The Hancock Park District has selected the winner of its 24th Annual Photography contest.

Findlay resident Scott Bechtel claimed the grand prize with his image of a bird singing at Riverbend Recreation Area.

Findlay resident Mary Banks’ untitled photo taken at the Findlay Reservoir was declared the People’s Choice winner.

Her photo received the most ‘Likes’ out of all of this year’s contest entries on the park district’s Facebook page.

All winning photos will be featured in a 12-month 2020 wall calendar.

• Grand Prize winner-“Northern Parula” by Scott Bechtel • People’s Choice winner-Untitled by Mary Banks • “Autumn Hue” by Kristin Fraley • “Blanchard Redwing” by Mike Conrad • “Curious Chipmunk” by Scott Bechtel • “Ducklings” by Shawn Arnold • “Fallen Leaves” by Kristin Fraley • “Fall Evening Along the Blanchard” by Scott Bechtel • “Fall Sunstar” by Scott Bechtel • “Green Frog on a Log” by Scott Bechtel • “Snapping Turtle Sunning” by Shawn Arnold • “Winter Reflection” by Caitlin Oman • “Riverside Park 3” by Whitney Sciko

Winners will receive one printed copy of the 2020 calendar. Additional copies will be available for purchase on and after December 16, 2019 by cash or check payable to “Hancock Parks Foundation” at the Hancock Park District Administrative Office, 1424 East Main Cross Street, Findlay, OH 45840. The calendar will also be available as a free PDF download at www.HancockParks.com.

The City of Findlay has released the operations budget information going into 2020.

Mayor Christina Muryn said that the city has done a great job managing the budget through 2019 and saved about $1.8 million.

Muryn said that you can view all of the files describing the budget on the city’s website, including a brief synopsis.

You can view the documents here.

City officials will hear from department heads on capital projects during public hearings on Wednesday and Thursday.

You can take part Wednesday at 3 pm and Thursday at 5 pm in the City Council Chambers in the Municipal Building.

The American Red Cross is taking one chore off your holiday to-do list.

Executive director Todd James said they have plenty of talented gift wrappers at the Findlay Village Mall, but he won’t be one of them.

James said that they will be available to wrap gifts every weekend and from December 20 to Christmas Eve until 5 p.m.

All it costs is a donation to the Red Cross and the gifts don’t have to come from the mall.

If you love wrapping gifts, James said they are always looking for volunteers.

The Findlay Post of the Ohio State Highway Patrol has selected its 2019 Trooper of the Year.

Details are in the following news release from the highway patrol.

Ohio State Highway Patrol Trooper Garry M. Odom has been selected 2019 Trooper of the Year at the Findlay Post. The selection of Trooper Odom, 49, is in recognition of outstanding service during 2019 at the Findlay Post.

Fellow officers stationed at the Findlay Post chose Trooper Odom based on leadership abilities, professional ethics, courteous treatment of others, enthusiastic work attitude, and cooperation with supervisors, peers, and the public. Trooper Odom is now in contention for the District and State Trooper of the Year Award to be announced at a later date.

Trooper Odom joined the Highway Patrol in 2004 and has served at the Fremont, Toledo, and Findlay Post. In addition, he also served as an instructor at the Ohio State Highway Patrol Training Academy.

Originally from San Diego, California Trooper Odom served in the United States Marine Corps prior to joining the Highway Patrol.

Other Highway Patrol awards received in the past include: the Ohio State Highway Patrol Fitness Ribbon and the Safe Driving Ribbon. Trooper Odom resides in Wayne.

The Dolly Parton Imagination Library children’s literacy program in Hancock County recently celebrated a big milestone.

In early December the program sent out its 100,000th book in Hancock County.

“The books come to the kids, they come in their name so they get mail to themselves, so it’s something really special,” said Brittany Lutes, Children’s Services Manager at the Findlay-Hancock County Public Library.

The Dolly Parton Imagination Library children’s literacy program sends youngsters one book a month up until they turn five years old.

In 1996, Dolly Parton launched the program to benefit the children of her home county in East Tennessee, and it has since caught on across the country and the world.

Learn more about it here.

Learn more about Hancock Literacy and their initiatives here.

Also, in a video you can see below, Big Dave with 100.5 WKXA was made into a human sundae over the summer to benefit the program.

(ONN) – A neighborhood in Columbus was evacuated Thursday night after a man called 911, making what turned out to be baseless claims that he had built a faulty nuclear reactor.

The man was throwing out words to dispatchers like “particle accelerator” and “alpha rays,” saying he was working on a quote “quantum physics generator.”

He claimed he was suffering from burns.

Fire, hazmat, bomb squad, and arson teams all were worried about radiation.

They evacuated about 20 duplexes and 40 homes.

The man was sent to a hospital for a mental evaluation.

He could be facing charges of inducing panic.

A Fostoria man is facing charges after allegedly setting a vehicle on fire outside the residence of his estranged girlfriend.

The Fostoria Police Division says Harold L. Black, 41, was arrested by Fostoria police and the Ohio State Fire Marshal’s Office.

He has been charged with arson, a 4th-degree felony.

Investigators say, as part of an ongoing domestic situation, Black set fire to a vehicle outside his estranged girlfriend’s residence in the 800 block of East Fremont on November 14th

The woman and her son were not home at the time the fire was set.

Police say the investigation is continuing and additional charges may be pending.

(ONN) – Ohio’s governor wants state lawmakers to drop bills that would prohibit local governments from forbidding the use of plastic bags.

Gov. Mike DeWine opposes a pair of bills offered by fellow Republicans to forbid municipalities and counties from banning single-use plastic bags by groceries and other stores.

Some local governments are trying to regulate plastic bags in an effort to reduce litter and plastic waste in landfills.

Some lawmakers and business groups say the local bans make it harder for grocers and other businesses to operate.

DeWine says local communities should be allowed to do what they think is best.

Saturday marks the 78th anniversary of Pearl Harbor Day, which brought the United States into World War II.

Claude Campbell is a local WWII veteran and said that he was only 14 when the war started and enlisted in the navy a few years later.

Campbell recalled that a friend of his didn’t have to serve because he had lost two brothers in the war already but begged his mother to let him go.

When she agreed, Campbell and four others decided to join the military with their friend.

He said he didn’t know much about Pearl Harbor at the time of enlisting because he lived in a small town that only had a local paper and he didn’t listen to the radio much.

Campbell said that they got out of boot camp in August of 1945 and the war had ended a short time later.

After the war, Campbell spent several years in Pennsylvania and moved to Pandora with his wife in 1972.

He now lives in Bluffton.

Get the full interview below.

Arcadia is one of many school districts that are using cameras to catch people disobeying bus laws.

Transportation supervisor Bret Voges explained that they starting using the cameras because of drivers passing buses illegally.

He said the cameras catch drivers that don’t stop and the license plate information is sent to the police so they can be fined, which he says happens often, unfortunately.

Voges added that state law will no longer require front-end license plates starting this June which will affect the usefulness of the cameras.

He said that districts that only have front-facing cameras will not be able to catch drivers without a front-end license plate.