Official site of Tribune News serving Tomball, Magnolia and Waller

Where there's smoke, there's fire and the trail of smoke in Magnolia March 22 and 23, will lead to more than 50 barbecue teams at Unity Park. The Greater Magnolia Chamber of Commerce will host its 19th annual barbecue cook-off, called the Magnolia Showdown.

Along with watching cookers at their best, tasting a few samples and seeing outstanding showmanship exhibits; there will be free live music by the Philip Griffin Band beginning at 8 p.m., March 22. 

For the third consecutive year, the cook-off will be at the 30-acre Unity Park off Nichols-Sawmill Road. Ven-dors offering specialty items return to the cook-off this year.

"This is a really big event," GMCC Magnolia Showdown Chair Gari Lynn Hessong said. "We never have a shortage of good food or fun."

Special accomodations for competitors and visitors are being offered at both the Executive Inn & Suites of Magnolia, or at Magnolia Inn & Suites. For more information visit www.executiveinnmagnolia.com, or magnoliainnandsuites.com.

The Greater Magnolia Chamber of Commerce Showdown, co-hosted by the City of Magnolia, is an International Barbecue Cook-ers Association sanctioned event. For details, email  This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or call 281-356-1488.

Lovers of fiddles and steel guitars will be flocking to Tomball Mar. 16, as the city will be holding its second annual Tomball Honky Tonk Music Festival that afternoon.

"It's going to be an afternoon of old style honky tonk music," said Tomball marketing director Mike Baxter. "It's reminiscent of the days of Hank Williams and Patsy Cline – when country was country."

Nearly 1,500 people showed up to the inaugural event last year and Baxter expects more this go around.

Headlining the event is Austin musician Dale Watson, who describes his two decade career as one of a maverick country traditionalist.

Performing first, around noon, will be Miss Leslie & Her Juke Jointers, a group that has appeared at several of the city's events. They will be followed by Country Jim & His Country All-Stars, which features musicians that have shared the stage with legends like Doug Supernaw and Hank Williams Jr.

"(Country Jim) has been performing for more than 40 years," Baxter said.

Rounding out the music festivities will be Amber Digby & Midnight Flyer. Digby and Watson are both new to the event this year.

The concrete patio at the Tomball Depot Plaza will be transformed into a large dance floor, built for two-stepping.

Baxter also said that local favorite's Mel's Country Café and Snookie's Fish Camp will be serving food at the event, while they have lined up nearly 20 merchandise vendors as well. There will also be beer and wine for sale at the event.

Baxter said these events are a good way for the city to show off its unique businesses and it's local flavor to visitors who come in to hear the show.

"The events help bring people to the city, who in turn visit our shops, restaurants and things downtown," he said.

The Tomball Honky Tonk Music Festival will be held Mar. 16, from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m., at the Depot Plaza. For more information visit www.tomballtx.gov,
or facebook.com/TomballTexanForFun

A train plowed into a trailer carrying specialized oilfield equipment to Mexico, the afternoon of Mar. 4, backing up traffic in all directions around Magnolia.

According to the Magnolia Police Department, the trailer was waiting on the tracks for workers to help it clear the overhead railroad signal on FM 1488, when the train came down the tracks.

No one was injured.

Magnolia Police Executive Officer J.K. Seangal said the tracks were blocked at FM 1488 and FM 1774 until around 9 p.m. He said they were dispatched to the scene just before 3 p.m.

"Union Pacific called a company that brought out a crane type piece of equipment that was able to remove the container holding the equipment being transported," he said. "We then called in some heavy tow trucks to remove the trailer."

The trailer was cut in half by the force of the impact.

Witnesses to the event say that they heard workers yelling for the truck driver to move, but the driver apparently did not speak much English and did not understand. That's when one of the workers grabbed the driver and pulled him from the truck at the last minute.

The force of the crash even tore the side of the train's engine off.

With so much heavy equipment involved, police had to look for creative ways to get traffic flowing again.

"We were able to keep traffic moving through the area through detour routes," Seangal said.

The entire scene was cleaned up and the equipment was all moved out of the area late the next morning.

A video of the crash, taken by Magnolia resident Kandi Edwards made the rounds nationally and can be seen on our website, www.tribunenews.com.

The Tomball City Council received the annual audit during its regular meeting Mar. 4 and city officials said the results show the city is in sound financial shape. Every year the city is required to have an independent audit of its finances completed by an outside agency.

"The point of an audit is to provide an opinion on the financial statements of the city," said Sara Roberts, of the CPA firm Weaver and Tidwell, who performed the audit.

City finance director Glenn Windsor told city council members that property values increased nearly 18 percent during the last fiscal year – the largest increase in the past five years. Much of the increase is due to Tomball Regional Medical Center being purchased by a private company and becoming a taxable property for the first time.

Sales tax revenues also jumped nearly 18 percent. Officials and financial experts believe the increase in sales tax revenue will continue, as the area is rapidly growing each year.

The general fund balance showed a decrease of nearly $2 million; however that was due to a transfer of more than $2 million to the capital projects fund. Not taking that transfer into account, the general fund had an increased balance of more than $200,000, Roberts said.

Capital projects during the last fiscal year included the completion of Brown-Hufsmith Road, renovations to the main fire station on Quinn Road, as well as a land purchase for the planned Tomball Business Park.

In other business the council approved to waive fees and costs associated with the Lions Club Car Show, which will be held at the Depot Plaza April 21.

Tomball Police Chief Robert Hauck then addressed council about renewing the juvenile curfew ordinance, which must be renewed every three years. The council must hold two public hearings on the issue, before voting to retain it, amend it or drop it all together.

"My recommendation is that we continue the ordinance without change," he said.

The current curfew ordinance states that minors may not be in public during the hours of 12 a.m. until 6 a.m., with some notable exceptions like work, emergencies or running errands for their family. Hauck said that while there doesn't seem to be a big curfew issue within the city, having the ordinance serves as a deterrent.

"It's a reasonably written ordinance," he said.

The council will hold a second hearing on the ordinance during its Mar. 18 meeting.

The Greater Tomball Chamber of Commerce will be holding its first monthly networking breakfast Mar. 19, from 7 a.m. to 9 a.m., at Luby's Cafeteria, 28750 Tomball Pkwy., in Tomball. There is a $10 charge for chamber members and a $15 charge for non-members. For more information call 281-351-7222, or email admin@tomballchamber. org.