Category: San Antonio News

Nothing says “Valentine’s Day” more than people coming together to celebrate love.

The Bexar County Courthouse will continue its tradition of holding free, mass wedding ceremonies in honor of the holiday.

County Clerk Lucy Adame-Clark will conduct the ceremonies on the steps of the courthouse at the following times on Monday, Feb. 14:

12:01 a.m.10 a.m. (full)11 a.m.Noon (full)2 p.m. – Amazing Grace Doves will join this ceremony for a dove release.4 p.m. (full)

Because of COVID-19, each ceremony will be capped at 22 couples and registration is required. To register, click here.

Couples should also get their marriage license 72 hours before the ceremony, but some exceptions apply. For more information on obtaining a marriage license, call 210-335-2223 or visit www.bexar.org/CountyClerk.

While the ceremonies are free, people are asked to make a $20 donation for the Battered Women and Children’s Shelter and the Bexar County Family Justice Center.

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San Antonio was one of the top 10 migration destinations in 2021 and the out-of-town buyers helped drive home prices up, according to Real Estate company Redfin.

The Alamo City ranked No. 10 on Redfin’s list that combined Redfin home search data with U.S Census Bureau data.

Phoenix was the most popular migration destination last year, gaining roughly 85,000 residents from other metro areas. It is estimated that San Antonio brought in nearly 24,000 residents from other places.

Half of the cities on the list had a median home-sale price below December’s national median price of $383,000.

While San Antonio’s median home prices skyrocketed over $300,000 for the first time in 2021, December’s median of $308,600 here was still the lowest median price of any city on the list and the only Texas city on the list with a median price below the national median.

Dallas and Austin also made the migration destination list, at No. 2 and No. 6, respectively.

What all the cities on the list had in common though was home-price growth that was well above the national growth rate of 15% year-over-year.

San Antonio’s 18.7% year-over-year growth was the lowest on that list — Austin was the highest at 30.3%.

(Source:
Redfin)Metro AreaNet inflowMedian Home PriceMedian Home Price
Year-Over-YearAverage Monthly Rent Payment,
New LeasesAverage Monthly Rent Payment,
New Leases,
Year-Over-YearNumber of Homes for Sale,
Year-Over-Year1Phoenix, AZ85,183$435,20028%$2,10726%-18.6%2Dallas, TX56,449$385,00020.3%$2,08128.5%-27.6%3Orlando, FL52,621$356,00022.8%$2,05028.8%-29%4Atlanta, GA37,970$350,00022.8%$2,01612.1%-27.4%5Tampa, FL37,440$338,00024.3%$2,07628.1%-8%6Austin, TX32,184$482,10030.3%$2,29039.9%-6.5%7Las Vegas, NV31,701$399,40024.8%$1,82025.2%27.7%8Charlotte, NC28,546$357,00020.4%$1,73011.5%-31.4%9Denver, CO25,665$540,00019.5%$2,66119%-26.8%10San Antonio, TX23,909$308,60018.7%$1,38611.5%-17.8%

According to Redfin, the migration is helping fuel the rapid price growth in these markets, because in most cases they had a budget that was higher than the average local resident’s budget.

Redfin cited Austin as an example of this. While the city’s median home price of $482,100 is high by Texas standards, the average budget for migrants moving to the city was $855,000. That’s 32% higher than the average Austin budget, Redfin said.

“Moving across the country is now easier for many Americans, thanks to remote work. That cultural shift is here to stay,” said Redfin Deputy Chief Economist Taylor Marr in a press release. “What’s changing is the affordability of the most popular destinations. Some locals, particularly renters who aren’t able to take advantage of rising home values, are getting priced out of places like Phoenix and Austin as the cost of housing and other goods and services go up. New construction tends to be robust in sprawling Sun Belt cities, and local governments ought to continue to prioritize building new homes to keep up with ongoing demand.”

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Cibolo police arrested a man who they say fired a gun multiple times during a domestic dispute. One of the bullets hit a car that was driving in the neighborhood.

Brock Clement, 41, was charged with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon and tampering with evidence for the incident on Sunday afternoon.

Officers were called to the 300 block of Burkwood Lane at about 3 p.m. for reports of multiple gunshots.

Cibolo police said the officers determined that Clement discharged multiple rounds from a handgun toward the street during a domestic disturbance. One of the rounds hit a passing car. The driver was not injured.

Clement was booked in the Guadalupe County Jail with bonds totaling $100,000.

Police are asking anyone with information that could be helpful in their investigation to call them at 210-659-1999 or call the Crime Stoppers tip line at 877-403-8477. Tips can also be sent by texting “Guadalupe” plus your tip to 274637 or by using the See It, Say It, Send It smartphone app.

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You know it’s rodeo time when truck after truck makes its way into the AT&T Center, to move over 2,000 tons of dirt into the arena.

A group of about a dozen volunteers loaded, moved and leveled the dirt in the process that lasts about seven hours.

The dirt is maintained at a depth of 10-12 inches.

The same dirt for the rodeo is used every year, and is 34 years old. The dirt was purchased from Charlotte in 1988 and is kept on property. Every year it is moved back into the arena via 70 truckloads.

The dirt will remain inside the arena throughout the rodeo, which runs from Thursday Feb. 10 to Wednesday, Feb. 23.

“It’s a well-oiled machine so to speak,” Bernie Rodriguez, director of operations for the San Antonio Stock Show & Rodeo said. “Everyone knows their part. And it gets done probably in seven hours to get the dirt from outside to in here. We are excited about it to see the whole thing come together from the beginning.”

The grounds for the rodeo will open at 10 a.m. on Thursday, and the entertainment starts at 7 p.m. with Toby Keith.

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A San Antonio couple beat a 12-year-old boy and made him do push-ups and hold 50-pound boxes for hours before he lost consciousness and died at a hospital, according to police.

Derrick Coles, 32, and Kapri Cheatom, 27, were arrested overnight and each charged with injury to a child causing serious bodily injury, a first-degree felony, jail records show. Charges may be upgraded upon further investigation.

Police said they responded to the couple’s apartment in the 7000 block of Wurzbach Road just after 7:30 p.m. on Sunday for a report of an injured child.

Officers found Coles’ son, identified as Danilo Coles, unresponsive, an arrest warrant affidavit states. The couple alleged that the boy fell in the shower.

The boy was taken to University Hospital where staff found “several suspicious injuries on the victim,” the affidavit states. He had no brain activity and was pronounced dead that night.

The couple was taken in for questioning, and Derrick Coles said the boy recently moved in with them. The boy was previously staying with his mother in Chicago, where he was allegedly abused in the past, the affidavit states.

Derrick Coles said the boy was “disrespectful” upon moving in so he made him do push-ups and hold boxes that weighed about 50 pounds as a discipline.

On Sunday, Derrick Coles said he “busted” the boy’s lip and made the boy do push-ups and hold boxes for three to four hours, the affidavit states.

He said he made his son take a shower, where the boy fell and cut his eye, according to investigators. The man said he then made his son write three pages worth of lines of “I will obey all people that live in the household.”

When Derrick Coles made the boy do more push-ups, the boy said he was unable to.

Derrick Coles and Cheatom then hit the boy with a belt, spanking him so hard that he had severe injuries to his buttocks, the affidavit states.

Investigators said the boy had several whipping marks and internal stomach bleeding.

Jail records show they were arrested around 1 a.m. Monday. Their bonds are set at $150,000 each.

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