The Hancock County Sheriff’s Office hosted a recertification seminar for K9 Units at the Hancock County Fairgrounds this week.
Sgt. Tom Miller said they work with about 30 other K9 units in northwest Ohio for the certification.
Deputy Matt Brunswick said they work with the other agencies to determine what scenarios they should look at.
The deputies explained that they have the recertification training every fall and spring.
The benching project along the Blanchard River in Findlay is about 90% complete.
That’s according to project manager Steve Wilson who added that it will drastically change flood levels.
Wilson added that the benching project won’t be the only thing happening in the area.
Wilson said that they have their eyes on the Norfolk Southern railroad bridge that crosses the river.
He added that they are also looking at options for another benching project on the Blanchard and a possible basin project along Eagle Creek.
He said they will have more details on those possible projects in the coming months.
Under a new proposal, Ohio public schools would not be allowed to begin their day before 8:30 a.m.
A bill introduced in the Ohio Legislature is similar to one in California that recently went into law.
The California law was based mostly on research showing teens need more sleep.
Officials say Ohio’s legislation is based more on the dangers surrounding kids waiting for buses in the dark.
In Columbus, a sixth grader was struck and killed while walking to her bus stop earlier this school year.
In Findlay City Schools, the high school and middle schools begin their day at 7:30.
Officials say a move to an 8:30 start time would dramatically impact how they operate, especially in terms of extracurricular activities.
The leaves are starting to change now, but when can we expect peak fall colors in the Findlay area?
“Anticipate a little bit later this year,” said Greg Smith with the Ohio Department of Natural Resources.
He says the really wet spring and long, hot summer that lingered has led to a later change for the leaves this year.
He says we can expect peak colors to really start to pop near the end of October.
The ODNR is inviting people to tag them in pictures of the fall colors they post on social media.
Click here for the ODNR’s fall color updates.
As the fall colors continue to take hold in the Buckeye State, the ODNR is urging people to take advantage of the numerous autumn adventures offered in the state, including Halloween campouts, haunted trails and family-friendly activities.
The Findlay-Hancock County Public Library is hosting a discussion by a group of ghost hunters.
Ohio Researchers of Banded Spirits, or ORBS, will be at the library from 1:30 to 3:30 Saturday afternoon.
The group, described as one of Ohio’s premier paranormal teams, has been featured on The History Channel’s ‘Haunted History’ and Animal Planet’s ‘The Haunted’.
The team will discuss everything from the different types of ghosts you might encounter, to equipment they use to investigate and how it works to the hundreds of cases they’ve covered.
The team will also share video and audio of some of the most compelling evidence collected during their investigations.
The discussion goes from 1:30 to 3:30 Saturday in the library’s Lindamood Room.
(ONN) – Governor Mike DeWine has announced another prong of a new, statewide effort to battle Ohio’s opioid crisis.
The governor teamed up with the Ohio Bureau of Workers’ Compensation to make sure that people who are prescribed opioids for a workplace injury will also get a drug disposal bag.
The bags destroy the opioids in a chemical process so that unused pills cannot be misused.
Pharmacies across the state will begin offering the disposal bags on November 1st to people filling a prescription for opioids.
According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse: in 2017, Ohio had the second highest rate of drug overdose deaths involving opioids in the U.S. when there were nearly 4,300 deaths that year.
October is Bullying Prevention Month and we talked to two local principals on how they handle bullying.
Chamberlin Hill’s Lyndsey Stephenson said that they have seen a decrease in bullying thanks to the Leader in Me program.
Glenwood Middle School’s Krista Miller echoed that adding the habits help to teach kids to get along and work together.
Miller said that you don’t have to be a Leader in Me school to implement the Seven Habits of Highly Effective People.
Both teachers agreed that bullying should be addressed daily to help protect children and provide a safe environment.
The body found by the railroad tracks outside of Arcadia has been identified as Dallas Critchett by a family-run Facebook account created to find the missing man.
A post on the account said that they had identified the 38-year-old that had been missing since July.
Critchett went missing on July 19 near Arcadia. His body was found by a railroad worker on October 9.
The Sheriff’s Office had not yet received confirmation of the identity by the Lucas County Coroner’s Office when we called Thursday afternoon.
A new Ohio law went into effect on Thursday raising the minimum age to buy tobacco products from 18 to 21.
Ohio is one of 18 states that have raised the minimum age for buying cigarettes, cigars, electronic cigarettes and other tobacco products.
The ‘Tobacco 21’ law signed in July by Governor Mike DeWine also applies to rolling papers, filters and other smoking and vaping accessories.
Violations could lead to penalties for both the seller and buyer.
State officials say it also will become illegal to give such products to someone under 21.
The governor and other supporters of the change say the new law is intended to help prevent children from becoming smokers.
National statistics have shown Ohio has one of the highest rates of adult smokers, at just over 21 percent.
The director of the Hancock County Veterans Service Office, Nichole Coleman, will be joining President Trump in honoring our veterans in November.
Coleman will be representing the National Association of County Veterans Service Officers at the ceremony honoring our country’s veterans at Arlington National Cemetery on Veterans Day.
Last year around Veterans Day, Coleman attended a ceremony honoring veterans at the White House.
“President Trump came and spoke with us and it was a huge honor to be there and really feel like it was being recognized what we’re doing to make sure veterans are getting taken care of in our country.”
Coleman has been the director of the Hancock County Veterans Service Office since December 2011.
She’s been vice president of the National Association of County Veterans Service Officers since June of 2018.
Coleman served as a security specialist in the Air Force for three years and then in public relations for four years.
She’s a Desert Storm veteran and also served in Bosnia.