Here are the stories that made the most impact in Greene County in 2024:
Xenia: Myers freed after 28 years on death row
A Greene County man who spent nearly three decades on Ohio’s death row was freed in August after his conviction was vacated.
David Lee Myers, 59, will be granted a new trial in the death of 18-year-old Amanda Maher, who was found strangled, with a railroad spike driven through her head in August 1988 in Xenia.
During an evidentiary hearing in July, Myers’ attorneys argued that new DNA evidence and expert opinions point to his innocence, specifically that Myers’ DNA did not match male DNA on the railroad spike used to kill Maher and on one of the rocks used in the attack. DNA testing was conducted on the rocks and spike in 2021. A judge found that there is “a strong probability” that at least one juror’s mind would be changed, and the trial would have a different result.
Myers’ original trial in 1996 shocked the country, as Maher was a mother of one at the time of her death. Myers’ attorneys argue that many of the items and processes used as evidence in the 1996 trial have been debunked by modern science. However, prosecutors for the state said even without the DNA evidence, there was “overwhelming” evidence in support of Myers’ conviction, including witness testimony at the time.
The Greene Town Center spends several months in foreclosure
A popular Beavercreek outdoor shopping, office and residential center spent several months facing a foreclosure filing this summer, following a lawsuit against its parent company by Wells Fargo.
The 72-acre, 1.1 million square foot outdoor shopping mall reached a refinancing deal in October.
The bank had filed a foreclosure complaint in Greene County Common Pleas Court in May against the owners of the Greene Town Center, claiming that the mall, apartment and office complex owed the bank about $113 million in loan payments.
According to the complaint, the Greene Town Center entered into a deal with Citigroup Global Markets Realty Corp. in 2013, who agreed to loan them $137.25 million. The deal was split into two notes ($90 million and $47.25 million), which eventually were transferred to Wells Fargo.
While some residents had concerns the Greene would close at the time, the Dayton Daily News sought expert analysis that showed this was highly unlikely.
Ohio’s newest state park opens in Greene County
Ohio’s 76th and newest state park opened to the public in July, and tells visitors the story of Ohio’s Shawnee people, the Shawnee leader and orator Tecumseh, as well as the state’s natural history.
The state park was developed alongside three federally recognized Shawnee tribes — the Shawnee Tribe, Eastern Shawnee Tribe of Oklahoma, and the Absentee Shawnee Tribe of Indians of Oklahoma.
The interpretive center, the cornerstone of the park, is a 12,000-square-foot modern portrayal of a council house, the primary gathering place in a historical Shawnee village. Inside, visitors will find a living stream, complete with bluegills, crawdads, and other aquatic life for children to touch, a theater, and three floors of artistic and interactive exhibits that depict the lives of the Shawnee and early settlers in the 1770s.
“Our goal was to bring this all together, and not just, obviously, for people in Greene County. Anybody who comes in here will have the opportunity to learn about what we think is an exciting period of time, a very impactful period of time in the 1770s,” Governor Mike DeWine said at the time.
Great Council State Park began construction in 2022 with a budget of $11.4 million.
Credit: Jim Noelker
Credit: Jim Noelker
Central State University placed on fiscal watch
Central State University in eastern Greene County was placed on voluntary fiscal watch by the state in October, a situation the university hopes to extricate itself from within the next two years.
In September, the university had a $5.2 million shortfall in revenue, which led them to adjust their annual budget from $65 million to $60 million.
The fiscal watch designation requires the university to develop a financial recovery plan in addition to other measures designed to stabilize and improve the finances of the university, such as increased financial reporting requirements.
Central State was not paying certain vendors on time, and the university’s 2023 audit had not been completed, said President Morakinyo Kuti.
The university’s online enrollment also plummeted due to an online-only program ending this year. Central State University had a 54% increase for students from last school year to this fall, according to the Ohio Department of Higher Education, but the university saw a decline in overall enrollment.
The university cut 20 jobs in December as part of measures to stabilize its finances.
Credit: JIM NOELKER
Credit: JIM NOELKER
New $95 million Fairborn High School opens
Fairborn City Schools students began classes this fall at a brand new $95 million facility on Commerce Center Boulevard in Fairborn.
The 214,000 square-foot high school, just east of Interstate 675, formally opened in August. The high school consists of three wings, about 60 classrooms, a 1,000-seat performing arts center, an arena, and a new football stadium.
Fairborn school district voters approved a 5.83-mill bond issue in 2020 to pay for the new high school, arts center and athletics complex in conjunction with Ohio Facilities Construction Commission funding. A second tax issue approved in 2023 would generate about $24.6 million, and money not spent on the new high school will be used to fund a new middle school.
“It is the citizens of Fairborn that made this happen,” said Fairborn Mayor Dan Kirkpatrick. “Thank you, Fairborn community.”
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