The Hancock County Common Pleas Court recently held its first trial at the Marathon Center for the Performing Arts in Findlay.

Judge Reginald Routson says they needed a location to accommodate for social distancing during the pandemic and the MCPA was very welcoming.

The judge says they’ve been holding court proceedings including the Grand Jury there for several months but this was the first trial.

He says other trials had been scheduled but the cases resolved themselves and didn’t go to trial.

Judge Routson wanted to reiterate how welcoming and helpful the MCPA has been through this whole process.

MCPA Executive Director Heather Clow says MCPA is first and foremost a community space.

“While our arts programming has been curtailed during the pandemic, we’re excited for this new partnership with the Common Pleas Court, and to play a small role in ensuring that those proceeding are able to happen in a safe environment. We’re looking forward to continuing that relationship and other creative opportunities like this one in the future.”

Judge Routson says they are prepared to hold future trials at the MCPA instead of at the Hancock County Courthouse through at least the remainder of 2020.

(below is the view the jurors have from their socially distanced seats)

A group of lawmakers from six Big Ten states has written a letter to Big Ten Commissioner Kevin Warren asking him to reconsider the decision to postpone fall sports.

A total of 10 lawmakers signed the letter, including Ohio Senate Majority Leader Matt Huffman of Lima.

The letter was also signed by lawmakers from Michigan, Iowa, Minnesota, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin.

The Big Ten commissioner has previously said that the decision to postpone fall sports will not be revisited.

Big Ten schools voted 11-3 to postpone the fall sports season.

Ohio State voted against postponing the season.

The search for a missing boy in Toledo is now a death investigation.

Police say they found a body believed to be that of three-year-old Braylen Noble on Wednesday in the swimming pool at Hunter’s Ridge apartments where he lived with his mother.

Braylen was first reported missing on Friday, and authorities say they had searched the pool area where his body was found numerous times since then.

The official identification will be made by the Lucas County Coroner’s Office which will also perform an autopsy to determine the boy’s cause of death.

The Ohio Department of Job and Family Services says thousands of Ohioans who received unemployment benefits during the pandemic have been told they were overpaid.

The agency says 6 percent of the nearly 800,000 Ohioans paid unemployment benefits have been alerted of the overpayment.

That’s about 48,000 people.

The agency says people who believe they received an overpayment alert by mistake have three weeks to file an appeal.

If overpayments aren’t paid back, the money could be taken from future benefits or a collections process could begin.

The Findlay Police Department says a shot was fired into the ceiling of a residence during an armed robbery.

It happened at a residence in the 1100 block of Brookside Drive at around 5 o’clock Tuesday afternoon.

Police say the two residents told them that four black males were visiting them and playing video games when one of the suspects pulled a gun, fired one round into the ceiling and began to tie up one of the residents.

The suspects took a small safe containing cash and a rifle.

Two of the suspects fled in a vehicle eastbound on Blanchard Avenue and two on foot westbound on Blanchard Avenue.

Police say they located a possible suspect vehicle but the suspects were not located.

No injuries were reported by the residents.

Anyone who may have information about the armed robbery should contact the Findlay Police Department at 419-424-7150.

The Ohio State Highway Patrol says 10 people were killed in eight fatal traffic crashes on Ohio roadways over the Labor Day weekend.

During Labor Day weekend last year, 12 people were killed in 12 fatal crashes.

This year troopers arrested 538 drivers for OVI compared to 665 OVI arrests from Labor Day weekend of 2019.

Troopers also issued 3,289 safety belt citations over the holiday weekend and provided assistance to 2,944 drivers.

U.S. 68 through Arlington reopened Saturday morning after being closed for four months as the roadway was reconstructed.

The Ohio Department of Transportation says the project includes curb and gutter, drainage and storm sewer from the south corporation limit to Liberty Street and from Buck Run to just north of Wardwell Street.

The village and ODOT completed phase 1 of the project in 2018 when the roadway between Liberty Street and Buck Run was reconstructed.

“It is all coming together and looking nice. Some work remains,” said Arlington Mayor Marcia Smith.

She says the final striping at crosswalks and interchanges will occur within two weeks.

Local businesses are thankful the roadway has reopened and expect operations to begin returning to normal.

Curly’s Pizza and Drivethru owner, Bradley Cooper, closed July 2nd and will begin phasing in parts of the business.

Jamie Grieser, part-owner of Cheeky Bear, said “We plan to return to normal hours next week, including our grab-and go-breakfasts.”

ODOT says the pavement of U.S. 68 was built in the 1910s and 1920s and the original brick base beneath much of the pavement was poorly drained, leading to frequent pavement failures and repairs.

Three teenagers have been charged in the killing of an undercover Cleveland police detective.

18-year-old David McDaniel, Jr. is charged with two counts of aggravated murder, while a 17-year-old and a 15-year-old face the same charges in juvenile court.

Detective James Skernivitz was gunned down Thursday night while sitting in an unmarked squad car with a drug informant, who was also killed.

Prosecutors say they were shot during a botched robbery attempt.

Governor DeWine offered his condolences during his Tuesday coronavirus briefing, saying Skernivitz spent more than two decades in law enforcement protecting the people of Ohio.

He leaves behind a wife and three children.

Governor DeWine says Putnam County still has the highest occurrence of COVID-19 cases in the state based on population.

In his Tuesday coronavirus update, the governor said Putnam County had 301.2 cases per 100,000 people from August 25th through September 7th.

The rate is an increase from 233.3 cases per 100,000 from the previous week.

During the August 25th through September 7th timeframe 102 cases were reported.

State data shows Putnam County has had a total of 422 cases and 17 deaths.

Putnam County is at the “red” alert level, or level three, on the state’s COVID-19 county by county alert map.

Hancock County is still at level two, or the “orange” level.

Findlay Municipal Court will be holding a Safe Surrender Week.

Officials say anyone who has a bench warrant for their arrest through municipal court, regardless of the reason, can set up an appointment to have the warrant released.

All the individual needs to do is show up to meet with court staff at the scheduled date and time.

In order to comply with social distancing and other health protocols, appointments and masks are required.

The number to call to make an appointment is 419-424-7141.

Safe Surrender Week is September 28th through October 2nd.

Court officials say, during last year’s event, the municipal court cleared 119 bench warrants in just one day.

There are currently 2,631 active warrants through Findlay Municipal Court.