Celebrating 126 Years of Serving the communities of Devine, Natalia, Lytle, Bigfoot, and Moore in Medina, Frio, and Atascosa Counties
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!
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.
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)
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
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.
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!
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:
The Texas Water Resources Institute, TWRI, invites stakeholders to a public meeting on implementation of the Medina River Below Diversion Lake Watershed Protection Plan, WPP, on Jan. 22 in Castroville.
The meeting will be from 1-3 p.m. at the Braden Keller Community Center, 1410 Amelia St.
Light refreshments will be provided.
“This meeting will highlight progress on the Riparian Restoration Demonstration Project in Castroville Regional Park, an important component of implementing the WPP,” said Mary Michael Zahed, TWRI program specialist, San Antonio. “Restoring degraded vegetated areas along the river, known as riparian zones, is one of our priorities.”
Meeting highlights-Local residents, landowners, city and county officials, nonprofit partners, and all interested individuals are encouraged to attend.
The agenda will feature a guest presentation by Clay Thompson, director of conservation and stewardship, Green Spaces Alliance of South Texas, on how the alliance supports the WPP through land conservation, community engagement and education.
Stakeholders will also be invited to participate in the design of a Medina River WPP logo.
“Our progress depends on collaboration,” Zahed said. “Every voice at the table helps strengthen the watershed protection plan and ensures we move forward with strategies that benefit both the river and the people who rely on it.”
Watershed basics-A common question is what a watershed is, Zahed said. A watershed is an area of land that drains or “sheds” water into a specific waterbody. All bodies of water have a watershed, and every person lives in a watershed.
Residents in the region can visit medina.twri.tamu.edu and use the watershed boundary map to find out if they live in the Medina River Below Diversion Lake Watershed. Even if they live outside the boundary, anyone interested in supporting the health and water quality of the Medina River is considered a stakeholder and is welcome to participate.
Funding for this effort is provided through a federal Clean Water Act Section 319(h) grant from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, administered by the Texas State Soil and Water Conservation Board.
TWRI is a unit of Texas A&M AgriLife Research that brings together expertise from across The Texas A&M University System.
For more information, contact Zahed at mary.lipfordzahed@ag.tamu.edu or 979-314-8092.
This past Saturday, our Natalia BPA students competed against 4A, 5A, and 6A schools at the BPA Regional Competition—and we are proud to share that 14 students are advancing to the State Competition in Dallas this March!
-RJ De La O, Joshua Jalomo, and Danica Torrez – 1st Place, Visual Design Team
-Jerusalem Alvarado and Brianna Garcia – 2nd Place, Visual Design Team
-Mia Herrera and Camilia Mujica – 1st Place, Podcast Production Team
-Bridgett Lowman – 1st Place, Prepared Speech
-Juan Montes – 1st Place, JAVA Programming
-Christopher Tapia – 2nd Place, JAVA Programming
-Kenzlie Jarreau – 1st Place, Fundamental Accounting
-Roberto Garcia – 1st Place, Business Law & Ethics
-Savannah Ramirez – 2nd Place, Business Law & Ethics
-Christian Garcia – 5th Place, Business Law & Ethics
Additionally, Ariana Garcia, Phoenix Garza, Dante Lopez, and Jordan Reyna placed 4th in Visual Design Team, earning recognition as State Alternates.
“It’s like my whole world is coming undone, but when I write, my pencil is a needle and thread, and I’m stitching the scraps back together.”-Julia Alvarez
Pencils are practical tools, ever ready to capture words and scratch your thoughts onto paper. Since childhood, most of us have lived with pencils. In elementary school, they first gave us those big fat pencils that felt like logs in our little hands. Later we got to use real grown-up pencils, usually the bright school bus yellow variety (the best were the Ticonderoga brand). Somewhere in junior high or high school, most of us left our pencils behind, traded for the ubiquitous ballpoint pen, also a wonderful tool. Recently I have rediscovered the pencil. And in doing so, I think I’ve found the perfect one.
With some trepidation, I can say that I am a writer. When working on a column, I always write my first draft using my typewriter, a treasured Royal portable (a 1946 Arrow model). But before going to my typewriter, often in the wee hours of the morning when I first fall out of bed, I will write out by hand what I call skeleton notes. Sometimes this is just an outline, so I have a word map of sorts to guide me as I type. Sometimes it is more. Often words will just flow, like turning on a faucet. And as I sit up in bed in my boxer shorts, I need to capture them. Ordinarily, I keep a notepad and pen handy. But now, instead of a pen, I have switched to a pencil. I find that a pencil better captures words before they get away. I can write faster with a pencil. This small change occurred after I read about and bought a box of the famous Blackwing pencils.
The Blackwing 602 pencil, with its flat ferrule, clamp eraser, and trademark slogan “Half the Pressure, Twice the Speed” stamped on the side, was created in 1934 by the Eberhard Faber Company. It was the first commercial pencil made with wax in its core and was noted for its incredibly smooth writing. The Blackwing pencil caught on with creative folks, most notably writers, animators, and musicians. John Steinbeck wrote the Grapes of Wrath using a Blackwing 602. He didn’t type, so would hand write his manuscripts and then have his secretary type them. Many other writers, including Truman Capote and Thomas Wolfe were fans of the Blackwing pencil.
The Blackwing 602 was especially popular with artists and animators. Chuck Jones, whose work included Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, and Wile E. Coyote, was a big fan, along with Tim Hodge who was known for his work on the classic Tom & Jerry cartoons. Walt Disney’s core animators – known as the “Nine Old Men” – were huge fans of the Blackwing 602. Ollie Johnston, creator of Bambi and Thumper, kept the first one he ever owned as a prized possession. Brothers Robert and Richard Sherman used Blackwing pencils for their contributions to Mary Poppins, Winnie the Pooh, and The Jungle Book. Shamus Culhane, known for his work on Snow White, was such a fan that he was buried with a Blackwing 602 pencil in his hand.
Many notable musicians loved their Blackwing pencils as well, including composer Stephen Sondheim, band leader Nelson Riddle, pianist and composer Duke Ellington, trumpeter and composer Wynton Marsalis, songwriter Johnny Mercer, composer Leonard Bernstein, composer Aaron Copland, and Texas music legend Guy Clark.
Blackwing pencils have also been used at times on TV and in cinema. In the movie Jaws (1975), Richard Dreyfuss in one scene is pictured with a Blackwing 602 clenched between his teeth. In Revenge of the Nerds (1984), Anthony Edwards and Robert Carradine, as nerds Gilbert and Lewis, carry Blackwing pencils tucked into their pocket protectors.
Despite their cult status with the artistic crowd, for a number of reasons, including low sales volume, broken machinery, and company acquisitions, in 1998 the Blackwing 602 pencil was discontinued. With Blackwings no longer in production, the resale market went crazy. Pencils were selling on eBay for as much as $40 each.
A few years later, a company in Stockton, California – Cal Cedar – acquired the Blackwing name and trademark. In 2010 they brought the Blackwing 602 back. Because the exact secret formula of graphite, clay, and wax had been lost, the company had to re-engineer the pencil in order to bring it back to life. They mastered the top-secret graphite formula. Some say the new Blackwing is better than the original. And fortunately, we can now buy them again.
They have several models, but the classic Blackwing 602, usually recommended for writers, is what I use. I find them smooth and easy. It’s like writing with butter. The pencil skims across the page easily and quickly. And using my Blackwing appeals to my senses. The 602 has a tactile quality that is missing with a drugstore pencil or plastic pen. The smooth finished wood feels good in my hand. The smell of graphite and cedar is soothing. There is a satisfying scratch on paper as dark lines emerge. All stirs the senses and makes writing a pleasure. And I can quickly capture my thoughts and whip out my skeleton notes before running my words through my typewriter.
If you find the need to pull words from your head and put them on paper, consider the lowly pencil, and maybe try a Blackwing (blackwing602.com). They are a bit expensive. You’ll pay a little more than a few dollars per pencil (much more than a twenty-five cent Walmart pencil), but I think they are worth every penny. Happy writing…
© 2025 Jody Dyer
typewriterweekly.com
