2020 rewind: Here are the top 10 Osceola News-Gazette stories from this year

The year 2020 – it’s probably safe to say that most of the population can’t wait until it’s over.

COVID-19 disrupted so many lives in so many ways. But looking back, there were other news-makers during the year.

Here’s a look back at the News-Gazette’s top 10 headlines in 2020.

10. Tech firm replaces UCF at NeoCity

Osceola County commissioners in October voted to move forward with their plan to replace UCF at the county’s $200 million technological park.

SkyWater Technology Foundry, a private technology firm based in Minnesota, agreed to work with the county to meet its criteria for replacing the University of Central Florida at BRIDG, the research, development and manufacturing arm of NeoCity, a commercial development still underway for companies and schools that complement BRIDG.

So far those include iMec, a Belgian nonprofit tech company, and the Osceola County School District, which has built a magnet high school on the NeoCity campus.

Since it opened in 2017, BRIDG has partnered with the U.S. Defense Department, large companies such as Seimens, and schools such as State of New York Polytechnic Institute.

The research labs at BRIDG were built to attract defense contractors and tech companies by saving them from having to invest in expensive infrastructure, such as the facility’s “clean room,” one of the largest in Florida. Much of the work underway at BRIDG is related to semiconductors and sensors.

BRIDG seems to have stalled out on several fronts over the past year, including the March ousting of CEO Chester Kennedy.

Osceola County has so far contributed about $100 million to the project, with other funds coming from the Florida Legislature and the Florida High Tech Corridor.

The “memorandum of understanding” between Osceola County and SkyWater includes specific criteria that the company must meet, including investing “millions of dollars” in the project. Exactly how much was not outlined in the MOU.

It also requires SkyWater to:

• Take over the lease agreement between Osceola County and UCF.

• Create at least 220 jobs (no timeline in MOU).

• Operate center at full capacity.

• Reinstate BRIDG as a nonprofit entity.

• Have the ability to continue established contracts with the Department of Defense. • Apply for the proposed

• Apply for the proposed new Federal Advanced Packaging National Manufacturing Institute.

9. The saga of the Star Motel

Osceola County foreclosed on the beleaguered Star Motel and also Lake Cecile Inn & Suites where dozens of residents are struggling to pay off an outstanding electricity bill.

The extended-stay motels, on U.S. Highway 192 near State Road 535, are owned by Mary Nguyen, and had racked up code violations over the past year for junk and debris, unlicensed vehicles and unsafe conditions.

The county began hauling away massive piles of junk, more than a dozen derelict vehicles and boarded up the Lake Cecile Inn in April.

The company that holds the first mortgage on the Star Motel and Lake Cecile Inn & Suites has also filed a foreclosure suit against Nguyen for defaulting on a $2 million loan.

Kissimmee Utility Authority in June shut off power to the motels when Nguyen fell behind in paying the utility bills.

Meanwhile, local nonprofits and the county have been assisting residents of the Star Motel with basic necessities.

Community Hope Center, Homeless Services Network and Health Care Center for the Homeless worked with families that continue to live at the Star Motel without power or water.

The county worked with the Community Hope Center to secure accommodations for families with children, providing the funding for the rehousing..

The county’s Human Services staff went to the Star Motel and neighboring Lake Cecile Inn and Suites to provide assistance since December 2019.

According to media reports, the county has since planned to demolish the buildings.

8. A peaceful protest in Kissimmee

Local law enforcement officers joined more than 1,000 demonstrators in May in downtown Kissimmee to protest police brutality in the wake of the killing of George Floyd by Minneapolis police.

Osceola County’s three local law enforcement chiefs condemned the killing and vowed to work with the community and to improve relations between the public and the police.

The Kissimmee Police Department, in part, helped facilitate the event after officers reached out to organizers and asked to join them in a show of solidarity.

Unlike the unrest and rioting in other cities, Kissimmee was among those that saw peaceful protests. No riot gear. No violence.

The march started at the Kissimmee Civic Center, proceeded down Broadway, and culminated at KPD headquarters.

7. St. Cloud’s water issues

St. Cloud city officials launched a new website in October to clear the air about its water situation.

The St. Cloud Water Matters website (https://our communitywater.com) went live Oct. 6 and includes a number of different types of educational information including: what exactly happened; a timeline of events; steps the city has taken so far to rectify the problems; a question and answer page and more.

The problem started in 2017, when residents started getting discolored water out of their taps.

But St. Cloud City Manager Bill Sturgeon said city crews were tirelessly working to rectify the problem and it just wasn’t an overnight fix.

When the city first started getting complaints, an investigation determined that the polishing filters, the last step that makes water clear, failed and that the resin used in the treatment process was changed by the manufacturer without notification to the city. The result was discolored water, according to the new website.

Because the resin compound was not a contaminant, ongoing water quality testing didn’t flag that anything was wrong.

The city ordered design and installation of new filters, fittings and valves to repair the polishing system. Because of the complexity, this took a year. The old polishing filters were aluminum and fractured, which led to the problem. The new polishers are stainless steel.

Beyond replacing the polishing system, the city began a systemic process of cleaning water pipes with various technologies. Using flushing, ice

Using flushing, ice pigging, and line swabbing together and separately, the city has cleaned 171 miles of pipes. Some pipes have been cleaned five times.

6. Mark Durbin: 1954-2020

The city of Kissimmee lost a legendary leader in September.

Mark Durbin, 65, passed away at his home in Kissimmee from pancreatic cancer on Sept. 22.

He fought to the very end.

“The most anybody ever gave him was a year (to live) and he made it two years and about three weeks,” said his wife, Connie Masters Click.

He had a management style that was about lifting up his employees and letting them do what they do best. An employee memorial at the front of Kissimmee City Hall has a quote from Durbin engraved on it. It reads: “The most valuable asset the city has is its employees.’ – Mark Durbin, city manager.

“He created a culture in the city government that to this day has not left this organization,” said Kissimmee City Manager Mike Steigerwald, who was named Durbin’s successor when he retired in 2010.

Durbin spent 31 years working in the city management profession, 23 of which were as city manager of Kissimmee.

During his time as city manager, Durbin shaped the city into what you see today. He helped facilitate the parks system, including the pristine Lakefront Park. He also shepherded the purchase of the 110- acre Lancaster Ranch site. The Lancaster Ranch site is situated on the on the southern edge of the city of Kissimmee’s city limits. The property is located on the west side of John Young Parkway, just north of Pleasant Hill Road. Shingle Creek runs along the south edge of the property. Once completed, the Shingle Creek Regional Trail bike and pedestrian path will bisect the park.

Durbin also oversaw the growth of Kissimmee Gateway Airport that gained a control tower and an instrument landing system, which can help navigate aircraft landings in bad weather.

He presided over the creation of Martin Luther King Boulevard, which became an alternative eastwest route to U.S. Highway 192. Moreover, he helped establish the city’s 12-mile bike path system.

He took the news that he was sick pretty calmly, Click said.

“What are you going to do about it?” Click said. “So what he did about it was make the best of the life he had left.”

5. Nicole Montalvo homicide case

The Nicole Montalvo murder case was ongoing in 2020.

Christopher Otero-Rivera and Angel Rivera have been charged with second-degree murder in the death of St. Cloud mother Nicole Montalvo. Christopher is Montalvo’s ex-husband, while Angel was her father-in-law.

Wanda Rivera has been charged with being an accessory, evidence tampering and lying to law enforcement. She was Montalvo’s mother in law, and was arrested in May.

The men were arrested in October of 2019 after investigators found Montalvo’s remains on the grounds of Angel’s St. Cloud home, where Christopher was also living.

The discovery at the Hixon Avenue property in St. Cloud came about a week after Montalvo went missing. Her body was discovered about a week after the young mother disappeared.

“Nicole was killed and her body was cut into pieces and then buried by Angel and Christopher,” according to the arrest affidavit. But exactly how she was killed and who did it were not included in the affidavit.

Earlier this month, their attorneys argued that evidence obtained in early search warrants should be thrown out because they say it was unlawfully collected.

The judge has yet to make a decision on the evidence.

The Rivera’s are set to go on trial in January.

4. The Todt family murders

Anthony Todt was charged with murdering his entire family at their home in Celebration.

The Medical Examiner’s Office released final autopsy reports on the Todt family victims in Celebration, and all died by “homicidal violence of unspecified means in association with diphenhydramine toxicity.”

Benadryl is a brand name for diphenhydramine, an antihistamine.

Anthony Todt, was charged in January of 2020 with killing his wife Megan Todt, 42, two sons, Aleksander Todt, 13, Tyler Todt, 11 and 4-year-old daughter, Zoe Todt.

On Jan. 13, the bodies of the woman and the couple’s three children were discovered decomposing inside the Reserve Place home in the Celebration’s North Village when Osceola County Sheriff ’s Office deputies were conducting a wellbeing check. The Orange-Osceola

The Orange-Osceola State Attorney’s Office is seeking the death penalty.

According to the Office of the Medical Office District Nine autopsy report, all four victims died by “homicidal violence of unspecified means in association with diphenhydramine toxicity.”

He was arrested on four charges of homicide and one charge of felony animal cruelty.

Todt, however, claimed it was his wife who murdered the children before committing suicide, according to a letter he wrote.

The letter dated June 19 was sent to Anthony’s father, Robert. In the letter acquired from the Orange-Osceola County State Attorney’s Office, Anthony wrote that his wife, Megan Todt, poisoned their three children with Benadryl inside a pie, stabbed them and suffocated them.

Anthony Todt is currently in the Osceola County Jail on no bond.

3. Osceola Kowboys go to state game

Osceola turned the ball over five times as the Kowboys lost a 38- 10 decision to Sanford Seminole High School in the Class 8A State Championship Football at Doak Campbell Stadium in Tallahassee.

It was the third time under head coach Doug Nichols that the Kowboys came up one game short of that elusive state championship, having lost in the consecutive finals in 2014-15. The Kowboys finished their 2020 season with a 9-3 record; Sanford – who won the state title for a second time – concluded its season with a perfect 12-0 mark.

Although Osceola returns with the majority of its starters on both sides of the ball, including all skill positions, Nichols said the team would need to guard against complacency.

2. The 2020 Election

Osceola County saw some significant election wins on Nov. 3

Marco Lopez

Marco Lopez made history by becoming the first Hispanic candidate to win the race for Osceola County Sheriff.

Lopez, a Democrat, captured about 67.2 percent of the vote against his noparty-affiliation challenger, Luis “Tony” Fernandez.

The candidate was fired from the Osceola Sheriff ’s Office in May 2019 after announcing plans to run against his then-boss, Sheriff Russ Gibson.

Lopez won by a slim margin against his two Democrat challengers during the August primary, beating Gibson by 615 votes. His third opponent, Mike Fisher, finished third.

Lopez campaigned on promises to improve community policing and law enforcement outreach with residents.

He supports increasing recruitment of Hispanic officers in Osceola — a growing county where 55 percent of residents are Latino.

His other initiatives include strengthening cyber security efforts and policing technology at the Sheriff ’s Office.

Olga Gonzalez

Olga Gonzalez became the first female Hispanic mayor of Kissimmee after winning 56.16 percent of the vote and defeating fellow city commissioner, Angela Eady, who captured 43.84 percent.

Gonzalez replaced Jose Alvarez, who was term limited from running again for mayor. (Alvarez failed to unseat current County Commission district 1 incumbent Peggy Choudhry during the August primaries).

Gonzalez was elected to the City Commission in 2016.

Gonzalez ran on a platform of combating homelessness, improving educational opportunities and engaging more citizens in local government.

1. The pandemic

COVID-19 dominated the headlines in 2020, not only in Osceola County, but across the nation.

But the coronavirus news here in Osceola saw facemasks at one time mandatory by law. Residents were at risk of being fined or even arrested if they didn’t wear them. The county since backed off, but masks are still mandatory.

A “Stay at Home” order was put in effect for all of Osceola County, and a curfew was set in place. Schools closed to the public, and set up distanced learning and virtual school. Classrooms later opened up again.

Food and financial assistance from government agencies and other organizations was abundant across the county. Hundreds of families in vehicles waited in line at food distribution sites.

Government buildings closed to the public.

COVID-19 testing sites were set up by the Florida Department of Health Osceola County across the area.

Businesses and theme parks were shut down, causing unemployment to skyrocket.

Nonprofits were put to the test and food pantries were running bare.

As of Monday, the Florida Department of Health Osceola County announced that it had a limited supply of the Moderna vaccine for healthcare workers and residents 65 and older.

Happy New Year Osceola County! Here’s to a prosperous 2021.