07/06/17 – 7:09 A.M.
Bond has been set for the suspect in a recent Fostoria shooting, according to the Review Times. Seneca County Common Pleas Court Judge Steve Shuff set the bond at $500,000 for 37-year-old Jerel Rhoades. The alleged shooter was arrested on June 15 and charged with felonious assault for allegedly shooting 46-year-old Durwin Perkins. He was indicted last Wednesday.
Rhoades is due to be arraigned at 10 a.m. next Friday.
07/06/17 – 5:31 A.M.
An Arlington man is appealing his rape conviction for sexually assaulting a former classmate and friend. The Courier reports that 20-year-old Kyle McDowell was convicted in 2016 of three counts of rape, one count of gross sexual imposition, and one count of kidnapping with a sexual motivation. He was sentenced to eight years in prison.
McDowell filed his appeal in the Lima 3rd District Court of Appeals and it is 74 pages long. The document claims that there were several legal errors made during the trial.
According to trial testimony, McDowell forced the victim into a basement bedroom. There he performed oral sex on her and penetrated her with his fingers and his penis. McDowell sent multiple messages via social media and texts to the victim afterward. The messages were forwarded to law enforcement and used as evidence.
More: The Courier
07/06/17 – 5:02 A.M.
Findlay City Council has tried to stay out of territorial disputes between Hancock-Wood Electric and AEP. Yet the Courier reports that they found themselves right in the middle of it anyways during their Wednesday meeting. CEO of Hancock-Wood Electric Cooperative George Walton addressed council saying AEP is cherry-picking large commercial customers. He added that they are doing so with the help of the Findlay-Hancock County Alliance’s Economic Development Office.
Walton also said that AEP is providing donations as high as $100,000 to the Alliance. In a recent letter to the editor, Walton accused AEP of using its financial resources to feed small municipalities to get special treatment.
Council debated for almost an hour trying to decide their next move. They had stopped short of approving legislation that Hancock-Wood said it needs to stop AEP from cherry-picking services. They then referred the legislation to an informal committee of the whole for 5 p.m. on July 11.
07/05/17 – 4:59 P.M.
A suspended Bluffton physician is facing criminal charges due to alleged sexual misconduct. The Courier reports that the Bluffton Police Department filed three sexual imposition offenses against 70-year-old James Gideon. They filed the charges with the Lima Municipal Court last Friday, the same day he was scheduled for a pretrial on three similar charges. Those charges were filed at the end of this May. Each charge against Gideon accuses him of having inappropriate sexual contact with female patients.
Gideon pleaded not guilty to the three charges filed in May. He is scheduled to be arraigned at 2 p.m. this Friday on the newest charges.
Gideon’s medical license was suspended on June 14 by the state medical board. Documents in the case show that Gideon admitted to inappropriately touching patients during examinations to a medical board investigator. He called the case a “public lynching” in a letter to the editor. He added that it has “Circumvented the constitutional intent of due process of law to determine the truth.”
More: The Courier
07/05/17 – 3:39 P.M.
Several Hardin County law enforcement agencies teamed up to conduct a drug buy operation. WKTN Radio reports that the operation resulted in officers stopping a vehicle near Hardin Memorial Hospital. During the stop, officers arrested one adult male and an adult female who have not been named. They also seized 115 hits of Heroin along with drug abuse instruments.
Both suspects were arrested on drug possession and trafficking in drugs charges. They were booked into the Multi-County Correctional Center.
07/05/17 – 3:26 P.M.
The Hancock County Commissioners are going to be asking voters to pass a three-quarter percent sales tax. Commissioner Brian Robertson said that the tax money will support efforts to stop crime by getting them more space.
Robertson added that there are too many felons already being held in the Hancock County Jail. When there are too many, then they are forced to release some. He said that this does not make Hancock County look tough on crime.
Robertson explained that the sales tax will provide 25 cents for every $100 spent in the community and it will be a use tax
He added that since it is a use tax it will be used to support the county and its operations.
07/05/17 – 2:16 P.M.
The American Red Cross is facing a critical blood shortage affecting their available blood supply. Blood Services Communicator Christina Peters says this is because they aren’t getting the help they need.
Peters said you can help by donating blood. You can schedule an appointment online or by attending a blood drive. Peters said that people carry between 10 and 12 pints of blood in their body but that during a donation only one is taken.
7/5/17 – 5:31 A.M.
Tiffin is getting a grant to help fund a downtown streetscape project. The city says ODOT’s Small Cities Program is paying $1.6 million toward the project. That covers 95 percent of the cost.
Tiffin Mayor Aaron Montz says the project includes road reconstruction, new curbs, sidewalks, and lighting on about 2,000 feet of Miami Street. The impacted area stretches from Nelson Street to just east of Clay Street. Tiffin University is pitching in for the project as well. The school is helping pay for the costs of non-grant items like decorative lighting and textured crosswalks.
Officials could award a contract for the work by next June.
7/5/17 – 5:25 A.M.
Upper Sandusky will officially have a new police chief later today. Police Captain Dan Ross will take the oath of office during the city council meeting at 7:30 p.m. tonight. Ross has served as the interim police chief since David Olds retired on April 28.
Ross has served in the Upper Sandusky Police Department for more than 22 years.