12/27/18 – 8:04 A.M.

The Fostoria Police Department reported the death of a retired K-9 officer. The department says that K-9 Riky died on Christmas at the age of 11. The Review-Times reports that Riky was a valuable asset to the department’s effort to fight drug trafficking. He also gave demonstrations to civic groups and schoolchildren.

A post of the department’s Facebook page said, “He was a great partner to our officers and an asset to our community.” It also offered condolences to Officer Bell and his family.

12/27/18 – 5:18 A.M.

A four-vehicle crash injured a woman and closed part of I-75 yesterday. The Ohio State Highway Patrol reports that the accident happened around 4:30 a.m. in the northbound lanes of I-75, north of the Ohio-15 exit. 62-year-old Agnes Pollerman of Waynesfield lost control of her car and struck the median wall. She was then hit by a tractor-trailer driven by 54-year-old Eric Burchfield of Tennessee. 75-year-old Herman West of Michigan tried to avoid the accident when he was struck by 25-year-old Dakota Deering of Newark.

The left two lanes of the interstate were closed for about 2 hours. Hanco EMS took Pollerman to Blanchard Valley Hospital for non-life threatening injuries.

Troopers cited her for failure to control.

12/27/18 – 4:29 A.M.

Two Hancock County employees have resigned after being involved in a racist video that was posted on Twitter. Snowplow drivers and laborers with the Hancock County engineer’s office Jacob Dick and Owen Stewart resigned Wednesday morning. County Engineer Doug Cade said he found out about the video from a citizen complaint.

The video has a white doll whose face was painted brown being hung from a ceiling fan by a noose. It includes inappropriate comments of a racial nature as well.

Cade said, “the behavior does not reflect the office’s values of professionalism, accountability, and integrity.” He added that they won’t tolerate behavior like that.

Dick had been with the engineer’s office since November and Stewart since August.

12/26/18 – 5:32 A.M.

A Grove man will likely spend the rest of his life behind bars for raping an underage boy. The Putnam County Sentinel reports the 62-year-old Richard Byrd was sentenced to a total of 56 years in prison. He received 50 years for ten counts of rape of a person under the age of 13 and 6 years for two counts of sexual battery and one count of gross sexual imposition.

Byrd would regularly perform sexual acts on a boy beginning around March of 2010 and continuing until December of 2016. The boy was between the ages of 7 and 14 at the time.

More on putnamsentinel.com

12/26/18 – 4:47 A.M.

Two teens were seriously hurt after a two-car accident in Wood County last Sunday. The Wood County Sheriff’s Office reports that 72-year-old Janet Holloway of Cygnet turned on to Hammansburg Road around noon. She was struck by 18-year-old Brandyn Day of Risingsun, who had drifted into the wrong lane.

Day and his passenger, 17-year-old Samarah Garner of Deshler, both had incapacitating injuries and were taken to Wood County Hospital.

Deputies cited Day for a lanes of travel violation.

12/26/18 – 4:38 A.M.

A Findlay man was arrested yesterday after locking himself in a home after allegedly assaulting a woman. The Courier reports that 51-year-old Rodney Lauer allegedly assaulted a woman at a residence in the 1000 block of Hurd Avenue.

The woman was outside in a nearby yard when police arrived. She told officers that Lauer had locked himself in the house. He refused to answer when police tried to speak with him.

Lauer was eventually arrested after police entered the home. Lauer is in the Hancock County jail and has been charged with domestic violence

12/24/18 – 5:35 A.M.

The University of Findlay’s Clubhouse Reading Center got a grant to help fund children’s literacy. The $12,000 grant came from the Marathon Ladies Professional Golf Association Classic. The clubhouse will use the money to support the Clubhouse Individual Program which provides free, individual tutoring for area students.

The Clubhouse’s 45-minute CHIP tutoring sessions are held Monday through Thursday at three different times. The next sessions will start in January. You can learn more and get registered at findlay.edu/education/the-clubhouse.