An out-of-state couple is facing felony charges locally after allegedly stealing a vehicle in Indiana and driving to Marysville. The Union County Grand Jury has indicted Kelly Johanna Crawford, 43, of Baltimore, Maryland and Matthew Robert Banas, 34, of Bluffton, Indiana. Crawford is listed as having multiple aliases, including Heather Fleek, Heather Crawford, Heather Fitzsimons and Heather Fleck. Crawford is charged with one count each of failure to comply with the order or signal of a police officer, receiving stolen property, operating a vehicle under the influence and resisting arrest. During her arraignment hearing the woman told the judge that…
Author: Mac Cordell
The Union County Shriners Club collects “Cans for a Cause” at a variety of collection sites around Union County, including at the Main Street entrance to the Union County Fairgrounds in Marysville. The club collects and recycles aluminum cans with money going to the Shriners Children’s Healthcare system. Over the last 20 years, the club has raised more than $500,000 for Shriners’ hospitals. Above, Everett Lowe with the Shriners sorts and separates donated cans to make sure the club gets the best return when they are recycled. (Journal-Tribune photo by Mac Cordell) —
A Columbus man with a history of violence has been indicted locally after allegedly attacking a woman locally. The Union County Grand Jury has indicted Jarrett Michael Levings, 32, of Columbus, charging him with one count each of felonious assault and domestic violence. Union County Prosecutor David Phillips said that, on Jan. 15, Levings allegedly “broke into” his roommate’s room at their home in the 16000 block of Hillview Road. The prosecutor said he could not detail Levings’ intent when he broke into the room. Phillips said Levings and the woman argued. At some point during the argument the woman…
The Union County Sheriff’s Office is investigating what the sheriff calls a “concerning” incident at New Dover Estates. Union County Sheriff Jamie Patton said that at about 4 p.m. Thursday, a 10-year-old girl was walking home from her school bus stop in the mobile home park in New Dover at 1480 Route 36. “She paused to allow a car to go through the intersection,” Patton said. “Instead, the car stopped to speak to her at the intersection.” He said the road was wet and had a puddle and the driver asked if she wanted him to drive her over the…
The Opus Group is planning to construct a 254,000-square-foot, multi-tenant, industrial spec building on 18 acres in Marysville’s Innovation Park. Officials said the building will fit the character of the other buildings in the park and will have distinctive architectural features. (Photo submitted) — Marysville is in the process of selling 18 acres of its Innovation Park. At its meeting Monday, Marysville City Council held the first reading of legislation to sell land in Innovation Park to The Opus Group, a family of commercial real estate development, construction and design companies headquartered in Minneapolis. Union County Economic Development Director Eric…
Paul Johnson is running 3,000 miles across the United States, from Los Angeles, California to New York City, New York. Johnson, a Navy veteran, is raising funds for Team Red White and Blue. To date he has been running for 40 days and raised more than $317,700 for the non-profit organization that helps veterans lead healthier lives through training, fitness events and programs. Johnson, in front in blue, along with his crew and local runners who chose to run with him made their way through Marysville and north on Route 4 on Wednesday. Those wanting to donate are invited to…
Marysville City Council has approved a 12-month moratorium on all small box discount stores in the city. Officials said the city zoning code has no definition for stores like Dollar General, Family Dollar and Dollar Tree. The moratorium will allow the city to decide where they should locate in town. (Journal-Tribune photo by Mac Cordell) — Marysville City Council is taking a pause to study how it would like to zone a variety of dollar stores. At Monday night’s meeting, council imposed a 12-month moratorium on the acceptance and processing of applications for the issuance of any permits of certificates…
Above, locals and visitors alike ventured to the Marysville Upground Reservoir Monday afternoon to witness the complete solar eclipse. At left is a closer photo of the actual eclipse from the reservoir. With the parking lot packed to capacity, several groups of people sat and waited for what was complete darkness with a light glow on the horizon. As soon as the solar event ended, people began to make the either short or long trip home. (Journal-Tribune photo by Aleksei Pavloff) — — The Great North American Solar Eclipse of 2024 did…
The Fairfield Inn parking lot on Coleman’s Crossing Boulevard was filled with out-of-state license plates, including these from Maryland and Connecticut as well as peculiar bumper stickers and other evidence of guests coming to Union County to be in the path of totality for today’s solar eclipse. Other hotels and motels in the community had a similar diversity of license plates. See page 10 of today’s edition for a photo array of some of the other visitors. (Journal-Tribune photo by Mac Cordell) —
Over the next several months, local residents will have the opportunity to share their thoughts on what makes a community and what they want theirs to look like. The United Way of Union County has partnered with The Harwood Institute for Public Innovation on an initiative designed to “produce community-led, community-driven change.” Tessa Fite, with the local United Way, is coordinating the effort. She explained that in 2022, Honda began discussions with The Harwood Institute, a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization designed to “equip people, organizations, communities and networks with the tools to bridge divides, build capacity and tackle shared challenges.” “Union…
Just four days out from Monday’s total solar eclipse, local officials are making their final preparations and urging residents to do the same. “We are ready. We have done about all we can do,” said Brad Gilbert, director of the Union County Emergency Management Agency. On April 8, 2024, a total solar eclipse, dubbed as the Great American Eclipse, will cross America, sweeping northeast from Texas to Maine. Ohio is directly in the path of totality — the area where the total sun will be eclipsed. A partial eclipse will begin in Marysville at 1:55 p.m. The total eclipse will…
Planning Next, a Columbus-based planning group, was hired to assess the city’s comprehensive plan, developed in 2018. As part of the process, the group surveyed city council and the planning commission members. Above is a word cloud created by Planning Next to reflect the results and comments from the survey. (Graphic submitted) — Marysville City Council held its annual joint work session with the city’s planning commission Monday night to go over the process of reviewing the comprehensive plan. The comprehensive plan was created in 2018 to help guide the city in future land use and policy decisions. Planning Next…
Marysville is working to get parks, trails, shelters and other city recreational facilities prepared for warmer weather. Above, crews from Union III Outdoor Living work to replace paver stones around Friendship Rock in Marysville’s Partner’s Park. In the near future, the piping for the park’s splash pad will be reconfigured for the ease of maintenance and will remove the equipment vault under the East Sixth Street sidewalk. (Journal-Tribune photo by Mac Cordell) —
A pair of West Virginia women could each face more than four decades in prison after allegedly attempting to traffic cocaine and fentanyl. The Union County Grand Jury has indicted Lynn Sue Tucker and Michelle Fay Saunders, both of West Virginia. Tucker, 56, is charged with one count each of trafficking in cocaine, falsification, possession of cocaine, tampering with evidence, trafficking in a fentanyl-related compound and possession of a fentanyl-related compound. Saunders, 21, is charged with two counts of tampering with evidence and one count each of trafficking in cocaine, falsification, possession of cocaine, trafficking in a fentanyl-related compound and…
A local man, already serving a prison sentence for sexual conduct with a child, is again facing charges for rape. Jordan Daniel Butler, 35, is charged with one count each of rape and disseminating matter harmful to juveniles. According to court documents, between Oct. 1, 2013 and Oct. 31, 2013, Butler allegedly raped a 4-year-old boy. Union County Prosecutor Dave Phillips said that “for a time” Butler was living in the community with the child’s mother. He explained that on occasion Butler would watch the boy for his mother. Phillips said that on at least one occasion, “essentially, he tricked…