Category: Top News Stories

Keep up with what’s going on in Devine, Natalia, Lytle, Bigfoot and Moore areas in Medina, Frio, and Atascosa Counties.

CAMPSEY TO LEAD WARHORSE FB

Former Warhorse QB, Campsey is happy to be wearing maroon and gold again. Coaching against the Warhorses was one of the hardest things he’s ever had to do, he said with a smile. Above are: Jacob Campsey, his wife Jenah and their kiddos Emerie and Levy.

Jerel Beaty
Staff writer
Devine ISD has turned to one of its own to guide the Warhorses forward, naming Jacob Campsey as the new Head Football Coach. The announcement reunites Campsey with the program he helped lead to three postseason runs during his high school career.
A 2006 graduate of Devine High School, Campsey was a standout athlete for the Warhorses, playing quarterback and outside linebacker and a vocal leader. Teammates and coaches recall his intense preparation, fundamental knowledge of the game, and on-field leadership that foreshadowed his future in coaching.
In 2003, Campsey and his team finished the regular season 5-5 before going on to win the first two rounds of the state playoffs before bowing out in the third round to finish his first full season on varsity at 7-6.
In 2004, Campsey’s junior year, the Warhorses finished the regular season at 9-1 then once again won the first two rounds of the playoffs before finishing that season 11-2.
At that time, everyone in Devine was beyond excited about what the 2005 campaign had in store for Warhorse football. The community’s expectations for excellence, including district championships and playoff runs, is something that is commonplace now.
Devine had an 8-2 regular season in ’05, two more playoff wins, and a final record of 10-3. With these three great, consecutive playoff runs, the high expectations of Warhorse Nation were now in full effect!
After earning a degree in…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!

Sanchez All-State

Esai Sanchez, a senior Warhorse Band member earned his first trip to perform in the Texas All-State Symphonic Band.

Esai Sanchez, a member of the Devine High School Warhorse Band has qualified to rehearse and perform with the 2026 Texas All-State Symphonic Band. Esai will perform on Saturday, February 14, 2026, at San Antonio’s Henry B. González Convention Center, during the 2026 Texas Music Educators Association Clinic/Convention.
Esai was chosen for this prestigious honor through a competitive process held this year across the state at District, Region, and Area levels. Esai is a student of Bert Sanchez (his dad) and plays at school under the direction of Mr. Bert Sanchez, who is a member of the Texas Music Educators Association, a 20,400+ member organization headquartered in Austin. This is Esai’s first time to perform as a member of a TMEA All-State organization. Esai is the child of Humberto (Bert) and Monica Sanchez.
High school students selected to perform in All-State concerts have competed through auditions to qualify at the state level. All-State is the highest honor a Texas music student can achieve. Students are selected through a multi-level adjudication process that begins with about 60,000 students from around the state vying for this honor to perform in one of 18 ensembles. Texas Music Educators Association sponsors the Texas All-State competition.
This competitive process begins throughout the state in auditions hosted by 33 TMEA Regions. Individual musicians perform selected music for a panel of judges who rank each instrument or voice part. From this ranking, a select group of musicians advances from their Region to compete against musicians from other areas in eight TMEA Area competitions. The highest-ranking musicians judged at the TMEA Area competitions qualify to perform in a TMEA All-State music group.
Only the top 3% of musicians who initially audition become All-State musicians. Directed by nationally recognized conductors, All-State students participate in four days of rehearsals during the TMEA Clinic/Convention. Their performances for thousands of attendees bring this extraordinary event to a close.
For the All-State concert and conductor information, go to the Performances section of tmea.org/convention.

Medina County Jr. Livestock Show in progress

Check out the Medina County Jr. Livestock Show this week!

Hundreds of local students are seeing their hardwork come to fruition as they compete in the Medina County Jr. Livestock Show in Hondo this week.
The Premium Sale will be this Saturday, Jan.24. Buyer registration will start at 9:30am and the Sale will be at 11am. See schedule on page 3.

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!

What’s coming in 2030?

See the listing of rural roads set to be worked on for Medina County as well as Frio and Atascosa along with maps on page 8 and 9. Note: projects at various locations are not shown on maps. The Public Comment meeting for each county is as shown below. Maps courtesy of TxDot.

TxDot to present 4-year plan for rural roadwork, Public Comments Welcome…

By Kayleen Holder
Editor
The community is invited to attend meetings in the following counties to participate and learn more about TxDot’s projects in Medina, Atascosa, Frio, Bandera, Kendall, Kerr, McMullen, Uvalde and Wilson Counties. The presentation outlines projects planned from 2027 through 2030.
Purpose: The purpose of this meeting is to provide information and receive comments on which transportation projects may be coming to your area.
You can also submit public comments by email or by mail as outlined below.

Public comments on the draft plan may be submitted in the following ways:
If you would like to have your feedback to be included in the official public meeting record, all comments must be postmarked or otherwise received by Friday, April 10, 2026.
• By Email: to Ivonne.delarosa@txdot.gov, Attention: Rural TIP.
• By Mail:
TxDOT San Antonio District
Attn: Rural TIP
4615 Northwest Loop 410
San Antonio, TX 78229
All comments must be postmarked or otherwise received by Friday, April 10, 2026.

In-person presentation meeting details
TX Dot’s San Antonio District will present the 2027 – 2030 Rural Transportation Improvement Program (Rural TIP) at the dates and local locations below:
Medina County Commissioner Court
Monday, Jan. 26, 2026
9 a.m.
Medina County Courthouse
Annex. 1300 Avenue M (Room 165),
Hondo, TX 78861

Frio County Commissioner Court
Tuesday, Feb. 10, 2026
3 p.m.
Frio County Courthouse
500 East San Antonio Street,
Pearsall, TX 78061

Atascosa County Commissioner Court
Monday, March 9, 2026
9 a.m.
Atascosa County Courthouse
1 Courthouse Circle Dr. Suite 203,
Jourdanton, TX 78026

According to…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!

Little Mr. 2026

Brittany Rodriguez and Ruben Ray Contreras welcomed their son, Kaleb Ray Contreras on January 5, 2026 at 8:34 am weighing 6 pounds 7 ounces and measuring 19.5 inches long. He is the first baby born in the new year at Medina Regional Hospital. Supplies and goodies were donated by Restore Reproductive Health and the Wesley Nurse for the New Year’s baby.

Viera’s 440-acre subdivision

Medina County Judge Keith Lutz, left, pinpoints County Road 260W in Precinct 1 during a public hearing Monday on a proposal to reduce the speed limit from 60 mph to 30 mph.
On a motion by Precinct 1 Commissioners Jessica Castiglione, seconded by Precinct 2 Commissioner Larry Sittre, the commissioners voted unanimously to approve the reduced speed limit. (Photo by Anton Riecher)

County commissioners discuss precinct 1 subdivision development

By Anton Riecher
Held on Monday, the first Medina County Commissioners Court hearing for 2026 focused on subdivision development in precinct 1, primarily the 472 acre Viera subdivision located near the intersection of Potranco Road and County Road 381.
By a unanimous vote the commissioners approved a preliminary service and assessment plan governing the next 30 years for the Viera Public Improvement District, a special area created to fund extra infrastructure and amenities such as parks, landscaping and water lines. These improvements are funded through a homeowners association (HOA) rather than by tax dollars.
Approving the service and assessment plan is the first step in levying assessments on the property involved, a spokesman for McCall, Parkhurst & Horton, the county’s special counsel on subdivision matters, noted.
The subdivision, created in February 2025, consists of 1,047 lots of sizes varying from 80 foot wide to 50 foot wide. Prices range from $675,000 for 80-foot-wide lots to $450,000 for 50-foot-wide lots.
The Viera PID includes 114 acres of the planned subdivision with 281 single family homes planned. Construction began in December and is expected to be completed within 12 months.
“This is going to be a beautifully laid out subdivision,” Sittre said.
On a motion by Precinct 2 Commissioner Larry Sittre, seconded by Precinct 1 Commissioner Jessica Castiglione, the commissioners voted to approve the assessment plan. Commissioners also voted unanimously to approve a final plat establishing another Precinct 1 development, Woodlands at Medina Hills unit 1B, located on FM 1283.
The court also voted to approve a final plat for a single 12-lot unit of the Legacy Hills subdivision pending final okay by Castiglione who raised concerns about drainage. Approval of two other units was tabled pending action by the city of San Antonio on performance bonds for the development.
In other action, the commissioners approved

Students to bring heifers and ranch colts for sale Jan. 23rd

These are some of the many heifers that will be for sale.

Anyone is welcome to come out and check out some great heifers and ranch yearling colts who have been raised by local 4-H students. More like a traditional auction, bidders will go home with the animals they win from these events and support a great cause at the same time. Here are the details on these two auctions:
Commercial Heiefer Sale:
The sale will be held January 23 at 5pm. Local kiddos will have about 116 head of cattle which will be split into pens of 2-3 animals. Bidders will bid per head, but they will be sold as a lot of 2 or 3 (depending on how many are in that pen).
There will be various breeds. You can register and bid online as well. Or you can just walk up and register the day of. You can view the cattle that will be for sale online.
Colt Sale:
This sale will also be January 23rd and will kick off at 2 pm. Local kiddos expect to bring about 19 yearling ranch colts to the sale. These colts will be around 2 years old, and students will have started on ground work and saddling, but not all will be ridden down. You can register and bid online as well. Or you can just walk up and register the day of.

Local businessman, Robert Brown, passes away at age of 70

Robert David Brown passed away on January 7, 2026, at the age of 70.
Robert was born in San Antonio, Texas, on October 26, 1955, to Robert (Bob) Brown and Ruth Hernandez Brown.
He moved to Devine at age 10 after his father, Mr. Brown Sr., had the opportunity to open a Chevrolet dealership in town. It was then that Robert discovered his first passion—the auto industry.
He began with humble beginnings at the dealership; his first assignment was washing cars for years.
Robert graduated from Devine High School, Class of ’74, and went on to college with all his Beatles albums—music being another of his passions.
He attended the University of Texas at Austin, graduating in the Class of ’78 with a degree in Business Administration.
One of his proudest memories from this time was driving from Austin to Devine almost every weekend to sell cars and continue learning about the auto industry.
Along his college journey was his high school sweetheart, Connie, whom he married on July 8, 1978. They shared…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 man sentenced to 80 years in prison

By Medina County District Attorney’s Office:
The Medina County Criminal District Attorney’s Office concluded its year with guilty verdicts on all charges against Don William Dubose following a jury trial in the 454th Judicial District Court, presided over by Judge Daniel J. Kindred.
Jury selection in the case began on December 8, 2025. After hearing the evidence and testimony presented, the jury found Dubose guilty on all counts, including:

  • Count One: Aggravated Sexual Assault of a Child Under the Age of Six
  • Count Two: Aggravated Sexual Assault of a Child Under the Age of Six
  • Count Three: Indecency with a Child
    Following the jury’s verdict, Judge Daniel J. Kindred assessed punishment at:
  • 35 years’ imprisonment for Count One
  • 35 years’ imprisonment for Count Two
  • 10 years’ imprisonment for Count Three
    The Court ordered that all sentences run consecutively. Dubose will be required to complete the first 35-year sentence before the sentence in Count Two begins to run, followed by the sentence for Count Three.
    The case was prosecuted 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!