News Flash

Registration opens for statewide athletic competition in Victoria

Amateur athletes who’d like to take part in a statewide competition without leaving the Crossroads can sign up now to take part in the 2022 Texas Amateur Athletic Federation Winter Games, which will be hosted Jan. 15-17 in athletic venu...

City upgrades lighting at 2 neighborhood parks

PHOTO #1: A recently installed LED street light shines at Queen City Park.

PHOTO #2: The new LED street lights at Queen City Park and Pine Street Park are equipped with solar panels.

The future of Victoria’s parks is looking bright after Parks &am...

Victoria Public Library to host drive-thru gingerbread house workshop

PHOTO: City of Victoria employees and Blue Santa greet residents and hand out craft kits during the 2020 gingerbread house workshop hosted by the Victoria Public Library.

Whether it’s hosted at the library, at the Community Center or at DeLeon Pl...

Public Works employee earns highest-level wastewater license

Tony Saenz, environmental compliance and customer service specialist with the City of Victoria Public Works, recently earned his Class A Wastewater License from the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality. The Class A license is the highest-level wastew...

Victoria Police Department offers safety tips for holiday shoppers

As the holiday shopping season approaches, the Victoria Police Department is reminding residents to be on the lookout for thieves who prey on holiday shoppers.

The Community Engagement Unit offers these tips to help residents protect themselves from crimin...

Parks & Recreation master plan paves the way for long-sought dog park

PHOTO #1: The City of Victoria will construct a dog park in Riverside Park.

PHOTO #2: This map shows the proposed location of a new dog park within Riverside Park according to the Parks & Recreation master plan.

The implementation of the newly approved ...

Residents can view Christmas parade in person or on TV, online

As the Christmas Parade of Lights returns to its traditional downtown setting, residents will be able to choose whether to see it in person or take part in the celebration from their homes. 

The parade will begin at 6 p.m. Dec. 4. Residents can wa...

Christmas on the Square brings holiday festivities downtown

PHOTO: The H-E-B Christmas Tree is displayed downtown in 2020. The tree will be lit during Christmas on the Square at 5:30 p.m. Dec. 3.

The City of Victoria Parks & Recreation and the Victoria Main Street Program are inviting residents to ring in the h...

Victoria Police Department promotes 3 officers during ceremony

Victoria Police Department Sgt. Jon DeLaRosa recently was promoted from senior officer to sergeant and assigned to the Patrol Division. DeLaRosa has been serving the Victoria community for seven years, including five years on the department SWAT team, whe...

City Council adopts Parks & Recreation master plan

PHOTO #1: This image provided by consulting firm Halff Associates shows a potential design for Ethel Lee Tracy Park.

During the development of the Parks & Recreation master plan, the City of Victoria and consulting firm Halff Associates used public sur...

City, community reach out for Parkway neighborhood cleanup

City employees and community members pose for a group photo Nov. 13 before the Parkway neighborhood cleanup hosted by Keep Victoria Beautiful. About 130 volunteers helped residents to move brush and bulky trash to the curb at 79 locations in the neighborh...

City of Victoria Public Works employees earn certifications

City of Victoria Public Works utility equipment operators Joseph Brawner, Ernest Hernandez and Rodney Rodriquez and water meter technicians Alfred Cano and Adan Lopez earned their Class D water operator licenses from the Texas C...

Victoria Regional Airport celebrates one year of United Express service

Nov. 10 marks one year since United Express operated by SkyWest Airlines began serving the Victoria Regional Airport, and airport executive director Vinicio “Lenny” Llerena says residents have given “very positive feedback&am...

Victoria Fire Department swears in new employees, announces promotions

PHOTO #1: From left, Victoria Fire Department Chief Tracy Fox poses for a photo with Firefighter/EMTs John Rudd, Austin Muñoz and Enrique Cavazos. The new firefighter/EMTs were sworn in during a Nov. 5 ceremony at the Community Center annex. Th...

The Texan earns City beautification award

PHOTO #1: Keep Victoria Beautiful staff and The Texan leadership and employees pose for a photo Nov. 2 at The Texan No. 6, 7305 N. Main St., with KVB’s Business Beautification Award traveling sign. The Texan No. 6 received the Business Beautific...

Keep Victoria Beautiful gets funding for local grants, butterfly garden

PHOTO: Keep Victoria Beautiful received a grant to help restore The Texas Zoo’s butterfly garden near the entrance of the zoo.

Keep Victoria Beautiful has received a $1950 Green Bag Grant from Keep Texas Beautiful to help restore the butterfly ga...

Municipal Court partners with Trinity Episcopal School to host mock trial

PHOTO:  City of Victoria Municipal Court Judge Vanessa Heinold addresses Trinity Episcopal School eighth-grade students during a mock trial Nov. 5, 2020, at the municipal courtroom.

The City of Victoria Municipal Court will host a mock trial at 9 ...

“Yule Love Shopping” giveaway returns with more businesses

A holiday promotion that started in 2020 to help local businesses get through COVID-19 returns this year with an expanded lineup that will have residents shopping small across Victoria.

The “Yule Love Shopping Victoria!” giveaway, spons...

Lighted Christmas Parade will return in-person to downtown

PHOTO #1: Santa waves to spectators during the Lighted Christmas Parade hosted by Victoria Parks & Recreation in 2015 in downtown Victoria.

PHOTO #2: Victoria Fire Department employees wave to residents during the Lighted Christmas Parade hosted by Vic...

Parks & Recreation to host overnight youth hunting program

PHOTO: A doe roams Riverside Park. The Texas Parks & Wildlife department recommends that participants in an upcoming youth hunting program each be allowed to harvest three does and one buck based on current population management needs.

The application ...

Sgt. Jason Martin graduates from law enforcement management program

Victoria Police Department Sgt. Jason Martin recently graduated from the Leadership Command College – Class 90 of the Law Enforcement Management Institute of Texas. To complete the program, candidates must have a minimum of five years with a law...

City Council adopts downtown master plan

PHOTO: A conceptual rendering provided by consulting firm Freese & Nichols as part of the downtown master plan shows string lighting across Main Street, a potential solution for residents’ concerns about inadequate lighting downtown. String ...

Municipal Court adds live chat, texting services

Residents now have two new options for contacting Municipal Court staff to ask questions and get help with accessing court services.

The court has added a new chat box to its webpage, www.victoriatx.gov/municipalcourt. Residents can type their que...

Residents can vote to help Victoria Main Street Program win $25K

The Victoria Main Street Program is asking for residents’ help to win $25,000 or other prizes that will help make Victoria’s vision for downtown a reality.

The Victoria Main Street Program is a nominee in the America’s Main St...

Victoria Fire Department to celebrate 150 years of dedicated service

If you’ve ever caught a glimpse of the back of the Victoria Fire Department T-shirts, just under the word “Victoria,” you might have noticed that they proudly state “EST. 1871.” 

The Victoria Fire Department will celebrate its 150th anniversary wi...

New library streaming service offers music, movies, graphic novels and more

The Victoria Public Library is expanding its digital offerings with Hoopla, a new streaming service that will provide adult library card holders with access to audio books, e-books, movies, music, TV shows and graphic novels.

Residents can sign up at&n...

City seeks feedback about information distribution

PHOTO: From left, City of Victoria Communications & Public Affairs Director Ashley Strevel talks with Environmental Services Director Darryl Lesak and beautification coordinator Christy Youker during the latest episode of TOWNtalk. The TV show airs on...

Public Works prepares for record-breaking year of street projects

PHOTO #1: The City of Victoria will begin reconstructing Nueces Street between Navarro Street and Laurent Street during fiscal year 2022.

PHOTO #2: The City of Victoria during fiscal year 2022 will select an engineering service to design a reconstruction p...

Regional Infusion Center to open in Victoria County for COVID-19 patients

A Regional Infusion Center to help treat COVID-19 patients in Golden Crescent Region of Texas will open to the public this week in Victoria. 

The State of Texas through the Texas Division of Emergency Management, in partnership with Victoria Count...

Keep Victoria Beautiful assists with Texas Zoo beautification project

Larry and Cheryl Clark, volunteers with the Victoria County Master Gardeners Association, help to replant a flowerbed during a Sept. 11 beautification project at The Texas Zoo. Volunteers with Keep Victoria Beautiful, the Victoria County Master Gardeners ...

Parks & Recreation invites residents to hunt for painted rocks

PHOTO #1: Children paint rocks provided by Parks & Recreation during an after-school program hosted by the YMCA of the Golden Crescent at Aloe Elementary School.

PHOTO #2: Residents can visit the Parks & Recreation office, 532 McCright Drive, to pa...

No-cost WaterWise monitoring service helps residents save water, money

City of Victoria utility customers can monitor their water usage and be notified of potential leaks by signing up for WaterWise, the City’s water monitoring service, at no additional cost.

The service connects with customers’ water mete...

City Manager Jesús A. Garza earns professional development designation

Victoria City Manager Jesús A. Garza recently earned his Credentialed Manager designation from the International City/County Management Association. He is one of about 1,400 local government management professionals worldwide who are c...

Strategic economic development partnership will bring modern, affordable housing to Victoria

Press release from The NRP Group

With a population nearing 70,000, Victoria, Texas, is a growing community in need of additional low-cost workforce housing options for new and current residents. Victoria's community leaders, along with multi-family housing...

Victoria Main Street Program invites public to review master plan draft

PHOTO #1: This concept rendering provided by consulting firm Freese & Nichols shows what DeLeon Plaza may look like as the City begins to implement the community-driven downtown master plan.

PHOTO #2: This concept rendering provided by consulting firm ...

Story Trail Walk brings storytime to Riverside Park

PHOTO #1: A sign at the entrance to the Riverside Park nature trail welcomes residents to the Story Trail Walk.

PHOTO #2: Pages from the book “Hoot Owl: Master of Disguise” are spaced along the Riverside Park nature trail.

PHOTO #3: Resi...

Keep Victoria Beautiful receives grant for restoration of public flowerbeds

PHOTO #1: Keep Victoria Beautiful received a $3,000 grant from Keep Texas Beautiful to fund the replanting of flowerbeds at 700 Main Center.

PHOTO #2: This traffic island near the Utility Billing Office at 700 Main Center is barren after Winter Storm Uri.

P...

City’s fire department earns American Heart Association recognition

PHOTO: A cardiac monitor and electrocardiogram (EKG) defibrillator are displayed at Victoria Fire Department Station Two, 2708 Miori Lane. This equipment is used by firefighter/EMTs to provide first aid to patients with heart attack symptoms.

The City of V...

Community Appearance Division plants seeds of civic pride

Note: This article originally appeared in the August issue of Texas Town & City, published by the Texas Municipal League.

By Sam Hankins, City of Victoria communications specialist

PHOTO #1: From left, Joseph Vargas, Korey Parks and Jackie Yates, with t...

City to broadcast VISD school board meetings on cable channel

PHOTO #1: The Victoria Independent School District’s school board members gather for a meeting June 10 at the VISD administration building, 102 Profit Drive. Starting Friday, the meetings will be broadcast to the City’s cable channels ...

Victoria Public Library opens multipurpose meeting room

PHOTO #1: The Victoria Public Library’s new multipurpose meeting space, located in the former magazine room, features a 75-inch touchscreen monitor with Bluetooth and Wi-Fi connectivity.

PHOTO #2: The Victoria Public Library’s new multi...

Metropolitan designation to help City keep federal funding

The City of Victoria is in a better position to keep millions of dollars in federal funding after the federal Office of Management and Budget on July 13 elected not to change the Metropolitan Statistical Area population threshold.

The OMB defines a Metropo...

City’s Victoria Broadband Commission seeks to expand broadband options with Sparklight partnership

City officials are pleased to announce Sparklight, a nationally recognized internet provider, will build a state-of-the-art fiber optic network in Victoria that will provide another option for fast and reliable high-speed internet.

The multimillio...

Applications open for hotel occupancy tax funds

Local organizations that help to bring tourism to Victoria can begin applying for hotel occupancy tax (HOT) funds for 2022.

Under Texas law, the City of Victoria collects a hotel occupancy tax from hotels, bed-and-breakfasts and other lodging facilities. T...

City seeks residents’ feedback on forthcoming internet initiative

Residents can submit information about their broadband internet needs by July 28 to help with a new study to improve internet accessibility, reliability and affordability in the Victoria community.

Civil engineering company CobbFendley is launching a feasi...

City of Victoria extends hours for splash pads

PHOTO: Children play at the Ethel Lee Tracy Park Splash Pad during the facility’s 2018 grand opening.

The days are getting longer, and now Victoria kids can spend even more sunlight hours splashing at the City of Victoria Parks & Recreation splash pads...

Victoria Police Department policies earn gold-standard recognition

PHOTO: The Victoria Police Department was recently recognized again under the Texas Police Chiefs Association Foundation’s Law Enforcement Agency Best Practices Recognition Program. Shown, from left, are Officer Jeffrey Lehnert, Police Chief Roberto Arred...

City of Victoria adds birding deck near Riverside Park

PHOTO #1: The City of Victoria Convention & Visitors Bureau on June 15 unveiled the Athey Nature Sanctuary Birding Deck at the historic Hiller house, 3003 Vine St., home to the headquarters of Keep Victoria Beautiful. The observation area features fee...

Municipal Court moves to hybrid model for scheduled hearings

PHOTO: A Zoom video feed is displayed on the projector screens at the Municipal Court courtroom, 107 W. Juan Linn St., allowing defendants to appear remotely during an in-person court session.

The City of Victoria Municipal Court will host its first hybrid...

City seeks input on how to spend federal COVID-19 aid

The City of Victoria has received millions in federal aid to help the Victoria community recover from the COVID-19 pandemic and protect itself against future disasters, and residents can have a say in how the money is spent.

The City will receive $14,508,2...

City receives $621,000 grant to repair duck pond

UPDATE: This story was updated Nov. 16 to reflect the updated schedule for the duck pond restoration. More information about the project is included in this Sept. 21 memo to City Council.

PHOTO #1: The Riverside Park duck pond is seen in this 2014 file pho...