The Jolly One himself was at the University of Findlay over the weekend for the second annual Letters to Santa Drive-Thru event.

Youngsters waved to Santa and talked with him for a second as they dropped off their letters on Sunday in front of Old Main.

There was a long line of cars waiting to pull through and drop off their letters.

Last year, more than 200 vehicles went through and it’s anticipated that there were even more this year.

Children received a free UF Christmas goodie bag.

The University of Findlay’s Mazza Museum joined the fun this year with added giveaways, including an art activity and special ornament made in the Joseph and Judith Conda STEAM Education Center.

You can see video from the event below and by clicking here. 

The Allen County Sheriff’s Office says a man who shot at pursuing police officers during a pursuit was later taken into custody.

The sheriff’s office says on Friday night at 11:37 a Bluffton police officer attempted a traffic stop in Bluffton.

The operator, later identified as Ronald David Powell, refused to stop and fled from the officer.

The officer pursued the vehicle, which eventually left the village southbound on Bentley Road.

Shortly after exiting the village limits, an occupant, at this time believed to be the driver of the vehicle, began shooting at the pursuing officer.

A short time later the suspect vehicle came to a stop on Bentley Road south of Hillville Road a male and a female exited the vehicle at which time the pursuing officer and the male suspect exchanged gunfire.

The suspects fled east into a field and wooded area. The perimeter of the area was immediately contained by responding officers.

A short time later the female suspect was apprehended and taken into custody for questioning.

Multiple agencies and SWAT teams from the region arrived on scene to assist in the manhunt.

The sheriff’s office said the ability to search effectively had been limited by extreme weather conditions.

The sheriff’s office later posted an update saying that Powell was in custody, but offered not additional details.

WTOL 11 is reporting that Powell was arrested in Monroe County, Michigan after leading Toledo police and sheriff’s deputies on a pursuit Saturday afternoon.

The National Weather Service has confirmed that a tornado touched down a little south of Ada in Hardin County early Saturday.

The EF-1 twister touched down at around 3 a.m. Saturday as that line of strong storms was moving through the area.

The tornado had winds of 110 miles per hour and was on the ground for about a mile and a half.

Among the structures the tornado damaged were a house and a tire business as you can see in the submitted pictures above and below.

There were no reports of any injuries.

Kentucky and other states were hit really hard by tornadoes.

The Red Cross of Northern Ohio is assisting in the recovery.

Get more on that by clicking here.

The American Red Cross of Northern Ohio says it’s deeply saddened by the loss of life and incredible devastation brought by the horrific tornadoes that touched down this weekend across multiple states in the center of the country.

The Red Cross is actively beginning large relief efforts in Kentucky, Tennessee, Arkansas, and Missouri to provide safe shelter, comfort and support in the face of one of the most devastating tornado outbreaks in years. Saturday night, there were at least eight emergency shelters open in Kentucky providing safe refuge to about 190 people. Shelters are also open in Tennessee.

Disaster workers from Northern Ohio – mostly volunteers – are being recruited to deploy to the affected area. In addition, two Emergency Response Vehicles from the Northern Ohio Region will be dispatched, each with a two-person crew, to deliver food, water, clean-up kits and other supplies to residents in affected areas when it is deemed safe to do so. Roads have been completely devastated in places, and we’re moving as quickly as we can to get additional volunteers, supplies and help to the hardest hit areas. With such widespread damage, we know families will need support for weeks to come and the Red Cross will be there for as long as we are needed.

The Red Cross has provided approximately 200 additional blood products to hospitals in response to these devastating tornadoes. We remain in close touch with our hospital partners throughout affected areas and stand ready to provide additional blood products as needed.

Blood donation appointments can be made by visiting www.redcrossblood.org, or by calling 1-800-RED CROSS. Financial donations to help people affected by disasters big and small can be made by visiting www.redcross.org, by calling 1-800-RED CROSS, or by texting the word DISASTER to 90999 to make a $10 donation.

The Red Cross is in need of additional volunteers who are willing to be trained and to deploy to future disasters.

A two-week commitment is typically required. Visit redcross.org/volunteertoday or call 216-431-3328 to apply.

Findlay Mayor Christina Muryn is asking everyone to do their part to knock down this surge in COVID-19 cases that’s affecting Findlay and Hancock County.

In the video below, the mayor said we did a good job early on in the pandemic with taking COVID precautions but says we’re now falling back into old habits which are causing significant harm to the community.

Over the past week she said she’s heard from hospital leadership that they’re at capacity and that the number of cases they’re seeing is unsustainable.

She says we each need to do our part to lower the spread of the virus.

She said there are three simple things we need to do that have been proven to work to prevent the spread.

Those three things are wear a mask, get vaccinated and avoid large gatherings.

When it comes to getting vaccinated the mayor is asking people to think of others and not just themselves.

“I myself know that I’m a low risk individual, but I chose to get vaccinated to take care of the larger community and to decrease the risk of giving the virus to others if I carry it.”

The mayor ended the video by saying that if we all follow these safety recommendations we’ll all get through the pandemic together.

COVID cases and hospitalization remain high in the latest numbers released by Hancock Public Health.

Get more on the latest COVID numbers by clicking here.

A High Wind Warning continues for Findlay and Hancock County.

The warning goes until 6 o’clock Saturday night.

Southwest winds of 20 to 30 miles per hour are gusting up to 60 mph at times.

The high winds could blow down trees and power lines and travel will be difficult, especially for high profile vehicles.

As of 1:15 Saturday afternoon the AEP Outage Map showed that around 4,000 customers in Findlay were still without power.

The power outage occurred at around 2:15 Saturday morning.

Many traffic lights were out in downtown Findlay and drivers are reminded to treat them as a 4-way stop.

If you’re traveling through downtown Findlay please use caution as traffic lights are not operational during the power outage. Traffic lights from Sandusky Street at South Main to Sixth Street are not on. Motorists are asked to treat the intersections as four way stops. Several near accidents were reported.

Area power outages due to strong storms and high winds are impacting over 4,400 AEP customers. Power went out around 2:15am Saturday morning. Areas affected include parts of downtown Findlay and south of Crawford Street. Radio stations WFIN, WKXA and 106.3 The Fox were off the air for a short time as well. Spectrum is also reporting outages, interrupting cable and internet services.

Santa will be heading back to the University of Findlay again this year with the second annual Letters to Santa Drive-Thru event.

Families will be able to wave to Santa from a safe distance and drop off their letters on Sunday, December 12th between 4:30 and 6:30 p.m.

The event is free and open to the public.

Families participating should pull through the half circle drive in front of Old Main, entering near the College First Church of God, to say hi, drop-off letters, and take pictures all from their vehicle.

A Christmas letter template is available to download for children to fill out and give to Santa.

Children will also receive a free UF Christmas goodie bag while supplies last.

The University of Findlay’s Mazza Museum will be joining this year with added giveaways, including an art activity and special ornament made in the Joseph and Judith Conda STEAM Education Center.

The first five vehicles will receive a special surprise from Mazza.

More details about the Letters to Santa Drive-Thru can be found on the University’s online Events Calendar.

Video from last year’s event is below.

The National Weather Service says some strong storms are possible overnight and into Saturday morning.

Strong winds will be the primary concern during any storm that may develop.

And then once the storm threat has passed, Findlay and Hancock County will be under a Wind Advisory with strong wind gusts possible along and behind cold front late Saturday morning through Saturday night.

The Wind Advisory will go from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Saturday.

Winds will be blowing from the west at 25 to 30 miles per hour with gusts up to 55 at times.

The gusty winds will blow around unsecured objects so make sure you secure your inflatable Santa or take him down temporarily.

Tree limbs could also be blown down and a few power outages may result.