New low-altitude zone proposed

By Kayleen Holder
Editor
Every kid loves to see the airplanes flying by, and it looks like they may be seeing a lot more of them soon. The military has selected most of Medina County and parts of Uvalde, Frio, and Bandera Counties as a prime area to conduct “low-altitude” flight training as low as 500 feet above ground level.

Continue reading “Military eyes airspace over Medina County for simulated combat training”

By Kayleen Holder and KK Calame
Officials are asking people to please, please not burn. Firefighters all across Medina County were working as many as four fires at one time this Tuesday around 2 pm. Emergency Coordinator Mark Chadwick called to give us an update as he was enroute to yet another fire. Winds have reached 46 MPH in Medina County, he said.
“All departments in the county are active today. They are running. We’ve got some

Continue reading “Crews fighting fires versus 49+ MPH winds”

Devine Fire Chief Greg Atkinson was arrested today, Thursday Feb 27,2025 and booked into Medina County Jail on charges of Official Oppression/Sexual Harassment. Atkinson turned himself in after a warrant for his arrest was issued.

“Our investigation continues on,” Sheriff Randy Brown said. “If anyone feels like they were done wrong and coerced into doing something they did not want to do, please come forward.”

The best way to get in contact is to call Medina County Sheriffs 830-741-6150 line during work day hours as after hours that line transfers to dispatch.

Atkinson turned himself in after a warrant for his arrest was issued.

The sheriff explained that victims in a case like this can be given a pseudonym or fake name to protect their identity.

“On February 13, we received info about a possible victim and found at least some of the allegations to be true. We interviewed multiple suspects, and have more to interview still.”

Sheriff Brown adds, “If you are a person of authority and you use blackmail etc to coerce somebody to do something using the power you hold, that is Oppression.”

Sheriff Brown confirmed there is photo evidence.

The sheriff thanked the Devine VFD board for quickly taking action to make sure fire operations continue smoothly.

Atkinson was put on leave at an emergency meeting by the Devine Vol Fire Department Board yesterday evening, Wednesday February 26.

“Kuddos to them for doing what they needed to do to keep things running smoothly even though I could only provide limited information at that point,” Sheriff said.

Chief Atkinson has served as Chief at Devine VFD since 2021, and started fire academies that offered classes to students in Devine ISD, Natalia ISD, as well as Hondo ISD.

Devine Vol Fire Department is also a contractor for the City of Devine as Devine VFD has been hired to do Code Compliance. They were previously hired to do inspections as well for the City of Devine, but due to a lack of certifications previously promised, the city council voted to cease that part of the contract at a recent meeting.

Local authorities have reported numerous accounts of scammers calling local residents and using scare tactics to pressure victims into sending them large sums of money.

Devine PD confirmed that a resident had lost around $14,000 in a scam the day prior to another local family contacting us.

“These scammers use fear tactics to pressure victims into acting quickly,” Devine PD Lieutenant Chris Andrews said. “Do not fall for these scams. Remember no law enforcement agency will ask for digital currency, ever.”
Under the guise of trying to help victims, or threats, phone scammers have stolen in excess of $10 million last year alone according to the Federal Trade Commission.

The family of another local resident recently called to share a similar story in hopes of helping others. In this case, a family member was told she may be arrested if she didn’t transfer $18,000 to bitcoins through a local ATM.

“First they left her a voicemail claiming that someone made an unauthorized purchase, and it stated to push 1 for help. When she did that the scammer answered and told her to go to her bank and take out $18,000. When she went to the bank, the guy told her not to hang up but to put her phone in her pocket. Then she went to a local convenience store in Devine where she started to put the cash into a Bitcoin machine. Thankfully, the cashier at the store saw her and told her not to do it. He said a man had done this the day before and it was a scam.”

Another Devine resident recently had her Ipad frozen by scammers with a message that “your device has been hacked” and it listed a phone number to call for help. When she called for help….Continue reading at www.devinenewsmembers.com

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