Grand Lake area's top 10 stories

1. Heroin addiction

Local law enforcement and courts in the past year have aggressively battled an increase in heroin use. Among the efforts was the creation this fall of the House of Hope in Celina, a rehabilitation facility for women.

In the latest strategy, the Mercer County Sheriff's Office and Celina Police Department created a Heroin Interdiction Squad, which targets users and dealers. Officers from both departments have placed pink hangers on doors in some neighborhoods to inform residents about possible signs of drug activity, support group meetings and treatment centers.

Deputies also this year began carrying Narcan kits in their cruisers to immediately treat victims of drug overdoses. New programs launched by Mercer County Sheriff Jeff Grey include Against All Odds, Freedom 101, Reformers Unanimous and The Avanulo Way, a decision-making and planning program that was altered after the first round of candidates failed.

The House of Hope recently opened at 4874 Mud Pike to provide up to five women a sober environment and chance to become productive members of the community. Each must be in a qualified Mercer County drug treatment program.

The Mercer County Drug Court Program or Specialized Docket also was created this year to rehabilitate local residents charged with felonies and diagnosed with drug and/or alcohol dependence.

2. Local economy

A wave of new businesses opened this year and many existing ones have expanded as Mercer County's economic outlook appears to get better and better.

Two of the bigger companies beginning production in the county in 2014 were Ferguson in Celina, a distribution center for the plumbing supply giant, and Perham Egg in Fort Recovery, an egg-cracking business.

A Marshalls department store is slated to open its doors in Harbor Square in Celina next year.

Workers appear to be quickly filling the positions at new and existing businesses. For three straight years Mercer County has held sole bragging rights to the lowest unemployment rate in the state. The jobless rate in November was 2.7 percent.

The county has retained the lowest unemployment in Ohio since November 2011.

Experts say - despite the low jobless rate - the labor force in Mercer County has continued to grow since 2010.

3. Grube killers sentenced

Bryant L. Rhoades, 24, and Trevin Sanders-Roark, 20, in August were each given two consecutive life sentences for the 2011 murder of a father and daughter slain in their Fort Recovery home.

The Union City men were convicted of two counts each of aggravated murder with a gun specification, aggravated robbery and aggravated burglary for the deaths of Robert Grube, 70, and Colleen Grube, 47.

Rhoades had entered an Alford guilty plea and Sanders-Roark pleaded guilty to the charges.

Court-appointed local attorneys Richard Delzeith and Peter Van Arsdel have filed an appeal on behalf of Sanders-Roark. Rhoades also filed an appeal in September but later withdrew it.

Authorities say they are still seeking two suspected accomplices who they believe were present at the Grube home on Burrville Road when the murders took place Nov. 29-30, 2011.

Investigators said the Grube home was targeted for a robbery. After reportedly smoking methamphetamine en route, the perpetrators feigned car trouble and forcibly entered the residence, authorities believe. Once inside, they duct-taped Robert Grube to his wheelchair and bound his daughter, lying on a nearby couch.

Sanders-Roark, in a stipulation of facts filed in his case, said they found a gun in the home belonging to Robert Grube. He test-fired the weapon in the kitchen before returning to the living room and shooting the daughter. Sanders-Roark said he then handed the gun to Rhoades who shot the father.

4. Lake water quality

Grand Lake water-quality issues continued to capture headlines in 2014.

For the sixth consecutive year the state placed the lake under a recreational water advisory due to unsafe levels of toxins produced by blue-green algae in the lake.

Despite no measurable change in the lake's water quality, local residents and businesses declared 2014 a good year for the lake, noting lodging taxes increased 12 percent over 2013's. Also, few visible algae blooms were observed, compared with previous years, likely due to unseasonably cooler temperatures during the summer.

The Prairie Creek treatment train south of Grand Lake is expected to be completed in 2015, while officials plan the construction of several more along other tributaries flowing into the lake.

The Prairie Creek treatment train - the first of its kind in Ohio - diverts a portion of water from the creek and treats it with alum, a chemical that deactivates phosphorous, the favorite food of the lake's toxic blue-green algae. The water is then funneled through two retention ponds and six manmade wetland cells before entering the lake.

The Lake Facilities Association board in August agreed to build a second treatment train on Coldwater Creek, south of Celina. The Ohio Department of Natural Resources last year earmarked $2.1 million for the project.

The LFA is seeking another grant for a treatment train on Beaver Creek on 50 acres of land owned by Mercer County between Guadalupe Road and Montezuma. The project may be funded through an Ohio EPA 319 program grant. A cost estimate has not yet been announced.

Plans also are in the works to establish treatment trains along Big Chickasaw and Little Chickasaw creeks.

In January 2011, the state designated the Grand Lake Watershed distressed after humans and animals were sickened by toxins in the water the previous year. Most of the nutrients that enter the lake run off farmland, the largest land use in the 58,000-acre watershed.

5. State football titles

For the first time in the history of Ohio football championships, three teams from one conference - the Midwest Athletic Conference - took home championship titles in a single season in December.

Marion Local's football team won its fourth straight state title and eighth in school history with a 41-0 win over Norwalk St. Paul in the Division VII title game. The Flyers' eight titles tie Newark Catholic's and Youngstown Mooney's for third-most in state history.

Coldwater won its third straight Division V state title and fifth overall title with a 62-21 win over Canton Central Catholic. Two-time state Offensive Player of the Year Brody Hoying rushed for 236 yards and tied a state record with four touchdown runs as the Cavaliers broke the division title game record for most points scored by a team.

Minster won its first state title since 1989 as the Wildcats rallied from a nine-point deficit in the final four minutes to beat defending champion Kirtland 46-42 in the Division VI state title game.

The three state titles earned the MAC a total of 28 state football titles since 1989.

6. Common Core

Common Core State Standards implemented this year raised controversy across the nation and became a hot topic at local school board meetings in 2014.

The standards - a uniform set of educational objectives for each grade level - were first created in 2009 and approved in 2010 for use in Ohio schools and in many other states. Teachers and administrators were tapped to overhaul teaching methods used for years.

State board of education and government officials said the new objectives would help level the educational playing field among all districts in the nation, improve America's educational standing in the world, make all students college- or career-ready when they graduate and encourage more critical thinking and a deeper understanding in the classroom.

Those in opposition pointed to federal government intrusion and parents and experts began voicing concerns about strings attached to the standards.

Local residents attended school board meetings, claiming Common Core would centralize education with the federal government, and noted the strict curricula would take away freedom and creativity in the classroom.

An Ohio bill to repeal the standards was passed in November by a House committee but remains pending. Leaders of the Ohio House and Senate committees, Gov. John Kasich, major public education associations, universities and some education policy research groups have publicly opposed it.

Kasich has said he doubts the bill will ever reach his desk.

7. Cold winter, record snow

Record snowfall and bitter cold temperatures blasted the area early in 2014.

Mercer County recorded more than 60 inches of snow during the winter season, surpassing a record of 61 inches set in 1978.

A polar vortex brought cold air into the country from the north causing temperatures to drop below freezing for long periods of time in many northern states. Temperatures in Mercer County dropped below freezing 28 days during the winter months.

Auglaize County road crews this year worked 2,712 overtime hours - more than double the number worked the previous year.

Heating homes became a concern for some as propane prices increased and caused people to spend more to stay warm. Prices last year rose to $4.25 per gallon in late January.

The frigid weather also impacted school districts' budgets and calendars. Schools were canceled nearly a dozen times. Weather-related equipment expenses for a new water pipe, a damaged snow plow and other items cost Parkway schools about $10,000.

The unusually harsh winter also impacted area farmers. Some were forced to wrap newborn calves in coat-like blankets, heat drinking water for livestock and shelter animals in barns or temperature-controlled buildings.

8. Ex-chief fights for job

Former Celina Police Chief Dave Slusser throughout 2014 continued a fight to get back his job with full back pay and benefits.

In late August, he appealed his termination to the next level - the Mercer County Common Pleas Court, where the case remains pending.

Slusser is appealing the local civil service commission's final orders affirming his removal as chief.

Slusser was fired June 14, 2013. The charges against him included failing to document receipt of and mishandling a bottle of prescription Xanax pills linked to a domestic violence case; altering employee time records so restricted alcohol and drug funds could be used to meet a police payroll deficit; failing to return a .38-caliber pistol to its manufacturer after testing it; not disposing of blood-stained evidence, according to department policy; and not following a direct order to wipe clean data on two laptop computers, which allegedly contained photos from a child-abuse investigation.

Slusser admitted to some of the underlying accusations but denied all the formal charges. Counsel for the city asserted each charge was supported by a preponderance of evidence. Although Slusser may disagree with the legal characterization of his conduct, counsel noted he "concedes that he engaged in the conduct and activities referenced in each of the charges."

Slusser's attorney said it took city safety service director Tom Hitchcock and consultant Pat Hire four months to put a case together by stacking additional charges to push Slusser out the door. The attorney also argued the city couldn't present substantial, reliable and probative evidence that Slusser had admitted he was lying or was being dishonest about anything.

9. Park development

The city of Celina will soon take over and convert to parks 8 acres of land where the former Versa Pak building and Mercelina Mobile Court once stood along Lakeshore Drive.

City officials earlier this year struck a deal with the owners of both properties to buy the cleared land for $2.94 million. Bryson Trust Fund officials committed to pay 90 percent of the purchase with the city paying $300,000 from its general fund.
  Mercelina park tenants last year were told they must leave by the end of 2014. The owner of the former Versa Pak property, John Larbus of Findlay agreed to demolish the building and remove the rubble by the end of the year.

Area agencies and community members helped ease the transition by providing financial assistance. The ousted families were provided aid from Mercer County Council on Aging, Sources Community Network Services, OUR Home Family Resources and private donations.

Representatives of the city and civic organization, as well as citizens, will form a committee to make recommendations on developing Lakeshore, Mercelina and Pullman Bay parks into one venue. The area likely will be dedicated for families, not sporting events, officials have said.

"I think in time what you're going to see are things like a large amphitheater," Celina Mayor Jeff Hazel said. "You're going to see maybe some walk paths throughout there. You're going to have some things that are more family- and/or adult-oriented so if people want to come and sit by the lake and have a picnic, they're not in the midst of a ballgame."

10. Sources saga

Sources Community Network Service closed its doors this year after serving the area for almost five decades. Its services were taken over by the Lima Allen Council on Community Affairs.

Board members in late June voted 8-0 to close the non-profit organization.

The dissolved antipoverty agency also learned from a state audit that it owes almost half a million dollars related to its prior management of Home Weatherization Assistance Program funds. The state initially questioned expenditures of $837,756.53 related to the HWAP Program. However, by working with the state, Sources officials were able to lower the amount to $422,834.

Before dissolving, the board hired financial consultant Jim Lavelle to close out the organization's books and Cleveland-based attorney James Simon to help with the state audit.

Honorable mention

Grand Lake Marathon

The local area on Sept. 27 hosted the inaugural Grand Lake Marathon, which included a route circling the 17,500-acre waterway.

More than 1,850 runners from 30 different states participated in the full marathon, half marathon, 10K run, 5K run and kids race.

Organizer Roger Bowersock of Rocketship Sports Management was key in bringing the event to the lake's shores. Despite a few traffic problems and other issues, the event was deemed a success.

The number of visitors brought to the area by the marathon gave a significant boost to the local economy, according to organizers and local officials.

The Grand Lake Marathon and its various races are set to return Sept. 26 with a few changes and additions such as marathon and half marathon relays.

Registration for all events begins Jan. 1 at grandlakemarathon.com.