As the holiday season approaches, food pantries in the Tomball and Magnolia area have begun to see a rise in new customers. Food insecurity occurs when a household lacks adequate access to safe, nutritious food and many who are food insecure look to local food pantries and food drives to stay afloat.

The conditions: Recent changes to SNAP and EBT took effect on July 3, 2025, with the passage of the Big Beautiful Bill (H.R.1). New standards include stricter work requirements, mandated work hours, immigrant eligibility restrictions, and the removal of exemptions for veterans and young adults.

These changes, along with rising national inflation, have left a major gap that food pantries can't fill through their local programs alone.

“SNAP is a much bigger resource, and this is not a situation where charity can fill the entire gap,” Montgomery County Food Bank CEO Scott Burns said. “The amount of funds coming from those sorts of support systems, they're designed to be a safety net. They're not designed to be a permanent solution for people.”

Lass African Braids hair braiding salon has opened for business in Tomball. The salon opened on Oct. 1 and offers a wide variety of Black hair care services.

These services include:

• Box Braids

• Men's and women's cornrows

• Knotless braids

• Boho braids

• Senegalese twists

The salon also provides takedown and maintenance for clients' hair for an extra service charge.

Also of note: Clients can confirm appointments and pay a deposit through the business website. The salon is open Monday-Sunday from 7 a.m.-11 p.m.

• 701 E. Main St., Ste. 127 B, Tomball

On Oct. 28, the Lone Star College System formally signed a Guaranteed Transfer Partnership Agreement (GTPA) with five higher education institutions.

The framework: The partnership includes Prairie View A&M University, Sam Houston State University, Texas State University, Texas Tech University and the University of Houston-Downtown. The program is part of Lone Star College's 2025–2030 strategic plan to create pathways for students to get gainful employment and transfer opportunities. The GTPA will create 50 different guaranteed transfer pathways to degrees. Under this program:

• Students will know which credits transfer toward their degrees from the start for up to six years.

• Continuously enrolled students do not lose ground if course requirements change.

• High school students taking dual credit courses can apply those credits toward a bachelor's degree at a partnered university.

What they are saying: University of Houston-Downtown interim president Deborah Bordelon noted the agreement is about accountability and holding each other to higher standards.