A woman is facing charges that include OVI and endangering children after crashing her car in McComb.

The Hancock County Sheriff’s Office said it received a report of a reckless vehicle on State Route 186 at 7:10 Thursday morning.

The caller said the vehicle had driven off the road, through a stop sign and into a field.

While searching the area, deputies received a report of a car matching the description of the one they were looking for that had crashed on Park Drive, near Merrimont Drive, in McComb.

The Sheriff’s Office says, through their investigation, they learned that Reyna A. Ortega, 26, of Findlay, was driving south on Park Drive and went off the west side of the roadway, striking a cable box and a pole.

The Sheriff’s Office says indicators of drug use were observed so K9 Charlie was deployed.

Charlie made a positive alert on the vehicle and drug paraphernalia was located during a search.

Ortega was issued citations for OVI, driving under suspension, failure to control and drug paraphernalia.

She was also charged with endangering children, as there was a 7-year-old in the vehicle.

Ortega and the child were not injured in the crash. A 27-year-old passenger suffered minor injuries and refused medical treatment.

The Sheriff’s Office says drugs are believed to be a factor in the crash.

50 North is thanking some Findlay firefighters for helping ensure some local seniors received their meals.

50 North says one of its Mobile Meals volunteers was delivering meals when they were involved in a car crash.

The volunteer wasn’t injured but his car was disabled from the crash.

50 North says firefighters Shawn Martien and Nick Fazzio from station 1 were on the scene of the crash.

Upon learning that the coolers contained meals for seniors, the firefighters finished up the volunteer’s route to make sure the seniors received their meals.

50 North took to Facebook to thank the two firefighters for helping out.

Blanchard Valley Health System sponsored a blood drive at First Presbyterian Church on South Main Street in Findlay on Wednesday.

We caught up with Marty after she donated.

Marty says she started giving blood when she was 18-years-old and has donated throughout her entire adult life.

Kaleigh is a nurse at Blanchard Valley Hospital and says she’s been donating since she was a teenager.

Kayleigh told us that she’s Type O, which is the most needed blood group by hospitals during this blood shortage.

One of the next blood drives coming up locally is Friday at the Findlay Knights of Columbus.

Click here to look for a blood drive near you.

A house fire at 635 Meadowview Drive in Findlay injured a teenager, who was life flighted to a hospital.

A family dog died in the fire. We’re told there were no other injuries.

The Findlay Fire Department says the call came in at around 5:55 p.m. Wednesday.

When firefighters arrived they could see flames coming from the windows on the first floor at the rear of the house.

A 13-year-old who was injured was in the back yard with his dad.

Hanco EMS transported the boy to up to Fire Station 4 on County Road 236 where a Life Flight helicopter landed and took him to a hospital in either Toledo or Columbus to get his burns treated.

Firefighters had the fire under control in about 10 minutes.

The home sustained extensive fire damage on the first floor and smoke damage throughout.

The fire started near the back of the house in a living room area.

The cause of the fire is under investigation.

(ONN) – The Ohio Supreme Court has ruled that school districts must provide police-level training to employees before they can carry a gun at school.

At issue was a policy adopted by Madison Local Schools in Butler County in southwestern Ohio.

The district voted to allow armed school employees after a 2016 shooting in which two students were shot and wounded by a 14-year-old boy.

A group of parents sued the district in September 2018 to prevent teachers from being armed without extensive training.

The Ohio Supreme Court ruled 4-3 Wednesday that armed school employees must undergo an approved basic peace-officer training program or have 20 years experience as a police officer.

(ONN) – Two Republican state lawmakers got into a tense confrontation at a Columbus restaurant two weeks ago over the now-historic vote to expel Larry Householder from the Ohio House.

The Toledo Blade reports Representative Bill Seitz, of Cincinnati, confronted Representative Jon Cross, of Kenton, at Lindey’s Restaurant a week before the vote to oust Householder.

Seitz was against removing Householder and Cross was in favor of it.

Seitz approached Cross as they were both leaving the restaurant and began to argue with Cross about his decision to vote yes on the resolution.

Both men confirmed the altercation to the newspaper but it’s unclear if the encounter was physical or strictly verbal.

A man was arrested after a drug task force searched his home in Fostoria.

The Seneca County Drug Task Force – METRICH Enforcement Unit along with additional officers from Fostoria and Tiffin executed a drug-related search warrant at a residence on Northview Drive in Fostoria.

Authorities say they found suspected cocaine, crack cocaine, items indicative of drug trafficking, a stolen gun, US currency and criminal tools.

The residence was that of Andrae N. Moorer, 45, and he was arrested during a traffic stop.

He was taken into custody for a parole violation and will likely also be charged with drug trafficking, having a weapon under disability, child endangerment, receiving stolen property and possession of criminal tools.

“This type of operation improves the quality of life in our community when we have the success of removing not only drugs from our streets but also keeping firearms out of the hands of felons,” said Chief Keith Loreno of the Fostoria Police Division.

A scholarship has been created from a significant legacy gift to the University of Findlay.

The estate gift was made through the generosity of the late Rebecca Sue “Becky” Craig, of Kenton, who passed away in December at the age of 83.

Craig was not a UF graduate, but she was a frequent attendee and enthusiastic supporter of UF’s Civic Band concerts where her brother played the oboe for several years.

She loved UF’s band concerts so much that she left nearly $500,000 to the university for scholarships.

The Dr. Steven D. Craig and Rebecca S. Craig Scholarship will be for students majoring in the health professions or pre-veterinary studies and who play in the band.

“I find it particularly touching that Becky established a scholarship fund for UF music students even though she never attended classes at our University,” said Jack Taylor, former director of bands at UF.

“But she loved music; she felt close to our musical family at Findlay and she believed, as we do, that music is a worthwhile pursuit for student in all fields of study.”

Craig worked as the laboratory director at Marysville Memorial Hospital for nearly 30 years where she is credited for helping the laboratory become one of the first small hospital labs to be accredited by the College of American Pathologists.

Craig enjoyed working on the family farm, driving her tractor, and attending concerts.

Big things are happening at Liberty-Benton Local Schools.

They recently broke ground on a new PK-8 building as well as a field house project.

And they’re putting in synthetic turf on the football field, along with a new track and some other new track and field areas.

Superintendent Mark Kowalski says the new elementary/middle school building is much needed as the oldest part of their current elementary/middle school building along State Route 12 was built in 1926.

As he mentioned in the audio above, the new school will include all the state of the art facilities and security that the school community deserves as well as an 800 seat performance auditorium and two gyms.

In May of 2019 voters approved a bond issue for the school and he says the pandemic put it behind schedule by about a year.

They plan on taking occupancy on May, 1st of 2023.

And when it comes to the new field house, he says the 22,500 square foot indoor turf practice facility will be utilized by all sports, the band and the community.

The field house is targeted for completion in January of 2022.

When all the upgrades are completed he believes they’ll have one of the model campuses in northwest Ohio.

The Findlay Rotary Club has named its Edwin L. Heminger Heroes Award winner for 2021.

The Edwin L. Heminger Heroes Award, named after the late long-term editor and publisher of The Courier, connects Hancock County youth with Rotary members who exhibit the qualities of heroes: leadership, perseverance, courage, caring, selflessness, humility, tolerance and passion.

The 2021 Edwin L. Heminger Heroes Award recipient is Stan Kujawa.

Kujawa was born and raised in Toledo and is a graduate of the University of Toledo. From 1970 to 1983, he served as general sales manager for Kistler Ford. He then relocated to Findlay and was the owner and president of Findlay Ford Lincoln-Mercury, Inc. from 1983 to 2009. Kujawa is and has always been an active member in the Findlay community and is a 30-year member of the Findlay Rotary Club. Kujawa is extremely passionate about helping others. In the 1990’s, he and his wife Pat founded Children’s Wishing Star, a non-profit organization in El Salvador devoted to assisting the overflow of abandoned, sick & recovering children. Upon moving to Fort Myers, Florida he and Pat owned a yarn and needlepoint store until her passing in 2015. Kujawa then moved back to Findlay in 2016 to be back with my family and friends. Kujawa is currently the luxury vehicle manager for Bryan Ford-Lincoln in Bryan. Kujawa is also a co-founder of Welcome to a New Life. The organization’s mission is to provide mentorship and resources for adults who are involved in the Hancock County criminal justice system, helping them to live crime-free, drug-free, productive lives. Stan is also an active member of St. Michael’s Catholic Church. His designated charity was Welcome to a New Life.

A celebration honoring the three nominees, Cheryl Buckland, Harold “Puck” Rowe and Stan Kujawa was held at the Club meeting on June 21, 2021.

The two runners-up each received $200 to go to the charity of their choice and the winner received $2,000 to go to the charity of his/her choice.

Stan’s designated charity was Welcome to a New Life.

The two runners-up, Buckland and Rowe, also designated Welcome to a New Life as their chosen charity.