ELKHART -- Construction, crime and natural catastrophes topped the headlines in Elkhart County in 2024.
Shovels hit the dirt throughout the year to mark the launch of construction on several major residential, community and civic infrastructure projects, all aimed at meeting crucial needs in Elkhart County. The summer also brought a swath of devastation to south Elkhart as a tornado briefly touched down, damaging numerous homes.
And several community leaders including a former mayor faced criminal charges related to campaign finance reporting, which likely won't finish playing out until sometime in 2025.
Natural disasters
South Elkhart residents woke up on July 16 to find their lights out and trees and branches littering their streets and lawns, along with uprooted sidewalks and damaged roofs. The storms that raked the region, cutting power to around 14,000 households, were later confirmed to have spawned a category EF-1 tornado with wind speeds of 90 mph.
The twister touched down south of Lusher Avenue at around half past midnight and made a sweep southeast between Compton Avenue and South Main Street. The National Weather Service made the determination after looking at drone footage of the aftermath, with trees broken off near the base or completely uprooted, all felled in the same direction along the 250-yard-wide path.
Emergency services and city departments were active by 1 a.m., to clear the roads and to knock on doors and check on residents, and the city declared a state of emergency later in the day. No fatalities or serious injuries were reported but nine homes were destroyed and more than 70 properties were damaged to some degree.
Several Elkhart County residents went into action weeks later, when the deadly Hurricane Helene struck Gulf Coast and southern Appalachian states in late September. Firefighters from Goshen joined others from South Bend and Mishawaka, all trained in swift water rescue, to perform search operations in South Carolina while churches and businesses gathered tons of water and supplies to truck or fly down south.
Development
Several significant housing projects broke ground this year, including the massive Cherry Creek mixed-use neighborhood on Oct. 16 and the Ariel Cycleworks apartment complex on Nov. 20, both in Goshen. Cherry Creek promises to bring more than 1,200 residential units in different forms as well as over 150,000 square feet of commercial space, with the goal to see people start moving in by the end of 2025.
Ariel Cycleworks will have 136 units in five buildings on former industrial land. Plans are to open in 2026.
Heart City Health broke ground on its new facility in the former Sears department store building on Oct. 1 as part of the Elkhart 2040 plan, which calls for a neighborhood opportunity hub. Renovations for the new medical center with urgent care facilities are expected to be done by December 2025.
Elkhart Mayor Rod Roberson in January announced plans to transform the city by investing in infrastructure, quality of place and public safety projects during his next term. He said his administration would prioritize making changes in these areas to improve the city's future, with some planned projects covering all three areas.
The City of Elkhart embarked on a $12 million utility overhaul, the first in a four-phase project touted as the city's largest, with an April 18 groundbreaking at Illinois and Waurika streets. The project, which extends south and east from the Elkhart Wastewater Treatment Plant, includes the installation of a new force main, new storm pipe and sanitary sewer manholes as well as sidewalk and pavement replacement.
It was followed by a groundbreaking event for a $12.2 million infrastructure transformation in the area of Benham Avenue and Harrison Street, with work to include a new water main and storm and sanitary sewer in addition to new sidewalk, lighting and traffic signals. It would also include the realignment of Benham Avenue and improvements to the path under the railway overpass, with lighting and landscaping.
The city laid the groundwork later in spring for future growth including plans for a new project in the River District that would add 12,000 square feet of commercial space, 120 multifamily housing units and 10 townhomes. Another project would redevelop the 1000 block of South Main Street, where a number of businesses were razed along with the Kelby Love mural, with plans for 10,300 square feet of commercial space, 4,850 square feet of residential amenity space and 81 apartment units.
Crime/courts
In February, criminal charges were filed against four Goshen School Board candidates and a campaign official following complaints from their opponents in the 2022 race. Allan Kauffman, Jose Elizalde, Mario Garber, Roger Nafziger and Andrea Johnson faced charges including filing a fraudulent report as a Level 6 felony and accepting a contribution made in another's name, a Class B misdemeanor, after investigators said they filed large contribution disclosures with the state which contained false information.
The disclosures held false information about the identity of a campaign committee donor, according to investigators, because the candidates signed forms indicating that Kauffman was the source of a large contribution despite knowing someone else had gathered the money. The money was used to pay for a postcard sent to voters which warned them not to elect three candidates who were endorsed by the far-right activist group Purple for Parents.
Elizalde, Garber and Nafziger entered admissions in court and each received one-year suspended sentence. Kauffman is due back in court on Jan. 15, after an attempt to enter a plea in November ended when the state withdrew it over a disagreement on the level of the offense, while Johnson is awaiting a May 12 trial.
Five individuals were charged with murder in the past year, starting with the arrest of 70-year-old Linda Tener for the alleged killing of her husband, 71-year-old Johnnie Tener, on March 22. She was found incompetent to stand trial and in August was ordered into mental health treatment.
Michael Dandridge, 39, was arrested in June and charged with the March 21 murder of 50-year-old David Strowder Sr. inside the man's home. Dandridge is set for trial on April 21.
Ryan Snyder, 37, was arrested on July 7 following an 18-hour standoff at his home and charged with killing his 2-year-old son. Snyder is awaiting a Feb. 3 jury trial.
Hector Duran Gomez, 45, was arrested after the body of his wife, 45-year-old Alma Rocio Bermeo Carreon, was found at her South Indiana Avenue home on Oct. 13. Duran Gomez is set for a jury trial on March 31.
Joshua Martinez, 24, was arrested after a shooting outside a Halloween party on Nov. 3 left Romulo Jesus Reyes Osuna dead and another man, Carlos Martinez, wounded. Martinez is awaiting a May 5 trial date.
And in June, the City of Elkhart prevailed in a five-year legal battle with the survivors of a pedestrian accident on East Beardsley Avenue that killed three people, including two girls and a man, and injured two adults. The lawsuit claimed that the city was negligent in failing to maintain the sidewalk at that location, leading to the Aug. 26, 2017, crash which they said was foreseeable.
Lawyers for the city argued that the intersection was proven safe by the fact that this was the first accident of its kind to occur there. Jurors weighed the question for around two hours before finding in favor of the city at the end of a civil trial the week of June 10.