Eight candidates have filed for positions on the board of trustees for the Conroe Independent School District in the November elections.

Voters planning to have their say in the Nov. 2 school board election have until Oct. 4 to register.

Incumbent Mel Brown, a 69-year-old Conroe resident, is unopposed in Position 1.

There's some competition for Position 2, with four candidates running.

BY KIM MORGAN
Chronicle correspondent

There's something new in the world of cyber crime.
The FBI calls it "sextortion."

"Basically, it's online sexual blackmail," said Cheryl Shaffer, a Houston FBI agent who spoke to a crowd of 80 recently during a session of Watch Talk Wednesday at The Woodlands Township. "I've got something on you and if you don't give me this or that, I'm going to send it to all your friends or I'm going to post this online about you."

A Conroe committee will study whether new red light cameras should be added to other intersections in the city.

Eight months after the city introduced a program to ticket red-light runners, the Conroe City Council is considering whether to add Loop 336 West at Plantation Drive to the list of intersection with camera to enforce the program.

That intersection would joins seven other intersections in the city where drivers could face a fine of $75 for running a red light.

The Conroe City Council passed a $99.6 million budget on Aug. 26 which will allow the city to hire four new employees and not raise taxes.

“The budget is a conservative plan to improve our community and our workplace while maintaining the current tax rate,” said Mayor Webb Melder in a letter to the council. “It includes money to replace vehicles and equipment, the addition of four new positions, and a moderate 5.35 percent adjustment to the sewer rate.”

Jeff and Anna Tew, of The Woodlands, organize coupons they have clipped. Jeff has caught the coupon clipping bug from his wife, and has joined the growing trend of men getting into using coupons as a way to save money. Photo by David HopperBY KIM MORGAN
Chronicle correspondent

Get out the scissors, polish up your smart phone and get ready to go online for some shopping deals.

September is National Coupon Month, as designated by the Promotion Marketing Association's Coupon Council.

U.S. Air Force T-38 jets such as this one shown refueling at the Naval Air Station in Fort Worth will soon be able to land at the Lone Star Executive Airport in Conroe for refueling and mechanical repairs. Photo by M.L. Gray/Fort Worth Star-Telegram/MCTBY KIM MORGAN
Chronicle correspondent

Lone Star Executive Airport in Conroe will soon be a stop on the map for U.S. Air Force jets heading cross country.

A pilot was injured when his single-engine plane crashed in a wooded neighborhood in southeast Montgomery County Monday night. Read more here.

Montgomery County Commissioners Court passed a resolution on Aug. 23 indicating its desire to join a new regional group to upgrade freight and commuter rail services throughout the Houston region.

But before any final action can be taken, the Gulf Coast Regional Rail District would have to adopt an amendment to its establishing resolution that would allow Montgomery County to join. That action is expected to be taken by the end of October, said Maureen Crocker, interim executive director of the regional agency.

BY KIM MORGAN
Chronicle correspondent

Montgomery County Commissioner's Court on Monday approved a $236 million budget for fiscal year 2010-11, which will include a new regional forensic center and secure mental health facility for criminal offenders, without the need for a tax increase.

For the third year in a row, residents will not face an increase in property taxes, as the tax rate remains at 48.38 cents per $100 property valuation. That means homeowners will pay $483.80 per $100,000 value of their home before exemptions.