5/25 – 4:26 A.M.
A Wood County attorney is behind bars, accused of stealing thousands of dollars from a client. Robert Searfoss the Third’s bond was set yesterday at half-a-million-dollars after he pleaded not guilty to aggravated theft, racketeering and other charges. Prosecutors say Searfoss took more than 400-thousand-dollars from a client after getting access to a trust account.
05/24/17 – 9:28 P.M.
The Findlay Water Distribution Department announced more hydrant flushing will take place on Thursday. The area is from County Road 236 east to Township Road 568 and North to State Route 12.
If you have any questions, contact the Water Distribution Department at 419-424-7192.
05/24/17 – 9:24 P.M.
A Wednesday morning crash injured a Leipsic woman after she crashed into a semitrailer in Findlay. The Courier reports that the accident happened around 7:30 a.m. on Hancock County 99. 34-year-old Jill Gilgenbach of Leipsic drove through a red light at the Speedway Drive intersection on 99. She hit the underside of a flatbed trailer hauled by a semi that was turning west onto Hancock County 99.
Hanco EMS took Gilgenbach to Blanchard Valley Hospital for minor injuries. 24-year-old Ron Hensley III was the driver of the semi and remained uninjured in the accident.
Officer cited Gilgenbach for failure to obey a traffic control signal.
05/24/17 – 8:57 P.M.
Stantec and the Maumee Watershed Conservancy District held a meeting about the proposed flood mitigation efforts. Project Manager Steve Wilson said that the improvements to the Blanchard River are similar to proposed plans from 1990.
Wilson said that he hopes to get to work soon.
If approved he said he hopes to have the project done by the end of 2018. The improvements could affect 2 private properties. One is a storage lot for Findlay Cartage. The other is 2 railroad lots by the Norfolk Southern bridge.
The conservancy court did not make a ruling on the dry storage basins so no action has been taken on them.
05/24/17 – 5:39 P.M.
New sediment cleaning technology is being unveiled in Hancock County soon. Blanchard River Watershed Partnership’s Phil Martin said that the technology is easy to use.
The device takes the sediment and removes harmful nutrients before putting it back. Martin said that this will help save billions by getting the cleaning done early.
The new system will get the sediment cleaned before the pollution can get into bigger rivers and cause more issues.
There will be two presentations of how the device works. The first will be on Little Riley Creek by Spring Street in Bluffton from 1-4 p.m. next Friday. The second will be in Findlay on East Main Cross at the Lye Creek Bridge from 1-4 p.m. on June 5.
05/24/17 – 4:59 P.M.
Caffeine has some useful properties for adults but recently killed a South Carolina teen due to an overdose. Registered Dietitian Rachel Snyder from Blanchard Valley Health System said that caffeine has a lot of side effects.
She added that the list goes on and can be worse for people suffering from anxiety or nervousness. A safe dose of caffeine for adults is up to 400 mg. Snyder said that children don’t need caffeine.
Snyder added that caffeine has shown to be positive for adults by providing extra energy and antioxidants.
5/24/17 – 10:51 A.M.
Colleges in our area faired well in new rankings put together by a higher education website. College Choice listed four local universities in its top 25 colleges in Ohio.
The University of Findlay ranked 19th on the list. The website highlighted Findlay’s large international student population and help for veterans as reasons the school made the top 25.
The list also ranked Ohio Northern University 9th, Bowling Green State University 11th, and Bluffton University 20th.
MORE: College Choice
5/24/17 – 5:12 A.M.
A Fostoria woman will compete for the title of Miss Ohio later this year. The Review-Times reports Kristy Ressler won the Miss Heart of Ohio contest earlier this month in Columbus to qualify. The Miss Ohio competition takes place in November in Springfield.
Ressler tells the newspaper she’s been competing in pageants her whole life. She added she stopped for a while in middle and high school, but started again in college for a chance to get scholarship money.
MORE: Review-Times
5/24/17 – 5:06 A.M.
A North Baltimore man pleaded guilty to sex crimes earlier this month. The Sentinel-Tribune reports 41-year-old Stephen Rock was facing several charges including rape. He pleaded guilty to two counts of gross sexual imposition on May 12. He’ll learn his sentence on July 7.
The Wood County grand jury indicted Rock on counts of rape, kidnapping, sexual battery, and sexual imposition last year. Investigators said the rape and kidnapping charge stemmed from a 2013 incident with a juvenile girl. The other charges stemmed from an April 2016 incident with a 15-year-old.
MORE: Sentinel-Tribune
5/24/17 – 4:57 A.M.
An anonymous donor is once again paying for school supplies in North Baltimore. The Courier reports the $10,000 donation pays for things like pens, crayons, and paper. It’s the eighth straight year someone has made the donation to students at Powell Elementary School.
MORE: The Courier