3/15/18 – 4:22 A.M.

Wood County drivers may soon pay more to renew their license plates. County officials are considering a plan to boost license fees by five-dollars next year. The increase would help pay for road and bridge repairs around the county.

3/15/18 – 4:21 A.M.

Charges are pending against a Lima woman accused of stabbing a man to death. Lima police say Marchion Williams killed 65-year-old Eddie McClellan early yesterday during an attack on Fairview Avenue. Williams was arrested on suspicion of murder. There’s no word yet on a motive.

03/14/18 – 6:07 P.M.

Dold subdivision residents aren’t happy about a proposed addition of 47 homes. Many residents say the proposed addition would cause more issues with already extreme flooding. They say that the retention pond isn’t enough to protect the homes already there.

Developer Roger Best disagrees. He said that the storm sewer line running from the subdivision to the retention pond is too small. He added that an outlet from the retention pond is suspected of being partially blocked. These are causing the issues with the flooding.

Best said that his homes will be connected to the retention pond with an appropriately-sized storm sewer. This will keep the flooding issue from worsening for the other homes.

03/14/18 – 2:47 P.M.

Putnam County Crime Victim Services wants elders to be safe. Unfortunately, the organization reports that 4.6% of elders report some form of emotional abuse and 5% report financial exploitation. This only accounts for the cases that are reported. The National Center on Elder Abuse says that there are much more than those numbers.

Crime Victim Services says that you should plan for a safe place to go if your home isn’t safe. You should also have a person to call if you have limited mobility. You can also protect yourself by keeping identification, important documents, and medication hidden in a location that only you know. As for protecting your identity, you can get a post office box to keep thieves from getting your mail.

For more information or help with safety tips, call Crime Victim Services at 419-523-1111 to speak with an advocate.

03/14/18 – 2:18 P.M.

A speaker at Owen’s Community College in Findlay talked about gun control. The Courier’s Kathryne Rubright explained that Reverend Sharon Risher lost people she cared about during shooting.

Kathryne Rubright

Rubright said that this has lead Risher to talk about how these incidents have affected her. Risher said that she struggled with wanting the shooter to face the death penalty because of her faith. Risher also advocates for stronger gun laws because of the shootings that happen in the U.S.

Catch the full story in an upcoming edition of The Courier

3/14/18 – 5:32 A.M.

A Fostoria man will spend 18 months in prison following his domestic violence conviction. The Review-Times reports 56-year-old Tyrone Wharton pleaded guilty to two counts of domestic violence. The judge in the case dismissed two other charges in exchange for the plea deal.

The indictment in Wharton’s case says he threatened or attempted to cause physical harm to three members of his household or family on January 6.

MORE: Review-Times

3/14/18 – 5:23 A.M.

The Hancock County Commissioners have ended the county’s contract with Steve Wilson for sanitary engineer and flood mitigation project manager services. However, Wilson will continue to work on both items for the county.

Wilson says working as a private consultant for the county affected his retirement benefits. He’s negotiating to return to the county payroll.

MORE: The Courier

3/14/18 – 5:17 A.M.

The Hancock Park District is replacing a shelter house at Riverbend Recreation Area east of Findlay. A new structure will take the place of Shelter 2. The plans call for a roughly 1,100 square foot shelter with six picnic tables and seating for 48 people.

RCM Architects estimates a $380,000 price tag for the project. A donor is providing around $250,000. The board will likely decide to cover the difference depending on what bids come in at.

Construction should start in May.

3/14/18 – 5:06 A.M.

Fostoria police dispatchers are keeping their jobs. The Review-Times reports a renegotiation of the contract with the dispatcher’s union helped keep the jobs in-house. The city’s fiscal recovery plan initially called for cutting the positions and contracting with a county sheriff’s office for dispatch duties.

The new deal cuts the number of full-time dispatchers from four to three. The city will also employ a few part-time dispatchers. The contract also calls on dispatchers to pay for more of their health insurance costs.

Fostoria expects to save $110,000 over five years thanks to the new deal.

MORE: Review-Times