Top News Stories – Page 2 – The Devine News

Devine Livestock Booster Jan.10, Dinner & Dance at golf course

George Strait autographed guitar in auction

The Devine Livestock Booster Dinner & Dance will be held January 10 from 6pm-Midnight. The event will be held at The Devine Golf Course. You can get 2 tickets for the dinner and dance for $125 total. Jerry DeLeon and the Southbound Band will be providing the live music for the evening. For dinner, the club will be serving fajita plates with rice and beans.
There will be a silent auction and ticket auction going on as well as a Card Deck Drawing for guns. The highlight of the silent auction will a guitar signed by George Strait himself!
You can buy a pair of tickets from any 4-H kid or from Sam Barber at 830-741-0300.

FCCLA focuses on Community Service

Payton and Viola during their presentation to Mrs. Marek’s classes for Veteran’s Day.

Devine High School juniors Payton Appling and Viola Dzierzanowski created the project “Community Services of Devine” through FCCLA. The project’s goal is two-fold: to demonstrate their commitment to community service and to educate and inspire others, especially young people, to also become involved. The duo will compete at the FCCLA Region V Conference in January in STAR (Students Taking Action for Recognition) events with this project.
The team started their project at the Fall Festival on November 1, by throwing candy out to the crowds to introduce their project. They also created announcements, flyers, and a social media account to let their peers know about opportunities to help.
On November 5th, the girls visited Mrs. Marek’s 3rd, 4th and 5th grade classes at Devine Intermediate School to create 75 cards for Veterans Day. And on November 18th, they collaborated with another FCCLA STAR event team, “Clean and Green”, to pick up trash on the high school campus. At the conclusion of the event, 3 bags of trash were collected.
Appling and Dzierzanowski plan to help with the next food distribution in January at the First Baptist Church with the DHS Family and Community Service classes. They also plan to do another presentation at the middle school to keep spreading the word on why community service is important.

Kayla Dzierzanowski and Cat Brown present to Coach Cozby’s Environmental Science classes.

Devine council unenthusiastic about suggested change in water/wastewater rate measure

Richard Gibbons with Texas Rebuild makes a presentation to the Devine City Council on a proposed change in the basic measure for water and wastewater rates. (Photo by Anton Riecher)

By Anton Riecher
Response from Devine County Council members seemed largely negative toward a proposal to move from charging for water and wastewater by the gallon, using instead a standardized measure taking peak usage and varying flow rates into consideration.
A presentation by a municipal consulting firm known as Texas Rebuild suggested substituting a living unit equivalent (LUE) as the measure for average water consumption in Devine.
“The number one challenge that I hear from city leadership, councils, city managers, public works, is we have infrastructure challenges in our waters and wastewater system and we don’t have the money to pay for it,” said Texas Rebuild spokesman Richard Gibbons.
City Administrator David Jordan told the council at its Dec. 16 meeting that the consulting firm had been retained by the city to do an analysis of needed improvements to city water infrastructure, including the recent project to rehabilitate the long dormant L.C. Martin water well.
“Other infrastructure in the city is still lacking and needs repair, such as the lift stations,” Jordan said. “We currently have three lift stations that are aged and we need ways to fund those.”
Gibbons said that his…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!

Two great kids wishing for a forever family

By Kayleen Holder
Editor
Brothers Emilio and Gael would love nothing more this Christmas than to be welcomed into their forever family, together.
As experts point out, sibling bonds are often some of the longest and most enduring relationships we have. For children in care, those bonds can provide a sense of identity and emotional safety, according to Children’s Home Society.
Sadly, according to a 2022 report by the Annie E. Casey Foundation, more than two-thirds of children in foster care have a sibling in care, and studies show that up to 75% of those siblings are separated.
If adoption is in your heart, and you have room for two, meet these two great kiddos looking for a family…..
Emilio who is 10, likes building things such as car and robot models. It’s a hobby that leads to his dreams of growing up to be a scientist someday.
And on the topic of science, Emilio is also fascinated learning about the solar system.
Emilio also loves to read, especially about the ocean and ships.
At school Emilio does very well academically as he enjoys the learning process, with science being his favorite class.
He also enjoys attending the boys and girls club.
Emilio would like his future family to know he loves pets, and he would like to have a dog of his own someday, if at all possible.
Emilio enjoys going out to eat with Chick -Fil – A and McDonalds topping his list of favorites.
Big brother Gael, who is 12, is a sweet and loving child who is energetic and outgoing.
He enjoys bike riding, basketball, playing soccer, along with his passion for singing and dancing.
Gael is a very caring, attentive, and well-mannered pre-teen who loves spending time with his little brother and wants them to be adopted together.
When it comes to his education, Gael enjoys attending school where he plays football and interacting with his classmates. He does very well academically and was, in fact, selected to participate in the STEM program.
If you think you could be a forever family for these siblings or another Texas child, please call 1-800-233-3405 for more information or visit www.adoptchildren.org where you can find a schedule of online public information meetings, and learn about the foster/adoption program.
You can also view the www.heartgallerystx.org website, where South Texas children have their portraits along with individual personal stories they wish to share, with their future forever family.

Making headway on Devine VFD fraud audits

City Administrator David Jordan, left, and Mayor Butch Cook preside during the Dec. 16 Devine City Council meeting. Photo by Anton Riecher.

By Anton Riecher
The Medina County Emergency Services District No. 2 board of commissioners received an update during its Dec. 17 meeting on progress in audit work to trace funds missing in an embezzlement scandal that brought major changes to local emergency response management during the past year.
ESD2 bookkeeper Nancy Pepper also reported progress by accountant Karl Goering of Armstrong, Vaughn & Associates in providing a further breakdown on nearly $11,000 in misappropriation in the year 2022-23, which includes a lot of Amazon purchases, at least $500, noted in an ongoing fraud investigation involving the Devine Volunteer Fire Department. $10,500 was in payroll, for a total of $11,000.
An audit by…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!

Increasing water and sewer rates is “never a fun decision to make but it is the right decision for the city,” McLiney said.

Students recreate the Nativity Scene

Students at St. Joseph Catholic Church put on a beautiful Nativity play this past week. They are Kassandra Fajardo (Mary), Christopher Tapia (Joseph), Slade Whitley (Prophet), Inn Keepers Mason Cordova, Isaias Mendez, Jayden Palacios, Shepherds- TJ Buvinghausen, Ivan Iglesias, Jacob Casias, Kings- Marcus Gomez, Weston Leal, Carter Stewart, Angels- Jacklyn Guajardo, Lainey Cordova, Sam Steubing, Sophia Palacios, Jackson Weeks, Donkeys- Millie Null, Aaron Aguilar, Sheep Laura Steubing, Cows- Penny Null, Anthony Aguilar, Extras- Reese and Riley Haass, Stage Hands- Andi Haass, Quay Ortiz, Zach Ortiz, Natalia Gutierrez, and Emma Martinez, Narrator Bianca Villanueva. Photo by Adrian Reyes.

I’ll be home for Christmas…

After 40 long days away, Pvt 2 Elijah Amir Gomez of Devine, arrived home this Saturday for a 2 week holiday block leave from Army Basic Training. As you can tell, his mom Sopheila Zori is so grateful to have her soldier home.
Pvt Gomez, a 2024 Devine HS graduate, is serving in the Army National Guard -stationed at Fort Leonardwood, MO as he undergoes Basic Training. Pvt Gomez said he is proud to “serve and defend the nation that provided my family with the opportunities and freedoms they didn’t have before.”
Proud parents are Michael Gomez and Soheila Zori, of Devine.
Special thank you and Merry Christmas to Pvt Gomez, and all of the men and women serving in the Armed Forces, and their families, who have made so many great sacrifices for us all.

Positive results reported for Devine water well restoration

By Anton Riecher
What one Devine city council member referred to as a “$32,000 gamble” to restore the city’s long dormant L.C. Martin water well to operation has apparently paid off.
Chuck Jones with Converse-based Advanced Water Well told the council at its Dec. 16 meeting that the company has completed the rehabilitation project and is now waiting to install either a new or repaired submersible pump.
“We did our typical running a brush down it and jetting out all the fill as well as we acidized the well to recede all the iron bacteria in the formation,” Jones said.
The council voted…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!

Devine wins UIL Academic Competition 12th year in a row

By Melody Riou
UIL Academics is a wonderful program for students to be involved in. Academic competition for younger students has been around since 1913, with the under age ten categories beginning in 1921.
The program of academic competition for elementary, middle school and junior high officially became “A+ Academics” in 2008. A+ Academics includes 20 different events for grades 2-8. These events span the curriculum – they are designed to complement and expand upon what students learn in the classroom, both through learning specific subject knowledge, and through learning skills that are valuable in many disciplines. Approximately 3,000 Texas schools participate in A+ Academics, competing in more than 300 district meets each year.
On December 5th, our UIL students competed in Floresville for our annual UIL competition. Our kids competed against other students from Floresville, Pearsall, Carrizo Springs, Uvalde and Somerset. Devine won the UIL meet for the 12th year in a row. We are so proud of each and every team member.