Traffic fatalities increased significantly in Ohio in 2021.

Last year 1,361 people died from traffic crashes in Ohio, which is a 10 percent increase from 2020’s total of 1,229.

In 2019 there were 1,155 traffic fatalities in Ohio.

Lt. Matt Crow, Findlay Post Commander for the Ohio State Highway Patrol, wants to remind drivers to watch their speed, pay attention to their surroundings and to not be distracted by their phone or anything in their vehicle.

“We want you to make it to where you need to go safely, so take care and always buckle up.”

And the Ohio Department of Transportation says, while it’s investing in projects to improve safety, safety is in your hands too.

“Buckle up, slow down, drive sober, and drop the distractions. Together, we can make this number 0,” ODOT tweeted.

As of Friday afternoon, the highway patrol was reporting 50 traffic fatalities so far this year, which is 27 fewer than at the same time last year.

Sadly, traffic deaths in Ohio were up 10% from 2020 to 2021. At ODOT, we’re investing more in projects to improve safety, but safety is in your hands too. Buckle up, slow down, drive sober, and drop the distractions. Together, we can make this number 0. pic.twitter.com/CuUqtWKs4f

— Ohio Dept of Transportation (@ODOT_Statewide) January 19, 2022

The Humane Society and SPCA of Hancock County says people have been generously donating in memory of Betty White all week long.

On Monday, on what would have been Betty’s 100th birthday, people donated more than $2,000 during the Betty White challenge, which encourages people to donate to animal shelters and charities or to even adopt a pet.

On Friday, The Humane Society and SPCA of Hancock County said donations in Betty’s name had grown to $7,300.

“The community is helping out the homeless animals in Hancock County, and I truly hope they recognize the impact they are making,” said the humane society’s Natalie Reffitt.

“Without the community, the humane society could not exist to help care for the pets in need.”

Natalie says they’ve also received blankets, dog and cat toys, peanut butter, bleach, paper towels, and snacks for the pets.

“Betty White continues to leave the world a better place for animals,” Natalie added.

Click here to see what animals the shelter currently has up for adoption. That’s Bentley pictured above and Kosmic below.

A former assistant football coach at Findlay and Van Buren high schools has been sentenced for soliciting sex from an undercover police officer who was posing as a teenage boy.

Devon Hohman, 29, pleaded guilty to a charge of importuning, a 5th-degree felony, in Wood County Common Pleas Court in October.

Charges of attempted unlawful sexual contact with a minor and disseminating matter harmful to juveniles were dismissed.

Wood County court records show Hohman was recently sentenced to four years of community control subject to the general supervision of Adult Probation and that he serve 60 days in the Wood County Jail and have no unsupervised contact with minors.

He must also register as a Tier 1 Sex Offender.

Leading global semiconductor manufacturer Intel Corporation has chosen a site in central Ohio’s Licking County near New Albany as the future home for its most advanced semiconductor manufacturing facilities in the world.

Intel plans to invest more than $20 billion to build two state-of-the-art factories by 2025, designed for what the company calls the “Angstrom era” – with materials processed on the atomic level – and with support for Intel’s most advanced process technologies, resulting in an increased American share of the global semiconductor supply chain.

Governor DeWine says the megaproject will be the largest single private sector company investment in Ohio’s history and will generate more than 20,000 jobs in the state, including 3,000 direct Intel jobs earning an average of $135,000 per year (plus benefits), 7,000 construction jobs over the course of the build, and tens of thousands of additional indirect and support jobs including contracted positions, electricians, engineers, and jobs in restaurants, healthcare, housing, entertainment and more.

The project is expected to add $2.8 billion to Ohio’s annual gross state product.

Get more on the project by clicking here for the JobsOhio website.

Ohio's future @intel semiconductor manufacturing facilities will be located in Licking County, but Ohio will see economic benefits statewide. #IntelOhio #BuiltForThis https://t.co/sWXk0rAfQP @LtGovHusted @JobsOhio @OhioDevelopment pic.twitter.com/NTvEgmvJnq

— Governor Mike DeWine (@GovMikeDeWine) January 21, 2022

Hancock Public Health on Friday reported the latest COVID numbers for the county.

The agency points out that the latest weekly COVID numbers for the county also include some data from the previous week that was recently added to the state database.

Hancock Public Health is reporting 1,547 new cases, 42 new hospitalizations and 9 new deaths for the week of January 14th through January 20th.*

*Those numbers include some previously unreported cases that were recently added to the state reporting database.

Hancock County is averaging 221 new cases per day and cases per 100,000 is 1919.9.

48.9 percent of eligible residents are fully vaccinated.

Community transmission in Hancock County remains “high” as defined by the CDC.

1,011 Hancock County residents have been hospitalized with COVID since the beginning of the pandemic and 228 have died from it.

The Hancock Historical Museum is home to a lot of interesting pieces of history, including the captain’s bathtub from the USS Maine.

The battleship Maine sunk in the Havana harbor in 1898, and Joy Bennett, curator at the Hancock Historical Museum, says groups from around the country requested mementos from the ship when it was raised years later.

Joy says the tub has had many homes in Findlay, including the courthouse, the university, and the historical museum, where it’s been for many years.

She said some people come specifically to see the tub and other people are surprised to come across it while visiting the museum.

The Hancock Historical Museum is closed in January, but you can see the historic bathtub when they reopen in February.

Learn more about the museum and their other exhibits by clicking here.

U.S. Senator Sherrod Brown has announced that the U.S. Department of Agriculture has made emergency funds available for Ohio farmers who experienced excessive rain in October of 2021.

Due to heavy rains and flooding that saturated Northwest Ohio fields and destroyed crops in October, the USDA’s Farm Service Agency declared Wood County a natural disaster area.

This designation means farmers in Wood County as well as Hancock, Lucas, Henry, Ottawa, Putnam, Sandusky and Seneca counties can apply for disaster assistance.

Additional information on the loans and disaster program can be found at http://disaster.fsa.usda.gov.

“Historic rains across Northwest Ohio this fall resulted in oversaturated fields, losses and significant uncertainty for many Ohio farmers,” Brown said.

“I encourage eligible Ohio farmers to apply for these disaster funds, so they can get the relief they need.”

Farmers can learn more about this announcement and whether they are eligible for these funds at their local farm service agency office.

In 2019, Brown successfully lobbied for multiple counties to receive USDA disaster designations to help Ohio farmers suffering because of extreme rainfall and flooding.

With a USDA disaster declaration, Ohio farmers are eligible for USDA loans they need as they continue to work through a difficult planting season.

Our Disaster Resource Center provides information on how to prepare, recover and build long-term resilience during disasters and emergencies. https://t.co/o6otlarJ16 pic.twitter.com/ICZe5mELpb

— Farm Service Agency (@usdafsa) January 18, 2022

A Hancock County grand jury has indicted a man on more than a dozen counts of pandering sexual oriented matter involving a minor.

Court records show that James L. Rosencrans, 73, of Findlay, is facing 15 charges of pandering sexual oriented matter involving a minor, a 4th-degree felony.

The indictment states that the alleged crimes happened in September, and that Rosencrans “with knowledge of the character of the material or performance involved, knowingly solicit, receive, purchase, exchange, possess or control any material that shows a minor or impaired person participating or engaging in sexual activity, masturbation, or bestiality.”

An initial court date had not been set as of early Thursday afternoon, according to court records.

A Cincinnati Bengals fan is being credited with saving the life of a Las Vegas Raiders fan before last weekend’s Wild Card game.

Fire Department officials said that Bengals fan Jerry Mills, a former ER nurse and Covington firefighter, was walking to Paul Brown Stadium when he discovered Raiders fan Ed Fernandes lying on the ground.

Mills said Fernandes had no pulse, so he and other Good Samaritans started CPR until more medics arrived.

Doctors said Fernandes is scheduled for surgery on Thursday, and Mills’ actions helped save his life.

The cause of the fire that destroyed a building that housed two businesses and apartments in North Baltimore has been ruled undetermined.

That was the ruling by the office of the Ohio State Fire Marshal, according to North Baltimore Fire Chief Ted Francisco.

The chief said damages have been placed at $600,000.

The fire started around 6:30 Saturday morning at 235 North Main Street, which is on the north end of the business district.

Destroyed in the fire were Mak & Ali’s Pizza, a laundromat and an upstairs apartment.

An art studio at 233 North Main Street also suffered damage, as well as the roof of that building.

Firefighters prevented the fire from spreading to the historical society building just to the south.

Nobody was injured in the fire.

A GoFundMe has been established to help the people whose apartment was destroyed in the fire, and one has also been set up to help the owner of the art studio that was damaged.

(above pic courtesy of Lindsay Ziegler)