02/21/19 – 1:05 P.M.

Tomorrow the Progress Edition of The Courier comes out and there will be articles about local colleges and car dealerships. Reporter Kathryne Rubright said that the car dealerships talked about business and new car trends…

She added that Owen’s Community College is looking at improvements.

The University of Findlay will also be featured in her articles covering the All Hazards Training Center.

You can read about these stories and more tomorrow in the Progress Edition.

02/21/19 – 11:23 A.M.

There is a case in Findlay where money from a GoFundMe account didn’t go to the person it was supposed to help. Findlay Police Lieutenant Ryan Doe explained that these types of frauds will take your money but use it for something else.

Doe explained that you can protect your donations through research to avoid these incidents.

Doe said that this includes researching the cause, the account, and the person who set it up.

Doe added that the incident in Findlay is still under investigation so no names have been released. We’ll have more information when it becomes available.

02/21/19 – 6:59 A.M.

Pandora Village Council approved engineering costs for a new water tower. The Putnam Sentinel reports that the council hired Choice One Engineering of Sidney to complete the engineering for a new water tower. The engineering is not to exceed $25,000. The new 200,000-gallon water tower will go into the village industrial park and is estimated to cost just under $863,000.

The village was originally looking for grants to pay for the project. Unfortunately, the grant opportunities for the water tower fell through. Council was told their only choice right now is take out a loan for the entire amount of the project or try to seek funding next year.

02/21/19 – 6:44 A.M.

A Florida man will be spending some time in the Hancock County Jail on meth charges. The Courier reports that 23-year-old Johnny Honorato was sentenced to 30 days in jail and five years of community control sanctions. Honorato was 1 of 5 Floridians arrested last June and charged with aggravated possession of drugs. He pleaded guilty in November to an amended felony drug possession charge.

The group allegedly possessed and planned to sell about $100,000 worth of methamphetamine.

Two of the other defendants, 20-year-old Isidoro Martinez and 36-year-old Manuel Rivera Sanchez, were indicted on additional charges and now face federal prosecution. The Hancock County cases against them have been dismissed.

02/21/19 – 4:48 A.M.

An Ada woman was hurt in a car accident on State Route 81 East of Lima yesterday. The Lima Post of the State Highway Patrol reports that the accident happened around 8:50 a.m.

19-year-old Hadden Smith of Findlay was driving on Fetter Road when he failed to yield at the intersection with State Route 81. He struck 44-year-old Sheldy Morris of Ada who was heading east on 81.

Bath Township EMS took Morris to Lima Memorial Hospital for treatment. Officers cited Smith for failure to yield at a stop sign.

02/21/19 – 4:28 A.M.

I-75 between County Road 99 and State Route 613 north of Findlay will be restricted to two lanes in both directions today for guardrail repairs.

Work is being performed by the ODOT roadway services department.

02/21/19 – 4:25 A.M.
(UPDATE: County had originally posted an increase in sales tax collections)

Wednesday we reported that sales tax collections were up in Hancock County but after a refund was listed for February, collections are actually down. The collections decreased by more than 7.2% from the same time period last year. The county received more than $1.14 million, down from more than $1.23 million in February 2018. The County had originally posted a collection of $2.4 million in sales taxes.

February sales tax collections reflect sales made three months ago. Sales taxes initially go to the state before they are released back to the local community.

02/20/19 – 5:57 P.M.

There will be a celebration of linguistic and cultural diversity at the University of Findlay tomorrow. The 2nd Annual International Mother Language Day celebration will have students provide music and stories in their mother languages. This will feature Arabic, Japanese, Swahili, and Bengali to name a few.

The event will be from 12-1:30 p.m. Thursday in the Center for Student Life and College of Business Atrium.

02/20/19 – 5:56 P.M.

We continue our previews into The Courier’s Progress Edition. Reporter Sara Arthurs said that she will have an article looking at BVHS new facility being built.

Arthurs added that the article will also cover how many babies were born, surgical robots, simulation mannequins and plans for BVHS’ future.

She also wrote another article with fellow reporter Jim Mauer about the Marathon Center for the Performing Arts. She said that they cover what has happened with MCPA in the past year…

She said that they also cover what MCPA is doing to become more involved in the community. Arthurs added that they also talked to the Convention and Visitors Bureau about efforts to raise awareness about events happening in the city.

You can read about all this and more in the Progress Edition coming out this Friday.