Governor DeWine has mobilized 1,050 members of the Ohio National Guard to help relieve the hospital staffing strain caused by the rising number of hospitalized COVID-19 patients.

Of the mobilized guard members, approximately 150 are highly-trained medical professionals and will deploy to help meet critical needs at hospitals and testing locations.

The remaining 900 guard members will help with patient transport, housekeeping, and food services.

Guard members will be brought on duty beginning on Monday.

The governor’s office said on Friday that more than 4,700 people were currently hospitalized in Ohio fighting COVID-19, which equates to one in every five hospital patients.

That’s the highest number of people hospitalized with COVID this year, and the number of hospitalized patients is rapidly approaching an all-time high.

The governor said, due to the increase in COVID-19 hospital admissions many hospitals have been forced to postpone elective surgeries.

Blanchard Valley Hospital in Findlay on Friday said that it is still doing elective surgeries.

And the hospital said it’s too early to know how many National Guard members will be assisting locally and what that support will look like.

The Cleveland Browns – Las Vegas Raiders game at FirstEnergy Stadium, originally scheduled for Saturday, has been moved to Monday.

Kickoff is slated for 5 p.m. and the game will air on NFL Network.

The NFL announced Friday the game would be delayed by two days in the wake of the Browns losing 22 players to reserve/COVID-19 lists since Tuesday.

The Browns on Friday had 23 players on reserve/COVID-19 lists, including 19 who were on the active roster.

The group includes QBs Baker Mayfield and Case Keenum, RB Kareem Hunt, WR Jarvis Landry, G Wyatt Teller, Ss John Johnson III, Grant Delpit and Ronnie Harrison Jr. and DT Malik McDowell.

Browns head coach Kevin Stefanski also tested positive and has been self-isolating since Wednesday.

Two other assistants, Ryan Cordell and T.C. McCartney, also tested positive.

The Findlay Airport will be getting some money from the recently passed $1 trillion infrastructure bill.

The bill allocates around $254 million in federal funding for airports across Ohio.

The Findlay Airport will be receiving a $295,000 federal grant.

It’s unclear exactly how the money will be allocated but it could go towards runway and taxiway improvements and possible terminal upgrades as well.

Findlay Service Safety Director Rob Martin said the airport is heavily utilized by cargo planes as well as for general aviation.

He said the airport recently finished up a taxiway resurfacing project and is in the design phase for a reconstruction project for the north apron area, which will be funded through the Federal Aviation Administration.

Other area airports receiving grant funding include Bluffton Airport, $159,000, Putnam County Airport, $159,000, Seneca County Airport, $159,000, Fostoria Metropolitan Airport, $110,000 and Wyandot County Airport, $110,000.

The number of new COVID hospitalizations in Hancock County more than doubled in the latest data released by the health department.

Hancock Public Health is reporting 330 new cases, 47 new hospitalizations and two new deaths for the week of December 10th through December 16th.

There were 22 new hospitalizations over the previous weekly reporting period of December 3rd through December 9th.

Hancock County is averaging 47.1 new cases per day and cases per 100,000 is 472.40.

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

877 Hancock County residents have been hospitalized with COVID since the beginning of the pandemic and 178 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.

Blanchard Valley Health System recently held a Facebook Live to update the community on the impact that rising COVID cases are having on Findlay, Hancock County and the region.

Get more on that by clicking here. 

Findlay City Schools Superintendent Troy Roth sent parents the following message regarding a safety issue related to a nationwide social media challenge on TikTok.

Findlay City Schools has become aware of a troubling post that has been shared widely this week on the social media platform TikTok. The post refers to a threat to school safety “for every school in the USA, even elementary,” on Friday, December 17.

The post appears to be part of a national TikTok trend and did not originate in our school district. We have heard reports from other districts that the same post is circulating in their schools. While we do not believe the threat to be credible, we are closely monitoring the situation and taking it seriously.

Additionally, the district has been in contact with local law enforcement regarding the post. We will have an increased police presence in our buildings on Friday as an added precaution.

This situation serves as a good example of why it is important to avoid sharing posts online that refer to school safety threats. Even if they are not credible threats, they can cause a great deal of stress and anxiety for our students, families, and staff. We ask our families to monitor their children’s social media activity and speak with them about proper behavior online.

If you or your child become aware of any potential threat posted to social media or anywhere else, please notify a school staff member or trusted adult right away. Students or the community can anonymously report unsafe behavior using the Safety Tip Line at: 844-SAFEROH or contact our local police department at: 419-424-7150 to report issues.

As always, thank you for your partnership as we work to ensure a safe, secure, and positive learning environment for our students.

Sincerely,

Mr. Troy Roth

Superintendent

On Wednesday the school district held an emergency drill to practice their lockdown procedures.

Get more on that story by clicking here.

The Hancock County Sheriff’s Office said on Thursday that it’s also aware of the rise in school threats across the country being circulated on social media and is asking parents to talk with their kids about social media safety so they don’t get caught up in something. Get more on that by clicking here. 

Sixth Street is closed between Washington Avenue and the railroad tracks in Findlay as AEP crews replace a pole damaged by an earlier crash.

The crash, which occurred at around 10:30 Thursday morning, caused some outages and now more people are without power as repairs are being made.

Some lights in downtown Findlay are out as a result of the power outage.

Any intersection where the light isn’t working should be treated as a 4-way stop.

Get more details on the earlier crash by clicking here.

AEP’s outage map showed more than 4,000 customers were without power at one time.

When we spoke with AEP at the scene at around 3:30, they estimated the power would be back in a couple of hours.

A truck went off the road and struck a power pole and two fire hydrants on Sixth Street in Findlay, knocking out power to some.

The crash happened at around 10:30 Thursday morning.

The truck was traveling westbound on Sixth Street when it went off the right side of the road near Hanco EMS and struck a pole.

It kept going and took out a fire hydrant and still kept going until it struck a second hydrant near Kroger.

The driver was taken to Blanchard Valley Hospital and the truck was towed from the scene.

The Hancock County Sheriff’s Office says it and their school resource officers are aware of the rise in school threats across the country being circulated on social media and are asking parents to talk with their kids about social media safety so they don’t get caught up in something.

The sheriff’s office says the school resource officers are working closely with their school’s administration and that all Hancock County schools have a zero-tolerance policy when it comes to threats of any kind.

The sheriff’s office says, while the SROs cover internet and media safety every year within the schools, parents are also being asked to speak with their kids about the dangers associated with social media.

In a recent incident in Hancock County, a student was approached by a fake Snapchat account and when the student said they wanted nothing to do with the account the person running the account said something to the effect of “remember how easy it is for school shootings to happen.”

That prompted an investigation by the sheriff’s office which revealed that there was no actual threat to the school.

The sheriff’s office is also asking that parents ensure that location tracking on their child’s social media apps is turned off because that could allow others to pinpoint their location.

The Ohio Governor’s Office says Governor Mike DeWine and First Lady Fran DeWine were exposed to a person who has since tested positive for COVID-19.

It happened on Monday night.

Both DeWines have had no symptoms and tested negative for the virus when they were tested on Thursday morning.

The DeWines will continue to be tested daily and postpone public events.

Blanchard Valley Health System says members of the community have asked “how can we help healthcare workers in these challenging times?”

BVHS says the Blanchard Valley Health Foundation recently established an Emergency Response Fund where people can show their support for the community’s healthcare workers and make a donation.

The funds will be used across the health system to address the highest priorities including associate meals, supplies and other unforeseen costs associated with treating and caring for the community.

Donations can be made by clicking here.

“Our community is blessed with world-class healthcare. I am proud to be part of Blanchard Valley Health System and inspired by all the ways our organization is coming together to support each other,” said Myron Lewis, President & CEO, Blanchard Valley Health System.

Community members can also leave a note of gratitude for healthcare workers by clicking here.

Below is video from January when dozens of vehicles looped around Blanchard Valley Hospital a few times in a salute to healthcare workers and first responders.