The Findlay City Planning Commission and the City Council Planning and Zoning Committee are looking at potential updates to the City of Findlay Zoning Map.

Both groups support the proposed changes which will correct over 6,700 of the over16,700 parcels in the city.

The map was originally adopted in 1956 and has had few updates since.

The proposed changes will be formally introduced in 2020 to the City Planning Commission and City Council before they can be accepted.

You can find the proposed changes and more information here.

The Findlay Trojans Football team has a lot of representation on the 2019 TRAC All-Conference team.

Earning 1st Team All-TRAC honors are RB and LB Aidan Eubanks, LB Brandon Hamilton, WR Ben Ireland, P Pat Dillon, and DB Parker Fetterman.

Earning 2nd Team honor are TE Pat Dillon, WR Isaiah Moore, OL Evan Winans.

Honorable Mention goes to Luke Montgomery, Ryan Sweat, Sam Weihrauch, Cross DeLaCruz, Micah Jackson, Moses Gaines, Blaine Rader, and Brayden Layne.

The Trojans finished the season with a record of 4-6 overall and 3-4 in the TRAC.

Below is one of Ben Ireland’s TDs from the season.

Drivers need to be aware of a traffic switch on Interstate 75 in Findlay as part of the reconstruction and widening project.

Details are in the following media release from the Ohio Department of Transportation.

Interstate 75 will experience a traffic switch as additional traffic is added to the southbound side overnight Friday, Nov. 15 into the early morning hours of Saturday, Nov. 16. The shift is expected to begin after 9 p.m. and is expected to minimally affect traffic.

When the shift is complete, the section of northbound traffic which currently travels on the southbound side between County Road 313 and U.S.68/SR 15 will be extended to Sandusky Street allowing construction activities to begin on two remaining structures and the pavement on the northbound side.

For more on the Interstate 75 reconstruction and widening project click here.

Also, for the week of November 18th, Interstate 75 in both directions between State Route 12 and County Road 99 will have lane restrictions for finish work. Beaver Construction, Canton, serves as the general contractor for the project.

Also, in other work in the area, State Route 15, between Findlay and Vanlue, will be restricted to one lane in both directions for bridge repairs at two locations.

With Thanksgiving quickly approaching, the Ohio Department of Transportation is asking people to submit their best Turkey Day themed travel safety message.

The winning submission will be seen on the more than 130 highway message boards across Ohio.

The message should be no more than 51 characters, 17 characters for each of the three lines.

A traditional Thanksgiving message ODOT uses is TURKEY SAYS BUCKLE BUCKLE.

Around other holidays they have other special themed messages, like DROP THE PHONE BECAUSE I SAID SO – MOM, which was up during Mother’s Day weekend.

Submit your message here.

The Ohio Department of Health says the number of suicides in the state increased by 45 percent from 2007 to 2018 and by more than half for young people.

Governor Mike DeWine responded to the new report by saying his RecoveryOhio initiative seeks to address mental illness and issues leading to suicide.

The report revealed that the number of suicides for those age 10 to 24 increased 56 percent from 2007 to 2018.

In Ohio, five people die by suicide every day, and one youth dies by suicide every 33 hours.

The suicide rate is highest among those age 45 to 64.

Click here for more resources available to people in crisis.

The National Suicide Prevention Lifeline number is 800-273-8255.

A semi transporting ethanol crashed in western Hancock County on Thursday night.

It happened at about 6:20 at State Route 613 near Township Road 115, west of McComb.

The sheriff’s office says the semi was going east when it went off the road and flipped.

The driver, 62-year-old Richard Taylor, of Michigan, was injured and taken to Blanchard Valley Hospital.

Hancock County EMA responded to the scene to assess the tank for possible leakage of the ethanol it was carrying.

The sheriff’s office says the crash remains under investigation.

Findlay-Hancock County Economic Development has started using a partnership with Cornerstone Consulting to help out local manufacturers.

Economic development director Tim Mayle says that the partnership helps businesses get back on track.

The consultants will go in and point out areas that can be streamlined or cut back.

Mayle adds that economic development will cover the bill for the consultants and then the business will pay it back when they’re back in the black.

According to Mayle, local businesses aren’t the only ones interested in the plan. Honda has expressed interest in how it works and asked to receive updates and stats.

You can listen to Mayle talk about the partnership and how it works below.

Hancock County has its first probable case of severe pulmonary illness due to vaping.

The Ohio Department of Health reports the case involves a 50-year-old man from Findlay.

Hancock Public Health epidemiologist Chad Masters says that many of the cases come from tampered cartridges.

Masters said a major issue is the use of Vitamin E Acetate in these tampered cartridges which can get into the body and injure the lungs.

Masters said you can protect yourself by knowing what you are vaping.

There have been over 2,000 cases of lung injury from vaping in the nation and 52 probable and confirmed cases in Ohio.

You can find more information on the Ohio Department of Health’s website.

Findlay’s Riverside Park is among parks that will be seeing some improvements from grant money approved by the Hancock Park District’s Board of Commissioners.

The commissioners recently approved the Hancock Park District’s 2019 Community Park Improvement Program Grant recommendations.

The park district said the maximum amount of $96,000 was allocated for the program this year.

The money will be going to parks to a total of 11 entities, including the City of Findlay and 10 villages.

Findlay will be getting about $15,000 to repair and replace some of the sidewalks at Riverside Park and to replace trees and other parks.

The full list is below.

Village of Van Buren
Grant: $9,353.91 to install perimeter fence around
Hoadley Park and renovate restrooms at the Sports
Plex.

Village of Arcadia
Grant: $9,975.00 to seal coat parking lots.

Village of Arlington
Grant: $6,581.80 to epoxy pool house floors and
purchase a variety of chairs for the swimming pool
area.

Village of Benton Ridge
Grant: $6,574.34 to finish the update of the rented
shelter house and bring the restrooms up to ADA
standards.

City of Findlay
Grant: $14,961.45 to replace or repair walkways at
Riverside Park and replace trees in city parks.

Village of Jenera
Grant: $9,925.00 to cover the restroom facility
with a classic rib metal roof and purchase a new
furnace and air conditioning system for the
community building.

Village of McComb
Grant: $7,708.50 to construct accessible walkways
for two restroom facilities and purchase a Single
Post Swing 4-Seat Set, an Arch Tire Swing Single
Bay, a “Tween” Swing, six swing seats, and a tire
swing for the playground.

Village of Mt. Blanchard
Grant: $10,000.00 toward the renovation of the
restroom facility at the Island Park swimming pool.

Village of Mt. Cory
Grant: $2,870.00 to replace two refrigerators and
purchase two countertop microwaves for the
community building, purchase a new tennis net,
and paint the shuffleboard courts.

Village of Rawson
Grant: $9,000.00 toward the construction of the
restroom facility.

Village of Vanlue
Grant: $9,050.00 to redo the kitchen floor in the
main shelter building and add new playground
equipment to the existing play area.

TOTAL GRANT: $96,000.00

Ohio lawmakers are looking at removing the statute of limitations and other loopholes for cases of rape.

According to details released of a new Senate Bill, the statute of limitations would be completely removed as would an oddity in the current law, which allows spouses to have sex with their partners even if they are incapacitated by drugs or alcohol.

The proposal comes not long after Governor DeWine called for an end to the rape statute in the wake of allegations over a 30-year period at Ohio State against a former doctor in the Athletic Department.

Ohio is currently one of 16 states in the country that still has a statute of limitations on rape charges.