3/9/18 – 6:49 A.M.
The Northwestern Ohio Education Association recently honored four area teachers. The association gave Findlay High School social studies teacher Jessee Hankins the NWOEA Promising Leader Award.
Wendy Shively and Mike Wilson of Findlay, and Sarah Simons of McComb all received the association’s Local Service Award.
MORE: The Courier
3/9/18 – 5:31 A.M.
The Putnam County Commissioners are moving forward with a courthouse repair project. The Lima News reports the commissioners voted to move $600,000 from the general fund to the capital improvement fund. Commissioner John Love tells the newspaper the move makes $1.6 million available for the repair project.
The maintenance could include replacing a concrete section on the roof, taking out some skylights, and replacing the elevator. The county also wants to replace roof tiles and improve the courthouse parking lot.
Engineers are putting together an estimate for the cost of the work. Once that’s done the county will put the project out to bid.
MORE: Lima News
3/9/18 – 5:23 A.M.
Three Putnam County projects are getting a funding boost from Ohio’s $2.6 billion capital budget. The Putnam County Sentinel reports Pandora is getting $100,000 for improvements to the Arthur-Lugibihl Community Center.
The spending plan also includes $65,000 to help pay for the construction of an open-air concert venue on Main Street in Ottawa. Leipsic is getting $75,000 to help build a boat dock on the village reservoir and to fix the tennis courts at a park.
MORE: Putnam County Sentinel
Findlay city school officials will talk about school security during a forum next week. A meeting on that topic is set for Thursday the 15 from 6:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. The event takes place in the Findlay High School auditorium.
Students, parents, and community members are welcome to attend.
3/9/18 – 5:10 A.M.
The Hancock County Commissioners approved a new phone system for county offices during their Thursday meeting. The five-year deal with TSC Communications will cost around $566,000. That includes a $185,000 price tag for equipment.
The county is upgrading from an analog system to digital. The deal covers the replacement of 296 handsets and 322 phone lines.
The county’s contract with AT&T expires at the end of September. Commissioner Brian Robertson says extending that contract would have cost an extra $90,000 per month.
MORE: The Courier
3/9/18 – 4:29 A.M.
A former BGSU employee is accused of altering students’ records so they could get financial aid. Gail Houtz was indicted on theft in office and tampering with records charges yesterday. The school says Houtz resigned her position last year after irregularities in how Houtz processed records were found. She’s expected to be arraigned later this month in Wood County Common Pleas Court.
03/08/18 – 5:22 P.M.
Democratic U.S. Senator Sherrod Brown was on WFIN to talk about President Trump’s tariff proposal on steel and aluminum. Brown said that something needed to be done on these imports…
Brown said that he would have done it differently though.
He explained that China has been cheating Americans with its import of steel. He said that China will continue to mess up the supply chain and cost the U.S. countless jobs if nothing is done.
03/08/18 – 3:20 P.M.
Hancock County Jobs and Family Services has a levy coming up this May. Executive director Diana Hoover explained that it will help provide services to children and the elderly.
Hoover said that the levy will be Issue 7 on the ballot. The levy will generate around $1.2 million per year.
03/08/18 – 3: 18 P.M.
The Hancock County Commissioners got an update from Hancock County Jobs and Family Services Thursday. Executive Director Diana Hoover said that they are going digital with their documents.
Hoover said that the funding is coming from the state.
The Hancock County Commissioners said they aren’t sure if document imaging will count as a permanent record according to statute. Because of this, the JFS will still retain paper copies as well for the time being.
3/8/18 – 10:36 A.M.
UPDATE – 4:33 P.M. (Correction for number of homes added)
The expansion of a Findlay subdivision is moving forward. The Findlay City Planning Commission approved plans for 24 more homes on the southern edge of the Dold subdivision near Liberty-Benton High School. The plans still have to be finalized by the Hancock Regional Planning Commission.
The developer says the current retention pond at the edge of the subdivision is enough to handle the extra homes. The county doubled the size of the pond several years ago.
The commission’s approval is contingent on renaming two streets. The developer proposed Eagle’s Edge Drive and Eagle’s Talon as two street names. The commission says there are too many streets with the word eagle in them, which can cause confusion for emergency responders.