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Several business people in the community are once again banding together to put on the Families Feeding Families Thanksgiving event this year.

The event will be held at ChristBridge Fellowship Church, 29510 Tomball Pkwy., Nov. 21, from noon until 4 p.m.

"It's for anyone who is in the need for something," Vicki Clark of Community Bank of Texas said. "If you can't afford a Thanksgiving meal, if you are a veteran, police officer, firefighter or just lonely and need a hug. Anyone that needs fellowship can come."

She said that the group is excited and expects this year to be even bigger than the first event.

"We are looking to do this every year," she said. "We want this to grow into a huge event that we can help more and more people every year."

Clark said the event is for people in Cypress, Waller, Tomball and Magnolia areas.

"We want to eventually grow this to be as big for this area as the Houston event is for there," she said.

Legacy Beauty Academy will be there again this year to give free haircuts to those that attend. The Patch restaurant will cater the meal, while Panera Bread will donate all the rolls.

"The Patch is shutting down their restaurant for the day," Clark said. "This is their gift to the community."

Clark said they are looking to serve up to 1,000 people. Gift bags will be available for the first 250 people to attend.

There will also be kid's games provided by Salem Lutheran Church and a live DJ for entertainment. Homebound residents can also have their meals delivered to them by a volunteer.

For more information or to volunteer call Clark at 281-825-8331 or visit www.familiesfeedingfamilies.com.

Tomball Police arrested a man suspected of robbing the local Auto Zone, thanks to information provided by a Tomball jail inmate.

Police arrested Justin Ross Hightower, 30, of Tomball, Nov. 9, following a Nov. 8 robbery at Auto Zone, where a suspect displayed a handgun and ordered the cashier to give him money from the register.

"The cashier complied and the suspect took the money and fled the location," a Tomball press release stated. "Officers, investigators and criminalists arrived at the scene and began their investigation."

Police sources stated that they received a break in the case the next day. A patrol officer arrested a suspect that appeared to be coming down from a drug high. The suspect told investigators that they knew who robbed the Auto Zone and gave detectives Hightower's name.

Police arrested Hightower that evening and found evidence, including a pellet gun that was used in the robbery. Hightower is also a suspect in other robberies and break in's in both Harris and Montgomery counties.

Hightower was charged with aggravated robbery. His bond was set at $30,000.

Theodore Hale is a typical teenager, who has performed non-typical feats for those in his age group.

Hale spent most of his summer participating in a fellowship program, at the Center for Space Nuclear Research.

"I originally signed up to be a part of the Idaho National Laboratory internship," he said. "They called and said that they read my application and invited me to be a part of this program."

The program was helping to study the feasibility of an electromagnetic rail system in space, which would be used to transport cargo to far away planets. The research focuses on putting a station on the moon, which would allow for cargo transport to Mars via the rail system.

"I helped work on programs to find the best launch dates and location," Hale said.

Hale was the first and only high school student to participate in the program so far.

"Being around so many people who have that much knowledge was great," he said. "It was essentially like taking graduate level courses as a 17-year-old."

Hale said the experience allowed him the chance to explore his career goals in a deeper fashion.

"I was thrown into the sharks den immediately," he said. "Everyone had a vast array of experiences and it allowed me to hear from them all and help me decide what course to pursue."

Hale said he know plans to attend the University of Texas at Austin to pursue a double major in business management and chemical engineering. He credits his grandfather, a chemical engineer, for his interest in science.

"They definitely influenced me to the point that I want to pursue by (doctorate level degree)," he said.

Hale said that while he signed a contract which doesn't allow him to speak about a lot of the research he performed; he does believe that the nation has lost ground in a race to Mars.

"If money wasn't an object and the public didn't think it was a waste we would already be on Mars," he said.

After struggling to a 0-4 start, the Tomball Cougars stormed back this season to earn a playoff berth. The Cougars showed that the playoff spot was no fluke, after hammering Houston Reagan 47-14 in a bi-district showdown Nov, 15.

"Change equals discomfort," said first-year Tomball coach Danny Ramsey. "When you get discomfort it's difficult to put guys together and get them going in the same direction. These kids fought through adversity in the first four games and put a legacy together."

The Cougars opened up the scoring on the game's first possession, as they drove downfield, deep into the red zone. The drive stalled at the Reagan 4-yard line though and Tomball had to settle for a 21-yard field goal from Chadd Brown.

The Tomball defense started a trend of swarming and harassing the Reagan offense on the ensuing possession, as defensive back Tyler King broke up a third down pass to force a punt.

Both teams traded turnovers in their next drives by failing on fourth down plays, giving Tomball the ball with a little more than two minutes to play in the first quarter.
Starting at its own 37-yard line, the Cougars drove down the field with a purpose, running the ball eight times for 63 yards. Quarterback Drew Reynolds capped off the drive with a 5-yard bootleg around the right side for a score, as time expired. Brown's extra-point gave Tomball a 10-0 lead after one quarter of play.

Reagan quarterback Tyron Washington saw the first snap of the second quarter sail over his head. Tomball's David Luna recovered the ball at the Reagan 32, giving the Cougars excellent field position.

Tomball methodically took the ball down field, scoring on a 5-yard run from running back Dmitri Scott to take a 17-0 lead.

Both teams were unable to get much going in their next few drives. Reagan shot themselves in the foot while attempting a big fourth-and-one from their own 25-yard line. Two false start penalties in a row forced the Bulldogs to punt from about their own 5-yard line.

The short punt allowed Tomball to take over at the Reagan 40, where they wasted little time in adding to their lead.

After a 7-yard run by running back Percy Alford, Reynolds juked and jived his way to the Reagan nine. He barreled it in from there, giving the Cougars a 24-0 halftime lead.
Reagan opened the second half with a little trickery that backfired, as they attempted a fake punt. The ball was direct snapped to the up-back, who let the ball slip from his hand as he was going back to throw. Reagan recovered the fumble in their own end zone, leading to a safety and a 26-0 Tomball lead.

The Cougars took control of the game for good on their ensuing drive as Richards found Weston Shattuck over the middle for a 22-yard touchdown pass and the rout was on.
Tomball looked well on their way towards another score later in the quarter, but Reynolds pass was intercepted by Reagan's Tavon Dodd, who returned it 78 yards for a pick six, cutting the lead to 33-7.

The Bulldogs then went on to sustain their best drive of the game, capping it off with a 5-yard touchdown by Dodd.

With their big lead now nearly cut in half, the Cougars rallied on their next possession, when Scott caught a pass from Reynolds and weaved his way to the end zone for a 66-yard touchdown. The extra-point extended the lead to 40-14 with nine minutes to play.

"You are only going to play as good as you can control your emotions," Ramsey said. "We may have had a little breakdown there, but give the kids credit because they refocused and put the game away."

With the big lead, Ramsey decided to give his backups some playoff experience and they responded. Quarterback Austin Sturtzman broke initial containment at the line and raced downfield 50 yards to the Reagan 11-yard line.

Three plays later running back Max Baranoske plowed his way for a one-yard touchdown, for the final 47-14 score.

The Cougars bested Reagan 604-127 in total yards, with 463 of those on the ground. Xavier Powell was the workhorse, running 25 times for 168 yards. Reynolds added 99 yards on 15 carries, with two touchdowns, while Scott had 62 yards on nine rushes and a touchdown. Sturtzman had 63 yards on three carries, while Alford had 28 yards on eight rushes. Baranoske rounded it all out with 22 yards on three carries and a score.

Reynolds was 5-12 passing with two touchdowns and 141 yards through the air.

The Cougars will play Angleton, who defeated Friendswood 48-41 in the first round, at Humble's Turner Stadium, Friday night. Kickoff is scheduled for 6 p.m.

The Tomball City Council took a large step towards bringing a major tourist entity to the city, when it voted to approve an agreement with the Houston Railroad Museum on it's relocation to Tomball.

"They are looking for a new home," said Tomball councilman Field Hudgens. "We have the space available and it makes sense for the two to merge together considering our history."

The Memorandum of Understanding is the first step in a process to bring the museum to Tomball. The agreement states that the museum would be located on the northeast side of the railroad tracks near the Tomball baseball fields.

Hudgens said the museum is a perfect fit for the city.

"It's a wonderful idea," he said. "It's a perfect match with Tomball's roots being set with the railroad."

The museum, which is run by the Gulf Coast Chapter of the National Railway Historical Society, has been closed for the entirety of 2012 while it searched for a new home. The museum's inventory includes several locomotives, freight cars, passenger cars and cabooses. There are also many railway artifacts.

The museum also provides educational tours and a scholarship to the National Park Service's Rail Camp in Scranton, Pa.

In other business the council approved a new sign ordinance which looks to eliminate the roadways of advertisements known as bandit signs, as well as regulate the size and scope of other signs within the city.

The next city council meeting will be Nov. 18.