Official site of Tribune News serving Tomball, Magnolia and Waller

The 47th annual Miss Tomball Pageant will take place at 7 p.m., Nov. 17, at the Salem Lutheran Church Worship Center. 38 young women will compete for the title of 2013 Miss Tomball. Contestants include (front row from left) Justice Phillips, Diana Fuggiti, Morgan Estes, Marissa Lemons, Kimberly Stricklin, Monica Dziak, Mara Seigler, Haley Moeller, Rachel Sembera and Devin Carriker; (middle row, from left) Randa Nickerson, Faviola Carrillo, Stacy Gomez, Jordan Allen, Jennifer Graves, Victoria Garza, Mikala Campbell, Rachel Sanguedolce, Hannah Henry, Katie Carnoski, Kasey Self, Jordan Sluder and Erin Monroe; (back row, from left) Anastasia Hoffart, Carley Naquin, Kelsey Zalesak, Emily Parker, Avery Morris, Rachel Lee, Stephanie Ludwig, Reagan Farmer, Isabella Mingalone, Hannah Plucheck, Christian Gehring, Bekah Kletecka, Rachael Shah and Kailey Studhalter.

Magnolia city officials have entered the beginning stages of a new comprehensive plan, which will give the city a roadmap for planning the next 15-20 years. Residents will have a chance to hear about the new plan during the city council meeting Nov. 13.

Magnolia Economic Development Coordinator Deborah Rose Miller said the plan is long overdue. The city's last comprehensive plan was developed in 1999.

"It was time for an update," she said. "We had outgrown our previous plan. It wasn't as encompassing as we want to make this plan."

Miller said the new plan will be able to allow the city to do more things to plan for the future, such as possibly adding planning and zoning down the road.

"We can't do zoning without a comprehensive plan, if we decide to do that," she said. "We will be able to do many things as a city, but to do those things, the law requires that we have a comprehensive plan."

The plan, being developed by officials with the help of Kendig Keast Collaborative, starts off by focusing not just on the city, but the entire area around Magnolia and its explosive growth.

"Magnolia benefits from the regional employment centers and mixed-use amenities of The Woodlands, Conroe and Tomball," the plan's introductory statement says. "This has translated into local growth, as Magnolia has experienced a 25 percent population increase over the last 10 years and a 50 percent increase in commercial permits over the last year."

Among the goals of the plan are establishing a community-supported vision and guiding principles that steer future growth and enhancement, providing short, mid-term and long-term growth strategies and providing greater predictability for residents, land owners, developers and investors.

Members of the plan's steering committee have gone over the first three chapters of the plan, which will be presented to the city council Nov. 13, for discussion.

"It's part of the process," Miller said. "We want to make sure each chapter builds on the others and make sure everyone is on the same page."

The second chapter of the plan deals with the area's land use and character.

"The city must play to its strengths by maintaining a high quality of life and niche appeal that compliment the big city amenities of neighboring jurisdictions," the plan states. "As the community grows and matures, land use and character planning will be central to protecting its highly valued identity, while guiding the pattern, appearance, quality and sustainability of new growth."

The third chapter to be discussed at the meeting deals with growth management and capacity.

"Like many small, bedroom communities, Magnolia lacks a critical mass of taxpayers that wholly fund the infrastructure and social services that are expected of a metropolitan suburb," the plane states. "As the city pursues an aggressive growth trajectory to overcome this imbalance and achieve home rule authority, its long-term financial health and sustainability will be contingent on its restraint, as much as it opportunism."

The city has taken steps to build a committee to look into the benefits and concerns of zoning, which the council will discuss at the meeting as well.

"If the council approves the committee, its charter will be to investigate the pros and cons of implementing zoning," Miller stated.

The council meeting starts at 7 p.m. at City Hall, 18111 Buddy Riley Blvd.

After months of political games, tricks, advertising and commentary, voters went to the polls Nov. 6 to choose local and national candidates.

In Harris County, once massively dominated by Republicans, President Barack Obama eked out a win, carrying a few local Democrats with him, including Sheriff Adrian Garcia.
Garcia won re-election over former Harris County deputy Louis Guthrie by a 53 percent to 45 percent margin, despite Guthrie receiving the endorsement of the Harris County Deputies Organization.

Another close race was one for the Harris County District Attorney's Office. Republican mike Anderson defeated Democrat Lloyd Oliver, despite the Democratic Party's attempts to remove Oliver from the ballot.

Democrat County Attorney Vince Ryan also won re-election by a slim margin, grabbing 51 percent of the vote over Republican Robert Talton. He was helped by a large democratic turnout on Election Day.

In races with national implications, Republican Ted Cruz narrowly won Harris County over Democrat Paul Sadler, by one-a-half percent.

Republican Kevin Brady easily won re-election to his U.S. House of Representatives seat, defeating Neil Burns. Brady attributed his win to his ability to not become one of the Washington establishment.

"Because I've never moved to Washington, voters know I never forget who I work for," Brady said. "Representing our communities in Congress is a privilege and I'm very thankful to my constituents for sending me back to work for them. I'll continue to fight for a stronger economy, lower taxes, balanced budget, secure border and greater freedom from the growing threat of big government."

Brady said he will try and convince colleagues in the House to tackle tough issues in the next session.

"America is standing at a precarious point," he said. "The President and Congress simply can't keep ducking the tough issues. We need to act now – right now – to tackle America's dangerous debt crisis, reform our oppressive tax code and find real solutions to preserve Social Security and Medicare for every generation without raising taxes. The U.S. House has already approved good ideas and sound solutions. All we need are a Senate and a President with the political will to work with us to get the job done – now."

Congressman Michael McCaul also won re-election. McCaul said that the election results amount to a message that his party will have to work together with President Obama for the good of the nation, but without compromising on their basic principles.

McCaul recently told reporters that immigration reform could be possible in the next session, if lawmakers and the President can come together on issues they agree on.

Montgomery County races were mainly uncontested in the Republican stronghold, as were State Representative races in the Tomball area.

The Greater Tomball Area Chamber of Commerce will hold the annual holiday parade Nov. 17, at 10 a.m., along Main Street. This year's theme is Candy Canes and Christmas Carols. This year's Grand Marshal will be Pastor Wayne Graumann of Salem Lutheran Church. For more information visit www.tomballchamber.org or call 281-351-7222.

The Tomball High School STAGE theater department will perform the Tony Award winning musical "The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee" Nov. 15-17. Performances will be held at 7 p.m. all days, with a special matinee performance Nov. 17 at 2:30 p.m., at the Tomball High School Auditorium, 30330 Quinn Rd. Tickets are $10. For information, or to purchase tickets online, visit www.tomball
stage.org.