A new living facility for seniors recently opened in Findlay.

The Village at Eastern Woods is located at 15105 Birchaven Lane.

The new senior living facility is for individuals 55 years of age and older.

The affordable housing complex is right down the street from Birchaven Village retirement community and offers a convenient location next to top quality healthcare facilities.

Blanchard Valley Health System says benefits of the facility include a close proximity to physical therapy pools, Bridge Home Health services, Eastern Woods Family Practice, The Armes Family Cancer Care Center, Eastern Woods Outpatient Center and more.

A bill has been proposed by State Representative Jon Cross that would ban cities from dumping sewage into Lake Erie and impose stiff fines on those who do.

Cross says he crafted the bill after revelations that the City of Maumee has been dumping as much as 150 million gallons of sewage each year into the Maumee River for the past 20 years, far exceeding their allowable limit.

Algae blooms in Lake Erie, in particular the lake’s western basin, have been a major focus of policymakers in recent years.

Cross says farmers have been unfairly singled out as a cause of algae blooms.

“Instead of blaming northwest Ohio farmers, we should thank them for their work to help reduce Lake Erie algae,” Cross said.

“The vast majority of farmers are good stewards of the environment.”

The Republican from Kenton said his bill would take a zero tolerance approach by prohibiting municipalities in Lake Erie’s Western Basin from dumping waste into Ohio’s waters.

“We need to shoot one across the bow and take this bill and shove it right up their sewer pipes to catch their attention, enough is enough,” said Cross.

Under Cross’ bill, cities would face a fine of $250,000 for a first offense of knowingly violating the law, with a $1,000 per day fine of ongoing dumping.

An additional $1 million would be added to the fine if the discharge exceeds 100 million gallons within a 12-month period.

(ONN) – A doctor who was a vocal critic of the crackdown on opioid pills for chronic pain patients has been convicted of overprescribing painkillers to 14 people.

A federal jury convicted Dr. William Bauer of Port Clinton on charges of distributing controlled substances and healthcare fraud.

Bauer’s attorney says he’ll appeal the verdict.

Prosecutors say Bauer prescribed dangerous drug combinations and high doses of addictive narcotics that weren’t medically necessary.

Bauer portrayed himself as an advocate for patients who need legitimate pain treatment.

He testified that the medication allowed patients to resume some normal activities.

The Cleveland Indians are changing their name to the Guardians.

The team made the announcement in a two-minute video.

“To protect, to keep watch, to defend. For Clevelanders, this is a way of life. We fight together for what we believe in. And if we get knocked down, we pick each other right back up and keep fighting. We’re resilient, hard working and loyal – to this city and to each other. That’s what it means to be Cleveland Guardians.”

The team says its fans were at the heart of this decision.

“We heard this name often from our fans as a top contender because of it’s connection to the iconic Cleveland landmark – The Hope Memorial Bridge that stands just outside of our ballpark where the Guardians of Traffic have become a symbol of the city’s resiliency.”

The team says it’s thankful for all of the input received from fans throughout the process.

The Findlay-Hancock County Community Foundation presented the City of Findlay with a $100,000 grant towards the new regional training center for emergency responders.

Mayor Christina Muryn says the STRICT Center will benefit emergency personnel throughout the county.

Mayor Muryn accepted the $100,000 check from Foundation President & CEO Brian Treece on behalf of the Findlay Fire Department. (pictured below)

STRICT stands for Simulated Tactical Response & Incident Command Training Center.

The estimated cost of the training complex is $1,000,000, with construction funding from a joint effort of public, private, and non-profit funds.

Other donations include funds from Campbell’s, Valfilm, Marathon Petroleum, the Hancock County Firefighters Association, McComb Fire Department, Hancock County Commissioners, Washington Township Fire Department, and Whirlpool.

Additionally, Findlay City Council has allocated $250,000 towards the project.

The STRICT Center would be a city-owned, multi-agency training complex located behind Findlay Fire Station 4 on County Road 236.

Conceptual drawings for the facility show two buildings, including a “Burn Building” and a “Tower Building”.

Fire Chief Josh Eberle says the structures will allow for live fire training, technical rescue, law enforcement, EMS, and other training scenarios.

“An exciting aspect of the STRICT Center is the ability for our safety agencies to train together. At almost every emergency, there is a fire department, law enforcement and an EMS component all working alongside each other. Currently it is difficult for these agencies to train as a unit, even though we respond together. The STRICT Center will allow that joint training to happen on a regular basis.”

Learn more about the STRICT Center by clicking here.

The University of Findlay’s Mazza Museum has been holding their annual Young Artist Workshop this week.

The Mazza Museum says the event helps children learn about the fascinating world of picture book art in a fun, exciting way with instruction from children’s book illustrators, Mazza staff, and local area teachers.

We spoke with Piper (above) about the project her group was working on.

Visiting artist Amy Wellman, an art teacher at St. Michael School, says the young artists have really been showing off their creativity with the Shadow Puppet Theater project.

The theme of the Young Artist Workshop this year is is “STEAM It Up!” and the young artists are exploring and creating using science, technology, engineering, art, and mathematics.

Nichole Coleman, executive director of the Hancock County Veterans Service Office in Findlay, has been elected president of the National Association of County Veterans Service Officers.

Coleman says NACVSO was formed in Ohio and the last two presidents have been from Ohio.

“I am grateful and honored to be able to continue with this association in this leadership role and look forward to taking us to new heights and continuing the legacy that the former leaders have laid down for us.”

Coleman now heads a slate of new executive board members who pledge to continue the growth and expansion of the association’s support of the country’s Veterans and families.

She says the National Association of County Veterans Service Officers has a unique opportunity and responsibility to provide education, training and support for county veterans service officers so that they can better advocate for veterans and their families in communities across the country.

Since 1989, NACVSO has advocated for government policies that serve veterans and has supported the nation’s nearly 1,700 county veterans service officers

In the picture above Coleman is talking with Denis McDonough, U.S. Secretary of Veterans Affairs.

(pics courtesy of Nichole Coleman)

The Ohio Bureau of Motor Vehicles is warning Ohioans of a scam.

The agency says someone is sending fraudulent postcards to Ohio residents advising that they have an expired driver license or identification card and the process to update the information.

The Ohio BMV says the postcard is riddled with grammatical errors and prompts the reader to visit a non-official website.

People should be aware that these are not BMV-issued postcards and the genuine BMV website is bmv.ohio.gov.

The public can contact the Ohio BMV at (844) 644-6268 or visiting bmv.ohio.gov.

The Ohio State Highway Patrol says multiple people were injured in a two-vehicle crash in Seneca County and two teens had to be life-flighted to the hospital.

The crash happened on State Route 12 between Fostoria and Fremont on Wednesday just after midnight.

The Highway Patrol says Stephen Benner Jr., 42, of Mt. Blanchard, was driving a minivan southwest on State Route 12 when he traveled left of center and collided with a car head-on.

His van then went off the right side of the road and overturned.

Banner, who was wearing his seat belt, suffered serious injuries and was taken by EMS to ProMedica Fostoria Community Hospital.

The Highway Patrol says Logan Johnson, 18, of Fremont, was driving his car northeast on State Route 12 when he swerved to avoid Benner’s vehicle and was struck head-on on the passenger side of the car.

His car then went off the left side of the roadway.

Johnson, who was wearing his seat belt, was taken to ProMedica Fostoria Community Hospital with serious injuries.

There were five passengers in Johnson’s car, none of which was wearing a seat belt.

Kaysis Okuly, 15, of Fostoria and Kelijah Pickens, 17, of Fremont, had to be extracted from the car by mechanical means and were life-flighted to a Toledo hospital with serious injuries.

Yuseef Atkins, 17, of Fremont, was taken to ProMedica Fostoria Community Hospital with minor injuries.

Yazmin Gonzalez, 15, of Fostoria, was taken to ProMedica Fostoria Community Hospital with minor injuries.

Adriana Agapiou, 17, of Findlay, was also taken to ProMedica Fostoria Community Hospital with minor injuries.

The Highway Patrol says drug usage in both drivers appears to be a factor in the crash, which is still under investigation.

Findlay City Schools says the wearing of masks will be optional for the 2021-22 school year.

However, students and staff who have not been vaccinated are highly encouraged to wear a mask.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issued new mask guidance in July saying vaccinated students and teachers do not need to wear a mask while in school buildings.

However, the agency added that unvaccinated students and staff should still wear a mask.

The American Academy of Pediatrics is recommending that everyone older than age 2 wear a mask in school when the new school year begins, regardless of vaccination status.

The first day for students at Findlay City Schools will be Tuesday, August 24th.