Ventimiglia Selected as Texas All-State Musician

Thomas Ventimiglia, a member of the Natalia High School Band will perform with the Texas All-State ATSSB band in San Antonio, Saturday, February 11, 2023, at the Henry B. González Convention Center as part of the 2023 Texas Music Educators Association Clinic/Convention.

Thomas was chosen for this prestigious honor through a competitive process held this year across the state at District, Region, and Area levels. Thomas is a (private) student of Clarisa De la Garza and plays at school under the direction of Sergio Mendez who is a member of the Texas Music Educators Association, a 14,000+ member organization headquartered in Austin. This is his second time to perform as a member of an ATSSB All-State organization. Thomas is the child of Mr. & Mrs. Thomas Ventimiglia. He won 2nd chair Clarinet at Area which qualified him to State.

High school students selected to perform in the All-State concerts have competed through auditions to qualify at the state level. All-State is the highest honor a Texas music student can receive. 1,875 students are selected through a process that began with over 70,000 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. 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. The highest-ranking musicians judged at the ATSSB Area competitions qualify to perform in a ATSSB All-State music group. These All-State students participate in four days of rehearsals directed by nationally recognized conductors 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 www.tmea.org/convention

8 from Mustang Band compete at Area, one advances to All-State

Area students were selected to perform in the TSSB All State Band during their performance at Alice High School last weekend January 7 during the Area Competition.

Competing and their placing are as follows:

Thomas Ventimiglia – 2nd Chair Clarinet State Qualifier

Kate Robinson – 2nd Chair Bass Clarinet

Ricardo Olivares – 5th Chair Trumpet

Austyn Rodriguez – 18th Chair Trumpet

Skylyn Kutzer – 17th Chair

Anthony Guevara – 8th Chair Trombone

Anthony Garza – 5th Chair Euphonium

Abraham Mendez – 3rd Chair Tuba

Sergio Mendez got sick and was not able to audition.

The All-State performance will be held as part of the annual TMEA Clinic/Convention, February 8–11, 2023. Over 30,000 people from Texas and around the world are expected to attend over 290 workshops, 100 performances, and visit over 1,200 exhibit booths at the nation’s largest music educator’s convention. For more information go to www.tmea.org/convention

6 Lytle Band members compete at Area

Results are as follows from the Lytle High School Band auditions at Area last weekend in Alice according to LISD Band Director Joshua Chesshir.

Cambri Davila – 9th chair Flute

Citlali Ferreira – 10th chair Flute

Melanie Perez – 17th chair Clarinet

Jose Gomez – 2nd chair Contra Clarinet

Elijah Martinez – 9th chair Alto Sax

Stefan Grigsby – 4th chair French Horn

8 from Devine Band audition at All-Area

We had Jordan Erxleben, Abner Flores, Juan Hernandez – all clarinets; Isaiah Cardenas – alto sax; Alvin Mann – trumpet; Josh Mills, Maudie Cortez – trombone; and Carlo Rivera – Tuba

“Unfortunately I don’t have any students who advanced to the 4A All-State Symphonic Band this year. We had (8) Area Band members who auditioned, and this time around we did not have anyone who ranked high enough to earn a chair to advance,” said Jeff Miller, DISD Director of Bands.

“We have had several young, very talented students show great potential and I’m confident there will be some that will advance in the future.”

“The Devine Band has been fortunate to have had several students within the 4A All-State Band in the past and we are very proud of our students who participated in the process this year earning chairs in the All-Region and All-Area levels!” said Miller.

Funds to repair middle school water damage approved by school board

By Anton Riecher

A $72,875 bid to repair damage at Devine Middle School from a water leak was approved by a unanimous vote during the Dec. 12 meeting of the district school board.

In late August staff discovered a leak in science classroom 101 and 103 coming from the “casework,” i.e., cabinets, drawers or bookcases, a report presented to the board states.

“It was determined after shutting down the supply valves that there was a leak on the pressure drain side,” the report states. “A temporary reroute of HVAC condensate lines was performed and the custodial staff has to empty the condensate water from a trash can twice daily.”

Of the three requests made for bids, AB Construction was the only company to submit a proposal for the repair work planned during the holiday break.

A motion by Carl Brown to approve the bid was seconded by Henry Moreno.

In other action, the board approved payment of $50,458 to the architectural firm KNRG for developing plans and specifications to repair or replace school district roof damage due to hail. KNRG also provided construction administration for the project.

The invoice submitted by KNRG was approved by Darren VanFossen, director of operations for the district custodial staff. The motion by Henry Moreno, seconded by Keri James, was approved by a 7-0 vote of the board.

In another unanimous vote, the board voted to approve the National Incident Management System (NIMS) for use in the district’s planning and response to emergencies. NIMS provides a shared vocabulary, systems and processes to unify various agencies involved.

NIMS “guides all levels of government, nongovernmental organizations and the private sector to work together to prevent, protect against, mitigate, respond to and recover from incidents,” the Federal Emergency Management Agency states.

Texas has adopted NIMS for its planning and response to emergencies and it asks that schools formally adopt it for the same purpose, a report to the board by assistant superintendent Daryl W. Wendel states. The Devine ISD formally adopted an emergency operations plan in keeping with NIMS in August.

The motion by Davis was seconded by Brown.

Under its consent agenda, the board turned to the Medina County Health Department to fill three open seats for community members on the district’s Student Health Advisory Committee.

Rhonda Brast, Iris Hernandez and Virginia Gonzales, all employed by the health department, were appointed to the committee. Janette Vosquez, also belonging to the health department, was named to the committee as a school representative.

The committee assists the district in “ensuring that local community values and health issues are reflected in the district’s health education instruction,” a letter to the board from Dawn Schneider, director of student services, states.

Devine ISD SHAC by-laws call for members to serve a two-year term. However, the committee has had “trouble with getting members to attend the meetings,” Schneider reports.

Other school representatives appointed include Greg Jackson with food services, Jodi Dzierzanowski, principal of the disciplinary alternative education program; behavior teacher Kara Navarro and high school teacher Patricia Taitanio.

Also included in the consent agenda was approval of a donation for $2,500 to the Devine ISD Arabian softball team by Storm Oilfield Service for the purchase of uniforms. Also approved was a donation of $1,500 by Brown Chevrolet to support Devine High School’s tennis program and $1,164 from the Devine Athletic Booster Club for netting at the Warhorse baseball field.

The board also approved a donation of $4,000 from the Devine Education Foundation to pay registration fees for the Devine ISD robotics team to compete in the annual FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) robotics competition in the spring.

On a motion by Brown, seconded by Chris Davis, the consent agenda was approved 7-0.

The hiring of Evan Eads as the new high school assistant principal was also unanimously approved by the board. Eads presently serves as head coach for the Warhorse basketball team. Also approved on recommendation of Superintendent Todd Grandjean was the hiring of Lee Crisp as a “differentiated monitoring and support” teacher.

Both personnel actions were approved on a motion by Brown, seconded by Moreno.

Board members voted to revise the administrative professional pay plan for 2022-2023 to move the librarian position from pay grade two to pay grade three as per the salary review conducted by the Texas Association of School Boards. The change increases the pay for that position.

The board approved renewing its annual retainer of $1,000 to the law firm of Walsh, Gallegos, Trevino, Kyle & Robinson, specialists in public education.

“The District has used this firm for the past several years and has been very pleased with their services,” a letter submitted to the board by district director of finance Shannon Ramirez states.

The retainer covers telephone consultation on day-to-day general and special education matters and reduced rates for legal work and other services. It also includes web-based products such as providing codes of conduct governing students and extracurricular activities.

Devine Teacher takes Tobin Theater

By Noah Davila

Staff Writer

December 3, a local intermediate school teacher was thrilled to have the opportunity to be part of Ballet San Antonio’s performance of The Nutcracker this past December. Hannah Eli was nominated as a community hero to play in the production.

“San Antonio Ballet did a nomination process where you can nominate any hero to be Mother Ginger for one performance,” Eli said. “I have done showcases, talent shows, etc, but nothing as big as this.”

Hannah Eli performing the role of Mother Ginger on the Tobin Center Stage in The Nutcraker on December 3.

Despite performing the role of Mother Ginger on the Tobin Center Stage, Eli’s greatest excitement and humbleness comes to face her nomination.

“I don’t consider myself a hero to be honest. I am just a special education teacher, a wife, a daughter, a sister, and a friend. I also happen to stutter and have survived a lot,” Eli said. “When I get up and speak to people, I do have the hopes of someone hearing what I say and learning from it.”

Hannah is very grateful to those who nominated her for the role.

“I only know I had several people nominate me, I wish I knew who nominated me so I can thank them, Eli said. “This is a once in a lifetime opportunity and I am lucky enough to be chosen.”

Community mourns loss, celebrates life of beloved Coach Sanchez

The gym doors at Devine Middle School overflow with post-it notes as students expressed their love and fond memories of their beloved teacher and coach, Jacob Sanchez.

The late Jacob Sanchez, 35, always wanted to be a teacher and coach, and he was doing one of the things that he loved best, playing basketball and working out with some of his kids during his conference period, when he started feeling bad last Thursday, January 5. He collapsed in the Devine Middle School gym around the time the bell rang and students soon found him in distress. Staff members came to his aide performing CPR nonstop, and EMS arrived within 15 minutes to transport Sanchez to the hospital. Sadly, our community soon received news that Coach Sanchez had passed away. One thing is clear though–his love, caring nature, and inspiration will live on in the hearts of hundreds of students and athletes whose lives he touched.

“He always wanted to be a teacher/coach,” said his wife Becky. “He loved connecting with kids and making sure they knew they always had someone to turn to that believed in them.”

A good friend and fellow coach, Lon Cosby adds, “He didn’t care what anyone else thought. He was going to take care of his kids no matter what. If a kid didn’t have food, he would help out. If a kid didn’t have money for a team shirt, he would find a way. He was a very loving coach/teacher and friend. I know for sure he would want us to make sure his boys were taken care of and that they had snacks before the games!”

He was very passionate and involved, Cosby said, adding that he would often step up to cover a class or extra duties.

His wife adds that he loved helping students reach goals and went above and beyond to make class fun.

“He loved spring time because they would get to build and launch rockets. He made sure to attend games for students when he was able and always strived to include all students whenever possible. Countless time, he would have me pick up a pizza to bring to lunch because his kids met a goal he’d set for them,” Becky said.

Before his teaching days, Sanchez could often be found mowing lawns for the elderly or collecting shoes for kids in need through the Kicks for kids program.

Sanchez loved all his kids at school but nothing could compare to his love for his girls at home–his wife and high school sweetheart Becky, and their daughter Karli, who is 7 years old.

When Jacob was just a junior in high school, he met the love of his life at a friend’s house.

“We started dating when I was 15,” Becky, his high school sweetheart said. “I remember the first time I laid eyes on him. He was wearing his gold and maroon school workout clothes, and I fell in love with his smile right then.”

“He loved being a dad,” Becky adds, “From the moment she was born, he became a family man. He would do anything for us. He and Karli also loved singing together; he would play Rock Band and have her sing on the microphone. He loved to read her favorite book to her and get out of bucket of softballs to practice T-ball. He also loved taking us out to the flea market and he would always carry Karli on his shoulders.”

Sanchez taught and coached at Devine ISD, his alma mater, for 7 years. He grew up in the maroon and gold (graduating from DHS with the Class of 2006), and there wasn’t anywhere else he’d rather coach.

Students released dozens of red heart-shaped balloons over Warhorse Stadium the morning after the tragic loss, coming together to celebrate his life and pledging to carry on his mission of helping others by “living like Coach Sanchez,” a motto many students have adopted.  They also filled the gym door with memories of Coach Sanchez written on post-it notes and on their hearts.

Sanchez taught 6th and 8th grade Science and coached football, basketball, and track field events at DMS.

Every former student and athlete can remember how impactful that one special teacher or coach was in their lives, and Coach Sanchez was certainly “that one coach who believed in them” for so many kiddos, just as he strived to be.

See full obituary inside.

Benefit dance and silent auction Jan. 28

On January 28th, there will be a dance at the Devine Golf Course with live entertainment by the Solis Brothers. The door proceeds will go toward a college fund for Sanchez’ young daughter, Karli. There will be a silent auction as well, and you can contact Janette Romano to donate to that.

Early Release Jan 13 for school

In order to give DISD employees and students an opportunity to attend the funeral services for Coach Sanchez on Friday, Jan. 13, the district has made the decision to close all schools at 1 p.m.

Buses for PreK 3 and the elementary ECSE class will run at noon. All other buses and pick-up will be at 1 p.m. at all campuses.

By Kayleen Holder

Editor

Chamber election of officers January 16

The Devine Chamber of Commerce will elect its officers on Monday, January16, 2023 for the year at the annual meeting of the members.
All offices are re-elected each year for a one year term.
Chamber members who would like to get more involved are invited to run for an office by emailing their intent and the office being sought to devinechamberofcommerce@gmail.com by Wednesday, January 11 to be placed on the ballot.
Current President Bonnie Manning encourages chamber members to come to the meeting and run for an office if they want to become more involved in helping the business community thrive in 2023 and our community.

Fire dept gives YTD reports as of November 2022…
17 structure fires, 11 vehicle fires, 64 grass fires, 1 fatal fire

By Anton Riecher
The Medina County Emergency Services District No. 2 board of commissioners voted unanimously Dec. 27 to put forward Chris Davis as a replacement for Homer E. Delgado, a board member who resigned in November.
On a motion by board member Jeff Howard, seconded by Chris McGuiart, the board voted to submit Davis’ name to the Medina County Commissioners Court for consideration to fill the vacancy.
“We don’t have people jumping through the door to serve on the ESD board,” board president Todd Summers said.
Video coverage of the entire ESD No. 2 meeting is posted on the Devine News YouTube channel at youtube.com/watch?v=u9p56RvcInE&t=22.
Davis, a real estate appraiser, currently serves on the Devine school board and has a son, Blaine, who belongs to the Devine Fire Department. Blaine is also enrolled in the fire department’s emergency medical technician (EMT) high school training program.
“The one other candidate willing to serve had to be turned down because he technically lives outside the boundaries of the district,” Summers said.
SALES TAX
In other business, the board discussed the steps necessary to get on the April election ballot with a proposal to obtain a share of local sales taxes as allowed under state law. ESD may collect sales tax, provided an election is held and voters approve the measure.
“I haven’t heard anything from our attorney, Ken Campbell, so I emailed him,” Summers said. “His response was ‘trying to get to it.’”
“’Sorry, but I have some clients with all-encompassing issues right now, beginning with the FBI and working down,’” Summers quoted Campbell as writing. Summer was quick to clarify that the FBI issue “has nothing to do with us.”
In Texas, 8.25 percent is the maximum allowed sales tax rate. The state collects 6.25 percent, leaving 2 percent available to eligible local jurisdictions, including ESDs. At present, the share that ESD No. 2 is entitled to is going unclaimed.
Summers said he is sure that Campbell realizes the tight timeline to educate the public in preparation for the April ballot.
“The thing is that we, as a board, cannot sell it,” Summers said. “If somebody asks us questions we can give them what we know about it. But we can’t sell it to the people. The fire department is in a different position. They’ve got a little more leeway in how they present it.”
Success will mean promoting the ballot initiative to the various charitable organizations such as the Lion’s Club and other groups to “put the word out and help people understand what it is.”
MAINTENANCE
Devine Fire Department Assistant Chief Patrick DuBose told the board that catching up on overdue maintenance is proving to be a drain on the department’s financial resources.
“Maintenance is costing us a lot of money,” DuBose said. “With previous administrations (maintenance) was not something that they were looking at. That’s why our accounts are down by a little bit.”
He noted that recent maintenance has found equipment operating with oil filters dated from 2017.
The fire department currently has a bank balance of $40,715 in its accounts. With the new fiscal year beginning in October, the department has only received $750 to date in grant money, DuBose said.
“We’ve only had three or four firefighters go to school for us to get grant reimbursements,” he said.
FINANCES
In her report, ESD No. 2 treasurer Nancy Pepper said the district has only collected about $46,000 or about 11 percent of its taxes for the new fiscal year. Expenses to date have been nearly $12,000 or about five percent of the expected tax revenue.
“They are really going to start coming in now,” Pepper said. “We should get quite a bit. We’ve already gotten quite a bit in December and in January we’ll get even more.”
The district’s operating funds total about $190,000 of which $100,000 is in a money market account drawing about $150 a month in interest. Interest and sinking for ESD No. 4 is at $37,000 and the fire station loan balance is $648,041, Pepper said.
Bills paid to date total $76,000, including $18,350 for the installation of a new emergency generator at the fire station. Board member Howard reported that the completing that installation will require a short power outage at the station, followed by another two to three weeks for further adjustments.
The generator must operate at a full load for at least four hours before installation is complete, he said.
The fire department plans to use tax exempt red or dyed diesel to operate the generator. However, application for a permit from the Texas Comptroller can only be made by the ESD as a government entity, not the fire department, DuBose said.
EMERGENCY STATS
Reporting on emergency runs, DuBose said the fire department logged 42 incidents in November with 31 personnel involved. Of those incidents, 14 were medical emergencies, eight involved fires, six involved accidents, four involved utility issues, three were hazardous materials emergencies such as leaking oil or spilled fuel, two unauthorized burns, one controlled burn and one was a public service event.
For the 2022 year to date report ending in November, the department reported 321 emergency runs compared to 502 runs during the same period the previous year.
“Our run volume is down which is a good thing despite having a busy grassfire season through the summer,” DuBose said.
Of those 321 emergency runs, 17 involved structure fires, 11 involved vehicle fires and 64 involved grassfires with nearly 400 acres scorched. One civilian fatality Oct. 6 in was included in the statistics, a morning trailer fire on Colonial Parkway near the cemetery.
“We brought out the Bexar County Fire Marshal’s office and did an investigation but everything was completely gone,” DuBose said. “By the time we got there it was almost completely down to the ground.”
EMT TRAINING
On the positive side, DuBose reported that the fire department’s high school EMT training program has enrolled nearly 40 students split between Devine and Hondo.
“We have Medina Valley High School and Natalia High School talking to (Fire Chief Greg Atkinson) about potentially doing it next year,” he said.
Beginning Jan. 7, the fire department will conduct adult EMT night classes on Saturdays, Tuesdays and Thursdays, DuBose said. To date 15 students have signed up for the classes paid for by the school districts.
“We are becoming a very big training facility for the community,” DuBose said. “People are just reaching out to us now.”

COVID-19 cases remain steady in Texas

The number of new COVID-19 cases in Texas during the past week remained steady at 30,033, with 102 new deaths reported by the Coronavirus Resource Center at Johns Hopkins University. The number of lab-confirmed COVID-19 hospitalizations rose slightly to 2,581, according to the Texas Department of State Health Services.

Abbott pushes back on migrant bus criticism

8,900 bused to Washington;
4,900 sent to New York City;
1,500 sent to Chicago;
630 sent to Philadelphia
.

Abbott has drawn criticism after a bus from Texas dropped off more than 100 migrants in freezing weather near Vice President Kamala Harris’ official residence in Washington, D.C. An Austin American-Statesman report noted the state has bused nearly 16,000 migrants to so-called sanctuary cities. Abbott tweeted a breakdown of how many migrants have been bused to cities outside of Texas.
Thus far, 8,900 have been sent to Washington; 4,900 to New York City; more than 1,500 to Chicago; and more than 630 to Philadelphia. The governor has maintained in the past that the migrants have given permission to be bused North. The White House has called the move “a cruel, dangerous, and shameful stunt.”
“We’re providing relief to local communities overwhelmed by President Biden’s open border policies,” Abbott said.
The U.S. Supreme Court has so far stopped the Biden administration from eliminating Title 42, a federal rule enacted during by the Trump administration during the COVID-19 pandemic to allow the U.S. to return asylum-seeking migrants to Mexico or their country of origin.

Feds investigating meltdown at Southwest Airlines

Massive flight cancellations by Southwest Airlines during the Christmas holiday week are prompting the federal government to look into why thousands of travelers were left stranded across the country, along with huge piles of luggage in airports served by the beleaguered airline.
Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said his agency would examine what caused Southwest’s widespread cancellations, which began as a massive polar storm gripped much of the country a few days before Christmas. The airline was able to resume normal operations on Friday as another holiday weekend approached. The airline canceled more than 15,700 flights since Dec. 22, according to The Dallas Morning News. Cancellations by other airlines were a fraction of that amount, according to published reports.
“Because what we’re seeing right now, from the system and the flights themselves to the inability to reach anybody on a customer service phone line, it is just completely unacceptable,” Buttigieg told CBS early Wednesday. The Senate Commerce Committee also plans to investigate.
Southwest does not use the hub-and-spoke system relied upon by other major carriers, instead relying on a point-to-point system. That means even where planes were available, often crews and pilots were stranded in other cities.
RRC launches probe into Atmos service issues
The Texas Railroad Commission has launched an investigation of Atmos Energy’s gas distribution system, which left some Texans without heat during freezing weather just before Christmas. The company reported low gas pressure in cities across North and Central Texas, leaving some customers without heat. On Dec. 23, the Texas Tribune reported, Atmos asked its 2 million Texas customers to conserve gas use by lowering thermostats, not using gas fireplaces and any gas-powered appliances.
Gov. Greg Abbott signed a letter ordering the railroad commission and the Texas attorney general’s office to investigate Atmos Energy’s “failure to prepare for the winter weather event last week.”
Leading up to and during the winter event, State of Texas agencies worked around the clock to mobilize resources and assist utilities in any way possible. At no time did Atmos Energy request assistance… It is apparent that Atmos Energy acted irresponsibly and was unprepared for the event,” the letter said in part.
TPWD opposes listing prairie chicken as endangered
The Texas Parks and Wildlife Department has reiterated its opposition to a decision by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to list the lesser prairie chicken as endangered in some areas and threatened in others, citing “tremendous” voluntary collaboration with private landowners and industry to conserve the chicken’s habitat.
The federal designation will take place in January. It primarily affects Panhandle counties where the lesser prairie chicken is found.
“This decision jeopardizes decades of voluntary conservation efforts, increases regulatory burden and does not assure recovery of the species,” David, Yoskowitz, TPWD executive director, said.
$54 million in career, technical education grants
The Texas Workforce Commission has announced 152 grants totaling more than $54 million to various public community, state and technical colleges, as well as school district and charter schools across the state. The grants will be used to buy equipment to establish or expand programs that offer Texas students the opportunity to earn licenses, certificates, or post-secondary degrees in fields such as nursing, welding, automotive repair and dentistry.
“It’s important to identify high-demand jobs, but it’s critical to proactively commit resources to ensure Texans are ready to meet those workforce needs,” said TWC Chairman Bryan Daniel.

Christmas lighting contest for HANK’s kids

1ST Place: The Jaworowski family home is full of the most beautiful kind of Christmas Spirit – the kind where the whole community comes together to make Christmas special for a family going through a hard time.

1ST Place: The Jaworowski family home is full of the most beautiful kind of Christmas Spirit – the kind where the whole community comes together to make Christmas special for a family going through a hard time. Mrs. Caitlin Jaworowski passed away this December after
a long battle with cancer, so friends, family and community all pitched in to create this wonderful
Winter Wonderland for her children. So the gold medal and a $500 gift card donated by DJ Carlson Memorial Bust n’ Burn will go to the Jaworowski family this year.
2nd place: The Ingleston family
has a sprawling display on Highway 173 heading toward Jourdanton. It has it all – color, animation and a manger scene at the center of it all. Towering alone is a huge 51-foot tall tree of lights topped with an angel. If you are lucky, you might see Santa here too. 3rd Place– With every Christmas
character lit up across their sprawling display, the Ruesch family home is truly magical – feels just like we were walking into Santa’s workshop.
“Most Magical” – Morris home. Live! Santa Claus himself
greeted children at the gate,