5/23/18 – 8:52 A.M.
North Baltimore students will have more restrictions on their cell phones and electronic devices next year. High school Principal Bob Falkenstein told the school board that there’s no educational purpose to having a cell phone in a class unless a teacher says its appropriate for a lesson.
Students can still use cell phones at lunch.
The changes in cell phone rules will appear in the handbook for the 2018-19 school year.
MORE: The Courier
5/23/18 – 8:46 A.M.
The Fostoria Police Department is warning area businesses to look out for counterfeit cash. The Review-Times reports the police have seen a handful of counterfeit $5 and $10 bills recently. Police Chief Keith Loreno says a lot of times businesses look at bigger bills but forget to check smaller bills if something doesn’t seem right.
He adds, “The biggest thing is to pay attention and have the people handling the money actually take a look at the currency to see if anything is out of place.”
You should contact the police if you think you have received counterfeit money.
MORE: Review-Times
5/23/18 – 7:37 A.M.
Residents in southern Hancock County shouldn’t have issues with contacting 911 anymore. The Hancock County Sheriff’s Office says AT&T and Frontier have fixed the issue that was preventing some landline calls from connecting to the emergency line.
5/23/18 – 7:32 A.M.
A bridge west of Findlay will close for the summer starting next week. The Hancock County Engineer’s Office says they are closing County Road 139 between Liberty Township Road 89 and U.S. 224 for a bridge deck replacement staring May 29.
They expect the closure to last through August 10. You’re advised to avoid the area during construction.
5/23/18 – 7:18 A.M.
Two people are facing drug charges following a Tuesday drug raid at a home near Forest. The Wyandot County Major Crimes Unit says officers found cocaine, prescription medications, and marijuana in a home at 18093 Wyandot County Road 94. They also allegedly found nine guns among other items.
26-year-old Cyle Lutz and 25-year-old Alyssa Gottfried of Forest have charges pending against them. They include possession of a firearm while under disability, illegal manufacture of a controlled substance, possession of drugs, and trafficking in drugs.
5/23/18 – 6:51 A.M.
The Blanchard Valley Center has ended a practice of sending student records to local public schools without parental consent. The Courier reports the Ohio Department of Developmental Disabilities discovered the practice. They advised that state law requires parental consent for record transfers.
Superintendent Kelli Grisham told the newspaper the BVC started the practice as a continuum of services. The records help local school districts continue services for a student once they become school age. Parents will have to approve the transfer beforehand from now on.
Grisham said all the schools involved have sent back the records or had already destroyed them. The records included confidential information including names, Social Security numbers, birth dates, treatments, and medications.
MORE: The Courier
5/23/18 – 5:29 A.M.
Hancock County’s sales tax collections continue to trend down. The county auditor’s office says receipts for May of this year totaled just over $1.08 million. That’s down slightly from $1.09 million in May of 2017.
For the year, sales tax receipts are down around 3 percent. Collections so far in 2017 total more than $6.26 million. That’s compared with more than $6.44 million in 2017.
Sales taxes go to the state and then returned to the counties about three months after the actual sales. May collections reflect February sales.
County officials have expected revenue to be lower this year.
MORE: The Courier
5/23/18 – 5:20 A.M.
The Findlay man who allegedly led police on a high-speed chase over the weekend is now facing charges. The Hancock County grand jury indicted 33-year-old Matthew Ekleberry on a count of failure to comply with an order or signal of a police officer. That’s a third-degree felony.
Police say they tried to pull over Ekleberry in the 300 block of Walnut Street around 1:30 a.m. Sunday. They accuse him of speeding away, and only stopping once his car broke down on Blanchard Township Road 84 around 15 minutes later.
MORE: The Courier
5/23/18 – 5:14 A.M.
Three people are facing charges in connection to a Findlay woman’s overdose death. Investigators say 43-year-old Anthony Whitaker of Toledo sold drugs laced with fentanyl to 28-year-old Danielle Rice. He faces charges of involuntary manslaughter, corrupting another with drugs, abuse of a corpse, and tampering with evidence.
40-year-old Desirae Bright and 38-year-old Dawn Johns of Findlay both face a count of abuse of a corpse among other charges.
A person walking along Cass Township Road 215 found Rice’s body covered by trash bags on February 4. Investigators initially ruled the case a homicide, but an autopsy showed Rice died from a drug overdose.
In a separate case, the Hancock County grand jury indicted Whitaker on a rape charge stemming from a February 22 incident.
MORE: The Courier
05/23/18 – 2 A.M.
Findlay gets to be the first host for the Miracle League All Star game this September. Miracle League of Findlay vice president Brad Koller explained that this will bring in lots of people.
Koller said they are looking to do some upgrades.
The games will be on September 14th and 15th. Miracle League is an organization dedicated to helping children with disabilities learn to play baseball.