As autumn approaches, officials are reminding drivers that this is when there’s always a big jump in the number of crashes involving deer.

The Ohio Department of Natural Resources says more than half of the deer-related crashes in any given year occur in October, November and December.

Officials warn drivers that the highest-risk periods are the dusk and dawn hours.

If you see one deer, more will likely follow, so proceed with caution.

Use high-beams when possible.

Always your wear seat-belt.

And possibly most importantly, do not swerve to miss a deer. Doing so could lead to a much worse crash.

If a collision with a deer appears imminent, press the brakes and strike it while maintaining control of your vehicle in your lane.

Farmers Insurance ranks Ohio as the 9th worst state for deer-vehicle crashes.

Fall is the worst time of the year for deer-vehicle crashes because October to December is breeding season and hunting season in the fall also spooks deer.

See the full list here.

A police chase started in our neck of the woods, but ended a long way away.

The Ohio State Highway Patrol in Wyandot County tried to pull over a man driving a semi-truck cab on Monday afternoon but the man refused to stop.

The pursuit went through several counties including Wyandot, Delaware, Franklin, Licking, and Coshocton, at times reaching speeds close to 90-miles-an-hour.

In Licking County the chase led to a crash in which one person was seriously injured.

The pursuit ended in Coshocton when the suspect, Stephen Wolfe, stopped the semi and fled on foot.

Cochocton schools were placed on lockdown for a few minutes as police searched for the man.

Authorities say Wolfe, 47, was soon located and placed under arrest.

(ONN) – The family of a 44-year old woman from Chillicothe who was killed in Hocking Hills State Park on Labor Day wants to know the circumstances surrounding how she died — and they’re hoping a $10,000 dollar reward will help.

Photographer Victoria Schafer was at the park with some high school students to take their senior pictures.

The group was at Old Man’s Cave when a heavy log became “dislodged” and fell on top of her, killing her.

The Ohio Department of Natural Resources says it’s looking for a group of people in connection to her death, and believe someone saw something that day.

Victoria’s husband, Fritz, hopes getting answers in her death can prevent this from happening to someone else.

Anyone who has information that could help authorities, including video or pictures from the park on that day, should contact Southern Ohio Crime Stoppers at 740-773-8477 or the ODNR at 614-799-9538.

An area man has died from injuries sustained in a hit-and-run crash.

Anthony Ervin, 18, of Bloomdale, was struck around 10:45 Wednesday night by a small, silver pickup truck on Napoleon Road near Terra State Community College in Fremont, according to Ohio State Highway Patrol.

He was flown from the scene to a hospital in Toledo and then later transferred to OSU Medical Center in Columbus.

He died on Saturday.

The highway patrol says Ervin was outside his vehicle after crashing when he was struck by the passing truck, which kept going.

The small, silver pickup was never located, and anyone with information on its whereabouts is urged to contact the highway patrol at 419-322-0085.

(WFIN) – You may have noticed a large stand with cameras in Downtown Findlay.

Mayor Christina Muryn explained that they have had issues in the mid-block cross and the cameras are there to help.

Muryn said that they don’t think there will be any construction-related projects needed to fix the issue.

At an event in Findlay over the weekend, 100 butterflies were released into the air to signify the goal of preventing 100 percent of suicides.

“Yes! There goes a hundred monarchs. This should be your inspiration to get you excited about going out and making a change in this community,” said Eric McKee, the executive director of NAMI Hancock County.

The National Alliance on Mental Illness put on the Suicide Prevention Vigil & Butterfly Release on Sunday at Gateway Plaza, off of Main Street just north of the Blanchard River.

The event featured 11 silhouettes painted black that symbolize the 11 people who died by suicide in Hancock County last year.

Another 12 yellow silhouettes symbolize the projected suicide deaths for 2020, the ones that McKee says we can work together to help save.

At the event, it was also announced that a butterfly garden will be built and two benches placed in the gazebo at Gateway Plaza so people will have a nice place to sit down and talk.

September is Suicide Prevention Awareness Month.

If you need help or would like to volunteer your time to help someone with a mental illness click here.

Hundreds of people enjoyed the Hancock Historical Museum’s Historic Barn Tour over the weekend.

We spoke with Pat Howard inside her historic barn on Township Road 160 in Mt. Blanchard.

“You know, we just have so many wonderful memories with this barn, and I feel blessed to be here and to share it with so many other people who enjoy barns.”

She says, thanks to the museum’s research, she now knows her barn was built in the 1850s and is much older than she realized.

Pat talked about how she had a pet sow that had litter after litter of baby pigs and just loved to be petted.

They named her Pet, and would show her off to their cousins how she would lay down so they could rub her belly.

Five barns were on the barn tour this year.

The storms that blew through Findlay Friday night, causing the 2 1/2 hour delay at the football game, brought down part of Scott Wolke’s tree in his front yard on Marcelle Avenue.

“It did clip the edge of the house and did some gutter damage but other than that we did get pretty lucky,” he told us as he was starting to cut up the tree.

Scott says the rest of the tree will have to come down as well, so if you need some firewood, you know who to ask.

Scott’s had bad luck with trees lately. He also had a tree in his backyard struck by lightning and lost another tree to the Emerald Ash Borer.

Kids were treated to a very cool hands-on experience during the Touch a Truck event at the Hancock County Fairgrounds over the weekend.

We spoke with Lindsey after her daughter Wynter got a ride in a big John Deere tractor.

“She loves big trucks and she was really excited when we told her we were going to see big trucks today.”

Lindsey says they’re having some work done on their house and her daughter has been watching intently and seems to be especially interested in the excavator.

She says Wynter was having a great time at the event, checking out tractors, semis and emergency vehicles as well.

You can see Wynter hopping up into a tractor in the video below.

The event was sponsored by the Hancock County Farm Bureau, Garner Trucking and FIC Dealerships.

President Donald Trump will be in northwest Ohio on Sunday.

The White House has confirmed that the president will be in Wapakoneta, and will be joined by the Prime Minister of Australia for a tour of a new Australian-owned manufacturing facility.

Australian officials say their visit will demonstrate the strong trade and investment relationship between the United States and Australia.

This will be Trump’s third visit to the Buckeye State in less than two months.

He held a rally at U.S. Bank Arena in Cincinnati on August 1st and he visited Dayton less than a week after the mass shooting there in August.