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.

Errors in billing….

Medina County Tax payers over the age of 65 may see additional tax bills due July 1– 1,600 accounts had to be manually corrected

By KK Calame
Several computer errors in trying to allow for the new $100,000 homestead exemption caused additional tax bills for some Medina County taxpayers over the age of 65 or disabled and major frustration for all involved from the tax staff to the taxpayers. If you got an additional tax bill for 2023 it is real and needs to be paid by July 1. Be sure to make payment arrangements. It applies to all School district taxes for anyone with a freeze.
We asked Melissa Lutz, the Medina County Tax Assessor/Collector, to help explain what happened, why, and who it affected. She explained as follows:
The original issue was due to the freeze adjustments for the School districts not being figured correctly.
The Homestead exemption in 2023 was raised from…

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Class of 2024…

Lucas Thomas was the first Devine ISD (Class of 2024) student to get his National Registry of Emergency Medical Technician certification prior to graduation. He is in the hiring process for a fire department already, just waiting to take his fire certification test. Career ready graduates are the mission programs like of the Devine Fire & EMS Academy.

Touch a Truck on June 8th

Devine Volunteer Fire and Rescue Department will host Touch a Truck on June 8th in the Devine High School parking lot from 8 am to 2 pm. Admission is free.
There will be all types of different trucks for the community to come out and interact with. For more information call (830) 251-2955 or auxiliary@devinefire.org.

Devine PD tracks down forklift stolen from Walmart

Press Release by Devine PD

On June 4, 2024 at 8:20 a.m., Corporal Feliza Miller was dispatched to the Walmart located at 175 IH 35 in response to a reported theft. Upon arrival, Miller met with the store’s management, who reported that a forklift had been stolen from the property. The forklift was a Nissan brand and valued at $25,000.

During the investigation, Devine Police were able to recover the stolen forklift outside the city limits later the same day. After processing, the forklift was returned to Walmart management. Lieutenant Chris Andrews credited the successful recovery to the “diligent teamwork within the Department.” Nathan Young, a 30-year-old resident of Devine, was arrested yesterday evening by Devine Officers on a felony theft warrant in connection with the forklift theft. Young also faced additional charges for unrelated misdemeanor warrants

Emergency manager calls in Task Force in “HOPS” fire outbreak

Expert warns county burn ban looms

By Anton Riecher
Firefighters contained an outbreak of wildfire stretching across 17 acres north of Hondo Wednesday afternoon, Medina County Emergency Management Coordinator Mark Chadwick reports.
The Texas A&M Forest Service deployed a task force from Uvalde to confront the conflagration officially dubbed the HOPS fire, he said. Meanwhile, the Hondo Volunteer Fire Department was on the scene off Private Road 233 with five personnel, two brush trucks and a fire tender.
The Medina County Sheriff’s Office also responded to provide assistance, Chadwick said.
“I was first on scene and advised MCSO dispatch that we had approximately 30 fires on the property,” Chadwick said. “I immediately…

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