Water park tops list

Nothing happens around here.
That’s a common small-town cliché. But in 2014, that was far from the truth in The Commercial Review’s coverage area.
There were so many big stories that coming up with a list of 10 (and more) was no problem. Ranking them was trickier, as arguments could be made for many to top the list.
In the end, we chose the ongoing process of working toward the approval of a new Portland Water Park as the No. 1 local story of 2014. It’s an issue that the city has been working on since 2012, but the major step of funding the project happened this year. Construction is scheduled for 2015.
Several of our other top stories, including the discussion of confined feeding rules and the Jay Classroom Teachers’ Associations contract dispute with Jay School Corporation, will also extend into the coming year.
Below is a look at the full list of the top 10 stories The CR covered in 2014.
1. The debate about funding and design for Portland Water Park
2. J-Star construction sparks discussion about confined feeding rules
3. Area police search for missing Dunkirk woman Brianna DiBattiste
4. Cold, snowy winter wreaks havoc
5. Two men convicted of the 2012 murders of Fort Recovery residents
6. Redkey gets $7.9 million from USDA for sewer separation
7. JCTA sues school corporation over 2013-14 contract
8. Area suffers rash of auto accident fatalities
9. Jay County grants first same-sex marriage license
10. East Elementary named Blue Ribbon School

1. Pool planning
After months of discussion and a report from The Commercial Review about Portland finances, city officials agreed to contribute up to $2.25 million (or 68.8 percent of the actual cost) to a new pool.
Portland Water Park will include a lap pool, lazy river, beach entry, slides and other features. HWC Engineering was hired to design the facility, which is estimated to cost $3.3 million.
Park board unveiled a design for the water park in November. After objections from Jay County Summer Swim Team representatives about the depth at the shallow end of the pool and a few contentious weeks, a modified design was approved Dec. 16.
Fundraising for the project has reached nearly $1 million.

2. Confined feeding
After starting construction in August before being issued a county building permit, concentrated animal feeding operation J-Star Farms’ violation began a countywide discussion about local regulations for confined feeding operations. Jay County Commissioners and Jay County Plan Commission created a study commission to review the county’s current regulations, with a 90-day tenure and a goal of recommending changes to the ordinance. The current regulation only addresses setbacks and definitions of CFOs.
Commissioners also approved increasing the maximum of subsequent violation penalties to equal state statute, which raised it to $7,500 from the previous $300.

3. DiBattiste search
In June, 25-year-old Dunkirk resident Brianna DiBattiste went missing after leaving her father’s home.  
For nearly three months, her family and friends and law enforcement officers followed leads and searched for the woman.
In August, information from Curtis Ray Neal, 33, Dunkirk, led to fruitless searches of homes in Muncie and wetlands near Upland. Neal was arrested on charges of obstruction of justice and false informing.
On Sept. 1 a Jay County Conservation Club member found remains on the property located on county road 600 South. They were identified as those of DiBattiste.
Officials are still waiting for autopsy results to confirm the cause of death.

4. Winter weather
Winter welcomed area residents early in 2015 as a Jan. 5 storm saw an estimated 14 inches of snow fall in Jay County.
The county was under a travel warning, limiting travel to emergency personnel, and most businesses were closed. Jay School Corporation was forced to extend winter break by a week because of impassable roads.
But that was just the beginning, as snow and sub-zero temperatures typified the first three months of the year. Jay Schools were closed for a total of 16 days, which resulted in extending school days by an hour in order to make up time in the classroom.

5. Murder convictions
Bryant Rhoades and Trevin Sanders were both given life sentences in August for the murders of Robert and Colleen Grube.
In November 2011, Sanders and Rhoades forcibly entered the Grube home, located east of Fort Recovery, and murdered them. The pair was arrested in March 2013.
Sanders pleaded guilty Feb. 27 to two counts each of aggravated murder with gun specifications, aggravated robbery and aggravated burglary. In August, Rhoades pleaded guilty to the same charges.
Both men were sentenced to life in prison without the chance of parole to be served at the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction in Columbus.
An appeal of Sanders’ conviction is pending.

6. USDA helps
The United States Department of Agriculture agreed in June to fund a majority of Redkey’s sewer separation project with a $3.9 million grant and a $3.8 million loan.
Redkey had been under an agreed order with Indiana Department of Environmental Management since 2010 to develop a long-term plan to eliminate its combined sewer overflows. But its funding options were limited as its bonding capacity could cover only about a quarter of the projected cost.
The USDA funding solved that problem, leaving the town immediately responsible for just $206,000 of the $7.9 million separation. Bidding is planned for February, with construction later in 2015.

7. JCTA suit
Harmony reigned locally between Jay Schools and the Jay Classroom Teachers Association in 2014. But a contract dispute continued in court, and the legal battle still is not over.
Faced with an impasse in contract negotiations in 2013, they turned to the state for a ruling. Key issues were whether the contract would put Jay Schools in a deficit and whether the school corporation’s offer met legal requirements. The state ruled for Jay Schools and in January rejected a JCTA appeal. JCTA then filed suit and lost, but plans to appeal.
The case has statewide implications.

8. Fatal accidents
There was a rash of serious auto accidents this year, including two in less than a month that resulted in multiple fatalities.
On May 10, Redkey residents Dustin Quakenbush, 30, and Stephen Sain, 22, were killed after the car they were driving went off county road 800 South near county road 800 West and flipped end over end into a field. They weren’t wearing seat belts and were ejected from the vehicle.
On June 7, Homer Darnell, 50, and Vanessa Darnell, 43, died after the Harley Davidson they were riding collided with a vehicle at the intersection of county roads 700 East and 200 South. They were thrown more than 50 feet.

9. Marriage license
Portland residents Joe Egly and Spencer Shaneyfelt became the first same-sex couple to receive a marriage license in Jay County.
They applied the afternoon of June 25 after U.S. District Court Judge Richard Young ruled that Indiana’s same-sex marriage ban violated the equal protection clause of the U.S. Constitution. Only one-third of the state’s counties immediately complied with the ruling, with none of Jay County’s contiguous counties issuing licenses.
After a stay of the decision was granted in September, the U.S. Supreme Court in October upheld the court ruling striking down the ban.

10. Blue Ribbon
East Elementary won national recognition in 2014 as one of only 337 schools honored under the National Blue Ribbon School Program of the U.S. Department of Education.
“It’s great to be recognized like that,” East principal Andy Schemenaur said in September. “A lot of folks are working hard here.”
Blue Ribbon schools were cited as “models of consistent excellence.” The application process included analyzing the school’s test scores for the last five years and how progress has been made over that time.
“These great schools are fulfilling the promise of American education,” said Secretary of Education Arne Duncan.
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With so many major news stories this year, we’d be remiss not to mention several that didn’t make the top 10. Those stories include: local voting that saw the election of a new sheriff, the ousting of six-term commissioner Milo Miller Jr. and a three-way race for county auditor; more than 10 inches of August rain leading to flooding in Dunkirk and Redkey; West Jay Middle School winning the Indiana State Fair cheerleading title; the City of Portland gaining approval from the Office of Community and Rural Affairs for its Geesaman Industries remediation project; Carrera announcing plans to add 102 jobs; Fort Recovery High School finishing its $3.4 million renovation and dedicating the Jerome and Maurice Grieshop Athletic Training Facility; Hartzell Air Movement closing; and the completion of Fort Recovery’s sewer separation project.