Medina County officials are waiting on the SA bomb squad to investigate a suspicious device found in Natalia this evening.
“A suspicious electronic device was found along the side of the road,” said Medina County Emergency Manager Keith Lutz, said at 7:40 pm this Monday April 16. “We don’t think it is really a bomb, but we are just being cautious right now. I am hoping we will have an answer soon.”
Natalia PD Chief Gilbert Rodriguez adds, “We evacuated homes on both sides of the 500th block of Aubrey St. We are waiting on SAPD bomb squad.”
Check back for updates on the situation.
UPDATE- At 8:45 pm, we were notified that SAPD Bomb Squad made location.
“They checked it out, and we were given the all clear,” said Natalia PD Chief Rodriguez.
Authorities are executing a search warrant at Devine Food Mart tonight, Wednesday, October 29. Suspects involved will be facing charges for reportedly selling illegal vape products that were hidden in the back.
“We have done several undercover buys,” Medina County Sheriff Randy Brown said. “We are coming down on all of those who are continuing to sell this stuff around the county.”
“They have been warned that these products are no longer legal, and we are not going to tolerate it.”
This has been a joint investigation between Medina County Sheriff’s and Devine PD.
See next Wednesday, November 5th’s Devine News print edition for more details on this operation. Subscribe to get FULL PRINT & DIGITAL ACCESS for only $36 a year at www.devinenewsmembers.com
See next Wednesday, November 5th’s Devine News print edition for more details on this operation. Subscribe to get FULL PRINT & DIGITAL ACCESS for only $36 a year at www.devinenewsmembers.com
We invite you to join us for a GriefShare event on November 17 from 6:00 PM to 8:00 PM. This supportive gathering is designed for anyone coping with the loss of a loved one, offering encouragement, understanding, and a safe space to share your journey. Whether you are newly grieving or have been on this path for some time, GriefShare provides a caring environment to connect with others, discover helpful resources, and find hope for healing. All are welcome—feel free to bring a friend or family member. Date: November 17, 2025 Time: 6:00 PM – 8:00 PM Location: 203 E. College Ave. Devine, Texas For more information or to RSVP, please contact Dinah Argo at (210) 385.6537, or Cindi Billebault at (830) 521.9910. We look forward to supporting you.
We’re thrilled to announce that the 2025 Devine Cactus Fall Festival—our largest and most anticipated event of the year is finally here! This three-day, family-friendly celebration will take place on Thursday evening, October 30, Friday evening, October 31st (Halloween) and Saturday, November 1. All hosted in downtown Devine by the Devine Chamber of Commerce and City of Devine. It is the 64th Annual Festival. This year’s festival will be packed with live music, food trucks, artisan vendors, local organizations, games, contests, family activities, carnival rides and more—drawing hundreds of attendees from Devine and surrounding areas. There will be a new carnival in town. The Ferris Wheel is back and many other cool rides such as the Texas Tornado, Hustler, Tilt A Whirl, Jungle of Fun House, Rock Climbing Wall, giant slide, Side Winder, Sizzler, Flying Elephants kiddie ride, Tiny Turtle ride, Dinosaur and Lizard kiddie rides, and more. Rides will stretch all the way down Commercial street as well as fill up the library parking lot. Check out the funnel cakes, popcorn, tecatacos, cotton candy, deep fried oreos, sno cones, fresh squeezed lemonade, and spiral pappas to name a few. Challenge your skills at one of the many carnival games! Something for everyone. Carnival will be open all three dates. A presale discounted wrist band will be offered for $20 a day, offered by pre-sell only until 5:00 p.m. Thursday, October 30 from the Chamber of Commerce, at the Get More Insurance office at 111 S. Teel St, Devine. The pre-sell wrist bands will be available at the will call window at the carnival in your name for those who want to buy in advance and save. Wrist bands will be sold at the carnival for $25 for the day. We’d love to have you be part of this exciting community event! Event Details Location: Highway 173 & Bright Street, Downtown Devine Dates: Thursday, October 30- 5:00-10 pm (Carnival) Friday, October 31st 5-10 pm (Evening Halloween Celebration). Friday night will focus on Halloween fun! All participating vendors are required to bring candy for trick-or-treaters—costumes and themed booths are encouraged! A Halloween Costume Contest will take place at 8:00 pm Friday night. Carnival will be open all evening. Just around the block there is a Haunted House at the VFW Building called “The Sinister Haunted House” in the old haunted school building and doctor office in the VFW Halls. It is hosted by the VFW not the Chamber, there is a fee to enter. It’s a walk able distance between both celebrations. Plus No home football game on Halloween, it an open night on schedule, so downtown should be buzzing! Saturday, November 1st – Parade kicks off at 10 am – Festival ends at Midnight! We can’t wait for another amazing Cactus Festival and look forward to showcasing all the talent, creativity, and community spirit that makes Devine so special. Devine Market Association is taking care of the vendors and booths this year. They will line the streets of South Bright all the way to Napa Auto Parts as well as from College Avenue at BlackCreek Coffee to Sherry’s Flowers & Trading Post. They can be reached at DevineMarketAssociation@gmail.com or Robin Sultenfuss at 830-663-9191. The American Momentum Bank will have their ATM open all weekend for your convenience. They are gracious to let us use their parking lot for the community wide celebration each year, and it is much appreciated. Please drop in some day and say hi and thank you. We couldn’t do it without them. The rest of the bank parking lot will be fenced off for the stage, live bands, and festival goers for the FREE street dance on Saturday. No outside coolers, as it violates the beer license, and it will be enforced. Drinks will be sold from both sides of the Chamber booth this year for convenience. Entertainment from 11am to 12 midnight will start off with a Devine High School Pep Rally after the parade ends around 11:30 or 12. Then from 1:00 to 5:30 pm the accomplished Claude Morgan and Friends will take the stage featuring Claude, Trevor Morgan on drums, Syliva & Matt Kirk, Bill Caisse, Boone Holding, and Natalie Morgan. All of these artists have been performing all over Texas for years, some country, folk, rock, all sorts of songs, some by artists and some written by the songwriters themselves. Claude wrote a song about Eddie Hutzler that is always a hit for those who love and remember icon Eddie, Devine’s bicycle night watchman for over 60 years. Then from 6:00 to 8:00 pm Small Town Habit Band will take the stage. They were a hit last year at the festival featuring all kinds of music featuring Country Music and Texas Country. Headlining the event from 8:00 to 12 Midnight is Devine’s own homegrown star Jeremy Richards and his band. He always fills the parking lot and dance floor with lots of fans and friends who love his personality, talents and variety of music and musicians that accompany him. The dance parking lot area will be fenced off this year. No outside drinks, coolers, or food is permitted. Don’t forget to bring your lawn chairs and enjoy the evening of free live music. Cold beer and drinks will be available. Cash and cards accepted at the ticket booth. Drink prices $2 non- alcoholic and $5 for alcoholic, one ticket per drink.
Parade 10:00 am start Over 70 parade entries have now signed up! That does not include the count for the police and fire trucks. Devine always has one of, if not the biggest, parade in Medina County. The parade will start at 10:00 am. The Mighty Warhorse Marching Band under the leadership of Bert Sanchez will fill the streets with lots of music and smiles as the Award Winning Division 1 Band shares their music that won them a trip to the Area E Finals last weekend. We are fortunate the Area competition fell on a different weekend than the parade this year and are always excited when the Warhorse Marching Band can be a part of the parade and festival. Parade Grand Marshals honorees are Don & Irma Dunford, who have spent the past 45+ years supporting the community both personally and through their businesses, Chaparral Ford, Devine and Chaparral Pre-Owned, Lytle. Their leadership and generosity has been amazing, touching many lives, as they have helped out so many over the years. The Dunfords have also loaned many, many vehicles to be used in the parades in the past. Cindy Morales is Chairman of the Parade. Deadline to enter parade was Monday, October 27. The parade will start at the Devine Middle School as usual, the staging area for the entries, and head down FM 2200, taking a right on Highway 173 towards downtown Devine. Right on Highway 132 and right on College Avenue. Parade ends at the VFW. Candy is allowed to be thrown, please keep children’s safety in mind.
Vendor and Club booths There will be plenty of food vendors, shopping booths, kid games, and club booths up and down the streets behind the festival. Something for everyone. Stroll the streets for gifts, homemade items, baked goods, remedies, art, toys, information, crafts, signs, treasures, lots and lots of goodies and unique items. Many vendors will be open both Friday afternoon/evening and all day and night Saturday. They will keep their booths on site all night Friday as night watchmen have been hired to patrol the area. Four generators will light up the streets to keep festival goers and vendors safe both days.
Inside Community Center- rare finds- Sat until 5pm The popular Tiny Town Museum is back this year again. Be sure to check out the replica of the olden days.
Art Exhibits featuring the school children from Devine ISD, daycare and home school students will be displayed inside the Community Center again this year. Browse the tunnels and walls of art work This year’s theme, “Celebrate Our Heritage in 2026: America 250, Texas 190, Devine 145”, is the kick-off for the 2026 celebrations for the establishments of our nation (1776), state (1845), and community (1881)! (See separate article on art exhibit theme and details.) It is not a contest, it is a display created by the children of the community.
Plant Sale, an annual sale hosted by the Devine Garden Club. Plants are grown by the members and will be for sale at bargain prices. They just love learning, growing and sharing their projects and plants! And as always check out the awesome Cactus Zoo History on the walls and the beautiful mural of city of Devine painted by Kathleene Runnels.
Street Closures Various parts of College, Bright and Commercial will be closed off during the three day event with most of the closures on Saturday. The parade route will be closed off before the parade starts so get your seat early. So be cautious as you drive in those areas. Businesses will be open on those streets during the daytime hours, some in the evenings too. We all work together to put on the annual event for the community, a team event.
The Medina County District Attorney’s Office hosted a Candlelight Vigil to honor victims and survivors. As candles were lit, guest speakers took turns reading aloud the names of 161 Texans that lost their lives in 2024 as victims of domestic violence.
The Medina County District Attorney’s Office hosted a Domestic Violence Candlelight Vigil on October 20, 2025, on the front steps of the Medina County Courthouse to honor victims, celebrate survivors, and raise awareness about the ongoing impact of domestic violence in our community. One survivor and guest speaker, Cynthia Knudson, bravely shared her traumatic story…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!
Sinister Harvest Haunted Attraction will have its last weekend October 31-November2, 2025. Don’t miss out on one of the best haunted houses in south Texas. This Friday, October 31 and Saturday, November 1, the haunted house will be open from 8 pm until midnight. Sunday, November 2 it will be open from 8 pm until 10 pm. A portion of every ticket sale goes to benefit the local VFW Post 3966. The Attraction is located at the west end of VFW Post 3966 at 211 W. College Ave., Devine, TX, 78016 (across from the Devine Post Office). You start by going through the outside structure and then proceed into the 1905 schoolhouse where more horrors await. Tickets may be purchased online at sinisterharvest.com. Be afraid! Be very afraid!
Rural schools were a way of life in the first half of the 20th century. In Medina County, according to a Devine News publication on July 18, 1902, there were 19 school districts, and 33 in 1926-27. Here’s the interesting list of the 19 in 1902: Castroville, San Geronimo, Lacoste, Quihi, Hondo, D’Hanis, Haass, Chicon, Francisco, Lower Hondo, Black Creek, Community, Rear Crock, Devine, Tehencuna, Deer Creek, Leinweber, Maverick, Coal Mine, totaling 2140 students. Later, the school “districts,” as they were called, that fed Devine Schools were Biry, Shook, Big Foot, and Black Creek. In around 1952, those rural schools that served the surrounding communities and consisted of first-sixth grades were closed. Up until that time, students attended DISD for their remaining years, but once the rural schools were closed, students from Big Foot, Biry, Black Creek and Shook attended Devine schools for all grades. A little history of the Shook rural school has been shared by Bob Bendele. Not only did he attend Shook, but so did his father, his mother, and his maternal grandmother. But when Bob was in the second grade, this school and others across the county were closed. The school consisted of three rooms and six grades. Picture a rectangular building with one room on each side, a hallway down the middle, and a larger room extending at the back. Facing the building, students in first-third grades attended class in the left room; students fourth -sixth attended in the right room. Each room had only one teacher. The back room served as an auditorium with a stage at the back. Bob says many performances happened there as well as community events. The entrance to the school building had a porch with a bell tower above it. It was actually a very attractive school house, and at the time Bob attended, there were 29 total students. Other interesting features Bob Bendele shared was that there was a garden that once was used as a mule pen. There was a windmill with a cypress water tank. And there was also a building that had been a teacher’s residence at one time. West of the school house was an outhouse and a baseball diamond, which Bob says was beat down hard from bare feet and drought. Today, the slab where the porch stood remains, and nearby there is a historical marker. The location is near the corner of Hwy 1343 and Calame Store Road (C.R. 664), all which was once Keller property. Rather than being demolished or left to decay, the Shook school building was moved to Devine and situated at the football field to be used for many years (until 1964) as a field house. The left side was used as concession stand – with the upper part of the wall removed to accommodate customers – and the right side was used as a visitors and B-Team dressing room. The former auditorium was used as the varsity dressing room and the former stage became the coaches’ office. Unfortunately, the bell tower was not moved or saved. And few of these historic school buildings across the state were saved, which is such a shame. But we can share and thus save the stories.
VFW Post 3966 of Devine will host a golf tournament at Devine Golf Course on Saturday, November 8, 2025 – the Saturday prior to Veterans Day. Entry fee is $125 per person (4 man teams) and includes green fees, ½ cart. Two mulligans and a grab & go lunch. Max handicap for men is 18, for women 24. Team prizes, based on a minimum of 48 players, are 1st Place- $1000, 2nd Place- $750 and 3rd Place – $500. Sponsorship opportunities are as follows:
Officer Package- $1000, 4-man team, Food Sponsorship, Logo on banner and Hole Sponsorship -NCO Package- $700, 4-man team, Logo on banner and Hole Sponsorship -Hole Sponsorship- $100, Name or company logo on sign at one of the holes on the course You can sign up to play at the Devine Golf Course at 116 Malone Dr., Devine, TX or by contacting Gary Saathoff at cmd@vfw3966.org or ph. 210-289-6204. Deadline to get sponsorship Logos on the banner or on hole sponsor signs is Friday October 31 ( must be finalized for printing on Monday November 3, 2025).
The Yancey Seventh Day Adventist Church will be hosting a Praise and Paint Party Outreach Event for the community on Thursday, November 20th from 6 pm to 8 pm. The Paint Party will be held in the Fellowship Hall behind the sanctuary building. This is the first time we have hosted a community event like this. We hope to see you all there! The last event we hosted for the community was a Centennial Celebration of our church’s local history and founding in 1923 marking 100 years in 2023. Since then, we have been in the process of planning events to share God’s love and give back to our local and surrounding communities. The night will be filled with good company, prayer, worship, a Bible message, sharing testimonies and art. The painting will be taught by one of the Outreach directors, Hannah Quintero. It is step by step, open to all skill levels and beginner friendly. Refreshments and dessert will be served for guests to enjoy. All supplies will be provided for the event. The donation amount to reserve your spots will be a $15 donation per person made out to the Outreach Ministry Art Class by November 6th. We have 12 more spots left! You can find more information about the event on the Yancey Seventh Day Adventist Church Facebook page and contact Hannah Quintero. The church if located at 9580 FM 462 in Hondo.
Rene Irwin was one of several students having fun at the weekly Sewing Class.
Sewing classes are now established. Join us on Monday nights, 6:00 to 8:00, at Saint Matthias Episcopal Church, 901 N. Teel Dr. in Devine. Classes will be $20 a session. For further details and to register, contact Kathleene Runnels at (210) 861-3069.
In what District 1 Alderman Ray Gonzales referred to as a “$32,000 gamble,” the Devine City Council voted unanimously Oct. 21 to approve an attempt by Converse-based Advanced Water Well Technologies to restore the city’s long dormant L.C. Martin water well to operation. Mayor Butch Cook told the council that it had long been accepted that the well was beyond salvage. “For the longest time, especially since I’ve been elected, I was always told that the well is beyond repair,” he said. “But apparently we can make it viable again.” On a motion by District 2 Alderman Michael Hernandez, seconded by District. 4 Alderman Josh Ritchey, the council voted 5-0 to approve $31,327 for the rehabilitation project. “I make a motion that we give Advanced Water Well an opportunity to work on this well and see if we can get it back online,” Hernandez said. City Administrator David Jordan said he was introduced to the technology used by Advanced at a recent conference held in Pleasanton and asked them to assess the L.C. Martin well, out of commission nearly five years due to the poor quality of water produced. Chris Richey with Advanced said the inspection determined that the well has a significant build-up of iron bacteria. “Ultimately, we want to go in and clean that well out really good and make it a viable water source for the city again,” he said. John Wilkins, also…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!
