Newest Habitat for Humanity house built in Van Wert

Van Wert to start mosquito spraying

Submitted information

The Van Wert Street Department will beging spraying for mosquitoes tonight, then will continue on Wednesday and Thursday nights. Spraying will begin at 9 p.m. all three nights, weather permitting.

Summer concert series starts Friday

VW independent staff

If you’re a fan of 1980s music, you’ll want to head to Fountain Park in downtown Van Wert this Friday night for the kickoff to Van Wert LIVE’s Feel Good Friday summer concert series.

Ladies of The 80’s Night Outwill take the stage at 7:30 p.m. and the NYC-based 80s tribute show will perform a setlist featuring all your favorite hits, including Madonna, Cyndi Lauper, Pat Benatar, Whitney Houston and more.

Friday night’s concert and all Feel Good Friday concerts are free. Those attending are encouraged to bring lawn chairs.

Gas prices down, still lower in Indiana

VW independent staff/submitted information

Average gasoline prices in Ohio have fallen 31.7 cents per gallon in the last week, averaging $4.32 per gallon on Monday, according to GasBuddy’s survey of 5,345 stations in Ohio. Prices in Ohio are 58.4 cents per gallon lower than a month ago, but stand $1.43 per gallon higher than a year ago.

However, there’s still a notable gap in pump prices between Ohio and neighboring Indiana.

According to GasBuddy’s survey conducted throughout the Hoosier State, gas prices have fallen 25 cents per gallon and averaged $3.65 per gallon on Monday, the lowest average in the United States. The cheapest station in Indiana was priced at $3.01 per gallon on Sunday, while the most expensive was $5.09 per gallon, a difference of $2.08 per gallon.

By comparison, the cheapest station in Ohio was $3.53 per gallon on Sunday, while the most expensive was $5.85 per gallon, a difference of $2.32 per gallon.

The big difference between the two states – Indiana Governor Mike Braun has temporarily suspended the state’s gas sales tax and gas excise tax, which amounts to nearly 60 cents per gallon. The suspension is scheduled to end on Sunday, though Braun is reportedly considering extending it. Ohio Governor Mike DeWine has declined a gas tax suspension.

The national average price of gasoline has fallen 19.5 cents per gallon in the last week, averaging $4.26/g today. The national average is down 17.8 cents per gallon from a month ago and stands $1.18/g higher than a year ago, according to GasBuddy data compiled from more than 11 million weekly price reports covering over 150,000 gas stations across the country.

The national average price of diesel has decreased 15.5 cents compared to a week ago and stands at $5.437 per gallon.

Bike Rodeo planned for this Saturday

VW independent staff

Saddle up – the Optimist Club of Van Wert will hold its annual Bike Rodeo during the Peony Festival. The free event is for children ages 3-14 from 10:30 a.m. until noon on Saturday. Registration will be held from 10:30-11:30 a.m. on W. Main St. in front of the Brumback Library.

There will be five events: balancing, steering, circle ride, maneuvering and braking. Trophies will be awarded at 12 p.m. for winners of each age group, and there will be drawings for helmets, locks and other prizes for all participants.

Outdoorsman hosting shooting match

Submitted information

MIDDLE POINT — The Van Wert County Outdoorsmen Association will host a CMP sanctioned M-1 Garand match. This match will be held this Saturday, June 6, at the Van Wert County Outdoorsmen Club, 9093 Ringwald Road, Middle Point. The safety briefing will be held at 9:30 a.m. and the match will start at 9:45 a.m.

Any military rifle may be used such as an M-1 Garand, AR 15, and other such rifles. You may use iron sights or scoped rifles. Once you shoot in the match, you will be eligible to purchase an M-1 Garand from the CMP. If you do not have a rifle, the club has M-1 rifles to loan out to the public to use in this match. The club also has a National Match AR 15 for participants that might wish to try it out.

The cost to participate is $5, which is a target fee. If you need to purchase ammo to shoot in this match, the club has 30.06 ammo at $30 for 35 rounds, and AR-15 ammo is $18 for 40 rounds which includes the target fee. This needs to be used to shoot in our match, no extraneous purchases are allowed.

Peony Festival set for this Friday, Saturday

VW independent staff

It’s become a staple of downtown Van Wert during the first Friday and Saturday of June – the Peony Festival.

This year’s edition will begin on Friday June 5 and continue the following day and this year’s festival will include some traditional offerings along with some exciting new additions.

Some of the highlights include a car show, a kids meet and greet with Peony Festival Queen Meah Johnson and her court, the first Van Wert Live Feel Good Friday concert of the season at Fountain Park, a craft and vendor fair, bike rodeo, and the always popular Grand Jubilee Parade. New this year will be a local talent showcase, along with the second annual “Light Up the Night” drone show over Fountain Park.

Here is the schedule of events for the upcoming festival, which typically draws a large crowd to the downtown area.

Friday, June 5

11 a.m. to 8 p.m. – craft and vendor fair.

11 a.m. to 9 p.m. – Peony Cafe open  (proceeds benefit the Peony Festival)

11 a.m. to 10 p.m. – Food Truck Alley open.

12 p.m. to 2 p.m. – face painting and tattoos.

1-10 p.m. – Peony Beer Garden open.

Musical celebration planned in Van Wert

VW independent staff/submitted information

A musical program featuring concert organist, Matthew Wachtman and nearly 30 other outstanding musicians will present a program honoring America 250. It will be held at 4 p.m. Sunday, June 14, First United Methodist Church on W. Central Ave. in Van Wert.

The program, which will be free and open to the public, will feature organist Matthew Wachtman from Defiance. He is currently Director of Music and Worship at St. Martin’s Lutheran Church in Archbold and is on the faculty of the Baldwin Wallace University Conservatory of Performing Arts as Lecturer in Organ. Wachtman earned his Master of Music in Organ Performance at the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music where he also served as graduate assistant of the organ department. He received his Bachelor of Music degree in Keyboard Performance (organ) at the Baldwin Wallace Conservatory of Music. Wachtman is an active organ recitalist throughout the midwest and is a published author and composer in the Bach Journal and MorningStar Music.

The program will feature solo organ pieces on the recently renovated Noehren Pipe Organ at First UM Church. Wachtman will be joined on the first half by tenor Jake Wilder, pianist Annette Hoverman, and a brass quintet with members of the Lima Symphony Orchestra.

The second half will feature musicians from throughout the region in a Celebration of America 250. Wachtman will be joined by a 16-voice choir, seven-piece wind ensemble, percussion, and piano 4-hands. The second half will feature some of the most beloved American patriotic music ever written.

Sponsors are the Paul & Annette Hoverman Music Fund of The Van Wert County Foundation, Gary Taylor in honor of his father, Don Taylor, an anonymous donor, and in cooperation with Visit Van Wert and First United Methodist Church of Van Wert.

Lawmakers begin data center hearings

Nick Evans/Ohio Capital Journal

COLUMBUS — Ohio lawmakers kicked off hearings for a new data center committee last Wednesday. Stakeholders from the industry, utility regulation, and state agencies shared their views on data centers’ impact on the cost of power, the environment, and the economy.

Taken together, the speakers sought to downplay and displace concerns about the expansion of data centers around Ohio.

Ohio is now home to more than 200 data centers, with another 77 planned by the year 2030.

“We are all driving data center demand,” Dan Diorio from the Data Center Coalition told lawmakers.

Sure, artificial intelligence is a significant and growing driver, he said, but basic cloud computing infrastructure makes up the biggest share of data center computation. The number of people who are online now has almost doubled since 2018.

“The average household has 21 connected devices,” he said, between phones, laptops, watches, TVs, and thermostats. “My oven is connected to Wi-Fi. I can preheat it from here.”

And anyway, Diorio added, data centers are good for local economies, creating jobs in construction and upkeep, while placing limited demands on local services like schools.

Polling from Gallup shows 7 in 10 Americans oppose data center construction in their neighborhood.

Lawmakers expressed more concern with how to move forward than how to divvy up blame.

“What I also heard him say,” Ohio state Sen. Brian Chavez, R-Marrietta said after the hearing, “is they’re absolutely willing to pay for everything that they use.”

“They said it’s up to us to figure out how we allocate that, and it’s a very difficult calculus,” the committee’s Senate co-chair went on, “but I heard them say they are going to pay for it,”

The committee’s Ohio House co-chair, state Rep. Adam Holmes, R-Nashport, chimed in that it’s a question of determining “cost causation.”

“We just want to be fair,” Holmes said. “But it’s a demand of society as we grow, so just being fair on who pays for it.”

None of the speakers who addressed lawmakers Wednesday took a particularly oppositional stance to data centers. Instead, they said Ohio should welcome the industry, even if lawmakers should create guardrails to protect consumers.

Power impacts

Data centers place massive demands on the power grid and that demand will only grow over the next several years. The data center industry insists that it is ready and willing to pay for the new infrastructure necessary for its roll out.

Data center officials share timeline

SCOTT TRUXELL/independent editor

The long awaited announcement of who would own and operate a data center in Van Wert was made Friday morning. QTS Data Centers, which is headquartered in Overland Park, Kansas, was named as the end user of the $10 billion, 500 megawatt data center at the Mega Site (see story here).

Now, more information has been shared, including an approximate timeline for the project.

The Van Wert data center campus will have up to seven buildings on 902 acres of land at the Mega Site, according to Katie Erwin, QTS Senior Director of Communications. She also noted groundbreaking is expected in the fourth quarter of this year, but it’s going to be a while before the data center is operational.

“Project timelines are subject to a number of factors, including permitting, utility coordination and overall development progress,” Erwin explained. “Based on our current planning we anticipate the first building on the Van Wert campus becoming operational in the first quarter of 2029. The full campus is expected to be developed in phases, with full buildout and operations projected around 2032.”

Erwin also addressed two of the main concerns about the data center – power and water usage.

“QTS will fund 100 percent of energy infrastructure improvements in partnership with American Electric Power at no cost to ratepayers,” she stated. “The campus will use a closed-loop system that consumes no water for cooling, saving billions of gallons of water annually.”

The closed loop system will require QTS to purchase appromixately 660,000 gallons of water from the city.

Mercer County man avoids prison time

VW independent staff/submitted information

CELINA — A Mercer County man appeared in court Friday and entered a guilty plea to a dozen securities related felonies.

After pleading guilty in Mercer County Common Pleas Court, Christopher T. Wendel, 60, of Celina, was sentenced to five years of probation and was ordered to pay nearly $1.6 million in restitution. A 36‑month prison term was suspended by Judge Jonathan P. Hein, contingent upon Wendel’s successful completion of probation and full repayment of restitution.

“This sentencing sends a clear message that the Division of Securities will not hesitate to pursue those who defraud or exploit Ohioans,” said Ohio Securities Commissioner Andrea Seidt. “We urge every prospective investor to take simple but critical steps to protect themselves and their finances, such as verifying the credentials of anyone offering an investment and contacting us immediately if something doesn’t seem right.”

Wendel was indicted in July of 2024 on 96 criminal counts alleging he defrauded Ohioans of more than $1 million. The charges ranged from fifth- to first-degree felonies and included securities fraud, unlicensed securities activity, misrepresentation in the sale of securities, the sale of unregistered securities, theft, and telecommunications fraud. He was indicted again in November 2024 on an additional 26 counts.

According to the indictments, between 2019 and 2021, Wendel solicited 11 Ohio residents and one Indiana resident—including several elderly investors—to invest more than $1.5 million in his company, Buckeye Income Fund, LLC, through material misrepresentations and fraudulent conduct.

Wendel’s activity continued despite prior regulatory actions. In May 2018, he entered into an Acceptance, Waiver, and Consent agreement with the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA), resulting in a permanent bar from associating with any FINRA member firm after investigators determined he engaged in unauthorized private transactions and provided false information during FINRA’s inquiry.

In August 2019, the Ohio Division of Securities issued a cease-and-desist order (Order No. 19‑018) after finding that Wendel was selling unregistered securities without a license. He continued operating in violation of that order until his arrest in July of 2024.

Wendel remained incarcerated as the case was prosecuted.