The Ohio State Highway Patrol says provisional statistics show that fewer motorists were killed on Ohio roadways this Christmas holiday compared to the three previous years.

During the four-day reporting period this year seven people were killed in seven fatal crashes.

The Highway Patrol says nine people were killed in 2020 and 12 in 2019.

Of the seven people killed this year, three were not wearing an available seat belt.

Troopers removed 162 impaired drivers from Ohio roads during the holiday which is an increase of nearly 12 percent compared to last year.

Motorists are reminded to plan ahead and designate a sober driver or make other arrangements to ensure everyone arrives safely to their destination.

The public is encouraged to continue using #677 to report dangerous or impaired drivers as well as drug activity.

(ONN) – The Ohio State men’s basketball game against New Orleans that was scheduled for Tuesday has been canceled due to health and safety concerns within the program.

Head Coach Chris Holtmann says the team is progressing through the COVID return-to-play protocols well, but just doesn’t yet have the numbers or readiness to play a game.

This is the third straight game canceled for the Buckeyes.

They missed contests against Kentucky on December 18th and Tennessee Martin on the 21st.

The team is preparing to return to the court at Nebraska on Saturday.

The Ohio State Highway Patrol says alcohol was a contributing factor in a fatal crash in Seneca County.

The crash happened on County Road 34, west of Township Road 78 in Thompson Township Monday morning at 1:20.

Crash investigators say Brian Sampsel, 41, of Bellevue, was driving a minivan on County Road 34 when he went off the road and hit a tree.

His van overturned several times, ejecting him from the vehicle.

He was pronounced dead at the scene.

Two other people in the vehicle were taken to a hospital and later released.

The Highway Patrol says Sampsel was not wearing a seat belt and that alcohol consumption is believed to be a contributing factor in the crash.

The Findlay Police Department says it was able to return some stolen presents to a family on Christmas Day.

On December 20th the police department said it was working to identify where a large amount of gifts found near Findlay High School came from.

The police department said that a large amount of wrapped and unwrapped children’s gifts were located in the area of the high school on December 18th.

Police said at the time that the gifts appeared to be related to a theft or burglary but no cases had yet been identified.

It was also confirmed that the gifts were not related to the Toys for Tots theft in November.

On Monday, the police department posted on their Facebook page that the family the missing presents belonged to had been located on Christmas and the presents returned.

The police department said the presents had been stolen from a vehicle.

The police department thanks all who helped in returning the gifts to their rightful owner.

(ONN) – A young boy killed in a fast-moving fire that tore through a Toledo home has been identified.

Neighbors say they began hearing screams coming from the home on the 2000 block of Fernwood Avenue around 4 o’clock Friday morning.

Firefighters soon arrived on the scene and encountered high heat and heavy fire conditions as they tried to reach the home’s second floor.

The family says 9-year-old Amare Lockett’s body was later found in a second floor bedroom.

Three other people suffered undisclosed injuries.

The cause of the fire remains under investigation.

A GoFundme has been set up to help the family.

A pedestrian died after being hit by vehicles while trying to cross Interstate 75 in Hancock County, the Highway Patrol said.

It happened in the southbound lanes of Interstate 75 near mile marker 165 in Allen Township, which is near State Route 613, at around 6:45 on Christmas night.

The Highway Patrol says a pedestrian was attempting to cross the interstate to the west when they were struck by a southbound SUV and then two other vehicles.

The pedestrian was pronounced dead at the scene.

He was identified as William J. Wells, 43, of Columbus.

The interstate was shut down for four hours as the crash was investigated.

There was an increase in deaths in Hancock County in the latest COVID data released by the health department.

Hancock Public Health is reporting 283 new cases, 24 new hospitalizations and 17 deaths* for the week of December 17th through December 23rd.

*The health department points out that six of those deaths are new deaths and occurred in the latest weekly reporting period and the remainder are from a backlog of cases.

The six people who died from COVID in the latest weekly reporting period range in age from 45 to 91 and four out of the six were not vaccinated.

There were two new deaths for the previous weekly reporting period of December 10th through December 16th.

Hancock County is averaging 40.4 new cases per day and cases per 100,000 is 368.16.

Community transmission in Hancock County remains “high” as defined by the CDC.

901 Hancock County residents have been hospitalized with COVID since the beginning of the pandemic and 195 have died from it.

The health department is urging everyone to continue taking COVID precautions over the holidays and to get vaccinated if they haven’t already.

The Marion Township Trustees quickly gave away more than 1,100 COVID self test kits during a drive-thru giveaway at the township house on State Route 568, a little east of Findlay.

The giveaway began at 2:30 Thursday afternoon and about an hour later all the kits were handed out.

Last week the trustees gave away around 600 kits during a giveaway event and had to cancel a second giveaway because they ran out.

The Ohio Department of Health provided Hancock Public Health and additional supply of kits in an effort to encourage people to get tested for COVID before attending Christmas gatherings.

The Findlay-Hancock Public Library has also been giving out a lot of home testing kits.

The library ran out temporarily, but on Thursday said it had the test kits back in stock.

People can request a kit through the library’s curbside service by calling 419-422-1712 or stop by the reference desk.

The Findlay Police Department says a pedestrian was struck by a pickup truck while crossing a street against the crosswalk signal.

It happened at 8:52 Thursday morning at North Main Street and Larkins Street.

Police say Jose Otero, 24, of Findlay, was crossing North Main Street westbound, against the crosswalk signal, when he was hit by a northbound truck.

Otero sustained possible head and neck injuries and was taken to Blanchard Valley Hospital by Hanco EMS.

Police say Otero was issued a right of way citation for trying to cross the road against the crosswalk signal.

The West Ohio Food Bank will be offering a free meal to anyone in need on Friday, December 24th, 2021, from 9 a.m. – 11 a.m. at the food bank on East Kibby Street in Lima.

Members of the West Ohio Food Bank staff, along with some volunteers, and maybe even a visit from Santa and Mrs. Claus, will pass out the meals, drive-thru style, just like they do
for the monthly food distributions.

Cars with families can line up in our back lot, drive up, and receive one meal for each person in their family, and head home to enjoy a meal on Christmas Eve.

“We know others in our community that were affected by the lingering effects of COVID-19 and other circumstances could not assist this year, so we decided to step up, and since we have the facilities and the staff, we wanted to offer this free meal, regardless of anyone’s economic status or personal situation,” said Tommie Harner, CEO of West Ohio Food Bank.

The meals will consist of ham slices, green beans, mashed potatoes, applesauce, a roll, and a dessert.

The meals are free to anyone who wants one, while supplies last.