SIDNEY — Twenty years from now when we look back on 2016, we’ll remember the heated election, and how anyone can reach their dreams of being president. Locally, the top stories of 2016 may not have involved Russian hacking or private email servers, but did get quite a response from our readers.
Our top read story of 2016, according to Google Analytics, was the original story about Jackson Center Police Chief Joseph Cotterman being indicted by the grand jury on one count of gross sexual imposition. The story received 24,988 views on our website, more than double the amount of views our most viewed story of 2015, about the investigation into the death of a man in a burnt up car at Lake Loramie State Park, received. That story received 10,701.
The editorial staff of the Sidney Daily News has compiled the top 10 stories we thought were most important this year:
No. 1: Jackson Center Police Chief faces criminal charges
Joseph Cotterman, the police chief of Jackson Center, was suddenly put on administrative leave in early February following the filing of a criminal complaint against him. In March an indictment came against him on one count of gross sexual imposition.
As Cotterman worked to take the case to trial, it kept getting pushed back, finally being scheduled for October. During this time he agreed to go on unpaid leave with the Jackson Center Village Council.
In September, he was charged with one count of a rape, from an alleged incident in 2009.
Up until the week before the trial for the original charge, Cotterman and his attorneys worked to try to change the venue, prosecutor, and judge, among other things. Those motions were denied and the case went to trial on Oct. 3. The trial ended the next day with a mistrial due to a technology error.
The new trial is scheduled for Jan. 17, 18 and 19. The rape case is scheduled for a status conference on Feb. 13.
No. 2: Sidney School Levy fails three times
Three times in 2016 the Sidney City Schools District went to the voters for their approval of a 3.0-mill, 5-year permanent improvement levy. And three times — March, August and November — the voters said no.
The district has been without a PI levy since 2009 when the existing levy was allowed to expire after residents defeated it numerous times. Since then, the PI fund has been exhausted and money has been transferred from the general fund to the PI fund to pay for projects in the district which have a shelf life of more than 5 years.
“Our expenses don’t go away because the levy failed,” said Superintendent John Scheu after the levy failed in November. “We will have to find ways to pay our operating expenses and permanent improvement expenses without draining the general fund to where we were when we faced a near financial tsunami six years ago.”
In the November election, the levy failed by 920 votes — 4,759 yes votes and 5,689 no votes.
The levy was first placed on the ballot in March. It was defeated by 1,127 votes as 2,678 residents casted a yes vote, while 3,805 voted no.
During a special election in August, the levy was defeated by 267 votes. There were 1,472 votes for the levy and 1,739 votes against it.
During its first meeting after the November election, the Board of Education said they wouldn’t be placing the levy back on the ballot in May 2017.
No. 3: Fatal fires
• Jody T. Reymiller, 47, 16041 Pasco Montra Road, Jackson Center, died in a house fire on Thanksgiving morning. The first unit arrived within six minutes and found the house totally engulfed. A person from the residence was taken by emergency medical service personnel for treatment of injuries sustained in the fire. Once the fire was brought under control, firefighters located Reymiller deceased, in the home.
• A Minster woman died in a fire on April 23, 2016. Janet D. Luthman, 78, of Minster, was found in one of the rooms in her Garfield Street home and was pronounced dead at the scene. The house was engulfed in flames when the firefighters arrived on the scene. Flames were seen coming through the roof. The house was a total loss.
• Goldie A. (Fisher) North, 36, and her daughter, Luana North, 3, died in a house fire in Sidney on April 21, 2016, at 2:30 a.m. The two-story single family residence at 519 W. North St. had large volumes of fire involving the rear of the structure on both the first and second floors. The structure and contents were a total loss.
• A woman rescued from a house fire on Wednesday, Feb. 17, later died. Amy Baker, 74, died at Joint Township District Memorial Hospital after she was pulled from her home at 306 Kuck St., New Knoxville. When The New Knoxville Fire Department responded to the scene the house was filled with smoke and flames could be seen coming out of the windows.
No. 4: Fatal crashes
There was one more fatal crash in Shelby County this year compared to 2015.
• On Oct. 19, Katie Aubrey McShirley, 21, of Trotwood, was pronounced dead at the scene of a crash, which occurred in the 9000 block of state Route 47 in Turtle Creek Township. Preliminary investigation revealed McShirley was westbound on state Route 47 when she ran off the right side of the road and came back onto the road and slid sideways into the eastbound lane and was struck by a vehicle traveling east on state Route 47. McShirley was ejected from the vehicle.
• On Aug. 7, Kristi M. Clark, 46, of Sidney, was pronounced dead at the scene of a crash in the 2000 block of Riverside Drive. The preliminary investigation showed her vehicle had been traveling westbound on Riverside Drive, west of Sidney Freyburg Road, when it traveled off the right side of the roadway and struck a guard rail. The vehicle then traveled across the roadway and struck another guard rail, at which time Clark was partially ejected from the vehicle. Both speed and alcohol are believed to be factors in the crash.
• On June 28, Philip Brown, 67, of Sidney, was pronounced dead at the scene of a crash on Sidney Freyburg Road. Brown was driving a motorcycle southbound on Sidney Freyburg Road when a vehicle traveling northbound failed to see him as they were attempting to turn onto Hoewisher Road, causing a near head-on collision. The driver of the other vehicle, Linda Meininger, 73, of Sidney, entered a no contest plea to vehicular manslaughter in November. She is scheduled to be sentenced on Jan. 4, 2017.
• On June 27, Wittenberg University football player Miles Laboy, 18, of Gaithersburg, Maryland, died of his injuries at Miami Valley Hospital after being ejected from a vehicle during a crash on Interstate 75 near Anna. Laboy was a passenger in the vehicle with three other members of the team. The driver said he had fallen asleep.
• A Maplewood woman was killed on May 11 while she was giving care to a dog which she had struck. Katriz M. Dilworth, 38, of Maplewood, was killed in the 10000 block of Sidney Freyburg Road near Anna by a vehicle driven by Timothy J. Huelskamp, 51, of Wapakoneta. He left the scene and turned himself in to the Auglaize County Sheriff’s Office the next morning. He was sentenced in November to five years of community control and 90 days in jail for leaving the scene of the accident.
• Edward Paul Fitzpatrick, 57, of Sidney, was pronounced dead at the scene of a crash on May 7, at the intersection of state Route 589 and Middleton Hume Road in Green Township. Fitzpatrick was westbound on Middleton Hume Road when he failed to stop at the intersection’s posted stop sign and was struck by a vehicle traveling northbound on state Route 589. Fitzpatrick’s vehicle traveled off the south side of Middleton Hume Road and overturned several times in a cornfield. Fitzpatrick was ejected from the vehicle.
No. 5: Teen dies during mission trip
A mission to help children at an orphanage in Tijuana, Mexico, turned tragic Sunday, July 3, 2016, when a Sidney teen died. Ty Martin, 17, son of Alison and Tim Martin, of Sidney, died during the Sidney First United Methodist Church’s mission trip.
Martin, who had gone on the mission trip several times, was coming down the steps of the dorm area where he and the other students on the mission slept when he tripped and fell forward and struck his head. He died of his injuries.
On Dec. 18, which would have been Martin’s 18th birthday, family and friends gathered at Pearl Cemetery to celebrate his life. Blue and yellow balloons floated up to Heaven as “Happy birthday” was sung to the teen.
No. 6: JC wins 2nd volleyball title
For the second straight year, the Jackson Center High School volleyball team brought home the state championship to its community.
The Lady Tigers finished the season with a 30-0 record after defeating New Philadelphia Tuscarawas Central Catholic for the championship. The team also recorded 59 wins in their last 60 matches.
Senior Cassie Meyer compared the two championships the team had won.
“Last year, it was all about drive and wanting to succeed,” said Meyer. “This year, there was so much more emotion. With seven seniors, this was our last shot, and we weren’t just going to stop from last year. And when that final point was scored, so much rushed through our heads. Happy because our dream was achieved and also sad because we’re going to miss each other. We’re a big family and we love each other.”
“Going into this season, with the history we developed last year, we had girls who had different roles that they had to accept because we lost nine seniors,” said Metz. “And I couldn’t be more proud of them. We don’t talk about our record or our past. But these girls are 30-0 and we’ve never had a team that was 30-0. And they only lost four sets all year.”
No. 7: West Virginia man hijacks car, leads deputies on chase, shoots at them
In the late hours of Monday, Oct. 24, a West Virginia man, Travis Wickline, 28, carjacked a women by yielding a firearm in the Hidden Valley Trailer Park, and then fled the area.
As deputies were responding to the call, the stolen vehicle was spotted on state Route 29. As a Shelby County Sheriff’s Deputy conducted a felony traffic stop and ordered the driver to show his hands and open the car door, Wickline exited the vehicle and fired six shots at the Deputy. The Deputy returned fire, shooting at the vehicle three times.
Wickline then fled in the stolen vehicle. The pursuit continued with three Deputies trying to stop the vehicle, at times reaching speeds in excess of 100 mph. Wickline returned to Hidden Valley Trailer Park, where his vehicle struck a cruiser, disabling it, sending that Deputy to the hospital.
Wickline then left the trailer park and while on state Route 29, he stopped and let a female companion out of the vehicle. The female, identified as Ashley Nichole Wayson, 31, of Charleston, West Virginia, was arrested.
Wickline continued westbound on state Route 29 where he turned around, went off the south side of the road, and purposely drove into the woods. He then fled the area on foot.
He then lead law enforcement on a manhunt where K-9s and a helicopter were used.
After interviewing Wayson they were able to obtain enough information to identify Wickline as the driver of the vehicle and that Wayson and Wickline had been staying with Wickline’s parents in Hidden Valley Trailer Park. Contact was made at the residence and Wickline was arrested without incident around 4 a.m. the next morning.
The two already had felony warrants out for their arrest from West Virginia, and are now facing multiple counts in Shelby County. They are both set to have final pre-trial hearings on Jan. 4.
No. 8: Anna Police Levy fails second time
The residents of Anna were almost exactly split again on whether or not to increase the village income tax by 0.25 percent. The levy would have provided funds to improve the policing in the village, and hire a second full-time police officer.
After the failing of the levy by 10 votes in November 2015, the village tried again, and it won by six votes this year, but before the ballots were certified. The final tally had the levy losing by four votes. The village requested a recount and the loss was confirmed.
The final results found 347 voters casting a yes vote, while 351 said no to the levy. There was one over vote — meaning a person voted yes and no for the levy — and 30 under votes where that number of voters didn’t cast a vote on the levy.
There is no word on if they’ll try again in the future.
No. 9: Women for Trump visit Sidney
Donald Trump’s daughter-in-law, Lara Trump, and the Women for Trump campaign group made a pit-stop along their campaign trail at The Spot restaurant in downtown Sidney on Friday, Nov. 4, 2016.
Lara Trump, along with North Carolina bloggers Diamond and Silk, and Trump spokeswoman Katrina Pierson, briefly greeted some 100 Trump backers outside of The Spot, who were boasting their support by waving flags, adorning stickers, pins and hats echoing Trump’s slogan, “Make America Great Again.”
After rallying the crowd, Lara expressed to the Sidney Daily News her thoughts on some of Donald Trump’s comments regarding women, “The reality is that we go all across this country, and women are the people that come up to us the most and say, ‘We don’t know why there is a narrative out there that we are not voting for Donald Trump, because we understand he is the only one who will get this country back on track.’
“Things get said by a lot of people. There are people that are very lucky that they haven’t been recorded their entire life. That was 11 years ago. He is a different man. He wants real change in this country. He wants to make a difference in this country and men and women, alike, know that. In fact, he has rolled out the most progressive platforms for women, a childcare initiative, an elder-care plan. These are the things that will effect Americans across the board, but specifically, women,” Lara continued.
It was a peaceful event, but the Shelby County Sheriff’s office and Sidney Police officers were present to make sure things went smoothly.
No. 10: Standoff right outside of Minster
A Minster man held law enforcement officers at bay for four hours before surrendering on Tuesday, May 3, 2016.
The standoff began when a 911 call was received at the Auglaize County Sheriff’s Office about a man, James W. Hoskins, 38, of Minster, with a gun held up in a house east of Minster on state Route 119. They had also received information that there might be some type of explosives at the residence.
A handgun and knives were located along with several items that had been made to appear to be explosives. There were no actual explosives found.
Other agencies assisting at the scene were Minster and New Bremen Police, the Minster Area Life Squad and Fire Department, St. Marys Police, The Ohio State Highway Patrol, The Auglaize County Emergency Management Agency, Shelby County Sheriff’s Office and the Allen County Sheriff’s Office. The West Ohio Regional Homeland Security Emergency Management Lighting and Command mobile unit was on the scene also.
Hoskins was charged with one count of inducing panic, a fourth-degree felony. The charge was reduced to a fifth-degree felony in a guilty plea agreement in Auglaize County Common Pleas Court.
Other top stories we liked this year: Freshway foods sold; Land purchased for third fire station in Sidney; Jackson Center breaking ground on new school; Sidney Daily News Sports Editor Ken Barhorst was inducted into the Ohio Prep Writers Association Hall of Fame and was honored by the Shelby County Athletic League for his dedication to young athletes in the county; Sidney Daily News Reporter Mike Seffrin retired after 37 years with the SDN; Hazmat was dispatched to spill on Interstate 75; Mary Buehler, of Anna, was named Ohio Fairs Queen and FFA State President; Minster football team was the runner-up in Division VII state championship football game; Marion Local won the division VI state football title; The Jackson Center boys and girls basketball teams each reached the final four in the state championship before being defeated; Sidney Police Officer Mike McRill received the Distinguished Law Enforcement Community Service Award from Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine; John Coffield was elected the new Shelby County treasurer during the Nov. 8 election, defeating longtime treasurer Linda Meinering; Doug Stewart, president/CEO of Peoples Federal, retired after 45 1/2 years with the bank.
