05/11/18 – 4:01 P.M.
Education representatives from across northwest Ohio met today for a series of presentations. Hancock County Raise the Bar executive director Laurie Zydonik was one of the presenters for the SuccessBound program.
Zydonik said that the SuccessBound program is a program launched by the Ohio Department of Education. It is a strategy to bring together Ohio’s business and education partnership to help set student’s up for a successful future.
05/11/18 – 12:45 P.M.
Former Bluffton doctor James Gideon was sentenced to 180 days in jail and a $500 dollar fine on sexual imposition charges. The Courier’s Eileen McClory explained that the entire courtroom was filled with tension.
Eileen said that the defense objected to a lot of what the prosecutor said. The accusers were very upset and scoffed at Gideon’s apology.
Gideon will have to register as a tier 1 sex offender. He was accused by several women of molestation.
8:41 A.M.
A car hit a pedestrian on Tiffin Avenue in Findlay Thursday afternoon. The Findlay Police Department says the accident happened in the 1300 block of Tiffin Avenue around 3:40 p.m.
53-year-old Linda Dye of Fostoria was pulling out of a driveway when she hit a 15-year-old girl. Hanco EMS took the girl to Blanchard Valley Hospital for treatment.
Officers cited Dye for violation of duties required at a sidewalk.
5/11/18 – 7:43 A.M.
The Fostoria School District broke ground on a major building initiative Thursday. The Review-Times reports 14 students took part in the ceremony to kick off construction of new buildings. The nearly $50 million project includes a new junior/senior high school building and an addition to Fostoria Intermediate Elementary.
When construction is finished, all Fostoria students will be on the same campus. The district will tear down Riley Elementary and Longfellow schools as well as the former Holmes Elementary School building.
The state is paying for 89 percent of the project.
MORE: Review-Times
5/11/18 – 7:29 A.M.
A Findlay man says he’s losing business because the city is denying him building permits due to nuisance complaints on his properties. The Courier reports George Martens took his challenges in front of the Findlay Board of Zoning Appeals Thursday.
He spent two hours trying to present his case. Martens says his rental property business is essentially shut down because he can’t get permits for repair work until he clears up the nuisance property issue.
Zoning Administrator Todd Richards says Findlay’s zoning code allows for the denial of any further permits or appeals because Martens is no longer “in good standing” with the city.
One nuisance issue stemmed from building materials and debris in a yard at 2210 Beecher Street. Martens says the only items remaining are for an active construction site. The nuisance code doesn’t make an exception for that.
Martens and his wife own several rental properties in Findlay.
MORE: The Courier
5/11/18 – 6:57 A.M.
The Findlay Police Department explained its chase policy Thursday, a day after a woman led officers on a high-speed chase through the city. Lt. Ryan Doe says they consider many things before chasing a suspect. The speed of the suspect, time of day, and weather conditions all play a role. Officers also have to weigh the risk of the chase with the reward of catching the suspect.
Two police cars chased 48-year-old Crystal Moore from the south end of the city to an area just south of Van Buren early Wednesday morning. Doe says department policy says not to use more than two cruisers in a chase.
Doe says they don’t know why Moore ran from officers. She had an expired license, but investigators haven’t found another motive yet.
Moore died after she lost control and hit a house with her car.
MORE: The Courier
5/11/18 – 5:43 A.M.
Findlay firefighters are on the scene of a duplex fire this morning. Firefighters responded to a fully involved fire in the 1100 block of Fishlock Avenue just after 5:30 a.m. You’ll want to avoid the area for the time being.
We’ll have more details as they become available.
5/11/18 – 5:37 A.M.
The electrical and mechanical systems in the Hancock County juvenile and probate court need more evaluation before any renovation project starts. Judge Kristen Johnson talked to the Hancock County Commissioners about the issue Thursday. She says an engineer is determining what needs replaced and if the system even meets the state building code.
Todd Jenkins of Peterman Associates says the price for renovations now stands at $1.15 million. With the cost continuing to rise, Johnson wondered if the renovations were worth it.
The commissioners are already looking for a temporary location for the court during the renovation. If the court permanently moved to a new building, the old court could serve as a storage center for the county.
MORE: The Courier
5/11/18 – 5:26 A.M.
Some residents in a Findlay neighborhood say they don’t want a residential treatment center near them. Manor Hill Road residents took their complaints to the Findlay City Planning Commission Thursday. In the end, the commission delayed a decision to give backers of the center time to respond to their opponents.
The owners of Desert Cove Recovery of Scottsdale, Arizona want to rezone a building at 1800 Manor Hill Road so they can use it for a residential drug and alcohol treatment center. The company believes the center could draw patients from as far as Dayton, Toledo, and Columbus.
Capital City Athletics sits to the north of the proposed center. Owner Jackie Rothenbuhler wanted to know how she could ensure the safety of kids coming to the facility. Others from the neighborhood said they didn’t think a treatment center belongs in a neighborhood with “elderly citizens, intellectually disabled, handicapped or visually impaired people.”
There is already a treatment center on Manor Hill Road. Anhedonia operates at 1710 Manor Hill Road. Most neighbors in attendance didn’t know it was a treatment center.
MORE: The Courier
5/11/18 – 4:35 A.M.
The Marathon Center for the Performing Arts and the Arts Partnership will be merging later this year. The Arts Partnership interim executive director Donna Ridenour said that none of their staff will be without a job.
Audio: Donna Ridenour
She added that the merger will be effective July 1. MCPA’s executive director Heather Clow explained that there will be no program changes. All of the events and services put on by The Arts Partnership will remain intact…
Audio: Heather Clow
The two agreed that this is a welcoming change that only has benefits. They said that the two organizations have been collaborating really well and believe that this will be a smooth transition.