HTX-TOM: Impact 10/13/2025

Owner Elaine Edmonds has opened her business in Old Town Tomball, she said.

The details: Lane's Line offers natural and plant based skin care products and home essentials. Edmonds said she handcrafts all products, which includes soap, tallow, lotion, lotion sticks, lotion candles, regular scented candles, lip balm, laundry wash, body butter, sugar scrubs, bath dust, room sprays, bath soaks and more.

"I started making my own skin care products back in 2019 and have since grown," Edmonds said. "From sharing my products with my family and friends to going to farmers markets, to my Etsy shop, to my own website, I finally decided it was time to make the jump to my own brick and mortar to really expand and be able to share my products with more people."

She said other items in the works are shampoo and condition bars, deodorant, magnesium creams and more children's products.

• 210 W Main St., Tomball

Something Sweet Bakery officials confirmed they have plans to open on Oct. 11.

What they offer: Per the business's Instagram, the bakery will offer homemade cookies, cupcakes and treats.

• 32105 Hwy. 249, Pinehurst

Home affordability in the Houston region has a more balanced position in the September housing affordability report from the Houston Association of Realtors.

At a glance: Single-family homes priced from $250,000 to $499,999, which accounted for more than 55% of all September sales, experienced a 1.3% decline compared to the same time last year, according to the report.

Digging deeper: The median home price was $327,000, which is 2.1% less than last year’s figure. The average price inched up 2% to $421,655, largely due to a rise in luxury home sales in September, per the release.

Quote of note: “The past few months have brought lower mortgage rates, and it has helped boost buyer confidence,” HAR Chair Shae Cottar with LPT Realty said in a statement.

Texas’ power grid is unlikely to have issues this December, according to an Oct. 3 report by the Electric Reliability Council of Texas.

The details: During the winter, demand for electricity spikes when people get up in the morning and return home in the evening. This December, the tightest period is expected to be from 7-8 a.m. each day, when little to no solar power is being produced. ERCOT found that there will be a 1.81% chance of a grid emergency during that time.

“Under typical grid conditions, the deterministic scenario indicates that there should be sufficient generating capacity available," the report reads.

The background: Texas' grid withstood three cold snaps early this year. ERCOT last asked residents to voluntarily reduce their energy use in January 2024.

Legislative approach: State lawmakers approved legislation this spring that is designed to make the grid more reliable by tightening regulations on large electric consumers, such as data centers. In extreme grid conditions, those customers will be required to switch to backup power to reduce strain on the grid.