Official site of Tribune News serving Tomball, Magnolia and Waller

A rollover crash on Nichols Sawmill, killed two people Oct. 26 and injured two more. Police say alcohol was a probable factor in the crash. The crash involved multiple ejections from a white pickup truck.

Tabor Tory, 19, of Magnolia was pronounced dead at the scene, while Kevin Hansen, 20, also of Magnolia was pronounced dead at Tomball Regional Medical Center. The driver of the truck, Brian Goetz, 20, was admitted to Northwest Hospital, while passenger Audrey Trent, 19, was life flighted to an area hospital in stable condition.

When emergency workers arrived on scene they initially thought there were only three victims, but later found a fourth victim 12 feet in the woods. With so many victims the Montgomery County Hospital District called in Northwest EMS for assistance.

Troopers said that Trent was sitting in the middle of the front seat and was the only person wearing a seatbelt.

The Montgomery County Police Reporter reports that Goetz was driving the truck north on Nichols Sawmill when he came to a curve in the road. The Police Reporter stated that DPS officials believe he left the pavement at a high rate of speed, overcorrected, crossed the road and flipped the vehicle at least twice. The truck then hit a fence before slamming into a tree.

One of the victims clothing was found 12 feet high, stuck in a tree.

The Montgomery County District Attorney's Office assisted at the scene as well.

No charges have been filed as of press time.

TxDOT recently announced that it has selected a design-builder for sections of the Grand Parkway that will run south of Tomball and into Montgomery County.

Zachry-Odebrecht Parkway Builders, J.V., was selected to develop, design, construct and maintain sections F-1, F-2 and G. The sections will complete about 38 miles of the toll road project, from US 290 to US 59 North. The project is expected to cost just more than $1 billion.

Construction will begin in 2013 and TxDOT is hopeful work can be completed in 2015. After the project is completed the developer will handle capital maintenance responsibilities for up to three consecutive five-year terms. TxDOT officials went on to explain that they still own the project and will continue to when the highway is complete.

TxDOT held two public hearings to discuss the financial aspects of the project Oct. 30. Those that attended heard how TxDOT planned to pay for the project.

Officials said that TxDOT will fund the project with toll revenue bonds issued by the Grand Parkway Transportation Corporation (GPTC). Officials with that group expect to issue just less than $3 billion in debt to finance design costs, construction and right-of-way acquisition. They anticipate to pay the debt within 40 years strictly with toll revenue.

Learn more about the project by visiting www.txdot.gave and use keyword Grand Parkway.

A long awaited dental clinic at TOMAGWA is now a reality, thanks to a partnership with the Tomball Regional Health Foundation (THRF). THRF is the new name of the Tomball Hospital Authority, which ran Tomball Regional Medical Center until its sale in 2011.

"Tomball Regional Health Foundation's vision is to become a catalyst for measurable health and wellness improvements in Tomball and the surrounding communities," TRHF Chairman Jack Smith said. "Our partnership with TOMAGWA and the launch of this dental program is an example of how we will advance this goal."

TOMAGWA had the facilities in place to provide dental services, but had been waiting to raise enough funds to open it. That's when TRHF stepped in. The provided $475,000 to fund start-up and operational costs for two years.

"We received the funding from them and we are very appreciative," TOMAGWA executive director Judy Deyo said. "God had us on hold for awhile, but once again our prayers were answered. To God be the glory"

The new dental clinic will be run by Lorie Jones, who said the focus now will be on hiring a part time dentist, as well as securing volunteer dentists and hygienists to help staff the clinic. The clinic is set to open Jan. 3 and will initially serve current TOMAGWA patients.

"We can't wait to serve the needs of our patients," she said.

The clinic has four separate stations and will provide preventative and restorative services and will be open from 9 a.m. until 4:30 p.m. The clinic will be able to handle up to 2,600 visits a year. Monday through Friday. The clinic was supplied with all digital equipment, which allows TOMAGWA to stay ahead of the curve technologically.

"We were trying to plan ahead by going with all digital equipment," Jones said.

The dental clinic is not the only news coming out of TOMAGWA, Deyo said. Plans are rapidly moving forward for a new full-time clinic in Magnolia.

"We are very excited right now," Deyo said. "We will soon be moving into negotiations on a lease for space in the Landmark Building."

The building, which sits on FM 1488 in Magnolia, has approxiamately 6,000 square feet of space that TOMAGWA is looking to lease.

Deyo said that as the process moved along, more and more people have jumped on board over the past year. It came to a head Oct. 25, as area leaders, pastors and business professionals were treated to a tour of the potential site.

"We have met with leaders in the community several times over the past year so today was very exciting," she said. "We had a number of pastors there that had not been there before."

The group has estimated that it will take hundreds of  thousands of dollars to build, equip and staff the new site so they have created a  fundraising committee and a marketing committee to begin that process.

"We would love to have people interested in helping to become a part of this," she said.

After a lease is finalized, TOMAGWA will begin the process of receiving bids from architects and contractors, "within the next few weeks," Deyo said.

"Magnolia has been waiting for this for a long time," she said. "The community is very important to us and we are thankful for everything."

As far as a time frame, Deyo said it depends on how quickly fundraising efforts come together.

"We will move as rapidly as we can get the help of the community," she said.

Those interested in helping, email Deyo at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. , or Stephen Lightfoot At This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. .

Those who wish to volunteer at the dental clinic may email Jones at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. .

The City of Tomball recently added land to its extraterritorial jurisdiction, which is currently being purchased by Baker Hughes, on the northeast corner of FM 2978 and FM 2920.

The land, once developed, will include a new 72,445 square-foot classroom building, a 36,000 square-foot workshop, a 16,730 square-foot lab and two training oil rigs.

The $50-plus million project will be Baker Hughes Western Hemisphere Education Center once complete. The company has a similar site in the eastern hemisphere located in Dubai, India.

The Tomball Economic Development Corporation (TEDC) is also in the middle of the project, as it will contribute a little more than $900,000 towards the cost of the projects infrastructure.

TEDC executive director Kelly Violette said she is confident that the project will create new jobs, new growth and lots of additional sales and property tax revenue.

The project is designed to help with training and education of Baker Hughes personnel and customers.

Officials said that the center will generate around 66,000 trainees per year, who will use more than 50,000 hotel room nights each year. The city estimates that the new facility will create 50 new jobs, as well as nearly 30 indirect jobs.

Officials are estimating more than an $8 million dollar benefit to the city over a 10-year period, with many of those dollars going into the hotel/motel fund, which is used to put on various events in the city and to promote Tomball as a tourist and business destination.

Construction on the site is expected to begin later this year or early 2013. Baker Hughes is now negotiating to buy the land and expects construction to be completed with a year of the start of construction.

Once the purchase of the land is completed, Baker Hughes will submit an application for annexation. Once that is complete the permitting process will begin, according to city officials.

The Waller Bulldogs hosted Magnolia Oct. 19 in the annual Battle of the Bulldogs. The Bulldogs from Waller came out on top 31-21 in an important district battle.

Magnolia scored first as Damian Edwards found Jordan Turnbow from 27 yards out with a  little more than four minutes left in the first quarter.

Waller returned the favor and started a drive to get the ball down to the 1-yard line, before the end of the first quarter. After switching ends of the field, Rhett Loewe took the ball over the right side of the line to score. The extra point was good and the score was tied at 7-7.

Waller struck again with 5:20 left in the half on a well-executed throw and catch from Loewe to Christian Sowell for a 14-7 lead.

The defense played hard and kept Magnolia in check on the next possession and got the ball back to the offense with a little over three minutes to play. After a couple of plays, Joeseth McDade got the ball and broke free to score from 55 yards out with about a minute to play. The extra point was good and Waller claimed a 21-7 lead going into the locker room.

Magnolia came out in the third quarter and sustained a long drive that concluded with a 5-yard pass and score cutting their deficit to 21- 14.

Waller quickly answered with a drive that fell short of the goaline but came away with a Garcia 40-yard field goal to widen the margin to ten.

McDade then scored on a 23-yard run with 10:36 left in the game to go up 31-14.

Magnolia showed some fight, as they scored on their next possession for the final 31-21 margin.

Tomball Memorial    10
Ft. Bend Marshall    56
Tomball Memorial's rough introduction into the varsity world continued Oct. 19, just a week after earning their first victory in school history. The Wildcats fell to District 22-4A and undefeated Ft. Bend Marshall by a score of 56-10.

Tomball Memorial fell behind 28-7 in the first quarter, while Marshall never looked back.

Jordan Peterson led the Wildcat offense, going 5-11 passing for 72 yards and a 16-yard touchdown toss to running back Josh Williams.
Williams added 40 yards rushing on 16 carries.

Tomball Memorial traveled to Northbrook Oct. 25. The Wildcats fell 37-10. Stats were not available as of press time. The loss dropped Tomball Memorial to 1-7 on the year.