Downtown Findlay’s annual Downtown Holiday Window Decorating Contest is underway.
People are urged to check out the window decorations at various downtown businesses and then vote for their favorite.
People can cast their vote on the Downtown Findlay Facebook page by clicking here.
The contest runs through Thursday and winners will be announced on Friday.
(picture below courtesy of Downtown Findlay)
The Ohio State Highway Patrol recovered a child that was abducted from Colorado.
The Swanton Post was alerted to a possible child abduction on Saturday night and troopers kept alert for the suspect vehicle.
Troopers located a car that matched the description of the vehicle on the Ohio Turnpike in Williams County and pulled it over.
The Highway Patrol says the abducted child was located inside the vehicle with its non-custodial mother.
The woman was taken into custody and will be extradited to Colorado.
The child was released to the care of Williams County Child Services.
It was held differently this year, but Findlay police officer Brian White says local police officers were still able to brighten the holidays for a lot of kids through the Shop With A Cop program.
Due to the pandemic, this year the kids did not accompany the officers to Meijer to purchase the gifts.
The officers bought the gifts and took them to the FOP Lodge on Romick Parkway in Findlay and families could stop by and pick them up.
Officer White says they shopped for 143 kids this year
And he says this year was extra special because they shopped for their 2,000th child.
Over the 19 years they’ve been doing Shop With A Cop he says they’ve reinvested $400,000 into the community while brightening the holidays for more than 2,000 kids.
A plane made an emergency landing on a highway outside Toledo on Friday afternoon.
The Ohio State Highway Patrol says the small plane landed on the Ohio Turnpike around the 48.5 mile marker near Swanton.
There were no injuries to the pilot or anyone on the ground.
The plane didn’t even sustain any damage.
The plane was moved to the side of the highway and traffic was able to get by.
After a few hours the plane was removed from the highway.
A Trooper with the Findlay District of the Ohio State Highway Patrol has been honored for saving a woman’s life who was suffering a mental crisis.
Trooper Adam Hartford was presented with a certificate of recognition at the Bowling Green Post on behalf of Colonel Richard S. Fambro, Patrol superintendent.
From the Ohio State Highway Patrol’s news release:
In the morning of October 30, Trooper Hartford was dispatched to a woman walking in the lanes of Interstate 75 in Perrysburg. Prior to his arrival, the woman had walked across the lanes of traffic several times, nearly being struck by a semi.
Once Trooper Hartford arrived on scene, he positioned his patrol car across the lanes of the interstate with his emergency lights activated to protect her from oncoming traffic.
As he exited his patrol car, the female began to run down the interstate.
Trooper Hartford was able to catch her and prevent her from running back into traffic, ultimately saving her life. Once she was secured, she was transported to a local hospital where she was treated.
“The swift actions of Trooper Hartford is a true testament to his dedication to service,” said Captain John C. Altman, Findlay District commander.
“As troopers, we often deal with people during some of the worst days of their life. It is fulfilling when we are able to turn an unfortunate situation around and help someone during their time of need.”
Trooper Hartford is a member of the 152nd Academy Class and earned his commission in 2012.
He is a canine handler and assigned to the Findlay District’s Criminal Patrol unit.
Hancock Public Health released the latest COVID-19 data for the county on Friday.
The Friday numbers show that there have been seven additional deaths since Monday, and the death toll in the county now stands at 64.
As of Friday, there were 380 active cases of the virus in the county, a drop of 11 from Monday.
Active cases are patients who are currently under quarantine or in isolation.
38 people were hospitalized with the virus on Friday, an increase of five from Monday.
Statewide, more than 10,000 new cases were reported on Friday along with 128 more deaths.
There have now been more than 542,000 cases and 7,400 deaths in Ohio.
The Ohio Department of Health will issue a variance to the newly extended COVID-19 curfew for some sporting events, Governor DeWine said.
Those events are Monday Night Football games involving the Browns/Ravens and Bengals/Steelers, the Columbus Crew MLS championship game and the University of Cincinnati football conference title game.
Governor DeWine said the games are dictated by national television contracts and would not be finished until after the 10 p.m. curfew.
“To be frank, the biggest risk from these games is not the spectators who will be at the games and who will be following the safety protocols, but from other fans who may have the urge to gather with friends to watch these games inside without following mask/distancing protocols,” said Governor DeWine.
He’s asking people to rethink gathering with friends outside their household to watch the games.
“I know the importance of sports to keep our morale up, but I ask that you enjoy these events responsibly.”
The state’s COVID-19 10 p.m. to 5 a.m. curfew was extended until January 2nd.
(picture courtesy of Jay Gehres of Columbus Wired)
(ONN) – It was an interesting day on the job for some Toledo police officers.
Two officers spent about 45 minutes Thursday chasing a loose pig through a Toledo neighborhood.
Police say the “pork pursuit” ended safely and thanked residents who assisted them.
The pig is now in the care of the Toledo Humane Society.
A picture on the Toledo Police Department Facebook and Twitter accounts shows an officer holding the black pig, which appears to be similar to a medium-sized dog in bulk.
The post didn’t speculate on where the pig came from.
(Pictures and story courtesy of the Hancock Park District)
Betsy and Joe Worden, along with seven other volunteers, planted 150 native hardwood trees at Findlay’s Blue Rock Nature Preserve on Thursday.
The trees are replacing the invasive bush honeysuckle and Tree of Heaven, that Hancock Park District operations staff have been removing.
HPD Natural Resource Manager Chad Carroll explained that the native species will be good for wildlife, unlike the removed non-native plants, which are “like M & Ms. They look good and taste good, but they have no nutritional value.”
The Ohio Department of Health is extending the state’s COVID-19 curfew for another three weeks.
The 10 p.m. to 5 a.m. curfew will now run until January 2nd.
The curfew originally went into effect on November 19th and would have expired on Thursday.
“We believe the curfew, along with mask-wearing, have had an impact, and the next 21 days are extremely critical,” said Governor DeWine as he announced the extension.
He added that we need to do everything we can to slow down the virus.
Ohio on Thursday reported nearly 12,000 new cases and 111 more deaths.
Statewide, there have now been more than 531,000 cases and nearly 7,300 deaths.