The high school football season in Ohio will end earlier if games are allowed at all.

The Ohio High School Athletic Association says:

“Following a recommendation this week from the Governor’s Office to shorten the season due to concerns that COVID-19 may spike in early winter, the Ohio High School Athletic Association announced Friday that if high school football games are approved by the Governor, all teams will enter the playoffs beginning October 9 and the state championship games will be played no later than November 21.”

The OHSAA says this plan gives schools the best chance to have a season, if approved.

Four of the OHSAA’s fall sports have been determined to be low contact by the governor’s office and are permitted to have contests with other schools, including golf, tennis, volleyball and cross country.

The OHSAA’s fall sports of football, field hockey and soccer have been determined to be high-contact sports and the OHSAA continues to work with the governor’s office and the Ohio Department of Health toward modified protocols for those three sports to have contests.

The Findlay Trojans are scheduled to begin the season at Anthony Wayne on Friday, August 28th.

The Ohio Department of Taxation’s annual three-day sales tax holiday is underway.

The event runs all of Friday, Saturday and Sunday and exempts common back-to-school supplies and necessities from sales and use taxes, to provide a little relief when it comes to the large expenses that families often face to get students ready ahead of the school year.

Items that are tax exempt include any article of clothing priced at $75 or less, school supplies priced at $20 or less and items considered school instructional material priced at $20 or less.

Some business owners aren’t sure how much this will benefit them this year, with many schools starting back online.

Check the Ohio Department of Taxation’s website for more details.

Ohio Governor Mike DeWine’s office says the governor tested negative for COVID-19 in a second test administered on Thursday in Columbus.

The governor previously tested positive for the coronavirus in an antigen test administered in Cleveland as part of the protocol to meet the president.

The governor’s office says antigen tests represent a new technology to reduce the cost and improve the turnaround time for COVID-19 testing, and are quite new.

The second test later in the day that came back negative was a PCR test, which is known to be very sensitive, and looks for the genetic material specific for the virus that causes COVID-19.

The governor’s office says they are confident in the results from the OSU Wexner Medical Center, as this is the same PCR test that has been used over 1.6 million times in Ohio by hospitals and labs all over the state.

However, out of an abundance of caution, and at the direction of medical professionals, the Governor and First Lady plan on having another PCR test on Saturday.

A rally was held outside the Hancock County Courthouse in Findlay to stand up for the survivors of childhood sexual abuse and to call for stronger penalties for offenders.

The rally was organized by Tabitha (on the left), and Heather (on the right).

Tabitha says people need to realize it happens more often than you would think and it’s usually people you wouldn’t expect.

The person Tabitha is referring to is Joshua Rebarchek, her ex-boyfriend, who has been indicted by a Hancock County Grand Jury on child pornography charges, domestic assault and assaulting a police officer.

Tabitha says she was shocked by what she found on his phone earlier this year.

Rebarchek (pictured below) has a pre-trial hearing set for Friday.

Tabitha says she wants the courts to know that her daughter deserves justice.

“She’s doing great, she’s a really strong girl and I’m really proud of her.”

People at the rally were chanting “No more 1 in 4” referring to the statistic that 1 in 4 women were sexually abused by the time they turned 18-years-old.

The Ohio Department of Transportation is inviting people to participate in a live, online meeting about a project to improve the Interstate 75 interchange at County Road 99 and some intersections along County Road 99.

The meeting will take place on Thursday, August 13th from 5 to 6 p.m. and can be viewed here.

To participate by phone, call 855-925-2801 and enter code 9532.

ODOT, the City of Findlay, and Hancock County are proposing the project to improve the safety and ease of travel at the I-75-County Road 99 interchange, and along County Road 99 between Main Street and Technology Drive.

ODOT says the proposed improvements will reduce congestion, reduce crashes, and accommodate current and anticipated travel needs.

Proposed improvements include widening the existing bridge, constructing an additional bridge next to the existing bridge, and constructing a diverging diamond interchange (DDI) with or without a separate pedestrian bridge.

The project is currently in the planning phase.

Funding for construction has not been secured.

If funding becomes available, the project could be constructed as early as 2023.

Get more details on the project here.

“It’s important for the public to participate in this decision, because the investment at this location will be significant and long term,” said Chris Hughes, ODOT District 1 deputy director.

“We are proposing several options which vary greatly. Public opinion will help us choose the best option,” said Hughes.

Comments regarding the proposed project, and requests for accommodation to participate in the meeting may be directed to the following:

Jennifer Gasser, P.E. ODOT District 1
1885 North McCullough Street Lima, Ohio 45801
Jennifer.Gasser@dot.ohio.gov
(419) 999-6871

Ohio Governor Mike DeWine has tested positive for COVID-19.

The governor’s office says DeWine took a coronavirus test as part of the standard protocol to greet President Trump at an airport in Cleveland as the president was heading to Clyde to tour the Whirlpool plant.

DeWine’s test came back positive. He had no symptoms at the time of the test.

The governor will return to Columbus where both he and First Lady Fran DeWine will be tested.

DeWine plans to follow the protocol for COVID-19 and quarantine at his home in Cedarville for the next 14 days.

Lt. Governor Jon Husted also took a test as part of the protocol to greet the president and tested negative.

A Toledo police officer helped save a little boy’s life.

On Monday Sergeant Paul Cunningham responded to a water rescue call about a 3-year-old who had drowned in a pool.

When the Sgt. arrived on the scene he found that the child’s mother had gotten the boy out of the pool and started CPR.

Sgt. Cunningham’s 25 years of training kicked in and he was able to get the boy’s airway open and he started gasping and breathing on his own.

(audio courtesy of WTOL-11)

Toledo Fire & Rescue then arrived and took over medical care.

The boy was checked out at a local hospital and is doing fine.

(picture courtesy of the Toledo Police Department)

(ONN) – A judge has upheld Governor DeWine’s order prohibiting the sale of alcohol at bars and restaurants after 10 p.m.

Attorney Ed Hastie argued virtually that bars and restaurants have already been devastated by the COVID-19 pandemic and that DeWine’s order is an unconstitutional overreach.

The judge ruled in favor of the state of Ohio, which argued that regulations already in place were not enough to help stem the spread of the virus.

Several businesses had sued the governor and the Ohio Liquor Control Commission over the order that went into effect on Friday.

Hancock County has now had three people die from COVID-19.

The third death was revealed in the latest numbers from Hancock Public Health on Wednesday.

The agency says there have now been 349 total cases of the coronavirus in the county, which is an increase of 24 from Monday.

Active cases now stand at 84, which is up four from Monday. In Monday’s numbers active cases had dropped by 50 from last Friday’s numbers.

Active cases are patients currently under quarantine or isolation.

29 people in Hancock County have been hospitalized by the virus and three people have died from it.

Hancock County was still at level 2, or orange, on the state’s COVID-19 alert map on Wednesday.

A man who police say assaulted an employee while stealing from a Findlay Walmart is heading to prison.

Mitchell Folk, 23, of Lima, was sentenced to 3 to 4 1/2 years in prison for 2nd-degree felony robbery.

The incident happened on February 4th at the Walmart on Trenton Avenue.

Police say Folk was attempting to take two televisions out the auto maintenance entrance without paying when he assaulted an employee and fled.

The employee suffered minor injuries and declined medical treatment.

Police say Folk’s accomplice, Jennifer Davis, of Lima, was taken into custody at the store for complicity.

She pleaded guilty to a robbery charge and has not yet been sentenced.