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Lytle council approves stormwater fee reprieve for school district

By Anton Riecher
Lytle ISD Superintendent Dustin Breithaupt addressed the Lytle city council during a public hearing on the city’s stormwater utility system Aug. 26.
A rate of $7 per equivalent residential unit in the proposed creation of a stormwater utility fund to better manage drainage issues was approved by the Lytle City Council earlier this year.
In Texas, cities are authorized to adopt local stormwater drainage utility systems to protect public health from flooding and health issues. Through the utility, communities organize maintenance activities and capital projects to better manage the situation.
Equivalent residential units or ERUs are a taxable unit representing the average square footage of impervious area for a residential property. Impervious area refers to surfaces that allow little or no stormwater infiltration into the ground such as asphalt, concrete, brick or stone.
City Administrator Zachary Meadows said that the school district noted that because their budget is already in place for the year meeting the new utility rate effective in October would be difficult.
“What the council did was…

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Want to join Devine Garden Club?

If you are a nature lover, a bird watcher, a landscape designer, conservationist or just enjoy seeing things grow, there is a position open just waiting for you to claim it. To be qualified, you must be able to see beauty and colors, smell fragrance, enjoy clean air, or touching the earth, flowers and plants and the taste of clean water.
You must be in the age range of 16 to 106 and have some experience in walking barefoot in the grass or picnicking in the park. Or maybe you have hiked in the woods and stopped to smell the roses. Beginners will find their wages are a few aching muscles and the pay-off will be a rise in spirits and a joyful heart. If you enjoy the experience, you may advance to the title of chairman of a project or an officer in the garden club.
Benefits include the security of social friendships with garden club members everywhere. The benefit of retirement is a wheelbarrow full of happy memories, a perennial remembrance of worthwhile accomplishments, the pleasure of learning from other gardeners and, perhaps, a beautiful garden that is all your own creation.

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LEGACY BOWLNatalia and Lytle set for 64th battleat Walter Joyce Stadium

The Lytle Pirate Cheerleaders get the crowd going. The Pirates won the Legacy Bowl last year in a thriller, and both teams are looking to go on another streak in the rivalry matchup.

Eric Smith
Staff Writer
The Natalia Mustangs (1-0) and the Lytle Pirates (0-1) will square off this coming Friday at Walter Joyce Stadium for the 64th time in the history of the two programs dating back to 1933. The Pirates were able to break an 8-year drought last season 23-14 over the Mustangs and everyone is expecting this year’s contest to be a close one.
Rival Battle History
The Natalia Mustangs lead the historic battle between the two programs 34-27-3 overall as this will mark the “15th Legacy Bowl” battle between the two programs dating back to the start in 2004-2005. The Pirates won the first ever Legacy Bowl game 25-24 in OT in 04-05’ as that was the first of six in a row for the black and gold. Other results were as follows: 05-06’: 23-14. (Natalia and Lytle did not play again until 2012-2013 due to vandalism of a school bus). 2012-2013 it resumed with a 35-33 win for Lytle HS. Other wins for LHS: 13-14’: 41-13, 14-15’: 42-20. In 2015-2016, Natalia won their first of eight straight games with the following results: 15-16’: 19-6, 16-17’: 34-21, 17-18’: 30-3, 18-19’: 7-6, 19-20’: 63-10, 20-21’: 26-14, 21-22’ 41-0, 22-23’: 47-3. Last season, as mentioned the Pirates snapped the eight-game win streak 23-14 in a thriller.

Natalia Preview
The Natalia Mustangs are coming off their season opening victory on the road vs. Skidmore-Tynan. Lytle Head Coach Mike Trevino was asked his thoughts on Natalia and had the following to say:….

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The Mustangs celebrating their big win last week.

District action on the horizon for Arabian volleyball

The Varsity Arabians will be playing at home on Friday against McMullen County.

Jerel Beaty
Staff Writer
Arabian volleyball may be on what many call a “rough patch” as the losses are outnumbering the wins at this point in the season. Head Coach Leigh Anne McIver is fully aware of what lies ahead for her team as the tough “tournament season” portion and pre-district schedule is almost complete.
“I understand that we do not have the full concept of ‘how to win’ right now, but that is why I scheduled these tough-type games and tournaments that lead into District 29-4A,” McIver said, confident in her team’s ability to learn on the fly and to be ready for what is still to come during the 2024 campaign.
Recent games against perennial playoff teams like Crystal City, Canyon Lake, San Antonio Christian, Hondo, Medina Valley, and last year’s 29-4A winner Floresville has helped the Arabian squad come together as a team more than any normal fan can probably see at this point.
“Our confidence is not shaken; it is actually…

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Natalia opens season with road win in Skidmore

Eric Smith
Staff Writer
The Natalia Mustangs used an impressive rushing game (36-rushes-325 yards) to overall dominate the flow of the game in their season opener last Friday on the road vs. the Skidmore-Tynan Bobcats. Natalia was led by Sophomore QB Leo Buentello, who rushed 17 times for 179 yards and four touchdowns in the victory.
“I was really happy with how our kids competed for four quarters,” Coach Jason Reynolds said. “Our coaching staff did a great job making adjustments and our kids executed. It feels good to get the first win of the season, but we have a lot to clean up.”
The Mustangs opened the game with an impressive scoring drive, as they marched 71 yards down field with a heavy dose of…

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Llano runs past Lytle in season opener

The Pirates take the field. Photo by R Gonzalez.

“Windshield Mentality” still strong

Jerel Beaty
Staff Writer
Not much went right as far as football and the final score that showed on the Walter Joyce Stadium scoreboard at the end of Friday night’s season-opening contest between the host Lytle Pirates and the visiting Llano Yellowjackets.
Llano breezed by the Pirates 47-0, but anyone that knows Lytle Head Coach Mike Trevino and his outlook on life knows this defeat will not define their season.
“We talk about these types of situations all the time in our program,” Trevino stated regarding his thoughts on how the Llano contest could actually serve as a springboard to greater heights. “We invite hard things, and one phrase we lean on every day is ‘prepare our fields for rain’! Our Week 1 game was set intentionally to make us better and create opportunities down the road.”
The next “opportunity down the road” comes in the form of the Natalia Mustangs, and Trevino believes his team will…

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Warhorse XC 4th @ Panther Invitational

Caleb Maxwell comes down the home stretch.

Jerel Beaty
Staff Writer
Nine Devine Cross Country runners competed in the Panther Invitational at Medina Valley this past Saturday and they combine to place fourth overall as a team. The Horses tallied 113 points.
Donovan Dixon continues to pursue his quest for the State Meet in early November as he finished third of 117 runners in his division. Dixon ran a time of 17:48 and racked up the lowest team-point available as he was first as far as teams that…

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JV1 & JV2 combine to blow byRo-Hawks 24-0

The JV Warhorses get ready to launch a pass. Photos by Brigid Howard.

Jerel Beaty
Staff Writer
Devine has numbers on their sub-varsity teams for the first time in quite a while. Unfortunately, some other towns are continuing to struggle to get their fair share of players in order to have true freshman and JV teams.
The Warhorses ran into that problem last week as the Randolph Ro-Hawks only had enough players for one squad, forcing Devine to combine their JV1 and JV2 football teams for their Thursday evening contest.
Devine returned home with the decisive 24-0 victory
“We platooned it,” Coach Lon Cozby simply stated. “JV1 played offense for a series then JV2 played the following series. We did the same thing on defense.”
Even though Randolph won the toss, they elected to defer which gave the Horses the first possession of the game.
“Alejandro Ramirez ran it 18 yards for the first touchdown on the third play of the game, then, as quarterback, he found Cole Reyes on a slant route to add the two-point conversion.”
The quick start continued on the next series as it took a mere three snaps for Devine to find the end zone once again.
“Enock Hall, behind a great lead block from…

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DJ Carlson Memorial BUST N BURN

Shoot, Silent Auction, BBQ event Sept. 13-14 in Devine

DJ Carlson Memorial BUST N BURN shoot, silent auction, BBQ event Sept. 13-14 in Devine
New- State Championship Cook-off with
$5,000 pay out

The 11th Annual DJ Carlson Memorial BUST N BURN will be on September 13&14, 2024, the second weekend of September yearly, and will be hosted at the same location as last year, at The Farm, 2238 FM 2200 West, Devine just past the airport a litte ways..
The two day weekend event will feature a barbeque cook-off (State Championship Cook-off), sporting clay shoot, cornhole and washer tourneys, live music and entertainment!
New- They will be doing Kid’s Q this year for the first time. The ages will be kinder through high school seniors that can compete in the Kid’s Q. Meat will be provided by the sponsor DCDC- Devine Childcare Development Center/Candace Esparza.

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Okra is the only thing left in gardens

My week was pretty quiet. My visit to Devine was awesome and I had a great time, visiting not only with my son and his wife, but also with some of those precious great-grandchildren, as well as playing bunco! I was hostess and served hamburgers, with sopapilla cheesecake for dessert.
Labor Day weekend has been fun so far. Here in our area, it’s time for the fall church picnics and my sister and I went to Shiner, TX to the big annual picnic they sponsor. Like most other picnics in this area, “Picnic Stew”, is pretty much the main dish. However, Shiner not only serves their picnic stew, but they also serve fried chicken (super delicious), and sausage, along with green beans, (no mushroom soup, here), seasoned potatoes and sauerkraut, as well as dessert. My chocolate cake was delicious also!
There is music all day long with the famous Shiner Hobo Band having the stage over lunch time along with dancing if desired! And bingo was a very popular spot to be inside the hall! Nope, neither of us won, but it was fun.
Now, let’s talk a little bit about okra. It seems to me this is a vegetable that is either well liked or hated! There has been several face book posts about okra recently, some of them touting the health benefits of eating it.

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