Construction has begun on the first portion of the 328-acre Azalea District, which will feature residential, dining, healthcare and shopping options, within the master-planned community Valley Ranch in New Caney. The Azalea District will feature 359 homes, spanning 203 acres, and marks the last single-family residential community to debut in Valley Ranch.

Two-minute impact: The first residential phase of construction for the Azalea District will include 156 homesites, which are expected to be delivered this summer. First America Homes, a division of The Signorelli Company, will build the homes.

Zooming in: Amenities in the residential section of the Azalea District will include:

• A pool
• A playground
• A pavilion
• A paved trail network

Roman Forest City Council members voted to accept council member Jerry Reasner’s resignation during the council’s April 27 meeting.

The details: Reasner, who was elected to the Place 3 council member position in 2024, would have been up for reelection in November.

Mayor Chris Parr thanked Reasner for his service to the city during the meeting.

Some context: During the council’s March 18 workshop, Reasner said he had been forced to miss several council meetings following the death of a family member, noting he’d likely miss more if he didn’t opt to step down.

What’s next: Because Council Member Mitchell Davis was not present for the April 17 meeting, Parr said the council would wait to consider nominating a replacement for Reasner until the full council could meet to discuss potential options.

For years, when west Montgomery County crews needed extra water, cots, blankets or other emergency supplies after a storm, the backup plan was simple but risky: go to Conroe and get it. Precinct 2 Commissioner Charlie Riley said that worked when the west side of the county was smaller and easier to navigate. But after Hurricane Harvey, multiple winter storms, floods, tornadoes and a wildfire, he said the distance started to become a problem.

The gist: Now, Precinct 2 is nearly finished with a $1.4 million emergency management building on its county barn property that Riley said should be online around May 1. 

What residents should know: Precinct 2’s building is one piece of a broader county effort to spread emergency resources beyond Conroe. Jason Millsaps, executive director of Montgomery County’s Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Management, said identical supply warehouses are coming online in Precincts 2 and 4 to help reach areas that are harder to serve quickly from Conroe when roads are flooded or blocked by debris.

The Houston-Pasadena region rose one spot, and is now ranked No. 6 out of 226 metropolitan areas for its number of high ozone days, according to the 2026 State of the Air report released by the American Lung Association on April 21.

Looking back: The region was ranked No. 7 in 2025, Community Impact previously reported. Between 2022-24, the Houston region’s annual weighted average of high ozone days was 43.3, according to the report.

Some context: Ozone air pollution, aka smog, is a lung irritant and can cause health problems, such as chest tightness, coughing and shortness of breath, according to the ALA.

What else: With regard to annual particle pollution, the Houston-Pasadena area ranked No. 8 out of 211 metropolitan areas. The region also ranked No. 89 out of 224 metropolitan areas for 24-hour particle pollution, according to the report.

TSA PreCheck Touchless ID is now available at George Bush Intercontinental Airport, or IAH, and William P. Hobby Airport, giving eligible travelers another way to move through security, according to an April 23 news release from Houston Airports.

What you need to know: The system "enhances security screening by using facial comparison technology to verify identity faster and more efficiently," the news release notes.

Enrolled travelers with participating airlines can move through dedicated lanes at Hobby Airport and at IAH TSA Checkpoints Terminal A-North, Terminal C-North and Terminal E.

More details: Passengers must meet the following requirements to be eligible for TSA Precheck Touchless ID:

• Have TSA PreCheck
• Have an active airline profile with a participating airline
• Upload valid passport information to their airline profile

In the early hours of July 4, 2025, an intense rainstorm pummeled communities in the Texas Hill Country, submerging low-water crossings as segments of the Guadalupe River rose more than 30 feet in 90 minutes. Twenty-seven young campers and counselors died at Camp Mystic, a private Christian girls summer camp located along the river in Hunt.

Those deaths could have been prevented if camp leadership took action sooner or had a written evacuation plan in place, investigators told a panel of state lawmakers tasked with studying the flood response during an April 27 hearing.

Quote of note: “Questions about what should happen next are many, but for me, one thing is clear: This tragedy could have been prevented,” Sen. Pete Flores, R-Pleasanton, said.

Zooming in: Camp Mystic staff had more than two hours to evacuate 386 campers from their cabins, investigator Casey Garrett said.

In violation of state law, the camp did not have a written evacuation plan and counselors were not trained on what to do in an emergency, she said.

Community Impact is reporting on the New Caney, Porter and Roman Forest area’s continued transition from a more rural region to a suburban area. Please contact Reporter Wesley Gardner at [email protected] if you’re willing to share your thoughts on the area’s transition in an interview.