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.

A new location of Bamburger is now open in Montgomery, owner Juan Pablo confirmed.

The details: The restaurant, located along Hwy. 105, serves smashburgers, fries cooked in beef tallow and hand-spun milkshakes.

• 15260 Hwy. 105 W., Ste. 136, Montgomery

According to an April 28 news release, Shea Homes officially broke ground on its planned open wellness and social club at Converde, a new active adult community in Conroe, on April 27.

Two-minute impact: According to the news release, Converde is a 55-plus resort-style neighborhood designed for connection and community. It spans around 170 acres and is planned for about 540 homes.

Quote of note: “Breaking ground on the club is an exciting milestone because it brings our vision for this community, our first in Texas, one step closer to reality,” community manager for Converde, Darrell Maness, said. “This club will be the heart of the neighborhood, a place where residents stay active, build friendships, and enjoy the kind of vibrant, resort-style living that makes Trilogy communities so special.”

More details: Some of the amenities of the future club include:

• Fitness and wellness center

• Casual dining and bar

• Indoor and outdoor social spaces

• Resort-style pool and pickleball courts

• Dedicated lifestyle team

From Mother's Day brunch to markets, there are several events to celebrate Mother's Day in the Greater Houston area.

Mother's Day Downtown Conroe Sip & Stroll
This event is designed to pamper mothers with a shopping experience featuring local vendors with handcrafted gifts, jewelry and seasonal finds. The first to arrive will be given a free, limited edition Mother's Day tote bag.

• May 9, 10 a.m.

• Free

• 213 North Thompson St., Conroe

Mother's Day Once Upon a Tea
The Tomball Methodist Church is holding a Mother's Day event with refreshments, games, a flower bar and kids' activities.

• May 9, 10 a.m.-noon

• $20 (per person over 18 years old)

• Tomball Methodist Church, 1603 Baker Drive, Tomball

Mother’s Day Edition screening
Rooftop Cinema Club is celebrating Mother's Day with several screenings including "Mamma Mia!" and "Gilmore Girls."

• May 10, 5 p.m. ("Mamma Mia!’", May 12, 7 p.m. ("Gilmore Girls")

• $19.75-$27

• Uptown Houston, 1700 Post Oak Blvd., Houston

The Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion on April 28 announced the lineup for its 2026 Performing Arts Series, which offers free admission to live music, film, dance and family-friendly programming, according to a news release.

What to expect: The lineup begins in June and runs through December. Here's a look at the events happening this year:

• June 5: "Lilo and Stitch" screening with a Polynesian dance performance by My Hula Hut
• June 17: The Houston Symphony presents "The Music of Journey"
• June 23: "The Princess Bride" with live score by The Houston Symphony

In a one-year snapshot of Greater Houston attitudes, residents expressed the largest drop in confidence about regional job opportunities in more than 40 years, according to survey results released April 27 from the Kinder Institute for Urban Research.

About the data: Rice University researchers collected nearly 9,000 responses between January and February from residents in Harris, Fort Bend and Montgomery counties.

At a glance: One quarter of residents across all three counties named the economy as the “biggest problem” facing the Houston area this year compared to 16% in 2025, survey results show.

Crime and safety was the second-most commonly identified problem, followed by the cost of housing for Harris County residents and traffic for residents of Fort Bend and Montgomery counties. 

Another detail: The percentage of residents reporting they are “just getting by” or “finding it difficult to get by” increased across all income groups in the past year, survey results show.

Also of note: About 7 in 10 residents expressed concern about the environment’s effects on their health, researchers found. 

On May 26, Texas Republican voters will choose their nominee for the U.S. Senate in a runoff election between incumbent Sen. John Cornyn and state Attorney General Ken Paxton.

The big picture: The Republican race for U.S. Senate is one of several statewide contests that advanced to May runoffs after no candidate received more than 50% of the vote in the March 3 primary election.

Cornyn and Paxton were the two highest-performing candidates in the eight-way primary race, with Cornyn securing 42% of the vote to Paxton's 41%.

At the polls: Early voting in Texas' runoff elections runs from May 18-22, and runoff election day is May 26.

Looking ahead: The winner of the May 26 overtime round will face the Democratic nominee for U.S. Senate—state Rep. James Talarico of Austin—in the November midterm election. Third-party and independent candidates may also appear on the November ballot, and the winner of that election will be sworn in to the U.S. Senate in January 2027.