Author: Mac Cordell

Municipal Court Speeding – Gerold E. Brehm, Cable, $55 fine, $88 costs. Follow too close – Daniel L. Clemons Jr., Creola, $58 fine, $85 costs. Speeding – John M. Yager, Powell, $55 fine, $88 costs. Seat belt – Brian K. Birtcher, Columbus, $30 fine, $66 costs. Speeding – Amanda L. Dexter, Marion, $58 fine, $110 costs. Speeding – Cherish L. Lauderback, DeGraff, $58 fine, $85 costs. Seat belt – Charles W. Canter, Richwood, $30 fine, $91 costs. Speeding – Gabiela P. Oppenheimer, Columbus, $58 fine, $85 costs. Seat belt – Tracy A. Shepherd, Marion, $30 fine, $91 costs. Stop sign…

Plain City Village Administrator Kevin Vaughn took an opportunity Monday to thank the village council and residents. Monday was the last meeting for Vaughn, who last week tendered his resignation to take a position in Clinton Township. Vaughn was hired five years ago when former Village Administrator Steve Hilbert took a position in the private sector. At the time, Vaughn was serving as a village council member and working for the City of Dublin in the parks and recreation department. “It has been a great pleasure working with all of you and especially the community,” Vaughn said. “I am beyond…

Municipal Court OVI – Fletcher T. Barnes, Westerville, $750 fine, $365 susp., $203 costs, 30 days jail 27 susp., OL susp. 1 yr. Marked lanes – Fletcher T. Barnes, Westerville, dismissed, $28 costs. Physical control – Darrison W. Cook, 20158 Wolford Maskill Road, $750 fine, $365 susp., $165 costs, 30 days jail 27 susp., OL susp. 1 yr. Fail to control – Alyssa M. Burchiel, Kenton, $58 fine, $110 costs. Speeding – Blake A. Langley, 19855 Bear Swamp Road, $58 fine, $85 costs. Stop school bus – Jordan A. Thessin, 859 Catalpa Place, $500 fine, $90 susp., $95 costs, OL…

Plain City officials have decided to wait before looking at the future governmental structure of the village. At a recent meeting, the Plain City Village Council decided to wait until the completion of a comprehensive plan before taking up the question of whether the village would move to become a charter city. “We have a lot of irons in the fire right now,” said Village Solicitor Paul Lafayette. In Ohio, once a municipality reaches a population of 5,000, it becomes a city. Communities with less are considered villages. The 2010 census measured Plain City’s population at 4,225. Officials have said…

ROLLINS –––– The Union County Grand Jury has indicted a man and woman following an alleged plot to mail drugs into the Ohio Reformatory for Women. Joshua Fuqua and Heather Rollins have each been charged with one count of illegal conveyance of drugs of abuse onto grounds of a specified governmental facility. Rollins is more than three years into a four-year, six-month prison sentence for a variety of drug offenses in Jackson County. According to court documents, on May 26, 2017, Rollins received a letter in the prison. Union County Prosecutor Dave Phillips said mail coming into and going out…

Revenue has increase by millions in the last few years; city and schools benefit –––– The City of Marysville and the Marysville Exempted Village School District have each seen an increase in revenue coming from areas covered by tax increment financing (TIF) agreements. According to Union County Auditor Andrea Weaver, the City of Marysville has TIFed eight residential developments and two commercial developments. She said that for 2013, Marysville TIFs collected $3.04 million. By 2016, collection had increased to $4.9 million. “If tax year 2017 collects in the second half all that was billed, then the full year collection will…

High waters flooded many parts of Union County Thursday night, prompting the National Weather Service to issue a flood advisory. According to the Marysville Division of Police, ruled the flood threat as “moderate,” with a “possible threat to life or property.” Officers and street crews rushed out to close submerged roads that night. Pictured above, cars attempt to make it through deep water in the area of Square Drive and Allenby Drive. (Journal-Tribune photo by Jacob Runnels) –––– Marysville’s Parks and Recreation Commission meeting was canceled Thursday night, “due to weather” according to the cancellation notice. The commission had planned…

Charges have been filed against the Villa Hotel in Richwood. Sgt. Tiffany Meeks, with the Ohio State Highway Patrol, confirmed administrative charges had been filed against the Villa Hotel’s liquor permit On Friday, the Ohio Investigative Unit, a division of the Ohio State Highway Patrol, executed a search warrant at the Villa Hotel, 12 W. Blagrove St., Richwood. Agents removed at least three machines suspected to be video gaming machines. Meeks said the Ohio Investigative Unit filed administrative charges including gambling- acquire, possess, control, or operate a gambling device; game of chance for profit or scheme of chance; operating a…

The Union County Grand Jury has filed additional charges against members of an alleged drug manufacturing and sale ring. In January, the Union County Multi-Agency Drug Enforcement (MADE) Task Force raided a home at 21378 Titus Road in Raymond. Several individuals were charged with drug and probation-related charges at that time. In March, the grand jury made additional indictments. Recently, the grand jury expanded the list of charges and defendants. “Law enforcement had a significant amount of data to go through following that raid,” Union County Prosecutor Dave Phillips said. “Based on the information gathered through that data, the grand…

As part of the Main Street bridge replacement, Marysville will be combining two water lines into one. To do that, one of the lines must be abandoned near the intersection of Main and Fourth streets. City water crews, including Ben Layne, right, and Ron Doebert, left, were working Tuesday morning to make that happen. Officials said the bridge is supposed to open “on time” at the end of the month. (Journal-Tribune photo by Mac Cordell)

VAUGHN –––– While Plain City Village Council had intended to discuss several new positions at Monday night’s work session, it was an established position that ended up as the topic of conversation. As part of the meeting, Village Administrator Kevin Vaughn announced he had submitted his letter of resignation earlier that day. Council was preparing to talk about of series of personnel moves Vaughn had suggested earlier in the year. He has suggested the village hire a public service director and an economic development director. “I think we need to talk about the letter before we talk about any of…

U.S 42 south of Crottinger Road in Jerome Township was closed multiple times this morning following a semi crash. Shortly before 6 a.m. today, a Freightliner semi-truck was traveling north on U.S. 42. The truck went off the right side of the road, into a ditch, and then overturned in a cornfield. Traffic was closed in both directions while the crash was investigated. Deputies from the Union County Sheriff’s Office were eventually able to reopen one lane and direct traffic until a wrecker came about 7:15 to move the truck. At that point, the road was again closed. No additional…

“Does the Jerome Township Division of Fire know what our community expects from us?” That is the question at the core of nearly all conversations within the fire department. Lt. Sam Parsons thought it was such an important question, he decided to make it the theme of his capstone project for the Ohio Fire Executive (OFE) program. Parsons, who has been with the Jerome Township Division of Fire for more than 13 years, is one of the department’s three shift lieutenants and serves as the township fire marshal. “This is what I have wanted to do since graduating high school,”…

Municipal Court Speeding – Georgiana M. Saffle, Lima, $75 fine, $85 costs. Seat belt – Jared S. Walker, Plain City, $30 fine, $66 costs. Seat belt – Timothy C. McElroy, Richwood, $30 fine, $66 costs. Seat belt – Jeremy M. Brennan, 202 Park Avenue, $30 fine, $66 costs. Speeding – M. Anthony Baer, Richwood, $58 fine, $85 costs. Seat belt – Joshua D. Longfellow, Columbus, $30 fine, $66 costs. Speeding – Andrew M. Keszei, Ft. Wayne, IN, $58 fine, $85 costs. Seat belt – Brennan J. Campbell, Columbus, $30 fine, $66 costs. Traffic light – Abishekselvara Nagarajan, Troy, MI, $58…

The Villa Hotel, 12 Blagrove St., Richwood was closed Friday as investigators executed a search warrant. Several suspected video gaming machines were reportedly taken from the bar. (Photo submitted) –––– A Richwood bar and grill has been closed, at least temporarily. Law enforcement officials confirmed Friday that the Ohio Investigative Unit, a division of the Ohio State Highway Patrol, executed a search warrant Friday morning at the Villa Hotel, 12 West Blagrove St., Richwood. Agents reportedly removed at least three machines suspected to be video gaming devices. The Ohio Investigative Unit uses undercover agents to investigate specific crimes in the…