📌 The Town Center Horses Could Soon Be Ridden by Deputies

🏛️ Conroe Wrote Data Center Rules Before Anyone Filed to Build One

🍿 The Tomball Popcorn Shop With 80 Flavors Just Opened in Spring

💧 A Conroe Well That Could Fail Any Day Is Getting a $572,425 Fix

⚠️ WARNING: Heat Advisory in effect until 7 p.m. Saturday. Peak heat index between 106 and 110, so treat the middle of the day as indoor time.

Partly Cloudy with Isolated Storms · 103°F / 79°F

Humidity up to 88%. Wind up to 7 mph.

🥵 Water bottle in the car, and save the yard work for after dark.

Source: Vaisala Xweather

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After four days of budget discussion, The Woodlands Township board voted 6-1 on August 20 to set a maintenance and operations tax rate of $0.1594 per $100 of valuation for fiscal year 2027. Added to the interest and sinking rate of a penny, the total proposed rate comes to $0.1694. That is below the township's current rate of $0.1714 and above the no-new-revenue rate of $0.1654. The budget also carries a 3% salary increase for every eligible employee.

The bigger change came in a separate vote, and that one was unanimous. The board voted 7-0 to cut roughly $1.5 million out of the mounted patrol line in the customer engagement department. Director Shelley Sekula-Gibbs proposed letting the township's contract with Alpha & Omega Mounted Patrol expire, which would return that money to the base budget. Township President and CEO Monique Sharp said the contract itself was not up for discussion during budget amendments, but that the board could move to reduce the line item.

At the same time, the board set aside about $1.3 million for mounted patrol services inside the law enforcement fund. In a statement posted online, the township said that gives it the ability to plan for providing mounted patrol through the Montgomery County Sheriff's Office instead of a private company, if it decides to go that way. The township clarified afterward that no agreement with the sheriff's office has been approved, and that it remains under contract with Alpha & Omega through December 31. Alpha & Omega had asked to increase its hours for FY 2027 from 387 a week to 425. Its personnel provide courtesy patrol and are not commissioned law enforcement officers, which means they cannot detain anyone, make arrests, or take law enforcement action.

"We have a responsibility to continually evaluate every service we fund and ask whether there is an opportunity to provide greater value and a higher level of public safety," board Chair Brad Bailey said in a statement. "If we have an opportunity to put commissioned law enforcement officers in our Town Center while maintaining the visible presence and community engagement our residents value, we have an obligation to seriously consider it."

Bailey was also the one who proposed the lower operations rate. Vice President Craig Eissler raised concerns about it. "I would love to lower tax when we can," Eissler said. "My concern is we don't know what's going to happen in this legislative session with property tax. They could eliminate property tax entirely, not likely, but it's possible. And I would hate to then have to look at raising potential rate at that time." Bailey said he agreed with the worry but that the township should not be penalized for being good stewards of taxpayer money, noting that other cities use its model. The board also worked through a new sergeant position for the Precinct 3 Constable's office, the IT and reforestation budgets, and a possible partnership with Conroe ISD on a multi-use sports complex. A public hearing to adopt the budget and approve the rate is set for September 3.

Why it matters: the horses in Town Center are the most recognizable thing the township pays for, and the board just funded the option of replacing a courtesy patrol with deputies who can actually make an arrest.

Source/Credits: Community Impact

Conroe City Council approved an ordinance on August 13 governing how data centers can be built and run inside the city, and officials said the interest is already there. Newly appointed Community Development Director Brandy Taylor told council the point was to get protections in place before a project arrives. "The reason for bringing this forward is to really have a mechanism in place so we can protect our infrastructure and our taxpayers," Taylor said. She later said there is "some interest here in Conroe," without naming a company or a site.

The rules are specific. A data center is defined as a facility drawing at least 75 megawatts. A developer has to submit 37 separate items before the permitting process even opens, including water capacity information, an ERCOT grid study, noise and vibration assessments, emergency response planning, traffic analysis and a decommissioning plan. Cooling has to be closed-loop or similar, so the facility is not continuously pulling from the public water supply. On-site emergency power has to carry critical systems for at least 72 hours. Operational noise cannot run more than 5 decibels above ambient at the property line. And any data center has to sit at least 300 feet from homes, schools, child care facilities, hospitals and parks.

Residents wanted more. Montgomery County resident Moniqua' Scott asked council directly why 300 feet was the number and what evidence supported it as enough distance to protect people nearby. Conroe resident Josh Graff called the ordinance a great start that did not go far enough, pressing for stronger language on light and noise pollution, water conservation and emissions. Council member David Hairel listed items he wanted the city to keep examining, including beneficial ownership disclosure and what happens when several data centers cluster in one area.

Mayor Duke Coon framed it as a floor rather than a ceiling. "At this moment, the city has no protection," Coon said before the vote, adding that the city needed to start and refine as it went. Taylor said the ordinance can be revised at any time. If an application does get filed, the city estimates the review would run 120 to 150 days.

Why it matters: a city that waits until a developer shows up is negotiating from behind, and Conroe just decided not to be in that position.

Source/Credits: Community Impact

Craving Kernels opened a second location in Spring on August 15, and it is now serving gourmet popcorn and sweets at 6925 Cypresswood Drive, Suite B. General Manager Julie Carranza confirmed the opening.

The shop is owned by Randy and Tracey Harmon, who opened the original Tomball store in 2018. The antique-style sweet shop carries more than 80 kinds of popcorn, including Extra Buttery, Cheddar and Zebra Drizzle, sold both in the store and online. According to earlier Community Impact reporting, the Spring location stocks the same lineup as Tomball but adds more seating.

Why it matters: eight years in, the Harmons are betting there is room for a second one, and that is the kind of vote of confidence a neighborhood notices.

Source/Credits: Community Impact

Conroe City Council approved a $572,425 emergency rehabilitation of Water Well No. 26 on August 13, choosing speed over savings on a well that city officials said could go at any moment. The well, on McCaleb Road, is still running, and there is no city-owned backup well serving that area right now.

Newly appointed Public Works Director Jason Miller laid out two options. One would cost $423,820 and take 10 to 12 weeks. The expedited version would cost $572,425 and cut the lead time to five weeks. "This well is running. However, it could catastrophically fail at any given time," Miller said. With summer heat on and water supply already limited in that part of the city, he said a twelve-week wait carried its own risks, and added that there are firefighting concerns in the area as well. Council took the five-week option without opposition.

The money comes out of city reserves and requires a budget amendment. According to the agenda packet, nobody knew about the repair during the normal budget process and no other department had funds available to move. Because of the emergency, Miller said the city used a BuyBoard purchasing contract instead of putting the work out to bid.

Council also unanimously authorized the use of eminent domain to acquire property for the Water Plant 33 and Water Plant 34 projects, and cleared three more water payments on the consent agenda: $229,323.35 to Weisinger Inc. for a replacement Water Well No. 14, $64,391 to Weisinger for Water Well No. 6, and $251,427 to Wharton-Smith Inc. for Water Plant No. 32.

Why it matters: most people never think about the well behind their tap until the day it stops, and Conroe just paid $148,605 extra to make sure that day does not arrive in August.

Source/Credits: Community Impact

🚒 The Township's $13.7 Million Capital List: Day three of the budget workshop put $8.7 million toward parks and recreation, $3.1 million toward the fire department including a $1.37 million engine ordered back in 2024, and $1.4 million toward IT with $100,000 of it set aside for AI training. Read more in Community Impact

🤝 Twenty-Six Years of FCA Across Three Local Districts: North Houston Fellowship of Christian Athletes, which runs weekly campus huddles in Conroe, Magnolia and Tomball ISDs, reached nearly 25,000 people during the 2025-26 school year and put 1,638 athlete Bibles in students' hands. Read more in Community Impact

🛍️ Every Wednesday Is Senior Day at Angels Loft: The Conroe resale store on Timber Lane takes 20% off the entire store for anyone 55 and up, and what it makes funds Angel Reach's work with young people aging out of foster care. Read more in Hello Woodlands

🗓️ Fall STEM Festival | iCode The Woodlands, 4526 Research Forest Dr Ste 12 | Free | More info

🗓️ Spider Play Saturday | 11:00 AM | More info

🗓️ Nach-Yo Ordinary Tequila Tasting | Wine and Food Week, 1601 Lake Robbins Drive | 6:00 PM | More info

🗓️ The Walk 2026, A Black & White Ball | Interfaith of The Woodlands, 1601 Lake Robbins Dr | 6:00 PM | More info

🗓️ Kayak Lesson 101 | 10:00 AM | More info

🗓️ 311 and Dirty Heads: So Glad You Made It Tour | The Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion, 2005 Lake Robbins Drive | 5:30 PM | More info

🗓️ D.K. Harrell | 7:30 PM | More info

🗓️ Running Club | 5:30 PM | More info

🗓️ Getting Started with Video | Precision Camera & Video, 17937 I-45 North, Shenandoah | More info

🗓️ Give Blood | Memorial Hermann The Woodlands Medical Center, 9250 Pinecroft Dr | More info

🗓️ Paint & Sip | Sawyer Park Icehouse, 314 Pruitt Road, Spring | More info

🗓️ The Bee Lady Presentation | 11:00 AM | More info

🗓️ Eric Johanson | 8:00 PM | More info

🗓️ Lynyrd Skynyrd and Foreigner: Double Trouble Double Vision Tour | The Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion, 2005 Lake Robbins Drive | 7:00 PM | More info

🗓️ Bougie Bingo | Ale & Ivy, 305 Sawdust Road, Spring | 6:00 PM | More info

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Tomball was called Peck until December 2, 1907, when it was renamed for Thomas Henry Ball, the attorney who talked the railroad into running its line through downtown. Ball never lived there. He was in Huntsville, then Houston.

"Hotter than a fur coat in Marfa." Translation: hot in a way that makes you question your decisions, which around here covers most of August. Marfa is a desert town in West Texas known for its high temperatures, and wearing a heavy winter fur coat there would be completely miserable.

Saving a seat is the one situation in life where a jacket carries more authority than a person.

What do you call a pig that does karate? A pork chop.