FACEBOOK PICKS
Survey says: We asked our Facebook readers what they thought was the biggest story of the year. Here are the top three picks: 1. Katelyn Markham disappears. 2. Local paper mills to close. 3. John Boehner becomes speaker of the House.
Local paper mills face uncertainty
In the digital age, post-recession, the few paper mills left standing in Butler County might not be left a year from now. SMART Papers in Hamilton began its first round of layoffs this month in anticipation of closing. The mill announced Oct. 13 it has about eight months to find a buyer for all or parts of its business on North B Street in Hamilton, or it will close. At the time, the paper maker had more than 200 employees.
“We had hoped to avoid this action,” the letter from SMART Chief Executive Officer Andrew Howley states. “The U.S. economic slowdown has intensified the effects of reduced commercial demand and the rapid expansion of low-priced Asian coated paper manufacturing, the increased costs of raw materials and chemicals, and the uncertainly of cost requirements of pending EPA legislation have all contributed to the decision to closing the facility.” Mohawk Papers, the oldest paper mill in Hamilton, closes at the end of the year. Franklin Boxboard in Warren County closed in August. Graphic Packaging International, which owns a coated recycle board mill in Middletown, closed a Cincinnati location in August. Making paper was once Butler County’s largest industry, said Middletown historian Sam Ashworth. The paper industry in Hamilton and Middletown dates back 150-plus years, predating the steel industry.
Billy DiSilvestro, Katelyn Markham disappear
It was bitter cold in February the last time William DiSilvestro’s family saw him. As the days warmed, leads trickled in about his whereabouts, keeping sheriff’s detectives busy and the family hopeful. Butler County Sheriff’s Lt. Mike Craft told the JournalNews he remains realistic about the chances of finding “Billy D” alive and well. “Because of the time that has passed, I do fear the worst,” he said, adding detectives have combed rural areas, including the banks of the Great Miami River, and have even conducted polygraph tests on persons of interest, but nothing has led to DiSilvestro. Debbie Estes, his mother, is a former bartender in the New Miami and Hamilton area, who has gathered an army of friends to help look for her son. “I have plastered his face everywhere,” she said last week. “I have him all over the Internet, I made a YouTube video ... I have even been to a psychic.” Estes knows it is not likely her son is alive. He has a bad liver, battled alcoholism, and is prone to seizures, which required medication, and has tried to commit suicide in the past.
Fairfield resident Katelyn Markham was last seen Aug. 13 at her Dorshire Drive townhouse. Her car, keys and purse were still at the residence, and her cell phone was turned off that night. Police haven’t recently received any tips or leads, but a detective is assigned to the case. Fairfield police Chief Mike Dickey said the department is working with the FBI on some “technical things” that are “mostly experimental.” A $25,000 reward has been offered through CrimeStoppers, and hundreds of volunteers, police and fire departments, and Texas EquuSearch, a nonprofit search and recovery group, have assisted in searching for any signs of the missing woman. Markham’s case has also drew national attention through the “Nancy Grace” show on CNN and the “Today” show. By this point, Markham would have graduated from the Art Institute of Cincinnati and had planned moved to Colorado with her fiance, John Carter.
Boehner inaugurated as speaker of the House
West Chester Twp. Representative John Boehner on Jan. 5 became the third Ohio native to be sworn in as Speaker of the U.S. House. He pledged to repair problematic government spending and vowed to reduce partisan tensions. “We will not always get it right,” Boehner said when he addressed the nation on his inauguration day. “And we will not always agree on what is right.” Boehner’s most recent task was to reach compromise with the Senate for a payroll tax break and jobless pay. Boehner would not accept a two-month tax cut approved by the Senate — most in the Republican-led House want a one-year deal or nothing at all. No Democrat in the House joined the Republicans in rejecting the bill Dec. 20. After days of wrangling, the House Republicans eventually relented Dec. 22 under intense pressure from the White House.
Most Wanted list narrows after Mario Alfredo Lopez Cruz captured
One of Butler County’s most wanted fugitives was arraigned in September after being transported back to the area from Mexico. Authorities said Mario Alfredo Lopez Cruz fled there after a crime in 2005 in which he snatched a young girl off her bicycle and took her to a house in Hamilton where he reportedly raped her. Cruz remains in Butler County Jail and has a bond of $750,000.
Newest Butler County commissioner Cindy Carpenter makes waves
Butler County Commissioner Cindy Carpenter has dealt with a number of controversies since taking office in January. Just a few weeks after taking office, she and fellow Commissioner Don Dixon were found to have had private meetings without the knowledge of Commission President Charles Furmon, with the goal of overhauling the county’s upper-level management. The two had drafted resolutions that would have fired, demoted and replaced several top administrators, but the plans never materialized.
Dixon told the JournalNews he backed out of the plan because the format of the dialogue “may have been wrong.” Most recently, the Ohio Attorney General’s Office conducted an investigation into an accusation that Carpenter asked a Clerk of Courts office employee to sabotage records. Butler County Clerk of Courts Mary Swain asked Prosecutor Mike Gmoser to look into the accusation after it was brought to her attention in June. The accusation came to light after an accounting error was committed by an employee in the clerk’s office in June. After reviewing the BCI report, Gmoser said he did not think enough evidence was present to specify criminal conduct. Carpenter denies any wrongdoing.
Ryan Widmer found guilty of murder
Hamilton Twp. resident Ryan Widmer is now serving a sentence of 15 years to life in the Warren Correctional Institution for killing his wife Sarah Widmer, who drowned in the bathtub of their Hamilton Twp. home in August of 2008. He was found guilty in February after his third trial. Ryan Widmer was convicted in his first trial, but the conviction was thrown out after Judge Neal Bronson ruled the jury had acted improperly by experimenting at home with drying scenarios.
The second trial ended with a hung jury. The case gained national attention as producers from “Dateline NBC” taped the proceedings from gavel to gavel and “Inside Edition” aired coverage. The Widmer case caused a media firestorm that no other trial in Warren County has received. The creator and supporters of the website FreeRyanWidmer.com reported what occurred during the trial on a daily basis and allowed people to comment on a Facebook page created in support of Widmer. The website also became a part of the trial when page views and emails sent to it were submitted as evidence to the jury. Since Sarah Widmer’s death, Ryan Widmer has fathered a child with another woman, who contact him through the website after seeing the first “Dateline” episode featuring his case. Widmer is incarcerated in the Warren Correctional Institution.
Ex-teacher imprisoned for sex with students
A former physical education teacher found guilty in October of having sex with five former students was sentenced to 48 months in prison. At the time of her sentencing, Stacy Schuler, 33, was said to be able to be out by judicial release in six months, according to Warren County Common Pleas Judge Robert Peeler, who announced his decision after a four-day bench trial.
He told a packed courtroom that while he believes Schuler suffers psychological and substance abuse issues, he couldn’t buy her insanity defense. Schuler gave five former students alcohol and had sex with them in her Springboro home in fall 2010, according to testimony at trial. The five gave graphic and detailed accounts of what happened. One said sex with the teacher, employed by Mason High School at the time, was initiated on a kitchen counter. Two others told the court about sex they had with Schuler in her shower. Drinking and smoking marijuana at her home were involved in most instances, witnesses said. Schuler was charged with 16 counts of felony sexual battery and three misdemeanor counts for the alcohol offenses and faced a maximum of 81 years in prison.
Health systems up the competition
When Kettering Health Network announced it bought 135 acres of land at the Ohio 129 and Ohio Bypass 4 interchange for future development, the competition among local health systems heated up. KHN officials have not announced the plans for the land, but said it will likely be used to build an outpatient health care facility. It purchased Fort Hamilton Hospital in 2010 plans to remodel its emergency department.
Mercy Health – Fairfield Hospital said it has plans for an approximately $15 million expansion that includes converting the rest of its semi-private patient rooms to private rooms by completing an empty fifth floor of its patient tower and renovating its maternity unit.
Christ Hospital of Cincinnati said in September it signed a 10-year lease for office space in Liberty Twp., likely for physician offices.
And most recently, TriHealth of Cincinnati announced in November it purchased the Butler County Medical Center, an outpatient center and 10-bed hospital in Hamilton, and will add an emergency department.
In all, the six major hospitals serving Butler County invested $635 million from 2006 to 2011 in land, buildings and equipment and the hospitals — Atrium Medical Center, Fort Hamilton, Mercy Health, McCullough-Hyde Memorial Hospital, West Chester Hospital and Cincinnati Children’s Liberty Campus — said in March they own 200 acres of land yet to be developed.
Funneling campaign funds in Fairfield
The Ohio Elections Commission fined Fairfield businessman Tom Burer $10,000 for funneling money to a former Fairfield school board member. Burer pleaded guilty Sept. 7 to attempted tampering with a campaign finance report after he secretly funneled more than $25,000 to the campaign fund for former school board member Sharon Ko and two others in 2009. Burer hatched a plan whereby friends and family would donate their money to the Moms on a Mission political action committee during the 2009 election, according to Butler County Prosecutor Mike Gmoser.
Then Burer would reimburse their contributions. The majority of the contributions, about $15,500, were later given to Ko’s campaign. Dan Murray and Mark Morris, who are current board members, received $5,355 worth of in-kind contributions. Gmoser said Ko eventually realized who the money was coming from but the other two members denied knowledge of their benefactor. The FBI uncovered the campaign finance plan and turned the information over to Gmoser’s office. The Burer family’s $1.5 million vehicle maintenance contract with the school district was linked to the campaign finance plot. Ko was not prosecuted because she cooperated with Gmoser and was going to be a witness against Burer had there been a trial. Gmoser did however force her to resign from the board. She tendered her resignation on Aug. 25 citing personal reasons.
Ex-auditor sent to prison for role in Dynus scandal
Former Butler County Auditor Kay Rogers was sentenced to federal prison Aug. 31 after pleading guilty in 2007 of conspiracy to commit bank fraud and mail fraud, and for filing a false income tax return. She is in The Federal Medical Center in Lexington, Ky., and has a release date of May 27, 2013. Rogers is also ordered to pay back $4 million in restitution to National City Bank along with co-defendants, who were not named in court during Rogers’ sentencing. Rogers took out illicit loans in the name of Butler County for the now-defunct Dynus Corp., which had been contracted early last decade to operate the county’s fiber optics system. Rogers falsified documents that secured the loans. It was brought to light when Dynus failed to pay on the loans.
November voters decide school levies
Lakota Local Schools is heading into what school officials believe is the district’s most critical time in its history as it moves forward after three failed levy attempts in 18 months. First-year Superintendent Karen Mantia said in November the next step for the 18,000-student district is to make $9 million in cuts for the 2012-13 school year. Lakota has an annual budget of $153 million, with 77 percent of the general fund committed to wages and benefits. The district has already cut about $22 million over the past few years. The district has opted not to put a levy before voters in March 2012, as leaders go back to the drawing board to find a solution. The story is brighter for other districts. After state funding cuts and refusal by voters to approve taxes in a recession plunged Little Miami Schools deeper into financial trouble (voters rejected eight consecutive ballot initiatives within three years), the district was victorious with levy passage in November, and bussing has returned. Fairfield City Schools also saw an operating levy passage in November.