Leading global semiconductor manufacturer Intel Corporation has chosen a site in central Ohio’s Licking County near New Albany as the future home for its most advanced semiconductor manufacturing facilities in the world.

Intel plans to invest more than $20 billion to build two state-of-the-art factories by 2025, designed for what the company calls the “Angstrom era” – with materials processed on the atomic level – and with support for Intel’s most advanced process technologies, resulting in an increased American share of the global semiconductor supply chain.

Governor DeWine says the megaproject will be the largest single private sector company investment in Ohio’s history and will generate more than 20,000 jobs in the state, including 3,000 direct Intel jobs earning an average of $135,000 per year (plus benefits), 7,000 construction jobs over the course of the build, and tens of thousands of additional indirect and support jobs including contracted positions, electricians, engineers, and jobs in restaurants, healthcare, housing, entertainment and more.

The project is expected to add $2.8 billion to Ohio’s annual gross state product.

Get more on the project by clicking here for the JobsOhio website.

Hancock Public Health on Friday reported the latest COVID numbers for the county.

The agency points out that the latest weekly COVID numbers for the county also include some data from the previous week that was recently added to the state database.

Hancock Public Health is reporting 1,547 new cases, 42 new hospitalizations and 9 new deaths for the week of January 14th through January 20th.*

*Those numbers include some previously unreported cases that were recently added to the state reporting database.

Hancock County is averaging 221 new cases per day and cases per 100,000 is 1919.9.

48.9 percent of eligible residents are fully vaccinated.

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

1,011 Hancock County residents have been hospitalized with COVID since the beginning of the pandemic and 228 have died from it.

The Hancock Historical Museum is home to a lot of interesting pieces of history, including the captain’s bathtub from the USS Maine.

The battleship Maine sunk in the Havana harbor in 1898, and Joy Bennett, curator at the Hancock Historical Museum, says groups from around the country requested mementos from the ship when it was raised years later.

Joy says the tub has had many homes in Findlay, including the courthouse, the university, and the historical museum, where it’s been for many years.

She said some people come specifically to see the tub and other people are surprised to come across it while visiting the museum.

The Hancock Historical Museum is closed in January, but you can see the historic bathtub when they reopen in February.

Learn more about the museum and their other exhibits by clicking here.

U.S. Senator Sherrod Brown has announced that the U.S. Department of Agriculture has made emergency funds available for Ohio farmers who experienced excessive rain in October of 2021.

Due to heavy rains and flooding that saturated Northwest Ohio fields and destroyed crops in October, the USDA’s Farm Service Agency declared Wood County a natural disaster area.

This designation means farmers in Wood County as well as Hancock, Lucas, Henry, Ottawa, Putnam, Sandusky and Seneca counties can apply for disaster assistance.

Additional information on the loans and disaster program can be found at http://disaster.fsa.usda.gov.

“Historic rains across Northwest Ohio this fall resulted in oversaturated fields, losses and significant uncertainty for many Ohio farmers,” Brown said.

“I encourage eligible Ohio farmers to apply for these disaster funds, so they can get the relief they need.”

Farmers can learn more about this announcement and whether they are eligible for these funds at their local farm service agency office.

In 2019, Brown successfully lobbied for multiple counties to receive USDA disaster designations to help Ohio farmers suffering because of extreme rainfall and flooding.

With a USDA disaster declaration, Ohio farmers are eligible for USDA loans they need as they continue to work through a difficult planting season.

A Hancock County grand jury has indicted a man on more than a dozen counts of pandering sexual oriented matter involving a minor.

Court records show that James L. Rosencrans, 73, of Findlay, is facing 15 charges of pandering sexual oriented matter involving a minor, a 4th-degree felony.

The indictment states that the alleged crimes happened in September, and that Rosencrans “with knowledge of the character of the material or performance involved, knowingly solicit, receive, purchase, exchange, possess or control any material that shows a minor or impaired person participating or engaging in sexual activity, masturbation, or bestiality.”

An initial court date had not been set as of early Thursday afternoon, according to court records.

A Cincinnati Bengals fan is being credited with saving the life of a Las Vegas Raiders fan before last weekend’s Wild Card game.

Fire Department officials said that Bengals fan Jerry Mills, a former ER nurse and Covington firefighter, was walking to Paul Brown Stadium when he discovered Raiders fan Ed Fernandes lying on the ground.

Mills said Fernandes had no pulse, so he and other Good Samaritans started CPR until more medics arrived.

Doctors said Fernandes is scheduled for surgery on Thursday, and Mills’ actions helped save his life.

The cause of the fire that destroyed a building that housed two businesses and apartments in North Baltimore has been ruled undetermined.

That was the ruling by the office of the Ohio State Fire Marshal, according to North Baltimore Fire Chief Ted Francisco.

The chief said damages have been placed at $600,000.

The fire started around 6:30 Saturday morning at 235 North Main Street, which is on the north end of the business district.

Destroyed in the fire were Mak & Ali’s Pizza, a laundromat and an upstairs apartment.

An art studio at 233 North Main Street also suffered damage, as well as the roof of that building.

Firefighters prevented the fire from spreading to the historical society building just to the south.

Nobody was injured in the fire.

A GoFundMe has been established to help the people whose apartment was destroyed in the fire, and one has also been set up to help the owner of the art studio that was damaged.

(above pic courtesy of Lindsay Ziegler)

The Fostoria Police Division says a man was taken into custody after engaging in an hours-long standoff with police.

The police department responded to 628 Columbus Avenue on Tuesday night after receiving several 911 calls about a man violating a civil protection order.

Upon arrival, officers were informed by the victim that Eric J. Sorrell, 37, had entered the residence through a window in the bathroom in an effort to get to the victim inside.

The police department said there is a history of domestic violence between the individuals.

Officers had found the victim exiting the residence upon arrival and escorted her to a safe location while they attempted to communicate with Sorrell who was inside the house.

It was determined that he was barricaded inside a bedroom.

Officers continued in their efforts to convince Mr. Sorrell to exit the bedroom without success.

At the time, it was unknown if he was able to access any weapons and he continued making threats to stab officers and to set fire to the residence if they entered the bedroom.

As officers continued in their efforts to get Sorrell to come out, the Special Response Team was dispatched to the scene which includes officers from Fostoria Police, Tiffin Police, and the Seneca County Sheriff’s Office.

The crisis negotiators from Tiffin Police were also dispatched to the scene.

Ohio State Highway Patrol also responded and provided scene security during the operation.

For several hours, numerous efforts were made to get Sorrell to come out of the barricaded bedroom and eventually after continued communications, he finally opened the door to the bedroom, which had furniture blocking access, and was taken into custody without further incident.

Sorrell was immediately treated by the Fostoria Tactical Emergency Medics since it was determined that he had ingested prescription pills while in the bedroom.

Sorrell was then taken to ProMedica Fostoria Community Hospital by Fostoria Fire and was later released from the hospital on Wednesday morning.

He was then transported to the Seneca County Jail and is currently charged with domestic violence and obstructing official business.

“This was another great example of multiple agencies working together as a single team to peacefully resolve an individual in crisis, regardless of the criminal acts,” said Fostoria Police Chief Keith Loreno.

“I truly appreciate everyone who assisted, and I couldn’t be happier with the outcome since no one was injured. These situations are extremely volatile and don’t always end this well.”

Findlay City Schools is scheduled to resume classes on Wednesday.

Last week the district announced that there would be no school last Friday and on Tuesday, due to staffing shortages and absenteeism due to COVID.

Monday was already a scheduled day off to observe Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day.

The school district says buildings were thoroughly sanitized while they were closed.

Extracurricular activities continued during the closure.

Click here for the school district’s COVID dashboard.

Blanchard Valley Center (Hancock County Board of Developmental Disabilities) is happy to share that they’ve earned another 3-year accreditation from the state.

The accreditation process is an evaluation of county board operations.

The Ohio Department of Developmental Disabilities conducts a review once every three years to determine compliance with state laws.

The accreditation team reviews the boards policies and procedures including how well they provide support to people in Hancock County with developmental disabilities.

“We are very pleased with the results as it shows our hard work and dedication to the profession – but most importantly to the people we support day in and day out, ” said Nadine Weininger.

Nadine added that Hancock County is resource-rich and they are fortunate to be one of the many resources available, empowering people with developmental disabilities to live lives with meaning and purpose.

Blanchard Valley Center serves people with developmental disabilities from birth through their entire life.

Blanchard Valley Center is located at 1700 East Sandusky Street in Findlay.