10/25/18 – 10:35 A.M.

Hancock County’s sales tax collection rate remains flat for 2018. Numbers for October show the county has collected $12.7 million through 10 months. That’s a less than 1 percent increase over figures from 2017.

Sales tax collections had been trailing collections from 2017 for most of 2018. However, September saw a 9 percent increase compared to last year.

The numbers reported by the Hancock County Auditor’s office today reflect collections through August. The county gets their part of the sales tax back from Ohio a couple of months after the state collects it.

10/25/18 – 7:24 A.M.

The Wood County Sheriff’s Office is warning residents about another phone scam. The sheriff’s office says a man claiming to be a “Deputy Jason Walker” is calling people and telling them they missed jury duty. He then says they need to pay a fine over the phone or they’ll get arrested.

People who work in the medical profession appear to be the targets of this scam. The sheriff’s office says it will never call and ask for a payment of any kind. You should hang up if you get a call like that.

If you received the call and gave out personal information, you should call 419-354-9001 to report the incident.

10/25/18 – 6:53 A.M.

Ottawa will manage a water district that includes part of the village, but is owned by Putnam County through the end of the year. The Putnam County Sentinel reports village and county officials recently met to discuss the deal. Ottawa officials told the county they weren’t interested in continuing as the operator of record for the system because of the expense it involves.

Putnam County Commissioner Michael Lammers said there is someone interested in becoming the operator, but they will bid the work out. He added they already have quotes from interested parties.

MORE: Putnam County Sentinel

10/25/18 – 5:29 A.M.

Putnam County officials recently met to talk about Blanchard River maintenance. The Putnam County Sentinel says the group is trying to answer two questions. They want to know if the petition maintenance process can apply to the river. They also want to know what would happen if they treated the river like a petition maintenance ditch.

According to the newspaper, the Ohio Attorney General’s office says they can treat the river like maintenance ditch program. However, they would have to show that any project would benefit the public to justify costs.

Hancock and Hardin Counties would have to agree to a joint plan as well.

MORE: Putnam County Sentinel

10/25/18 – 5:14 A.M.

A car collided with a bicycle in Findlay Wednesday afternoon, injuring a Findlay man. The crash happened at the intersections of East and Lincoln streets around 3:30 p.m.

71-year-old Pamela Hartley of Arlington was driving on Lincoln when she hit 56-year-old David VanWormer. Hanco EMS took VanWormer to Blanchard Valley Hospital for treatment of minor injuries.

Officers cited Hartley for failure to yield at a crosswalk.

10/24/18 – 8:10 P.M.

The University of Findlay’s Rieck Center for Habitat Studies is hosting a “Fright Hike”. The event will have people look and listen for nocturnal animals and listen to some of Ohio’s scariest ghost stories. There will be cider, hot chocolate, and donuts available as well.

The event is free and open to the public. It will be this Saturday from 6-7:30 p.m.

10/24/18 – 7:47 P.M.

The surgery department of Blanchard Valley Health System hit the 5,000 mark for surgeries completed with a daVinci robot. The robot allows surgeons to perform minimally invasive surgeries. The robot offers greater visibility which increases surgical accuracy for the surgeons. This gives patients faster recoveries, shorter stays in the hospital, and less scarring.

Blanchard Valley Hospital bought their first robot in 2010 and has added three more since then.