Official site of Tribune News serving Tomball, Magnolia and Waller

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.

A bomb threat was phoned in early this afternoon, officials at Lone Star College-Tomball confirmed.

Officials said they received the anonymous threat by phone at around 1:30 p.m.

Tomball Police, the Harris County Sheriff's office, federal authorities and campus police were all on scene.

Students began the process of evacuating after officials sent out email and text alerts from the school's emergency notification system. Many were seen walking down SH 249.

"I got a text message from the school saying 'bomb threat evacuate Tomball now'," said LSC student Aaron Nester.

No one is being allowed on campus and officials have cancelled classes until further notice for precautionary reasons.

Updates are being provided at www.lonestar.edu.

UPDATE: No bomb was found, but police are still investigating who initiated the false threat.

The sound made famous by artists like Bill Monroe and Ricky Skaggs will fill the air of Tomball Oct. 27, as the city hosts its first ever Tomball Bluegrass Festival at the Tomball Depot.

The event, which will feature four bands, has been drawing a lot of interest, according to Tomball Marketing Director Mike Baxter.

"We've been getting a lot of phone calls and it's getting a lot of interest," he said.

Baxter said he came up with idea after the successful honky tonk festival last year.

"That is the great thing about our events," he said. "Instead of a country music festival, we have been able to do events that are more defined, like this and the honky tonk festival."

Headlining the event are Darin and Brook Aldridge, the Sweethearts of Bluegrass. They were voted the 2011 "Emerging Artists" award by the International Bluegrass Music Association, while also winning the gospel group, album and Song of the Year awards from the Society for the Preservation of Bluegrass Music.

Wood & Wire, a bluegrass group from Austin, will bring a unique mix of Americana and swing. Singing originals and traditional Bluegrass favorites, Baxter said the group peppers their songs with funky acoustic jams and instrumentals.

Local favorites TayHoss will also perform, bringing with them a regional style with touches of country, blues and mountain traditional.

A fourth band, the Soundcheck Band, will open the show, starting at 11:30 a.m.

Baxter said the event will also feature a jam tent, which will feature several Bluegrass artists throughout the day in traditional and fun jam sessions.

Food and beverages will be available, along with vendors, kids activities and games.

Baxter said he hopes to draw around 1,500 people for the inaugural event.

"It all depends on the weather, but from the forecasts right now it looks like it's shaping up to be beautiful," he said.

Forecasts as of press time show sunny skies and a high temperature of 80.

Admission and parking are free for the event. The music starts at 11:30 a.m. and runs until 6 p.m.

For more information call 281-351-5484 or visit www.facebook.com/TomballTexanForFun.

Tomball police have arrested a man suspected in an early morning hit and run which seriously injured a pedestrian Oct. 8.

Detectives obtained a warrant for Juan Carlos Romero, 32, of Tomball after evidence led them to a vehicle owned by the man. He was charged with a felony of Failure to Stop and Render Aid.

The events started when a Tomball police officer found Earl Moore, 55, lying in a ditch on James Street. The officer determined that Moore had been hit by a car. He was life flighted to Memorial Hospital where he is still being treated for his injuries.

Detectives pieced together a ford headlight from evidence left behind. After calling in representatives from Ford, it was determined that the vehicle was either a white Ford Ranger or a Ford Explorer.

Detective Harral decided to drive through a nearby apartment complex, Dartford Square Apartments, and found a Ford Explorer with damage that was consistent with debris left at the accident scene.

"I spoke with the defendant's wife who stated that she was a passenger in the vehicle the night of the accident," Harral wrote in the charging documents. "It was learned, through the passenger, that the defendant struck a pedestrian who was walking west on the north side of the roadway."

Romero's vehicle was taken into custody for forensic processing.

Romero was arrested at around 11 p.m. Oct. 17, at his apartment.

He is being held on $5,000 bond.