1/9/18 – 6:19 A.M.
Fostoria firefighters responded to reports of a fire at Fostoria High School this morning. Media Partner WTOL-11 reports Principal Drew Bauman plans to send out a release on the incident later today.
A post on the district’s Facebook page says classes are canceled at the Junior/Senior High School today due to a small fire that caused a power outage. The elementary schools are also closed because of a disruption to phone and internet services.
MORE: WTOL-11
1/9/18 – 6:55 A.M.
Voters in the Carey School District will see a renewal levy for the Dorcas Carey Public Library this spring. The Courier reports the Carey school board voted to place a 1.75 mill, five-year renewal levy on the May ballot. The tax generates nearly $148,000 for the library every year.
Voters first approved the levy in 2010. They renewed the measure in 2013, extending the length to five years.
MORE: The Courier
1/9/18 – 6:48 A.M.
An early morning fire badly damaged a home in Fostoria today. Media Partner WTOL-11 reports firefighters responded to a home in the 200 block of Sandusky Street. The TV station reports parts of the two-story home collapsed during the blaze.
Officials say there weren’t any injuries. The cause of the fire remains under investigation.
MORE: WTOL-11
1/9/18 – 5:29 A.M.
Fostoria officials will continue to work toward fiscal recovery tonight. The Review-Times reports city council is holding a workshop with state representatives.
The meeting takes place at 6 p.m. in council chambers in the municipal building.
MORE: Review-Times
1/9/18 – 5:26 A.M.
McComb is putting plans in place to help residents who suffer a drug overdose. The Courier reports Police Chief Greg Smith outlined the plan during a Monday council meeting. Smith says the department will form a response team with Century Health of Hancock County.
Smith says the idea is to have overdose victims in McComb meet with an emergency response team within 72 hours of the incident. The team aims to get the person counseling and other help.
MORE: The Courier
1/9/18 – 5:19 A.M.
The jury selection phase in the murder trial of an Arlington man wrapped up Monday. The trial of 29-year-old Brent Houdeshell continues today with opening statements and the first witnesses for the prosecution.
Houdeshell faces a murder charge, along with counts of endangering a child and tampering with evidence. Investigators accuse Houdeshell of killing his former fiance’s son, 2-year-old Breyden Ferrell, on March 31 of 2016.
Police say the boy suffered a broken skull and leg. He also had bruising on his face, arms, legs, and feet.
1/9/18 – 5:11 A.M.
The Findlay City school board heard concerns about the district’s financial forecast Monday. The Courier reports Findlay Education Association Co-President Becky Biesiada and new school board member Matt Cooper talked about their issues with the plan.
The latest five-year forecast assumes a reduction of eight teaching positions by changing the middle school schedule. It also calls for 11 fewer teaching, administrative, and support staff positions to adjust to current enrollment.
Biesiada says the teacher’s union hasn’t negotiated a change in the middle school schedule. Cooper said he couldn’t vote for “something that says that we’re going to look to reduce staff based on an assumption that may or may not happen.”
Cooper was the only board member to vote against accepting the forecast.
MORE: The Courier
01/08/18 – 6:16 P.M.
ODOT is looking to require fencing at overpass construction sites after a Michigan man was killed with a sandbag. The Lima News reports that the department is drafting a new rule to require temporary fencing when workers remove permanent barriers. It will also require all overpasses to have fencing installed.
ODOT Spokesman Matt Bruning told the newspaper, “There shouldn’t be any period of time where there isn’t any fencing.”
The rules follow the death of 22-year-old Marquise Byrd after four teens allegedly threw the sandbag off an overpass onto I-75 near Toledo. It struck the car he was in, smashing through the windshield. The teens are charged with murder and vehicular vandalism.
01/08/18 – 6:02 P.M.
We’re in the middle of flu season and Blanchard Valley Health Systems is seeing higher case numbers than last year. That’s according to infection preventionist Colleen Abrams.
Abrams said that at this time last year last year there were 5 hospitalizations. She added that she’s reported 102 positive tests for the flu between the hospitals in Findlay and Bluffton. This does not include urgent or long-term care facilities in the area.
Hancock Public Health epidemiologist Chad Masters recommended maintaining proper sanitary practices.
The flu season typically ends around early to mid-spring.
01/08/18 – 11:24 A.M.
The Hancock Hardin Wyandot Putnam Community Action Commission closed one of their offices today. The main office location on Jefferson Street in Findlay is closed. The location has no water.
All other HHWP CAC locations are open and running like normal. The water department is investigating.