love. Her older sister baked their wedding cake, adding a personal touch to a day centered on love and family. Not long after, they welcomed their first child born on March 23, 1968, beginning a new life chapter together.
Looking back at their journey Mrs. Bustos mentioned, “We’ve had our ups and downs but God has been with us this whole time. My husband is the love of my life and I’m thankful to God for all the years He’s allowed me to be by my partner’s side.”
Mrs. Bustos worked at a local clothing store for a while. She then began to work at the local middle school where she spent many years dedicating herself to the students and community, and eventually retired from there. Her husband did a little bit of everything to provide, from construction work to becoming an electrician, and even spending time working the San Antonio Stock Show with livestock.
Faith has always been an important part of her life. A lifelong Christian, she says her beliefs carried her through the years. Her husband was raised Catholic but chose to join her church on the day they were married.
She prays others find a love that’s strong and kind, and above all peaceful. When asked for advice, together her and her husband encourage their loved ones to focus on themselves first, finish school, and build their futures and maybe not rush into marriage so early in life.
Mrs. Bustos’ advice to everyone is simple but powerful, “Pray every day, trust God. He’ll always answer your prayers, and always have faith.”
One of her favorite bible verses is John 3:16 “For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosever believeth in him shall not perish, but have everlasting life.”

It’s a verse she’s carried with her since childhood, back when she attended Bible school. A faithful reminder that stayed with her through every chapter of her and her husband’s life.

By Anton Riecher
Latest audit results for the Devine Volunteer Fire Department covering the years 2023 through 2025 reveals nearly $35,000 more in missing funds or fraudulent charges in an embezzlement scandal that brought a massive upheaval to local emergency management in the past year.
The new estimate is in addition to more than $76,000 missing from over a two-year period.
On December 5, 2024 the VFD office administrator Heather Shultz was arrested and still faces charges of “Tampering with evidence”.
Karl Goering, a certified public accountant with Armstrong…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!

A man identified as Miguel Angel Ayala, 23, of Jacksonville, Florida was transported by EMS after he was shot at a home on 3rd Street in Natalia around 11:24 am this past Saturday, February 21.
At this time, no arrests have been made, so the shooter has not been identified.
Ayala was identified as the boyfriend or ex-boyfriend of a 19-year-old female residing at her family’s home in Natalia at the time of the shooting.
According to Natalia PD Chief Martin Chavez, “Boyfriend and girlfriend lived in Florida previously. The female moved back to Natalia with her family. On Saturday, Ayala went to the family’s house in Natalia, and an altercation ensued, and Ayala was shot by the female’s brother with a shotgun. No one has been…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 Anton Riecher
With an overall score of 68, the Devine ISD district rating under the 2025 Texas Academic Performance Report stands at “D,” District Superintendent Todd Grandjean told the school board Feb. 16.
“This is a trend that we’ve seen across the state, in our area especially,” he said.
TAPR, required by the Texas Education Agency, is a key component of the state’s A-F…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 Anton Riecher
City Engineer J.R. Garcia pulled no punches explaining the potential risk in a proposal approved Feb. 17 by the Devine City Council to drill a $311,000 test hole as the first step in locating a new city well near Warhorse Stadium.
“It is a guessing game,” Garcia said, responding to a question by District 5 Alderman Hal Lance Jr. as to the percentages in favor of drawing potable water from the Carrizo-Wilcox aquifer at the proposed depth.
On a motion by District 2 Alderman Michael Hernandez, seconded by District 1 Alderman Ray Gonzales, the council approved the low bid submitted by Devine-based Underground Water Resources for drilling the test hole by a 4-0 vote.
Garcia said that UWR was the lowest of five bids submitted for the project. Work on the 60-day project is expected to begin within several months.
“They got great reviews from everybody I talked to,” Garcia said. “They are very excited and ready to get started on the project.”
The $316,000 price tag includes two alternatives depending on the quality of water found at the proposed depth of 600 feet, he said.
“If we find good water, we will go with alternative A which is going to be to cap it because we want to be able to come back in a few months with another grant to be able to finish the well,” Garcia said.
The city received a $500,000 community development block grant which will allow them to determine if the water table is sufficient…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!

On 2/18/26, Rolando Rivera, 55, of Uvalde was sentenced to 160 days in the Medina County Jail for the misdemeanor offense of Indecent Exposure with Previous Conviction and ordered to register as a Sex Offender for ten years for this offense committed on 5/6/2024.
Nearly two years…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!