After two years of being affected by COVID-19-related restrictions, the Ohio State Fair will be back at full capacity this year.

The state fair was canceled completely in 2020 and in 2021, only those presenting livestock exhibitions – as well as the presenter’s family and guests – were allowed to attend.

Fair organizers announced that this year’s fair will run July 27 to August 7 at the Ohio Expo Center at full capacity.

Fair officials said that the first big-name acts of this year’s concert and event series will be announced on March 7, with additional announcements to be made on March 21 and April 4.

The Hancock County Fair in Findlay as usual will be held Labor Day Weekend, and in 2022 the fair will run from August 31st through September 5th.

The Putnam County Fair is one of the earliest fairs and will run from June 20th through 25th in Ottawa.

For the complete 2022 fair schedule, click here.

The Findlay Police Department says a familiar scam is popping up again.

The police department says they’ve taken several calls from residents reporting that someone claiming to be with the Findlay Police Department, or other law enforcement agencies, is contacting them.

The would-be scammer tells the resident that they’ve missed jury duty and/or has a warrant and then begins to probe for personal information followed by instructions on how to obtain gift cards to pay the fines.

The police department reminds everyone that this is a common phone scam and that law enforcement agencies will not contact you by phone to make payments.

Any legal matter requiring a fine would be addressed through the mail and should be verified in person, or by contacting the court listed on the notice by a number that you have verified (not one listed on the notice).

Any request for gift cards should automatically be a red flag and is always a scam.

People are reminded to never provide personal information or financial information to such callers.

The Ohio Republican Party is endorsing Governor Mike DeWine in his reelection campaign to remain Ohio’s chief executive.

The state GOP’s central committee voted to endorse DeWine over three primary challengers.

The endorsement came in a 36-26 vote after a heated debate by party members still upset by DeWine’s policies during the first months of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The party also endorsed the reelection campaigns of Attorney General Dave Yost, Secretary of State Frank LaRose, Treasurer Robert Sprague, of Findlay, and Auditor Keith Faber.

There’s been another significant drop in the number of COVID cases in Hancock County.

Hancock Public Health is reporting 94 new cases, eight new hospitalizations and three new deaths for the week of February 11th through February 18th.

The previous week those numbers were 168 new cases, 15 new hospitalizations and six new deaths.

Hancock County is averaging 13 new cases per day and cases per 100,000 is 150.

The previous week it was 24 new cases per day and cases per 100,000 was 232.

49.7 percent of eligible residents are fully vaccinated while 53.5 percent of eligible residents have started the vaccine.

1,083 Hancock County residents have been hospitalized with COVID since the beginning of the pandemic and 251 have died.

The National Weather Service has canceled the Flood Warning for the Blanchard River in Findlay.

Forecasters had lowered their flooding projection for the river from 15.5, which was major flood stage, down to 13.5, and then canceled the warning altogether.

The river level page you can see by clicking here now shows that the river is expected to only reach 10.7 feet at around 1 p.m. Friday, and that’s about when the above pic was taken.

As of 1 p.m. Friday, Eagle Creek in Findlay and the Blanchard River in Ottawa were among waterways still under a Flood Warning.

You can get the latest river levels by clicking here.

The latest road alert levels can be found by clicking here. 

For the updated list of local cancellations click here.

For the updated list on school closings click here.

Businesses and organizations can submit a cancellation by clicking here.

The University of Findlay’s Mazza Museum is presenting a new exhibit in conjunction with Black History Month.

“Game Changers” will be on display in the Freed Galleria through the spring semester.

“This is a tribute to Black History. American History. From the indomitable spirit that survived slavery, to the courageous voices that rang out for civil rights,” said museum curator Dan Chudzinski.

“This is an ovation for the artists, poets, athletes, and personas that changed the game forever – changed the game for the better. This is for the Game Changers.”

We spoke with museum director Ben Sapp about the exhibit.

He says the Mazza Museum is proud to give voice and venue to the artists and authors who use the power of illustration and the written word to ensure that these stories are not forgotten.

For more information on the exhibit click here, and for more on the Mazza Museum click here.

The Ohio State Highway Patrol will be joining forces with members of the 6-State Trooper Project to crack down on speeders and impaired drivers and to make sure people are wearing their seatbelts.

The project will run from Friday through Sunday with troopers focusing on Interstate 75.

The high-visibility campaign includes the Kentucky State Police, Michigan State Police and the Ohio State Highway Patrol.

Last year during the same 6-State initiative, the Highway Patrol cited 748 drivers for speed-related violations and 81 for safety belt infractions.

The Patrol also charged 24 with OVI.

The 6-State Trooper Project is a multi-state law enforcement partnership aimed at providing combined and coordinated law enforcement and security services in the areas of highway safety, criminal patrol, and information sharing.

It’s unclear how the Ohio Supreme Court will proceed after members of the Ohio Redistricting Commission failed to produce a map of House and Senate districts that complies with the Ohio Constitution before the court’s deadline, putting the state’s primary in question.

The Ohio Supreme Court threw out the previous two maps as unconstitutional and set a midnight deadline for a third set of maps – but, after Democrats introduced an alternative map, Republicans shot that down, leading to this impasse.

Lawmakers adjourned just after 5 o’clock – still with seven hours until the deadline – because they could not come to an agreement on the state’s new legislative maps.

Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose, who sits on the 7 member Ohio Redistricting Commission, says the state needs finality on this issue.

“We need to decide quickly between approving a map that the court can find acceptable or the legislature wrestling with the tough challenges of deciding to change the date of the primary.”

Ohio’s primary is scheduled for May 3rd.

The Findlay Rotary Club partied with a purpose on February 15th at Findlay Brewing Company.

The Rotary’s Pints for Polio event raised nearly $25,000 for polio eradication.

$5,003 was raised through a celebrity server competition and a local challenge from Findlay Rotarians Cheryl Buckland and Larry Manley generously gave an additional $1,000.

Rotary District 6600 provided a $2,240 grant and a contribution from The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation took the funds generated to $24,729.

All proceeds raised will support Rotary International’s PolioPlus program to eradicate polio worldwide.

Rotary International launched the PolioPlus program in 1985, the first initiative to tackle global polio eradication through the mass vaccination of children.

Rotary has contributed more than $2.1 billion and countless volunteer hours to immunize more than 3 billion children in 122 countries.

In addition, Rotary’s advocacy efforts have played a role in decisions by donor governments to contribute more than $7.2 billion to the effort.

Poliomyelitis (polio) is a paralyzing and potentially fatal disease that still threatens children in some parts of the world.

The poliovirus invades the nervous system and can cause total paralysis in a matter of hours.

It can strike at any age but mainly affects children under five.

Polio is incurable, but completely vaccine-preventable.

Today, there are only two countries that have never stopped transmission of the wild poliovirus: Afghanistan and Pakistan.

Just 5 polio cases were confirmed worldwide in 2021, which is a reduction of more than 99.9 percent since the 1980s, when the world saw about 1,000 cases per day.

The National Weather Service has adjusted its flooding projections for the Blanchard River in Findlay as a Flood Warning continues into Saturday morning.

The river is now projected to crest at 13.5 feet, which is the beginning of the moderate flood stage.

Previously, forecasters projected the river to top out at 15.5 feet, which would be a foot into major flood stage.

The new projection has the river reaching 13.5 feet at around 1 p.m. Friday.

Some flooding is expected to occur if the river reaches that level.

The picture above of the Blanchard River was taken at around 7 a.m. Friday when the river was around 10.5 feet. Flood Stage is 12 feet.

Flood Warnings also were in effect for Eagle Creek in Findlay and the Blanchard River in Ottawa, among others.

You can get the latest river levels by clicking here.

The latest road alert levels can be found by clicking here. 

For the updated list of local cancellations click here.

For the updated list on school closings click here.

Businesses and organizations can submit a cancellation by clicking here.