The Findlay-Hancock County Community Foundation awarded more than $870,000 in grants at its latest board meeting.

Among the grants — Hancock Public Health was awarded $150,000 to support the launch of its Mobile Health Clinic and Habitat for Humanity was awarded $85,000 to assist with hiring a full-time Critical Repair Manager.

Get full details in the following news release from The Community Foundation.

The Findlay-Hancock County Community Foundation Board of Trustees approved grants totaling $873,577 at the February board meeting. This total includes four responsive grants, two president’s discretionary grants and 132 donor advised fund grants.

Responsive Grants:

Responsive grants are awarded to nonprofit organizations that seek to meet community needs and match the goals, objectives and priorities of The Community Foundation. Grantseekers must submit a written grant proposal for consideration. Applications are reviewed four times per year.

Funding for responsive grants comes from our Community’s Endowment, made up of Funds for the Common Good and Field of Interest Funds established by donors at The Community Foundation.

The following responsive grants were approved by the Board of Trustees, made possible by our Community’s Endowment:

— Habitat for Humanity was awarded $85,000 to assist with hiring a full-time Critical Repair Manager.

— Hancock Public Health was awarded $150,000 to support the launch of its Mobile Health Clinic.

— The Community Foundation was awarded two grants to support nonprofits in 2021. These dollars are directly invested back into the community through Foundation programs:

– $66,250 to continue the Advocacy Initiative to help nonprofits secure federal, state and local funding and to create an advocacy cohort of local organizations for 2021.

– $2,500 to the Center for Effective Philanthropy to conduct a third rapid response survey of local grantees to better understand local needs and nonprofit status during the pandemic.

President’s Discretionary Grants:

Discretionary grants fund urgent or special requests that are outside of The Community Foundation’s various grant cycles. The President of The Community Foundation is allocated an amount each year. These grants typically do not individually exceed $5,000. The following discretionary grants were awarded:

– Findlay Hope House was awarded $1,323 to assist the Eviction Prevention Taskforce with the Housing Help Line app on the Hancock Helps website and provide structure for a critical rental assistance program to stabilize housing for local residents during the coronavirus pandemic.

– Hancock Leadership was awarded $1,000 for the 2021 class project.

Donor Advised Grants:

– 132 grants to 73 organizations totaling $567,504. For a list of the donor advised grants and amounts, please contact the Foundation.

About The Findlay-Hancock County Community Foundation

The Findlay-Hancock County Community Foundation will improve the quality of life in Hancock County through collaborative leadership, responsible grantmaking, and the development of philanthropic giving. Established in 1992 as an outgrowth of a one-time gift from L. Dale Dorney, The Community Foundation has granted more than $60 million to fund projects that support our community. Visit www.community-foundation.com or call (419) 425-1100 to learn more about how The Community Foundation is helping our community.

Governor DeWine has ordered flags to be flown at half-staff to recognize the one-year anniversary of the first recorded COVID-19 case in Ohio.

The order pertains to all U.S. and Ohio flags upon all public buildings and grounds.

The flag-lowering order will be in effect from sunrise to sunset on Tuesday, March 9th.

DeWine says he will sign a proclamation marking March 9th as a date of remembrance statewide.

And he said plans are in the works to plant a memorial grove in honor of the victims at one of Ohio’s state parks.

The Ohio Department of Health is reporting that there have been nearly 980,000 reported cases since the beginning of the pandemic and more than 17,500 deaths.

In February, flags were lowered in remembrance of all the Americans killed by the virus.

The sheriff’s office says people receive a message from well-known companies offering the victim $500 a month to place an advertisement sticker on their car.

The “company” then mails the victim a check for approximately $2,500 and tells them to deposit the check, which will ultimately bounce.

The victim is then supposed to meet with a representative of the company, who provides them the advertisement sticker.

During the meeting, the victim is supposed to write a check back to the representative for approximately $2,000 and the victim will then “keep” the rest of the initial deposit for their first month of advertising.

“Please do not fall for this scam,” the sheriff’s office asks people in the post on their Facebook page.

The sheriff’s office says they have gotten two identical complaints about the scam over the past few days.

The Ohio Department of Health has a new central scheduling portal for people looking to set up their COVID vaccination.

The new portal can be accessed by going to http://gettheshot.coronavirus.ohio.gov on a computer, smartphone, or tablet.

Governor DeWine says the state is requiring providers to either schedule vaccines using this system or another electronic scheduling system that interfaces with the portal.

“We believe this will streamline the scheduling process, reduce data lags, and provide real-time information on vaccination progress,” DeWine said.

He says the state will be using this central scheduling tool for appointments for the mass vaccination clinics announced on Friday, including the FEMA site in Cleveland, where they anticipate administering up to 6,000 vaccines a day.

There are two vaccination clinics scheduled for Findlay this week; one on Thursday at 50 North and one on Saturday at the University of Findlay.

Get details on both by clicking here.

Governor DeWine also announced on Monday that the state will significantly broaden eligibility for the coronavirus vaccine later this week.

DeWine said that phase 1D will include Ohioans with type-2 diabetes and those with end-stage renal disease.

Phase 2B will include Ohioans 50 and older. He says the 50-to-59 age group accounts for around 1.2 million ohioans.

These groups will be added on Thursday to the newly-eligible groups announced just last week.

Reineke Family Dealerships will be giving out Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) on Tuesday.

Face masks will be available at any Reineke Ford location from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.

In addition to offering PPE for people to pick up, Reineke Family Dealerships and Ford will be delivering face masks to law enforcement, fire departments, schools, and other not-for-profit organizations.

Get the full details in the following news release.

On Tuesday, March 9th, 2021, Reineke Family Dealerships, with the help of The Ford Motor Company Fund and the Apollo team, will be participating in Ohio’s Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) Day. Ohio PPE Day is a collaborative effort to provide PPE equipment to individuals and businesses to help stop the spread of COVID-19. Ford Motor Company is contributing 18,000 face masks, which will be available at any Reineke Ford location for safe pick-up to members of the community.

Mask pickup will take place from 9:00 am until 5:00 pm (while supplies last) on March 9th, at all Reineke Ford locations. Due to the demand, each person will be limited to 20 masks. Social distancing will be enforced along with other sanitation and safety protocols.

“It is everyone’s responsibility to keep our communities safe and we are proud to do our part,” said Tom Reineke, Reineke Family Dealerships.

Pick Up Locations

Reineke Ford Lincoln of Findlay 12000 County Road 99, Findlay, OH
Reineke Ford, Fostoria 1303 Perrysburg, Road, Fostoria, OH
Reineke’s Tiffin Ford Lincoln 2020 West State Route 18, Tiffin, OH
Reineke Ford Lincoln of Lima 1360 Greeley Chapel Road, Lima, OH

Additionally, Reineke Family Dealerships and Ford will be delivering face masks to local community organizations including law enforcement, fire departments, schools, and other not-for-profit organizations.

“We’ve been partners with Ford Motor Company for 50+ years and this is yet another example of Ford going above and beyond to help support our communities,” said Dan Reineke, Reineke Family Dealerships.

(ONN) – Bowling Green State University is suspending all greek life social events following the death of a student, allegedly from an off-campus hazing incident involving alcohol.

Sophomore Stone Foltz, 20, died after he was on life-support.

An attorney for Foltz’s family released a statement saying “the death of Stone Foltz is a tragedy. He was a beloved son, brother, and grandson. At this time, we are gathering all of the facts leading to his untimely death and we have no interest in commenting on speculation. However, we do ask that you please show respect and consideration for stone’s family.”

Pi Kappa Alpha Fraternity has been placed on interim suspension.

The university said it was working with law enforcement investigating Pi Kappa Alpha in what the fraternity’s parent organization called “an alleged incident of alcohol-related hazing at an off-campus event” that left officials “horrified and outraged.”

A fire broke out at Findlay Pallet Inc. at 300 East Bigelow on Sunday afternoon, sending black smoke into the sky.

The Findlay Fire Department responded as well as Washington Township and Allen Township.

Findlay Battalion Chief Matt Cooper said when they arrived on the scene at around 3:40 there was smoke and fire coming from the pallet yard and the building.

He said they went to work on the fire with a deck gun and then entered the building along with Washington Township.

Several pallets were destroyed and the fire also did some damage to the north side of the building.

No one was at the business when the fire started and nobody was injured.

East Bigelow had to be shut down to traffic as fire crews responded.

The cause of the fire is under investigation.

The Ohio Department of Natural Resources has identified a second positive test for Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD) in a deer in Wyandot County.

The ODNR’s Division of Wildlife says the mature doe was harvested in January during a controlled hunt on the Killdeer Plains Wildlife Area Area, within 2 miles of the first positive location.

The first CWD-positive deer was a mature buck taken by a hunter on private property and confirmed in December 2020.

CWD is a fatal neurological disease that affects white-tailed deer and similar species.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, there is no strong evidence that CWD is transmissible to humans.

Full details are in the following news release from the ODNR.

The Ohio Department of Natural Resources (ODNR) Division of Wildlife has identified a second positive test for Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD) in a wild white-tailed deer in Wyandot County. The mature doe was harvested in January during a controlled hunt on the Killdeer Plains Wildlife Area refuge, within 2 miles of the first positive location.

CWD is a fatal neurological disease that affects white-tailed deer and other similar species, including mule deer, elk, and moose. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, there is no strong evidence that CWD is transmissible to humans.

The first CWD-positive deer was a mature buck taken by a hunter on private property and confirmed in December 2020. The Division of Wildlife implemented its CWD response plan, which included enhanced surveillance within a 10-mile radius of the first positive location. Mandatory deer disease sample collection occurred during controlled hunts at Killdeer Plains Wildlife Area, which is how the second positive was detected. The second positive deer allows wildlife professionals to focus CWD management efforts as surveillance and testing in the area continue.

The Division of Wildlife has conducted routine surveillance for CWD since 2002, testing more than 30,000 deer without finding a CWD-positive deer in the wild herd. In 2020, approximately 4,500 deer were tested statewide. CWD has previously been detected at captive deer breeding facilities in Ohio. Find more information about Ohio’s CWD surveillance at wildohio.gov.

CWD has been detected in 26 states and four Canadian provinces. The disease was first discovered in the 1960s in the western U.S. More information about this disease is available at cwd-info.org.

Hunters should take precautions when handling and processing any harvested deer. Hunters may have a harvested deer tested at the Ohio Department of Agriculture’s Animal Disease Diagnostic Laboratory for a fee. Call (614) 728-6220 for more information.

A motorist on Interstate 75 survived a scary incident when a large piece of pipe came crashing through their windshield.

The Ohio State Highway Patrol says it happened on Thursday at around 4:40 p.m. near the Wooster Street exit in Bowling Green.

The Highway Patrol says no one was injured.

Anyone with information regarding the incident is urged to contact the OSHP Bowling Green Post at (419) 352-2481.

The Highway Patrol reminds everyone that vehicle load securement is important for the safety of everyone on the road.

Blanchard Valley Health System, in collaboration with Hancock Public Health and the University of Findlay, will be offering a COVID-19 mass vaccination clinic for the community.

The clinic will be held on Saturday, March 13th from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the University of Findlay’s Koehler Complex at 1300 North Main Street.

More than 2,000 doses of the vaccine will be available to the community.

The clinic will be open to people 60 years of age and older, along with individuals with medical conditions and occupations outlined by the State of Ohio’s Phase 1B and 1C vaccination program.

Registration will open on Monday, March 8th.

People should call Hancock Public Health at 419.424.7105 and select option 1 for COVID-19 vaccine information and scheduling.

Individuals will be screened and given an appointment time.

A caregiver or loved one may make an appointment on behalf of a patient.

Also, Hancock Public Health will be holding a 500+ dose clinic in partnership with 50 North on Thursday, March 11th at 50 North.

To learn more about the vaccination clinics within the region visit bvhsvaccineconnect.com.