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Several issues fueled the nation's intense social-political divide in 2022. Abortion continued to divide the nation - and Ohio. St. Marys school board voted to allow designated staff to carry handguns in the district. And a Celina couple was arrested on charges stemming from the Jan. 6, 2021 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol.
It was another year of high-profile crimes, disturbing court cases and long prison sentences.
Area officials and residents largely welcomed the Supreme Court decision overturning the landmark 1973 Roe v. Wade.
The anti-abortion movement has a pronounced presence in Mercer County, with "pray to end abortion" signs a common site in yards. For years, area teens have hopped in busses to make their way to the annual March for Life in Washington D.C.
Mercer County Right to Life celebrated the high court's ruling by staging a public rally outside the Mercer County Courthouse on June. 27.
However, a gaggle of abortion supporters who gathered with signs and bullhorns on the courthouse sidewalk showed not all residents agreed with the Supreme Court's decision. Mercer County Sheriff's Office deputies were on hand to ensure an orderly event and counter protest.
Ohio's ban on most abortions will remain blocked after the First District Court of Appeals in December denied the state's request to appeal a judge's preliminary block on the law.
The ruling regards Ohio's so-called "heartbeat" abortion ban, which outlaws the procedure after the first cardiac activity is detected. That can be as early as six weeks into pregnancy, before many people know they're pregnant.
A Celina man arrested in an early-morning Homeland Security raid in September has been accused of sexually abusing and torturing dogs in videos that were distributed across the globe.
Lucas Russell Vanwoert, 25, in October was charged with seven total counts of creating and distributing "animal crush" videos, which involves the distribution of videos showing animals being tortured and abused.
He also faces charges of possession and transportation of child pornography, transportation of obscene materials and creating an animal crush video.
His wife, Heather Marie Vanwoert, 32, Celina, was charged in November with four counts of prohibitions concerning companion animals, four felony counts specifying torture of animals and four counts of cruelty to animals specifying torture.
St. Marys City Schools unanimously approved allowing designated personnel to carry a handgun in the district after the passage of House Bill 99.
Ohio House Bill 99 went into effect in September and allows local school districts to decide whether to permit certain school staff members to be armed on school grounds.
Superintendent Bill Ruane said the district's new policy of arming designated personnel cannot go into effect until the state establishes a safety plan and curriculum.
The state, though, must approve the district's plan before it can be implemented, Ruane said. He added more board action may be necessary.
Ruane had said participation would be completely voluntary and only a couple employees in each building would be allowed to carry a firearm. Not everyone who volunteers would be chosen, he had said.
Celina City Schools District board of education members in November said they plan to open a discussion on whether to arm select employees.
A Celina couple was arrested in August on federal charges stemming from the Jan. 6 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol.
Shawndale and Don Chilcoat were arrested in Celina by Toledo Police Department officers and face six felony obstruction or impeding an official proceeding charges each.
They were also each charged with five misdemeanors - entering and remaining in a restricted building or grounds; disorderly and disruptive conduct in a restricted building or grounds; entering and remaining in the gallery of Congress; disorderly conduct on Capitol grounds; parade, demonstrate or picket in any of the Capitol builds.
The Federal Bureau of Investigations established the Chilcoats were present at the insurrection from posts on social media, phone records and footage from U.S. Capitol Police CCTV and Senate TV recordings, according to a statement of facts.
The complaint includes pictures of the Chilcoats entering the Senate chambers from CCTV footage and photos they took of each other on the Senate floor.
The couple was released on a $10,000 unsecured bond each in August.
A Marion, Indiana, woman in January was sentenced to life in prison with the possibility of parole in 30 years on one count of aggravated murder, an unclassified felony.
The sentence brought to a conclusion a multiyear investigation spurred by the grisly discovery of human bones near Grand Lake.
Mercer County Common Pleas Court Judge Jeffery Ingraham handed down the sentence to Sarah Buzzard, 30, that had been negotiated in a plea agreement. It pared her the death penalty for killing Ryan Zimmerman, 21, of Columbus.
Buzzard and her wife Naira Whitaker, who later killed herself when when investigators attempted to arrest her, murdered Zimmerman, dismembered his body and discarded the parts in dumpsters throughout the state and alongside Grand Lake, county prosecutor Matt Fox said at the sentence hearing.
Zimmerman's skeletal remains were found on Jan. 23, 2016, east of U.S. 127 at the mouth of Coldwater Creek by a woman walking her dog.
Gas prices hit a record $5 per gallon earlier in 2022 but have since crept back down as demand remains slow and supplies continue to increase, helping some consumers breathe a little easier. According to AAA, Ohio's average regular unleaded gas price in July was $4.115 compared to the national average of $4.327. Mercer County's average was $3.957 and Auglaize County's average was $4.003.
Gasoline prices had surged since April 2020, when the initial shock of the pandemic drove prices under $1.80 a gallon. Global oil prices had been rising since December 2021. Russia's invasion of Ukraine and the resulting sanctions by the United States and its allies contributed to the rise. Russia is a leading oil producer.
Auglaize County Farm Service Agency Executive Director Anita Green, her adult daughter and a South African man were indicted in federal court in May for participating in a conspiracy that led to the death of Timothy Hovanec, 36, of Wapakoneta.
Amanda Hovanec, 35, and Anthony Theodorou, 34, with whom Amanda Hovanec reportedly was in a relationship with, were charged with conspiracy to import a controlled substance, importation of a controlled substance, conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute a controlled substance and distribution of a controlled substance.
Green was indicted on one count of accessory after the fact.
Amanda Hovanec reportedly injected her estranged husband with a fatal dose of M99. Theodoru obtained the drug, an animal tranquilizer, from an acquaintance who received it from a veterinarian in South Africa, according to an affidavit.
Theodorou, while speaking with investigators, allegedly said Amanda Hovanec had been talking about killing Timothy Hovanec for about a year. Due to the custody issue, she felt its was the only way to prevent the children from spending the summer with their father, the affidavit states.
Numerous area residents were sentenced to time in jail or prison for crimes ranging from receipt and distribution of child pornography to aggravated vehicular homicide.
Teddy Hale, Bradford, in January was sentenced to a minimum of six years in prison for aggravated vehicular homicide stemming from a three-vehicle traffic crash on Sept. 27, 2020, that resulted in the death of Yvonne Noel, 62, Coldwater.
Former New Knoxville basketball coach Cole Fischbach, 27, was sentenced to more than five months in jail with work release in June after he was found guilty on two charges related to sending sexually explicit messages to a 14-year-old student.
Former Parkway school board member and Rockford mayor Jeffrey Armstrong, 51, was sentenced to eight years in prison in July for receipt and distribution of child pornography and 10 years of supervised release. He was also ordered to pay a $5,000 Justice for Victims Trafficking Act assessment and $100 fine.
Brandon Edwards, 30, Celina, was sentenced to nearly six years in prison for the 2020 methamphetamine intoxication death of 2-year-old Ezra Siegrist.
A cascade of economic development news emerged in 2022 with plans announced or work getting underway on businesses openings and expansions.
Cooper Farms, a family-owned farm and food company that produces and packages meat and eggs for private label and foodservice, and Celina Tent, which manufactures and distributes tents, tarpaulin, ducting and military vehicle accessories worldwide, are both in the midst of expansion projects.
Loc Performance Products plans to expand operations and add 250 new jobs at a plant it purchased in St. Marys from German automotive parts producer Continental.
This year saw the opening of Shandy's Bar and Grill and Dunkin in Celina. Also on the way is The James Watson House, a restaurant and bar named after Celina founder James Watson Riley. It will be housed in the first floor of a 140-year-old downtown building that was once facing demolition but has since undergone substantial structural upgrades.
Additionally, national pet retailer Petco has chosen Celina to roll out a new rural concept store tailored toward farmers and ranchers, and plans were disclosed for a senior living facility coined The Jeannie House at 555 West Livingston St., right behind Mackinaw Retirement Village.
Developers of Boardwalk Village, a walkable vacation rental community along West Bank Road that opened in June, plan to sell a new line of cottages as part of their "Luxury Lakeshore Living Expansion."
National chain Casey's General Stores, a combination gas station and grocery store, wants to building a new location at 6981 Havemann Road.
Moeller Brew Barn has enjoyed an explosive growth in popularity since its flagship Maria Stein site launched in 2015. It has expanded to five locations in seven years, the latest of which opened recently in Monroe.
So-called outdoor refreshment areas have formed in St. Marys and Rockford and may be in store for Celina, changing the nature of retail sectors.
A DORA is an area where open carry restrictions do not apply at particular hours, and adults are permitted to possess and consume beer, wine and intoxicating liquor in public with certain restrictions. They are intended to boost local commerce.
The state this year approved a DORA in Rockford centered around a portion of Main Street. Celina's DORA application is still under review.
The total size of Celina's proposed DORA would be 148.5 acres, a notch below the state maximum of 150 acres. The map includes the downtown, extends east down Market Street and up to Grand Lake Road, Havemann Road and Irmscher Boulevard.
St. Marys City Council members in May 2021 passed legislation creating a DORA in the downtown.
• Minster school board members in June voted to rescind a highly contested drug testing policy that they had enacted in April. It would have affected all students in sports, clubs and extracurricular activities, including band.
Parents and students had questioned the necessity, efficacy and privacy and procedural details of the policy.
• The Mercer County jail sales tax levy was approved at the general election with about 56% of the total vote. Had the levy been voted down, all county departments would have been forced to make cuts totaling roughly $3.5 million annually to account for the loss of sales tax revenue.
• No injuries were reported after a train collided with a semitrailer in June, causing heavy damage to The Mr. Shoppe and a nearby car in Coldwater. The store reopened a week later.
• A metal machine shed that caught fire in April at 6391 Clover Four Rd., Celina, was declared a total loss. Six fire departments and more than 30 firefighters were called to quell the inferno. No injuries or deaths were reported and foul play was not suspected.
• After serving nearly 14 years at multiple prisons, a 37-year-old former Chickasaw man walked out of the Mercer County jail a free man in early October, with several conditions attached to his early release.
Mercer County Common Pleas Court Judge Jeffrey Ingraham, after due consideration, granted Nicholas Schwieterman judicial release. Schwieterman had been serving a 24-year prison sentence for causing a traffic accident that killed four Maria Stein area teens.
The Associated Press contributed to this story.
