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ANGOLA — Decisions, decisions.
Two stories that had significant impact in Steuben County in this first decade of the new millenium and easily could have been No. 1. A nearly century-old banking institution comes tumbling down and the local university changes its name for the fourth time but shedding for the first time the words Tri-State.
Which was the top story of this decade could be debated until 2019, no doubt. Still, here’s The Herald Republican staff’s choice for the top stories of the decade.
1. The First National Bank of Fremont is no more
Amid controversy that came to light in 2004, The First National Bank of Fremont was sold to Farmers State Bank in 2005.
The actions that led to the sale still reverberate today. Bank president Earl Ford McNaughton was ousted as president in 2004 after federal banking officials discovered a number of irregularities that were traced back to the third generation banker.
McNaughton engaged in loan schemes that involved ranking officers of the bank, along with third parties outside of the bank, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency determined. McNaughton and the bank’s holding company, American Heritage Banco, ended up involved in numerous lawsuits that sought return of millions of dollars in loans that were secured by McNaughton’s various real estate holdings and collections, including a massive collection of Native American artifacts. McNaughton also made nominee loans that involved First National money, which went against federal banking laws.
McNaughton reportedly was the subject of federal grand jury proceedings in 2008 and 2009 and sources close to the case said in October that they expect indictments at any time. Federal officials would not confirm this information.
Meanwhile, many officials with the bank, including McNaughton, have been fined by federal regulators and have been banned from any future involvement with financial institutions.
2. Tri-State University becomes Trine University
Citing a desire to establish a new identity and clear up confusion over the school’s location and its status as a private school, Tri-State University President Earl Brooks II announced the day before commencement in 2007 that the school would be changing its name, and that it would include the name Trine, in honor of Vestil Manufacturing owners Ralph and Sheri Trine, who had made a significant, eight-figure donation to the school for various projects.
Later that year, Trine University was announced as the official new name for the school.
While the school initially planned on changing the name for the 2009-10 school year, the school moved the change up an entire year, becoming Trine University in a ceremony Aug. 1, 2008.
The announcement initially produced a storm of controversy locally and beyond, leading the school to name the main Angola campus of the school the Tri-State Campus when the new name took effect.
The change has coincided with a building boom on campus, highlighted by the new University Center, as well as renovations to academic buildings, new student housing and athletic complexes.
3. Major Moves passes Legislature
In what was a controversial move pursued by Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels, the Legislature approved the Major Moves Transportation bill, allowing the Indiana Toll Road to be leased to a Spanish-Australian consortium for 75 years at a cost of $3.8 billion.
The deal ended up sweet for Steuben County, which along with five of the seven toll road counties received $40 million as part of the legislation, which passed the Republican-controlled House on a 51-49 party-line vote.
The $40 million received in Steuben County was divided up among the county and municipalities based on gas tax distribution. Steuben County ended up with the greatest amount, some $33 million. Angola received nearly $4 million.
While some of the municipalities have spent their take on a variety of public works projects, Steuben County and Angola continue to hold on to sizeable sums. Steuben County had about $26.25 million and Angola had its full principal, $3.908 million, remaining in their Major Moves funds as of Wednesday. (Angola has budgeted $1.1 million of its principal toward the downtown streetscape project for 2010.)
The money can only be used for transportation, economic development and infrastructure projects.
4. Sept. 11 impacts Steuben County
Immediately on the heels of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, Steuben County went through many changes.
Police and fire departments adopted new policies and trained for possible attacks by terrorists. The Steuben County Department of Emergency Management was formed, and the county put into place a disaster plan like no other that came before it. County buildings are more secure than ever.
Wellhead protection programs have been put in place by every community to protect water supplies.
It virtually impossible to enter a school as a visitor without going through some process aimed at protecting the safety of school children.
5. Waste District projects change face of Steuben County lakes
Though slowed by the economic downturn of the latter part of the decade, Steuben County’s lakes, especially those in the northern portion of the county, experienced a boom in construction projects during the decade. Much of that building can be traced to the extension of sewer lines from the Steuben Lakes Regional Waste District.
That extension, however, has not come without problems. Enormous cost overruns from the 2005 project that relocated the district’s plant and offices to the Flint area soured many on the project, and subsequent rate increases to cover interest and other costs have been met with lawsuits. However, the district now seems on more secure financial footing, leading to an expansion into Orland and Wall and Brown lakes this year, and possible expansion to the northeast in coming years.
6. Univertical/Dana environmental clean up
Angola, Steuben County and Univertical owner Chuck Walker team up to pay for a $5.5 million clean up left behind when Dana moved out in 1993 then got out from underneath a 1994 agreement to contain contamination at its former Angola factory.
Steuben County and Walker put up $1 million apiece for the clean up. Angola put up the remaining $3.5 million.
The clean up was necessary because contaminants from the former Dana site have reached the city’s drinking water system, though not a levels that would constitute a threat to health.
7. Wreck kills 6 people from Angola
Six young people who were riding in a sports utility vehicle crashed at about 4:30 a.m. on July 25, 2006, on C.R. 100E north of Feather Valley Road in rural Fremont, killing all occupants of the vehicle.
It is believed the people in the vehicle jumped the crest of a hill on C.R. 100E at Feather Valley, then lost control and struck a large cottonwood tree. The vehicle burst into flames.
Killed in the wreck were Angola residents Jeremy E. Fulton, 20; Donavan M. Green, 20; Coltlyn C. Karn, 16; Megann Kotowski, 14; Sarah Teeple, 17; and Roger Wilcox, 20.
8. Presidential campaign comes to Steuben County
Perhaps like no previous election, Steuben County and northeast Indiana played an active part in the presidential elections in 2008.
Volunteers for then Sens. Barack Obama and Hillary Rodham Clinton hit the area in the weeks before the Democratic primary in May. As the date of the primary neared, Clinton’s husband, former President Bill Clinton campaigned in person on behalf of his wife in a speech at Angola Middle School, drawing hundreds of people to the rally. It was the first time a president or ex-president spoke in Steuben County.
A few months later, just after receiving their party’s nominations, Obama and running mate Joe Biden stopped in Hamilton Aug. 31, speaking with patrons at the Pier 32 restaurant for about an hour, before continuing a cross-country bus tour.
Although neither of the Republican ticket members stopped in Steuben County, both Sen. John McCain and former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin made stops in the region, with McCain appearing late in the campaign in Defiance, Ohio, and Palin appearing in Fort Wayne.
Obama would go on to become the first Democrat since 1964 to win the state of Indiana.
9. Face of downtown Angola to change
In an effort to keep tourism and other dollars flowing into the city, Angola has spent the last several years planning for changes to the landscape of the Public Square and the surrounding areas.
Summer 2010, in conjunction with planned improvements to U.S. 20, will bring a number of changes to the area.
Changes will include the addition of planted medians along West Maumee Street, leading into a newly renovated square, with new sidewalks as well as new parking quadrants, trees and other improvements.
The plans got a boost in late 2008, when Cameron Memorial Community Hospital announced plans to expand its presence around its current facility. There had been a possibility that the hospital could relocate closer to I-69.
10. Daylight saving time comes to Indiana
Fulfilling a campaign promise in his first year in office, Gov. Mitch Daniels pushes for and gets daylight saving time passed in Indiana in 2005.
The measure was passed on nearly a party-line vote, with only one vote coming from a Democratic member of the Republican-controlled House. The vote was a foregone conclusion in the Senate where the GOP held a wide majority.
In Steuben County, numerous government and business leaders favored the change because business was so closely tied to markets in Detroit and points east, which observed daylight saving time.
For the first time since the energy crisis in the 1970s, Indiana would spring forward then fall back, beginning in 2006.
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