The man accused of robbing and abducting a Columbus Grove woman pleaded guilty in the Putnam County Common Pleas Court.

Court records show that 39-year-old James Phillips of Toledo pleaded guilty on January 9.

His sentencing will be held at a later date.

Phillips was accused of taking Addie Kiene at gunpoint outside the Dollar General on South Main Street in Columbus Grove last November.

Phillips forced Kiene into her car and forced her to drive towards Ottawa but Kiene was able to convince him to let her go.

Phillips turned himself in a few days later.

You can read more about the case here.

The Ohio Department of Health has required people in the state to report any suspected cases of the new coronavirus.

Hancock Public Health epidemiologist Chad Masters said that the virus, which has spread throughout China and has 5 confirmed cases in the U.S. shares similar symptoms to the flu.

Masters said that you can protect yourself in the same way you protect against the flu.

Masters said that the focus of this effort is to control the spread of the disease while it is being researched.

He added that the requirement to report the disease will also be based on the recent travel of the patient.

You can learn more on the CDC website.

The Ohio Department of Health is ordering that any suspected cases of the coronavirus from China be reported to state health officials immediately.

The state’s health director, Dr. Amy Acton, issued the directive, saying she wants to make sure Ohio’s public health system is prepared.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is expecting more Americans to be diagnosed with the newly discovered virus in coming days.

There are now five confirmed cases of coronavirus in the U.S., with two in California and one each in Arizona, Illinois and Washington state.

Former Ohio State and NBA stars Jim Jackson and Michael Redd are remembering basketball superstar Kobe Bryant who was killed in a helicopter crash on Sunday.

Shortly after news of Bryant’s death broke, Jackson called it the untimely loss of a great young man, while Redd said Bryant was the standard of greatness.

Redd played 12-years in the NBA and was a teammate of Bryant’s on the 2008 U.S. Olympic Team with Jackson spending 14-seasons in the NBA, including one year with Bryant as a member of the Lakers in 2006.

The 41-year-old Bryant and his 13-year-old daughter Gianna were among nine people who died when their helicopter crashed outside of Los Angeles.

A new bill being introduced in the Ohio Legislature would create a database of people who are convicted of illegally paying for sex.

State Representative Rick Carfagna of Genoa Township is sponsoring the measure and says it goes after people who use prostitutes and would work as a deterrent to keep people from soliciting sex.

Attorney General Dave Yost’s office said that he backs the legislation, which is aimed at exposing both human traffickers and those they supply.

Details of the bill show those placed on the list would be removed if they go five-years without another conviction.

Sandusky County authorities are urging a group of vigilante dads to stop chasing apparent child predators.

Police and prosecutors joined together to call on Dads Against Predators to stop its crusade, saying they’re still the best equipped to catch criminals in the act.

The group also says those videos won’t hold up in court.

The dads group has gone viral recently by confronting men they lured into public after posing online as underage children.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U03fxgOWJKA

Findlay Brewing Company was filled to the brim Thursday as they helped raise money for ALS Research.

Brewery co-owner Steve Treece said it was amazing to see the outcry of support from the community

Findlay Brewing Company was hosting Resilient Tart IPA from Ghostfish Brewing out of Seattle Washington.

A portion of proceeds from every beer sold Thursday night went to ALS research.

Community members and students at Liberty-Benton got to learn about the Holocaust from a local survivor.

Martin Lowenberg is a Jewish man born in Germany in 1928 and saw firsthand how the Nazi’s treated people.

Mr. Lowenberg told the groups, “Whatever you have heard so far, whatever you have read or studied, I can only tell you that it was worse.”

Mr. Lowenberg stated that the Nazis had spread propaganda and hate, turning neighbors against neighbors and allowing crimes to take place against people, specifically of the Jewish faith.

He talked about how hard life was in the camps adding that they were just slaves and each had a job they were expected to keep up on.

Mr. Lowenberg had to use a shovel to keep all of the streets clean of dirt and snow while he was in the Ghetto in Latvia.

During this time he lost his parents and two younger brothers at Auschwitz.

Mr. Lowenberg said he was also put on a 75-mile death march and was finally liberated by the Russians in 1945.

He was 17 and weighed 76 pounds.

After he was healthy he immigrated to the U.S. and eventually made his way to Northwest Ohio.

He said the Nazi’s got away with what they had done for so long because of the hate that they had spread and urged both groups to focus on love in their lives.

(ONN) – A bill aimed at protecting the hearing of motorcyclists is on its way to Governor DeWine to be signed into law.

The legislation would allow motorcyclists to wear earplugs or earphones while on their bikes.

The Ohio Senate passed it unanimously on Wednesday after it had already been approved in the House.

State Senator Rob McColley, a Republican from Napoleon, says noise from the wind and engines can produce severe hearing damage for motorcyclists.

Under the measure, motorcyclists would not be allowed to listen to music while riding.

Three people from Findlay were injured when their vehicle was rear-ended on U.S. 23 in Upper Sandusky and went off the road.

The Ohio State Highway Patrol says the crash happened at about 5:15 p.m. Monday on U.S. 23 near Township Highway 121.

The patrol says 43-year-old Kristina Tisdale’s SUV was hit from behind by a semi being driven by 36-year-old Ray Wallace, of Pennsylvania.

Tisdale’s vehicle went off the road and hit a tree.

Injured in the crash were Tisdale and two children in the vehicle with her.

The three were taken to Wyandot Memorial Hospital for treatment of minor injuries.

The driver of the semi was cited for an assured clear distance violation.