A Findlay street will be closed for 2 1/2 months for a bridge replacement project.

The Hancock County Engineer’s Office says the Howard Street Bridge replacement project will begin on Monday, May 17th and last until August 1st.

The bridge is located on Howard Street between Broad Avenue and Fox Street in Findlay.

The project will replace an existing bridge that’s condition has warranted the construction of a new structure meeting current bridge standards.

The project was awarded to Great Lakes Demolition of Vickery, Ohio for $354,902.40.

The street between Fox Street and Broad Avenue will be closed while the bridge is constructed and residents are encouraged to use local streets to detour the area.

The Hancock County Engineer’s Office maintains 358 miles of county roads and 374 bridges throughout Hancock County.

Unemployed Ohioans will no longer receive an extra $300 a week in federal pandemic unemployment benefits come June 26th, Governor DeWine announced on Thursday.

Business owners and lawmakers alike have said that the additional assistance in some cases is discouraging people from returning to work.

DeWine said, early on in the pandemic, Congress put in place the Federal Pandemic Unemployment Assistance program to help Americans get through the most difficult economic days of the crisis.

He said, when the program was put in place, it was a lifeline for many Americans at a time when the only weapon we had in fighting the virus was to slow it’s spread through social distancing, masking, and sanitization.

“That is no longer the case. That is no longer our only tool in this fight. This assistance was always intended to be temporary.”

DeWine said his administration will inform the U.S. Department of Labor that we intend to stop participation in the program on June 26th.

Doug Baker, the owner of Wilson’s in Findlay, told WFIN he believed the extra benefits were at least partly to blame for his worker shortage.

His restaurant went to dine-on only on May 3rd because he didn’t have enough workers to man the dining room.

State Representative Jon Cross (R-Kenton) is reacting to Governor DeWine’s plans to end the pandemic health orders and incentivize people into getting the vaccine.

Cross said, while he’s encouraged that the governor finally listened to the legislature and is removing the health orders, he should not be treating the vaccination of Ohioans like a game show.

“I do not support using game show gimmicks with our federal tax dollars. Instead of raffling off $5 million from the American Recovery Act, the governor should focus his efforts on removing the additional unemployment stimulus and getting Ohioans back to work.”

Cross added that, as Ohio opens back up, we cannot risk having a workforce shortage that impedes the state’s ongoing economic recovery.

In a statewide address Wednesday, Governor DeWine said the Ohio Department of Health will rescind all pandemic health orders on June 2nd, except those for nursing homes and assisted living facilities.

The governor also announced that, beginning on May 26th, for five Wednesdays the state will hold a drawing for adults who have received the vaccine with the winner each Wednesday getting $1 million.

Also, on Wednesday, May 26th, there will be a drawing for those 17 years old and under who have been vaccinated, and the winner will receive a full, four-year scholarship to a State of Ohio university.

NOTE- After this story was published, Governor DeWine announced that Ohio will stop participating in the federal government’s pandemic unemployment assistance program which includes the extra $300 weekly checks.

Governor DeWine says the Ohio Department of Health will rescind all pandemic health orders, except those for nursing homes and assisted living facilities, on June 2nd.

“It’s time to end the health orders. It’s been a year. You’ve followed the protocols. You’ve done what we’ve asked. You’ve bravely fought this virus,” The governor said in a Wednesday night statewide address.

Dewine pointed out that lifting the orders does not mean the virus is gone.

“It does not mean we are all safe. Each Ohio citizen will make their own decisions about wearing a mask and social distancing — and when, for them, that’s appropriate.”

He said businesses and schools, as well, will make their own decisions about how to best keep their customers, employees, and students safe.

Lifting the health orders will not prevent a business from imposing its own requirements.

The governor also announced that, beginning on May 26th, for five Wednesdays the state will hold a drawing for adults who have received the vaccine with the winner each weekday getting $1 million.

Also, on Wednesday, May 26th, there will be a drawing for 17 years old and under who have been vaccinated, and the winner will receive a full, four-year scholarship to a State of Ohio university.

The City of Findlay’s Designated Outdoor Refreshment Area (DORA) opened last Friday in downtown.

Mayor Christina Muryn, on with WFIN’s Chris Oaks, says everything seemed to go well on opening day last Friday.

The DORA allows people to order their favorite beverage in a participating establishment in a DORA cup and then walk around outside enjoying it, as long as they stay within the DORA boundaries, which are marked with signs.

The first night of the DORA coincided with the return of Findlay ArtWalk.

Daily hours for the DORA are 11 a.m. to 11 p.m.

Get more information on the DORA, including rules and the boundary map by clicking here.

The Ohio Department of Transportation says a safety project on U.S. 23 in Wyandot County has been called off after a vote by the county commissioners.

ODOT says the project would have improved the safety of six intersections along U.S. 23 in Wyandot County.

ODOT said, with their vote, the commissioners acknowledged the community’s preference to leave the corridor alone unless a full interchange can be constructed at State Route 294.

Full details are available in the following media release from the Ohio Department of Transportation.

The Ohio Department of Transportation’s (ODOT) petition to vacate five roads along the U.S. 23 corridor south of the city of Upper Sandusky was rejected by the Wyandot County commissioners. The move puts to rest a project which would have improved the safety of six intersections along U.S. 23 in Wyandot County.

In response to the petition, the Wyandot County commissioners held a public viewing last week at the Wyandot County Courthouse. More than 30 community members and business representatives attended to discuss the project’s merits.

The project was initially presented to the public in July 2020. The proposed project would have constructed a restricted crossing U-turn (RCUT) on U.S. 23 at County Highway 113/Township Highway 124, and at State Route 294. In addition, it would have removed access to the divided highway at Township Highway 68, County Highway 74, Township Highway 72, Township Highway 65, and County Highway/Township Highway 62.

Following the public comment period, the RCUT at County Highway 113/Township Highway 124 was removed from the project due to the impact on emergency response services.

“The community has shown tremendous active engagement in the public comment process raising many substantive questions about how the changes would impact the local businesses, farmers, and residents,” said ODOT District 1 Deputy Director Chris Hughes. “With this vote, the commissioners acknowledged the community’s preference to leave the corridor alone unless a full interchange can be constructed at State Route 294,” he said.

The project proposal grew out of the local crash review process and aimed to take advantage of the additional safety funding made available in Gov. Dewine’s transportation budget. Ohio now has the 3rd largest safety budget nationally with $159 million available annually to all municipalities, counties, and ODOT districts statewide.

“We understand the community’s preference for a full interchange, and we agree that it is the safest way to access a high speed, four-lane divided highway. Unfortunately, due to the high cost, securing funding using ODOT’s safety program is not feasible at this time,” said Hughes.

A project receiving safety funding must meet strict standards to ensure that safety funds are properly allocated. Because of the competitive nature of the safety funds, a project must show, among other scoring criteria, a high safety benefit/cost ratio.

The project as proposed by ODOT was viewed as having the best chance of earning some of the available safety funding and improving safety along the corridor in a short timeframe. “For the proposed project to beat out other projects and receive funding, it must have the access removal at the five intersections combined with the RCUT,” said ODOT Capital Programs Administrator Rob White. “It is by limiting access to the divided highway and redirecting the traffic to the RCUT that the highest safety benefit is achieved,” he said.

An RCUT intersection design improves safety by managing conflict points. By restricting left turns, the number of conflict points drops from 32 to 16. The countermeasure is proven to reduce serious injury crashes by 40% and fatalities by 70% in rural areas.

With a relatively low price tag of $2 million, as compared to $14-16 million for a full interchange, an RCUT would provide the needed safety benefit/cost ratio for the funding application.

“While we would have liked to see this project move forward and improve safety for the local residents and those traveling on U.S. 23, we respect the process and the wishes of the local community,” said Hughes.

ODOT leaves the door open to the Wyandot County commissioners to alter any of the locations individually by removing or altering access for the improved safety of motorists.

(ONN) – In Washington, Ohio’s Republican Senator, Rob Portman, wants the extra $300 a week that the federal government is adding to unemployment benefits to end.

Portman has long said he thinks the higher jobless benefit pay is causing some people to delay returning to work.

He says several states have discontinued the extra federal payments.

“My hope is that Ohio will join these states like Montana, South Carolina, Arkansas, Mississippi and Iowa in not offering the $300 but offering a bonus to return to work.”

Portman has suggested offering people a $100 signing bonus.

Portman says a lot of employers, especially small businesses, are having trouble maintaining a staff.

The extra federal payments continue until September 6th.

On May 3rd, Wilson’s in Findlay closed its dining room because it didn’t have enough workers.

The owner told WFIN he believes the extra benefits are at least partly to blame.

Read more about that story by clicking here.

There’s still plenty of high water out there after that heavy rainfall last weekend.

People are being reminded to drive with caution around flooded areas, to always obey all road closed signs and to never try to drive through high water.

On Tuesday afternoon, a work van got stuck in high water on Hancock County Road 86 approaching the Putnam County line next to the Blanchard River.

Fortunately there’s no more rain in the forecast for a while.

Wednesday is looking to be mostly sunny with a high around 60.

The parents of Bowling Green State University student Stone Foltz have filed a wrongful death lawsuit against a fraternity and some of its members over their son’s alleged hazing death.

The 20-year-old was reportedly ordered to drink alcohol at an off-campus event hosted by Pi Kappa Alpha on March 4th.

A roommate later found Foltz unresponsive in his Bowling Green apartment.

When first responders arrived, Foltz was not breathing and was being given CPR by his roommate.

Foltz was taken to Wood County Hospital and then transferred to Toledo Hospital where he died on March 7th.

His blood alcohol level was found to be five times the legal limit.

The wrongful death lawsuit names the fraternity and 20 individuals allegedly involved in the hazing incident.

In April, eight students were indicted in connection with Foltz’s death.

Findlay City Auditor Jim Staschiak has announced the release of ‘Findlay Ohio Open Finance‘, the city’s new Open Finance Portal.

He says the release of this user-friendly tool keeps Findlay on the leading edge of government transparency by clearly showing how the city spends its money.

The Open Finance Portal replaces the retired citizen transparency site that Staschiak released in 2016.

Staschiak says the new portal allows people to view information at the highest level of reporting and to drill down to individual transactions.

The site also has links to the Auditor’s Office website on the City of Findlay website allowing for access to financial reports, presentations and other information regarding the Auditor’s Office.

The City of Findlay’s new Open Finance Portal can be accessed by clicking here.