In 2015, readers mourned young and old, detoured around a collapsed building, and welcomed hordes of drivers in search of cheap gasoline.
The community of London celebrated the return of a theater to Main Street. That same Main Street saw a fire push a long-time local business into a temporary new location.
Courts and restaurants relocated. City officials debated the merits of stoplights. A fair board secretary was swindled out of $60,000 of the organization’s money. A drunk driver traveled the wrong way on the interstate for 17 miles before fatally colliding with a minivan in Madison County.
And The Madison Press was there.
Here’s a roundup of your top local news stories from 2015:
Municipal court building opens
Years in the making, the $4 million Madison County Municipal Court opened in October at 55 N. Oak St., London.
The project’s been changed, delayed or stalled several times over the years as then-Municipal Judge R. David Picken and a committee controlling the construction of any new courthouse argued over location. Picken wanted the court on county-owned land at Lafayette and Keny Boulevard. The commissioners prevailed and brought the project to Oak and Fourth.
Picken’s plan for costs to be paid solely from a Municipal Court special-projects fund that comes entirely from court costs was adopted by current Judge Eric Schooley, who took the reins in 2011.
Last August, officials reported the building would open in October. But with each month, the completion date continued to be postponed as a result of construction issues, namely a roof that was not properly pitched.
An open house was held Oct. 7 for a building destined to become a historical architectural gem of the community.
Cappy’s Pizza opens in former Rothwell’s location
Cappy’s Pizza has been a dining-out staple in London for more than 40 years, many of those at 247 Lafayette St., but this year the business made an upgrade in a larger building down the road.
A business deal involved a trade of properties with businessmen Al and Tom Coughlin. They took over the former Cappy’s location, located next to the car dealership, and Cappy’s owner Bob Capuano took over the former Rothwell’s site at 225 Lafayette St.
Coughlin also acquired the former Sav-A-Lot grocery store, which closed in April.
Rothwell’s closed unexpectedly in January; Capuano opened his restaurant in its new location Aug. 11.
Capuano renovated the interior, which includes an updated kitchen with new appliances, a re-decorated dining room with additional seating and a meeting room for private parties.
The entrance features a separate area for take-out customers to wait for their pizza to go.
Gas war! London boasts cheapest gas in the nation
Gasoline prices plummeted for a brief period in July as a gasoline price war was set off, prompting national media outlets to report that London, Ohio had the cheapest fuel in the country.
Kamal Singh, owner of the BP station on East High Street in London, began dropping the price of his unleaded regular gasoline and stations throughout London followed suit. Once it slipped below $2 a gallon, the price “war” was declared.
Long lines of cheap-gas thirsty motorists began to form not only at Singh’s BP, but also at the Speedway station on West High Street and at the Shell and Rich gas stations on Lafayette Street.
The Press reported the price sank to $1.89 per gallon. Several stations ran out of fuel.
The “war” was settled quickly as prices by the start of the following week had risen again to a level above $2 per gallon.
State Theater reopens with public support
Rob Treynor enjoyed working in a theater as a youth. Those fond memories, plus the availability of one dormant movie theater in London, plunged him and his family to start a community fund drive to re-0pen the State Theater on 67 S. Main St. in London.
In order to re-open the theater, the Treynors, who purchased the property from businessman George Peyton, asked the public for its financial support to purchase the latest technology in projection systems, which had a price tag of $30,000.
Donations came in and the goal was reached just at the end of the fund drive, June 6. In addition to the projection system upgrade, the Treynors also refreshed the facade with white and gold paint and remodeled the lobby for seating.
The Treynors have added a broader selection of foods, plus wine and beer. The theater recently hosted a film festival and hosted record recent attendance during the December opening of the latest Star Wars movie.
Mabe’s saved after downtown fire
A fire broke out overnight Oct. 21 in downtown London, damaging three upstairs apartments and two businesses in the historical district.
The fire broke out in the middle apartment above B & J Optical, 16 S. Main St. Smoke spread to the rear and front apartments, downstairs into the optical business, and next door into Mabe’s Clothing, 18 S. Main St.
The residents walked out of the building unharmed and are receiving assistance from the American Red Cross.
Dave Mabe, of Mabe’s Clothing, said the longtime family-owned business — owned by his mother, Martha Mabe — is “just fine,” although it endured some smoke damage.
The family-owned store has temporarily moved next door to 22 S. Main St., known as the Ballenger Building, and the Mabe family is stocking it to provide services to customers.
It was ruled accidental, but undetermined, by the state fire marshal’s office.
Community loses hospital visionaries Geib and Flax
The local medical community mourned the loss of two leaders in April of this year.
Pediatrician and London school board member Dr. Martha Geib, 49, suddenly passed away following a heart attack.
A London native, Geib opened her local practice in 2003 and in 2014 joined Madison Health at its new primary care practice on Park Avenue.
Geib served in the community in a variety of ways, including as a member of the London City Schools Board of Education since January 2010. She served as president of the board in 2012.
Less than two weeks after Geib’s death, Mona Flax, 70, a longtime community advocate credited with fostering the Madison Health Foundation, passed away following her final battle with cancer.
During her tenure as director, the foundation raised $7 million, including $1.75 million for special breast cancer equipment and services, and renovated every department within the hospital with the help of foundation funding.
Both were honored in numerous ways throughout the year, including at the hospital’s Lights of Love ceremony in December.
Wrong-way drunk driver gets five years in prison
Mattison Skoog, 25, of Columbus, was sentenced to five years in prison in October for causing a fatal crash in Madison County in March after climbing behind the wheel drunk and driving the wrong way on Interstate 70.
Skoog left a bar in the Grandview Heights neighborhood of Columbus around 1:30 a.m. on March 24 and traveled the wrong way on I-670 and then I-70 for more than 17 miles before striking a minivan head-on near the State Route 29 exit.
Maribel Pablo Mijangos, 32, of Columbus, died from injuries sustained in the crash. She was riding in the back seat.
Her husband, 31-year-old Carlos De-La-Fuenta, was driving. Other passengers included three children, ages 2, 3 and 7, and the victim’s sister, 34-year-old Marta Pablo Mijango. They all sustained non-life threatening injuries.
Skoog’s blood alcohol level was 0.19, more than twice the legal limit.
She pleaded guilty in September to one second-degree felony count of aggravated vehicular homicide and one fourth-degree felony count of vehicular assault.
Skoog was also ordered to pay a $10,000 fine and all court costs. Her driver’s license was permanently suspended.
Civil case pending against former fair board secretary
The former fair board treasurer was ordered in December to pay more than $3,500 in fines, costs and reimbursement to the Madison County Agricultural Society for failing to pay roughly $780 in withheld payroll taxes in October of 2009.
Brenda Roseberry, 63, of West Jefferson, was also sentenced to two years of probation.
Roseberry pleaded guilty in October to one fifth-degree felony count of failing to file a state income tax return.
But she is also accused of withdrawing $60,491 from the organization’s funds in September 2014 after falling victim to a scam.
Roseberry admitted last year to withdrawing the money to pay what she thought were back taxes owed by the board. She said that scammers posing as IRS officials had contacted her by phone and demanded the money in pre-paid Visa cards.
The fair board is suing Roseberry to recoup the withdrawn money, of which Roseberry has paid back about $29,000.
The civil suit also accuses Roseberry of failing to file the board’s federal tax returns for 10 years, which resulted in the temporary loss of the organization’s nonprofit status and forced it to pay unspecified interest and penalties, for which it also seeks compensation.
The lawsuit is currently slated for a May 2016 jury trial.
Building collapses in West Jefferson
A building collapsed in downtown West Jefferson on a Sunday morning in late August, injuring two.
The building, located at 38 E. Main St., held the office of dentist Dr. Gerald Weissman, who owns the building. A resident also lived in an apartment in the building, which was located in the corner that collapsed.
Four people were inside the building when it collapsed around 6:25 a.m. on Aug. 30. Two people were taken to Doctors Hospital in Columbus with minor injuries.
Rubble blocked the westbound lane of West Jefferson’s Main Street for nearly a month before demolition of the building began on Sept. 28. An Environmental Protection Agency inspector was on-site throughout the week to monitor clean-up.
The partially collapsed building was roped off to bystanders during the village’s annual Ox Roast festival, held over Labor Day weekend.
In the aftermath, former renter Linda Gibson, owner of Blake Thomas Interiors, said a carpenter pointed out crumbling bricks and a bulge in the wall of the now-demolished building while she occupied the space between September 2014 and January 2015.
A prior tenant of a neighboring property, also owned by Weissman, accused him of failing to address urgent structural issues in the small, white building located at 48 W. Main Street.
Tina McKenzie, owner of Child Space Consignment Store, placed her rent for August and September in escrow in Madison County Municipal Court and moved her business out of that building in July.
The civil case is slated for a hearing in January.
Residents debate downtown traffic light changes
It was a summer of changes for London residents as downtown traffic patterns seemed to be constantly changing, and the debate over how the pattern should end raged on for months.
Steve Hume, the city’s safety-services director, launched what he called “an experiment” with the lights on High Street in July.
Hume decided to test the lights following an Ohio Department of Transportation traffic safety study which said the lights at the High Street intersections of Walnut, Union and Oak streets, as well as Madison Road, are no longer necessary. Only traffic patterns at High and Main streets warranted a signal light, the study said.
First, the lights on High Street at the intersections of Union and Oak streets went to a flashing yellow light for two weeks, while the signal facing the side streets went to a red flashing light. Then, the same two-week experiment was performed at the intersections of Madison and Walnut.
Then, for about four weeks, all four intersections went to flashing lights. Lights went back to normal in September.
Thought the issue was discussed by council members, who ultimately had the power to make a change, legislation was never brought forward to eliminate any lights.
Tragedy strikes twice in Jonathan Alder community
Within two weeks, two young students at Jonathan Alder High School took their own lives.
The Plain City community in February grieved the losses of a junior boy and a freshman boy.
Administrators sought direction from the Madison County Crisis Response Team about dealing with grieving and questioning students. The school offered grief counseling and students were encouraged to communicate and being told suicide shouldn’t be the answer.
Post-It notes bearing life-affirming phrases were posted on locker doors at the high school in the days following the suicides. Art students initiated the positive reinforcement.
A candlelight ceremony was also held to remember the students.
The tragedies triggered anti-suicide and anti-bullying efforts at schools throughout the area. Jonathan Alder High School, specifically, hosted a suicide prevention and grief support fair with local church, mental health and community members.
Former Madison County Agricultural Society treasurer Brenda Roseberry, right, sits at her formal pretrial in August with attorney Michael Hess.
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Former Madison County Agricultural Society treasurer Brenda Roseberry, right, sits at her formal pretrial in August with attorney Michael Hess.
File photos
Clarence “Junior” Liff of Mount Sterling fills his Ford pick-up truck in London where the BP stations dispensed unleaded regular gasoline at $1.89 a gallon, the cheapest price in a three county area including Clark, Madison and Franklin counties. The low price caused lines at gas pumps throughout London.
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Clarence “Junior” Liff of Mount Sterling fills his Ford pick-up truck in London where the BP stations dispensed unleaded regular gasoline at $1.89 a gallon, the cheapest price in a three county area including Clark, Madison and Franklin counties. The low price caused lines at gas pumps throughout London.
File photos
Several fire departments respond to a fire in historical downtown London in October. The blaze began in an apartment above B & J Optical, with smoke damage spreading to Mabe’s Clothing.
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Several fire departments respond to a fire in historical downtown London in October. The blaze began in an apartment above B & J Optical, with smoke damage spreading to Mabe’s Clothing.
File photos
Stories of the year included a building collapse in West Jefferson, below left, the reopening of the State Theater, upper right, and a new municipal courthouse, right middle.
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Stories of the year included a building collapse in West Jefferson, below left, the reopening of the State Theater, upper right, and a new municipal courthouse, right middle.
File photos
Counting down the biggest stories of 2015
Staff report