Perhaps the biggest local political scandal in recent memory culminated in 2017.

Then-Sheriff Aaron Rovenstine was indicted on 10 felony counts in February 2016, along with former Grace College professor Mark Soto and mixed martial artist Kevin Bronson.

Their court cases in 2017 made them the top story of the year, according to a Times-Union staff poll.

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1. Rovenstine was charged with  three counts of bribery, one count of intimidation, one count assisting a criminal and five counts of official misconduct. He was accused of agreeing to take $40,000 to allow Bronson to meet with Soto unmonitored while Bronson was in Kosciusko County Jail.

Bronson had many run-ins with the law and left Warsaw, but claimed he turned away from his life of drugs and membership in the Aryan Nation to become a Christian. He said he was talking to multiple movie companies about producing a documentary chronicling his conversion. The pastor and many church members agreed to invest money in the movie.

The movie deal fell through and Bronson was arrested on cocaine charges in 2014.

Soto was working with Bronson to make the movie. Soto was Bronson’s friend and “spiritual mentor,” according to court documents and previous published reports.

Warsaw Police Officer  Paul Heaton was a member of the church and began an investigation into the Bronson and Soto’s fundraising activities.

An indictment alleged Bronson and Soto used threats to extort money to finance the movie and operate Bronson’s Warsaw martial arts gym, Young Dragon Enterprises.

Court documents alleged Heaton and Warsaw Police Chief Scott Whitaker discovered Rovenstine was allowing Soto and Bronson to meet unmonitored in the jail.

The indictment alleged Rovenstine agreed to accept $40,000 to allow the unmonitored calls and provide other special privileges to Bronson.

On April 4, the jury was seated in the Rovenstine case. The following day, Rovenstine pleaded guilty to felony intimidation. On May 23, he was sentenced to one year suspended for felony intimidation.

In June, a Republican caucus picked interim and former Sheriff Rocky Goshert to finish out Rovenstine’s term.

In July, Bronson, 60, pleaded guilty to one count of corrupt business influence. Under a plea agreement, special Judge Stephen Bowers sentenced him to seven years in prison, but allowed the time to be served in Elkhart Community Corrections.

In November, Bronson was accused of violating his probation and was sent to prison.

Soto’s trial began in late July. He was convicted on two counts of corrupt business influence and one count of intimidation on Aug. 8. He had faced six charges, but was acquitted of two counts of intimidation and one count of corrupt business influence. He was sentenced to three years on home detention and three years on probation.

2. The public was in disbelief and angered after learning Christopher Grimmett, then 29, Warsaw, had murdered 2-year-old Adalin S. Stamper on Nov. 11 2016, and buried her in a shallow grave in the back yard at 1835 Sue Ave, Warsaw.

On Sept. 11, Grimmett pleaded guilty but mentally ill to killing Stamper. Under a plea agreement, Grimmett received up to 50 years in prison. If he gets an early release, he will be on parole for the rest of his life.

Prosecuting Attorney Dan Hampton said they never learned why Grimmett beat the child to death. “We’ll wonder that forever,” he said.

3. The story of a mother going to jail for refusing to take her daughter to see her father in prison got a lot of response on social media this past year.

Jennifer Logan, 28, was facing jail time in October if she didn’t comply with a court order to let Sammy Davis, the father, see their daughter.  

Davis is serving a sentence at Wabash Valley Correctional Facility, Carlisle, for driving drunk and killing his then-girlfriend, Victoria Anderson, in 2010 – about two months after his daughter was born.

Traveling round trip to the prison from Logan’s Atwood home is about 450 miles.

At Logan’s hearing on Oct. 11, she was ordered to head back to jail for 21 days for the fourth time for not complying with the court order to take her daughter to visit Davis. Her sentence was modified so it could be served on weekends.

4. Sewer rates in Warsaw will go up in 2018 after numerous public meetings and discussions this past year.

In February, the city council heard the wastewater treatment plant capacity is nearing 90 percent, and at the current rate, capacity will be reached by 2020.

In the fall, the city council approved a new flow rate of $5.65 per 1,000 gallons and the collection system charge of $8.21 in a monthly bill, both 20 percent increases over the current rate, but eliminated the $3.79 billing component. Based on 4,800 gallons, that will make a monthly bill $35.33 instead of $39.12 as proposed in an original ordinance. That still raises the rate from the current $32.60.

The city has proposed a $41 million sewer project, including $10.1 million in improvements to sewer lines and manholes in phase I.

Phase II will involve a $30 million expansion of the city’s wastewater treatment plant, which is mandated by the state, and will be funded with another sewer rate hike that will be proposed in 2018.

5. A military veteran and his family had a home built for them in 2017 thanks to the community and several local organizations.

Home builder John Kidd went to a convention in Las Vegas in January 2016 and came home with a daunting idea – ask the community to pay for and construct a mortgage-free home for a disabled U.S. military veteran.

The idea came after he and other local builders met representatives of Operation Finally Home at a concert at the House of Blues in Las Vegas, where Kix Brooks, of the country band Brooks and Dunn, was participating in a surprise announcement in which a disabled veteran from Texas learned he would be the recipient of a new home.

Operation Finally Home has been helping construct new homes for veterans for more than 10 years, but never in Indiana. Most were in much larger cities, where builders and suppliers are more plentiful.

But Kidd and other organizers had little difficulty finding people willing to donate money, materials and volunteer their time to construct a home at 2613 E. Ontario Lane.

On Sept. 14, the efforts led by the Home Builders Association of Kosciusko and Fulton Counties and a huge array of volunteers were on full display in Shadow Lakes subdivision east of Warsaw.

That’s when retired U.S. Army Staff Sgt. Justin Raymer and his family saw the newly completed ranch home that includes five bedrooms, 3.5 baths and some state-of-the-art amenities.

6. Work on a new retail development along U.S. 30 got under way in August; it will include two restaurants that will be new to Kosciusko County.

JDF Development already has lined up commitments from McAllister’s Deli, as well as Moe’s Southwest Grill, a Verizon Wireless store and a Starbucks coffee shop that will include a drive-thru.

McAllister’s will be a free-standing restaurant, while the others will be constructed as part of one building.

The development in front of Meijer will be known as Lake City Plaza. The businesses are expected to open by spring.

7. Almost 30 years after Marsh constructed the South Buffalo Street store on the site of the old Murphy Medical Center, the struggling super market chain closed its doors.

On May 21, the Warsaw Marsh was one of four Marsh supermarkets that shut their doors across the state. Five more closed on  May 27.

Before its Buffalo Street location, Marsh was on East Market Street where Dollar General is located.

8. Seven months after it began, the Husky Trail road project was completed.

The project – which included an improved driving surface, new underground storm infrastructure, a roundabout at Mariners Drive, dedicated turn lanes at various intersections, sidewalks on both sides of the street, decorative lighting and other general Americans with Disabilities Act and pedestrian safety improvements – began April 3.

9. Kosciusko County Council President Bob Sanders passed away May 14 at the age of 69. A Republican caucus was called to replace him.

On June 7, candidates to replace Sanders included former Councilman Harold Jones, North Webster; Brett Harter,?Leesburg; Paul Finley, Warsaw; Josh Finch, Warsaw; former Councilman Jon Fussle, Warsaw; Tressa Nichols, North Webster; and Kim Cates, Syracuse.

After five ballots were used to narrow the field, Cates faced Nichols in the sixth ballot and won 37-23.

10. The alley between Warsaw City Hall and Oak & Alley, an adjacent restaurant and bar, was spruced up thanks to donations and a state grant, but not without some controversy.

The $100,000 project features a colorful inlay pattern in the asphalt; planters, chairs and tables; a long row of encased artwork highlighted by lights; and all topped off with several bright blue sun shades.

Crowdfunding generated about $58,000 of the cost, which was used to gain a $50,000 match through the Indiana Housing and Community Development Authority.

Former City Councilman Kyle Babcock and local landlord Chad Zartman took issue with the donations to the alley project and alleged the city violated the Open Door Law by voting on some matters related to the project via email, and the Access to Public Records Act by not releasing the names of the anonymous donors.

The Indiana Public Access Counselor ruled the city violated the Open Door Law, but did not violate the Access to Public Records Act because anonymous donations may be kept confidential under state law. Other than some negative public relations, the city didn’t face any repercussions for the violation but agreed to not vote via email again.