Top stories of 2024: No. 2, No. 1

SCOTT TRUXELL/independent editor

Editor’s note: As 2024 comes to an end, the Van Wert independent has been publishing what it judges to be the Top 10 stories of the year. Articles featuring top stories have been published daily since December 26, and the series concludes with today with the top two stories.

No. 2 – Van Wert City Council decides on marijuana dispensaries

Van Wert City Council made the decision to allow medical marijuana dispensaries within the city limits, but banned adult use facilities, often referred to as recreational dispensaries.

During a meeting held on July 8, council members heard the third and final reading of an ordinance to rescind a ban on such facilities in the city. The local ban was enacted after medical marijuana became legal in Ohio in late 2016. The vote to formally lift it was 5-1 in favor, with council members Jana Ringwald, Jeff Kallas, Jeff Agler, Julie Moore and Bill Marshall voting “yes.” At-Large Councilwoman Judy Bowers was the only “no” vote, and then-Second Ward Councilman Jordan Dettrow was absent from the meeting.

Before the vote and at prior meetings in the spring and earlier in the summer, council members heard impassioned pleas from supporters and opponents of the idea. Some argued against both medical and recreational use dispensaries, some were in favor of both and others supported the idea of a just a medical marijuana dispensary.

In November of 2023, Ohio voters approved a ballot issue that made recreational marijuana legal. However, it gave municipalities the power to prohibit recreational marijuana dispensaries.

Council members also approved legislation that limits medical marijuana dispensaries to “B-3” zoned areas of the city, defined by city ordinance as “…areas along major highways or thoroughfares which provide sales and services oriented to highway travelers; or general businesses including sale of and services for, motor vehicles, farm machinery, building materials, and the like.” It also includes certain shopping center and shopping plaza areas.

Months after the decision was made to lift the ban on medical marijuana dispensaries, no such facilities have opened in the city. However, a dual-use dispensary did open its doors about 15 minutes away, on the Van Wert County side of Delphos. It went “live” on August 5, after Delphos City Council voted on a proposed 90-day moratorium/delay of recreational marijuana sales. The proposal fell one vote short of passage.

No. 1 – Area treated to rare total solar eclipse

Van Wert County was in the path of totality of the April 8 total solar eclipse, the first one in Ohio since 1806.

All local schools were closed for the day to allow students and staff members to enjoy the rare event, and Jubilee Park, Smiley Park, the Van Wert Reservoir, Van Wert Walmart, Edgewood Park in Convoy, the Middle Point Community Building parking lot, and Willshire Ball Park were among the local mass gathering spaces for the eclipse. Lincoln Ridge Farms in Convoy hosted approximately 1,000 people.

While the number of people coming to the area to see the eclipse was short of projections – Ohio EMA estimated the county’s population could double for the day – a noticeable number of people still flocked to Van Wert County to experience the once-in-a-lifetime event. Many of the out-of-state visitors seemed to come from Michigan, but license plates from Indiana, Nebraska, Kentucky and other states were visible as well.

“The numbers weren’t there like the State of Ohio had anticipated,” Van Wert County EMA Director Rick McCoy said. “They had to base their numbers off of the 2017 eclipse and I think the time of the year, on a workday on a Monday probably brought numbers down but it didn’t disappoint me at all. We still had good crowds in town but I’m glad we didn’t see the big numbers because we would have issues that we talked about before.”

After the eclipse, as people were leaving the area for home, traffic became backed up on westbound U.S. 30. At one point, traffic was reported to be at a standstill from Richey Road all the way to Fort Wayne. Traffic was also slowing going in other spots, including N. Washington St. and U.S. 30 at John Brown Road in Van Wert, but no other major delays were reported.

Travel data from the Ohio Department of Transportation showed traffic volumes were up 12.8 percent the day before the eclipise, Sunday, April 7, then fell by 4.4 percent the day of the eclipse, and increased again by 15.8 percent on Tuesday, April 9, the day following the eclipse.

According to ODOT, within the path of totality, traffic on U.S. 30 from Van Wert to Canton was up 13 percent, including a 53.4 percent increase west of U.S. 224 near Van Wert. 

The April 8 eclipse was the last total solar eclipse in Ohio until 2444.