The University of Findlay’s Mazza Museum is staying connected with kids during the coronavirus pandemic through Virtual Story Time videos.

Virtual Story Time is part of the University of Findlay’s proactive approach to combatting the coronavirus while the Mazza Museum is closed to the public.

The staff at the Mazza Museum has been recording book readings for parents and their children to watch at home at a time when they are needed most.

Virtual Story Time is on Tuesdays and Thursdays at 8 a.m. and 7 p.m.

The morning story is fun and upbeat while the evening story will help kids wind down for the night.

Ohio State football players are breathing a sigh of relief that the latest announcement from their coach is only an April Fool’s Day prank.

On Wednesday, head football coach Ryan Day tweeted out a video chat from strength and conditioning coach Mickey Marotti announcing he was leaving the program to follow his passion.

“I’m gonna go be a rock-n-roll star,” Marotti said in the video.

Luckily for those watching the video, coach Day can be heard laughing in the background as Marotti displays a drum kit and says his first show will be this August at Put-in-Bay.

The Hancock County Board of Elections has set up a drop box for absentee ballot requests and ballots outside their building at 201 East Lincoln Street in Findlay.

People can drop their information in the drop box at any time.

You can also pick up absentee requests from the small box attached to the east side of the drop box.

The drop box is monitored 24/7.

People can also still mail the board of elections and request an absentee ballot.

The board of elections says it thanks everyone for being so patient, and they have started to mail out the ballots as requested.

Ohio’s primary was moved from March 17th to April 28th and will be held through the mail now thanks to the coronavirus.

All ballots need to be postmarked by April 27th.

If you already voted in the March 17th primary your vote will be counted.

Get more information from the Hancock County Board of Elections here.

It was a cool and touching sight at Blanchard Valley Hospital on Wednesday night.

At around 9 o’clock a procession of cars with their flashers on entered the parking lot and pulled into parking spots.

As the flashers continued the people waved their cell phones to say thank you to hospital staff for their hard work during this coronavirus pandemic.

People were also praying for the safety of hospital staff during this dangerous time for them.

Some hospital workers could be seen up in the hospital waving their cell phone light as well.

Some workers came outside to get video of the scene and shouted “thank you” to the people.

“I have a huge lump in my throat, I wanna cry,” one employee said.

As of Wednesday afternoon there were nine confirmed cases of coronavirus in Hancock County, according to Hancock Public Health.

They said four of the patients have been hospitalized.

Statewide there were 2,547 confirmed cases as of Wednesday and 65 deaths.

People experiencing coronavirus symptoms of shortness of breath, cough, fever of 100.4 or higher and fatigue should call the Blanchard Valley Hospital COVID-19 testing center at 419-423-7890.

For local information and resources people can call the Hancock County Resource Call Center at 419-425-9999.

Hanco EMS is taking extra precautions to keep their paramedics safe from the coronavirus.

EMS Chief Rob Martin says they always have safety precautions in place but now they’re taking it to the next level.

He says they’re wearing eye protection, N95 masks and gloves on every single run.

Martin says they typically wear pieces of that equipment but now it’s all three on every run to protect the crews.

“Because there could be somebody out there that isn’t presenting with the symptoms and we could come into contact with them and then find out later that they had the virus.”

He says when it’s possible they put a surgical mask on the patient to prevent them from expelling anything that could get on the paramedic.

Martin says their crews have their temperatures checked at the beginning of every shift to make sure they’re not coming down with something.

He says they’re also taking the decontamination of their equipment and squads to the next level as well.

Blanchard Valley Health System wants to make clear that residents of surrounding counties are welcome to their coronavirus testing centers in Findlay and Bluffton.

Officials say residents of Allen, Hancock, Hardin, Henry, Putnam, Seneca, Wood and Wyandot all may contact the centers to initiate pre-screening efforts.

The COVID-19 Triage & Testing Center in Findlay is at Blanchard Valley Hospital and can be reached at 419-423-7890, and the center in Bluffton is at Bluffton Hospital and can be reached at 419-369-2399.

Symptoms of COVID-19 include cough, shortness of breath, fever of 100.4 degrees or greater and fatigue.

Blanchard Valley Health System is urging people to tune into a livestream about their response to the coronavirus pandemic on Thursday from 5:30 to 6:30.

Ohio based Kroger grocery stores are set to begin providing a large number of its workers with a new hourly hero bonus.

The company announced that eligible employees would receive a two-dollar-an-hour bonus for hours worked between March 29th and April 18th.

The bonus will mostly be distributed to frontline associates working in grocery, supply chain, manufacturing, pharmacy, and the call center.

Kroger CEO Rodney McMullen said the reward is meant as a thank you to those in the company who have worked tirelessly during a national emergency.

Ohio Lt. Governor Jon Husted is assuring Ohioans that he’s continuing to work to make sure everyone who needs unemployment assistance can get it.

Husted says he’s working to increase the capacity of the unemployment webpage as people continue to have problems logging in.

He says more workers are also being added to the call center.

the lieutenant governor said unemployment workers are taking in twice as many calls as they did the last two years combined.

The Findlay Police Department says a driver led them on a short pursuit after running a red light.

Police say at 11:37 Tuesday night they witnessed a black SUV on County Road 99 run a red light at Speedway Drive.

Officers tried to pull over the vehicle but it kept going and turned onto Interstate 75 northbound and accelerated.

The pursuit reached speeds of 90 miles per hour and went for about one mile before the driver pulled over.

Police say the man, later identified as Mark Phillips, 41, of Deshler, initially refused the officer’s order to exit the vehicle but eventually complied.

Police say an open can of beer was located in the vehicle.

They gave Phillips a field sobriety test which did not provide enough evidence of intoxication for a charge of OVI.

Phillips was issued a citation for failure to comply with the order of a police officer, disobeying a traffic control device and open container in a motor vehicle.

Police say Phillips was released to a sober friend and another friend drove Phillips’ SUV home.