An officer with the Ohio Department of Natural Resources who died helping others was remembered in a memorial service on Wednesday.

Jason Lagore was laid to rest one week after dying during a medical emergency during a search and rescue operation at Rocky Fork State Park in Highland County.

The 15-year veteran was among those called to rescue a 16-year-old girl from an icy lake after she had just saved her brother from the freezing waters.

Lagore was known for his expertise with canines, and he led the ODNR’s first K-9 academy.

Click here for information about donating to the officer’s family.

To watch his memorial service click here. 

A statue honoring John Glenn was installed at the Ohio Statehouse on Wednesday.

The famous Ohioan was an aviator, an astronaut and represented Ohio in the U.S. Senate.

As an astronaut Glenn was the first American to orbit the earth.

Last week, a state panel voted to place the statue there for about a year.

Rules for permanent placement of a statue on statehouse grounds state that the person depicted must have been dead at least 25 years beforehand.

John Glenn died in 2016 at the age 95.

The statue of the Great Ohioan will be displayed to the public inside the Map Room until March of 2022.

Glenn was among the first to be recognized as a Great Ohioan when the award was established in 2003 by the Capitol Square Foundation and Capitol Square Review and Advisory Board.

A teenager was life-flighted to a Toledo hospital after being seriously injured in a crash just northeast of Findlay.

The crash happened a little after 1 o’clock Tuesday afternoon at the intersection of County Road 236 and County Road 212.

The Hancock County Sheriff’s Office says Lindsey Stultz, 17, of Findlay, was northbound on County Road 236 when a box truck that was eastbound on County Road 212, and had stopped at the stop sign, then proceeded to cross County Road 236 and struck Lindsey’s car in the left front.

The sheriff’s office said when the crash happened there was a semi that was northbound on County Road 236 that was in the left turn lane and was stopped waiting to turn left onto County Road 212, which obstructed the box truck driver’s view.

The impact of the crash pushed the car into a utility pole and trapped Lindsey in the wreckage.

Responding firefighters and Hanco EMS used extrication tools to get her out of the car.

Life Flight then transported her to a Toledo hospital with serious injuries.

The driver of the box truck was identified as Richard Zajac Jr, 37, of North Olmstead.

He sustained minor injuries and refused treatment at the scene.

The sheriff’s office says the crash remains under investigation.

Last spring, scammers were using COVID-19 to scare people out of money, now they’re taking advantage of the vaccine.

Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost is warning Ohioans about phone scams involving COVID-19 vaccines.

He says the scammer calls and says for a certain fee you can get to the front of the line and get a vaccine immediately.

Yost says that’s a scam and the scammer will gladly take your money and run but you won’t be any closer to the front of the line.

This is National Consumer Protection Week, and Yost says he wants all Ohioans to stay safe and informed when it comes to scams.

One person was injured in a three-vehicle chain reaction crash just west of Findlay.

The crash happened on State Route 12 near West Sandusky Street at around 3 o’clock Tuesday afternoon.

The Hancock County Sheriff’s Office said a Jeep that was eastbound slowed for stopped traffic and was rear-ended.

Then a third vehicle crashed into the back of the vehicle that hit the Jeep.

The sheriff’s office says the driver of the third vehicle, Kiya Benschoter, 16, of Bloomdale, was taken to Blanchard Valley Hospital for treatment of minor injuries.

There were no other injuries.

Ohio Treasurer Robert Sprague, of Findlay, has been chosen by The Hunt Institute to participate in the Hunt-Kean Leadership Fellowship program.

The Hunt-Kean Leadership Fellowship program, according to The Hunt Institute, “provides political leaders from across the country with the knowledge they need to cultivate smart and effective education agendas.”

Get more details in the following news release from the Ohio Treasurer’s Office.

Click here for a story of Treasurer Sprague recognizing Arlington High School for its financial literacy efforts.

Ohio Treasurer Robert Sprague is one of 30 elected officials nationwide chosen by The Hunt Institute to participate in the Hunt-Kean Leadership Fellowship program.

Participants are identified by The Hunt Institute as, “senior-level political leaders who have the knowledge, skill, and will to be effective, equity-minded education policymakers at the state level.”

“Our greatest investments are the ones we make in our future generations,” said Treasurer Sprague. “I am humbled by the opportunity to engage with leading policy minds from across the country and learn more about how we can work together to increase equity and provide each child in Ohio with a quality education.”

The Hunt-Kean Leadership Fellowship program, according to The Hunt Institute, “provides political leaders from across the country with the knowledge they need to cultivate smart and effective education agendas.”

Former Hunt-Kean Leadership Fellows from Ohio include Lt. Governor Jon Husted and Former Lt. Governor Mary Taylor.

The City of Findlay is having a corridor and safety study conducted on West Main Cross from Main Street to Interstate 75.

City Engineer Brian Thomas says they don’t have any current changes planned for the corridor but the study will help the city get ahead of any potential issues.

He says the study will look at existing traffic counts and predict out 20 years and then using those numbers see if anything needs to be done with signals and turn lanes.

He said if the study reveals a safety issue, any safety grants the city would apply for require a study to be done and they would already have that completed.

The study will be conducted in the spring or summer and he says you might see some surveyors out there gathering data.

The Ohio State Highway Patrol says a semi crashed into an ODOT truck on Interstate 75 near Lima.

The Highway Patrol says the crash happened near mile marker 127 at around 1:25 Tuesday morning.

Investigators say Matthew Fought, 40, of Lima, was operating a semi and trailer northbound on I-75 when he crossed the edge line and struck a Ford-F-450 parked on the shoulder that is owned by the Ohio Department of Transportation and had its emergency lights and arrow board activated.

The semi then went off the left side of the road before becoming disabled in the median.

The driver of the ODOT truck, Caleb Varhees, 32, of Cridersville, was taken to St. Rita’s Medical Center with minor injuries.

The Highway Patrol says drugs and/or alcohol are not suspected factors in the crash.

The Ohio State Highway Patrol reminds drivers that it’s state law to move over or slow down for stationary public safety vehicles with lights activated.

Cedar Point amusement park in Sandusky has announced that it plans to hire an estimated 6,500 workers for the upcoming season.

The amusement park is looking to fill positions in areas including rides, merchandise, lifeguards, park services, food and beverage and guest services.

A virtual hiring event is scheduled for March 13th.

More details can be found at www.jobs.cedarfair.com.

Opening Day for Cedar Point this year is scheduled for May 14th.

The adjusted flood stages of the Blanchard River went into effect on Monday.

In February, the National Weather Service announced that the flood stages of the Blanchard River in Findlay would be raised effective March 1st.

Sarah Jamison, Senior Hydrologist with the National Weather Service in Cleveland, says Findlay is making a lot of progress with flood mitigation but still has a ways to go.

Findlay’s flood mitigation efforts have included benching the river and removing flood-prone properties along it.

Another project that will help flood mitigation efforts is the Eagle Creek Floodwater Storage Basin project just south of Findlay.

Among the changes to the flood stages of the Blanchard River in Findlay:

Minor flood stage was raised from 11 feet to 12 feet.

Moderate flood stage was raised from 12 feet to 13.5 feet.

And Major flood stage was raised from 13.5 feet to 14.5 feet.

In the pic above, taken Monday afternoon, the river was at 8.2 feet according to the National Weather Service.

That would’ve been within the previous Action Stage of 8 feet, but now Action Stage is 9 feet.

For current river levels check out the WFIN river levels page by clicking here.