The Daily Standard
Story Archive
2019 was highlighted by tragedy, triumph and tests.
A massive EF3 tornado blasted through Celina, leaving one person dead and dozens with badly damaged homes. The community rallied, however, and residents continue to rebuild out of the rubble.
Farmers struggled. Businesses expanded. The area saw a pair of murder cases. Guns and other global issues made local news.
Memorial Day celebrations ended abruptly as an EF3 tornado packing winds of about 150 mph raked the northwestern part of Celina along with neighboring areas in Mercer County.
Early reports estimated the tornado to be a quarter mile wide, and its path was about 5 miles long.
The twister left one man dead and destroyed or damaged at least 40 homes.
However, in the storm's wake, the community rallied to help those in need. Volunteers stepped up to help clean up and repair homes. Local groups organized fundraisers to collect money to help those left without homes or personal items. The Red Cross opened a shelter in Coldwater for those with nowhere else to go.
Former NFL quarterback Keith Wenning started an online collection; a ministry brought in a portable laundromat; and the Celina Rotary Club set up a relief fund to ensure donations went to those in need.
A Coldwater man was sentenced to life in prison without the chance of parole and an additional 22 years in prison after pleading guilty to the aggravated murder of his neighbor and two other felony charges.
Francy Majo, 21, was convicted on an unclassified felony charge of aggravated murder and first-degree felonies of aggravated robbery and aggravated burglary. Three other charges, including two unclassified felony murder charges and one first-degree felony charge of rape, were dropped as part of a plea deal.
Without a plea agreement, the maximum penalty Majo could have faced was the death penalty or life without parole. Majo said in court that he was not a U.S. citizen, meaning the sentence could also include the possibility of deportation.
Majo was originally arrested in January 2018, shortly after Renner was found dead in her apartment in Coldwater.
Farmers faced numerous challenges in 2019, with unfavorable weather conditions, delayed planting, low milk prices and trade wars contributing to setbacks throughout the year.
Many producers had a rough start to the year when ongoing wet weather that began in the fall of 2018 continued well into the spring and beyond. Dairy farmers were faced with a shortage of alfalfa hay, a forage most grow themselves to feed their dairy cattle.
Low milk prices continued into 2019 due to oversupply. Ag officials in June said six dairies in Mercer County and two in Auglaize County closed during the past year. That's in addition to six that already had closed in Mercer County and four that had liquidated all or a significant portion of their cows in Auglaize County the year prior to that.
Weather conditions in 2019 were the worst many farmers had experienced in recent memory. Record rainfall through the spring planting season had been unkind, with flooding and saturated fields preventing producers from planting crops.
Farmers had to rush to plant corn when they could, with several farmers unable to get equipment into their fields until early June. If corn was no longer an option, farmers had to turn to soybeans, which had its own slew of problems.
Last year, the U.S. imposed three rounds of tariffs on more than $250 billion worth of Chinese goods. Beijing responded with tariffs on $110 billion of U.S. goods, one of which being soybeans, which had been one of the biggest casualties of the global trade war. However, a phase one deal was recently reached, which is expected to see billions of dollars in tariffs removed or delayed.
Three people from the Columbus area were arrested in connection with a 2018 shooting in St. Marys that resulted in the death of one person and the hospitalization of another.
Syniqua M. Bell, 31; Jacar A. Bitting, 27; and Keith T. Waddell, 31, are being charged in connection with the fatal shooting that took place in a condominium at 10988 State Route 364, St. Marys.
At about 3:22 a.m. April 11, 2018, a male had called 911 stating he had been shot. Auglaize County Sheriff's deputies responded to discover two victims, later identified as Dexter Lee Turner, 47, and Alim Amir Turner, 25, with gunshot wounds. The father and son had been transported to hospitals by the St. Marys Rescue Squad. Alim Amir Turner had been sent to Lima Memorial Health System while Dexter Lee Turner had been transported to St. Rita's Medical Center, where he later died of his injuries.
Bell, Bitting and Waddell all pleaded not guilty and are going through the court process in Auglaize County Common Pleas Court.
Tri Star Career Compact students attended their first classes at the school's new building this school year as a new school is going up in New Bremen as well. The $25 million, 100,000-square-foot Tri Star building located across State Route 703 from Wright State University-Lake Campus was constructed to look like a corporate headquarters and not a typical school. Tri Star Director Tim Buschur said his vision for the building had been to put the excitement back into education.
In New Bremen, a new 71,000-square-foot elementary building is being constructed next to the high school, which was built in 1999. The two buildings will be joined by a multipurpose space called the Dianne Komminsk Center for Innovative Thinking funded by a $1 million donation from Komminsk.
Superintendent Jason Schrader has said when the space is completed - slated for the start of the 2020-2021 school year - it will bring all students to one campus with a modern learning environment.
The Grand Lake region's economy thrived in 2019 as local businesses experienced growth and the unemployment remained the lowest in the state.
Mercer County's unemployment rate remained the state's lowest throughout the entire year and has maintained the lowest rate for the past three years.
In the surging economy, Coldwater Machine was acquired by Cleveland-based Lincoln Electric Holdings in January because the company would be an important asset for them, Coldwater Machine president Tim McCoughey said at the time. Lincoln Electric CEO Christopher Mapes has said the move accelerated its automation strategy and expanded its presence.
Cooper Farms in March purchased Hemmelgarn and Sons in Philothea. In doing so, Cooper Farms acquired Hemmelgarn's egg-grading and packaging plant, a feed mill in Union City, 1.6 million hens cared for by 12 contract farmers, a trucking fleet and nearly 300 acres of land.
A new entity plans to purchase Visions/Award Craft in Celina by way of a revolving loan fund. If the deal proceeds, Visionary Partners will acquire the Visions/ Award Craft from Eighth Floor Promotions LLC with plans to keep its 107 employees.
Visionary Partners has applied for a $500,000 revolving loan fu that would be applied toward a proposed $1.5 million purchase of equipment at the Visions' Celina facility that will allow them to run the same products as Visions while also improving and expanding the company.
Meanwhile, Crown Equipment Corp. continues with its expansion projects in New Bremen and New Knoxville.
A 500,000-square-foot facility estimated to cost $40 million is being constructed in New Bremen. Crown also is also expanding in New Knoxville with a 57,000-square-foot addition to its facility to be used for manufacturing, Niekamp added. As Crown continues to expand its footprint, Niekamp said officials have planed to add 563 employees at the two new sites, 63 in New Knoxville and remainder in New Bremen.
In Rockford, the Fremont Co. added 150,00 square feet to its warehouse at a cost of $27 million, giving the company better flexibility to supply its customer base.
Other businesses relocated and added new locations to better serve customers. Lifestyle Furniture in September added a new location at the former Francis Furniture store after Francis Furniture moved to the site of the former Dollar General on Havemann Road.
Several water-quality milestones were reached in Grand Lake during 2019.
Microcystin toxins reached their lowest levels in seven years, and initial tests at the refurbished West Beach showed toxin levels low enough to remove signs advising "no contact" with the water.
While many people feared the excessive rains and flooding earlier this year would mean more nutrient runoff and result in a setback for cleanup efforts, the toxin levels have continued on an overall downward trend.
Stephen Jacquemin of Wright State University Lake Campus reported in July that while the lake still has seasonal fluctuations in microcystin levels, they were at their lowest this year since 2011 or 2012.
Microcystins are an algal toxin that can harm the liver, cause gastrointestinal symptoms and rashes and can sicken people and kill small animals.
During the course of the West Beach Restoration project, the nutrient-laden muck that once sat at the lakebed in the beach area was dredged and removed and replaced by a new sand base. The rock wall that had stretched around part of the mouth of the West Beach was extended to create a curtain to help prevent inflow of water and excess sediment to the area. Aerators and diffusers also were installed.
Two former Celina restaurateurs were sentenced to cooperate with the U.S. Attorney's Office after each pleaded guilty to three counts of tampering with records, a third-degree felony.
Mei Yu Zheng and Kang Yong Chen were sentenced to "fully comply with the separate negotiated settlement arising from this investigation with the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of Ohio." Details on that settlement have not been made available.
According to a complaint filed last year in Celina Municipal Court, Ohio Investigative Unit agents had been actively investigating Chen and Zheng since 2017 on allegations including ties to human trafficking and tampering with records.
A former kindergarten teacher was sentenced to 54 months in prison for three third-degree felony charges of unlawful sexual conduct with a minor and one unclassified misdemeanor charge of failure to comply with underage alcohol laws.
Heather Henry, 48, was found guilty after pleading no contest to the charges, which stemmed from an inappropriate relationship with a 15-year-old boy. She was also ordered to pay a $500 fine and register as a Tier II sex offender for 25 years.
Henry was arrested on Jan. 14. The inappropriate relationship reportedly occurred and continued over 2018 Christmas break, according to a Celina Police Department news release.
Shortly after her arrest, Henry was placed on administrative leave by Celina Immaculate Conception School, where she had worked as a kindergarten teacher. Henry's contract was later terminated.
Guns, be it real or fake, have caused a stir at area school districts.
A male high school junior in January caused a brief panic after posting a video of himself holding a realistic-looking handgun on social media and telling others they shouldn't go to school the next day. An investigation by Celina police revealed the gun was an airsoft pellet gun. He was disciplined at school and possibly faced a charge of inducing panic in Mercer County Juvenile Court.
Eighth-grader Tyler Carlin received a three-day in-school suspension after bringing to school a battlefield cross, which he created for an assignment in teacher Ryan Spriggs' history class. Spriggs' students were to create a veterans memorial.
Tyler told the newspaper he had made a replica of a battlefield cross with help from his dad, Chris, using a NERF gun painted black. Students are prohibited from possessing, transmitting, concealing or handling any object that might be considered dangerous, including look-alike weapons.
The project sparked outcry among community members who believed the incident revealed that district officials did not respect veterans. Community members protested officials' decision to suspend Tyler.
His teacher, Ryan Spriggs gave him permission to do the project, but Carlin did not remember asking him permission to specifically use the NERF gun.
In St. Henry, village police officers in April located firearms inside a parked vehicle at the high school during a routine property search. Police chief Mike Link said the student accidentally left the firearms in the vehicle after going target shooting the night before. Law enforcement officers determined the incident posed no danger to students or staff.
Among other stories considered for Top 10 list were Celina resident Keith Faber becoming one of the first local officials to be elected to statewide office as Ohio's auditor; St. Marys High School officials moving football games from fabled Skip Baughman Stadium; the area losing notable personalities including Celina teacher Tony Sherill, Montezuma Mayor Randy Garman, New Bremen philanthropist Dianne Komminsk and former Wright State University Lake Campus Dean Bonnie Mathies; flooding that closed roads and washed away motorists, kayakers and campers.
