The head football coach for Van Buren High School has resigned.

The Van Buren Local Schools Board of Education recently accepted the resignation of Chris Henry, who was also a teacher at the middle school and assistant athletic director.

District Superintendent Jason Inkrott said Henry was previously placed on administrative leave due to a pending criminal investigation in another county.

He said Henry will remain on leave until his resignation takes effect at the end of March.

He said the pending criminal matter involving Henry in another county is not related to Van Buren Local Schools.

The Findlay Fire Department is suggesting you put fresh batteries in your smoke detectors over the weekend when you move your clocks ahead for the Daylight Saving Time time change.

We spoke with Inspector Eric Wilkins, who told us there’s nothing in our houses more important to safety than a smoke detector.

He says batteries should be replaced every six months and smoke detectors last about ten years before they should be replaced.

Instead of “smoke detectors save lives”, Inspector Wilkins says he says “working smoke detectors save lives” because if it’s not functional it isn’t going to help.

He says when they have a fire in which a smoke detector didn’t go off to alert the occupants it’s usually because of human error, such as dead batteries or the detector was taken down because it was going off during cooking and wasn’t put back up.

People are also urged to have carbon monoxide detectors in their home as well.

(ONN) – Former Ohio House Speaker Larry Householder and former Ohio Republican party chair Matt Borges were convicted in what federal prosecutors have called the largest corruption case in state history.

After deliberations over two days, a jury in Cincinnati found Householder and Borges guilty of conspiracy to participate in a racketeering enterprise involving bribery and money laundering.

Prosecutors said Householder orchestrated a scheme secretly funded by Akron-based FirstEnergy Corporation to secure his power in the legislature and elect his allies and then to pass and defend a $1 billion nuclear power plant bailout benefiting the energy utility company.

Prosecutors alleged that Borges, then a lobbyist, sought to bribe an operative for inside information on the referendum to overturn the bailout.

They each face up to 20 years in prison.

Findlay and Hancock County are included in a Winter Weather Advisory issued by the National Weather Service.

The advisory will be in effect from 10 p.m. Thursday until 1 p.m. Friday.

Forecasters say 2 to 4 inches of wet snow are possible late Thursday and overnight into Friday morning.

People should plan on slick and slushy driving conditions for the morning commute.

Road conditions will improve significantly by midday Friday as snow tapers off and temps increase.

For the latest closings and cancelations click here, to submit a business closing click here, and for the latest road alerts click here.

The Invisible Husband of Frick Island by Colleen Oakley has been chosen as the featured title for the Findlay-Hancock County Public Library’s 2023 CommunityREAD.

Copies of the book are now available at the Findlay-Hancock County Public Library.

The feature presentation by the author will take place on April 6, 2023 at the Marathon Center for the Performing Arts. Tickets are available by clicking here.

Piper Parrish’s life on Frick Island—a tiny, remote town smack in the middle of the Chesapeake Bay—is nearly perfect. Well, aside from one pesky detail: Her darling husband, Tom, is dead. When Tom’s crab boat capsized and his body wasn’t recovered, Piper, rocked to the core, did a most peculiar thing: carried on as if her husband was not only still alive, but right there beside her, cooking him breakfast, walking him to the docks each morning, meeting him for their standard Friday night dinner date at the One-Eyed Crab. And what were the townspeople to do but go along with their beloved widowed Piper?

Anders Caldwell’s career is not going well. A young ambitious journalist, he’d rather hoped he’d be a national award-winning podcaster by now, rather than writing fluff pieces for a small-town newspaper. But when he gets an assignment to travel to the remote Frick Island and cover their boring annual Cake Walk fundraiser, he stumbles upon a much more fascinating tale: an entire town pretending to see and interact with a man who does not actually exist. Determined it’s the career-making story he’s been needing for his podcast, Anders returns to the island to begin covert research and spend more time with the enigmatic Piper—but he has no idea out of all the lives he’s about to upend, it’s his that will change the most.

Colleen Oakley is the USA Today bestselling author of You Were There Too, Close Enough to Touch, Before I Go, and The Invisible Husband of Frick Island. Colleen’s novels have been longlisted for the Southern Book Prize twice and Close Enough to Touch won the French Reader’s Prize. Her books have been translated into 21 languages, optioned for film and have received numerous accolades.

(story and pic courtesy of FHCPL)

The Kiwanis Club of Findlay Pancake Day fundraiser is coming up.

The all-you-can-eat pancakes and sausages event is one of the club’s biggest fundraisers and will be held on Saturday, March 11th at the Findlay High School cafeteria from 7 to 1.

Kiwanian Jeremy Strapp says proceeds from Pancake Day help the Kiwanis Club of Findlay support the youth of Findlay and Hancock County.

The club’s most recent accomplishment was the creation of Brucklacher Memorial Park at the Little Red Schoolhouse, which was the club’s 100th anniversary gift to the community.

The club says support of Pancake Day allows them to reinvest the profit from the event into the community’s youth.

Some investments in the past have included Kiwanis Closets which provide basic clothing supplies to every elementary school in Hancock County.

Pre-sale tickets for Pancake day are $7 for adults and $6 for children 12 and under and seniors.

Tickets may be purchased from any Kiwanis member and also at Smarty Pants Findlay and AAA Findlay Automobile Club on Tiffin Avenue.

“Before we were Pirates,” the story of Bluffton sports teams before 1929 is the topic of a presentation by Fred Steiner on Monday, March 13th at the Bluffton Senior Citizens Center at 132 North Main Street.

The presentation will follow the senior center’s noon luncheon and should begin around 12:45. People don’t need to attend the luncheon to attend the presentation, which is open to the public.

Steiner says the Pirate did not become the school mascot until 1929. Prior to that, the school had no mascot. The presentation is about the earliest teams in the history of the school. The origin of the mascot will also be explained.

“If you can imagine in 1893 jumping on a railroad box car, riding to Lima and back to watch a Bluffton baseball team play a Lima team, then this lecture is for you,” Steiner said.

The presentation includes stories about Bluffton teams as early as 1893 and photos of both girls’ and boys’ athletic teams as early as 1900.

Stories about the teams and their fans demonstrate that community pride was just as important 125-plus years ago as it is today.

“In 1896 Bluffton sports fan were very interested in receiving game results. Arrangements were made to display scores of games played out of town on a board outside a Bluffton business by 7:30 each evening of the game,” said Steiner.

And, many people today don’t realize that Bluffton High School had girls’ basketball teams as early as 1913. Several of those teams won Allen County tournament titles. Bluffton’s first girls’ track team was in 1925.

In the picture above, provided by Steiner, is a Bluffton High School girls basketball team and below is a Bluffton High School baseball team.

Registration is open for United Way of Hancock County’s 29th Annual Days of Caring, for both nonprofits looking to submit projects for help and the volunteers who will complete them.

The spring event will take place May 8 – 12.

During Days of Caring, employees of area corporations and small businesses lend a hand to local organizations.

Nonprofits in need of help submit projects, volunteer teams register to help, and the United Way matches up the two groups. In four-hour shifts, the volunteers take on projects such as landscaping, organizing, painting, planning an event, cleaning, or construction.

Shifts run from 8 am-12 pm or 12-4 pm.

“Volunteering, especially in large numbers like this, is a powerful way to make a substantial impact in our community,” said United Way CEO Angela DeBoskey.

“Last year, between our spring and fall Days of Caring events, about 1,200 volunteers completed more than 4,800 service hours. The work was a value to the community of nearly $144,000. We celebrate that the nonprofits could then apply those dollars toward their most important services.” According to Independent Sector, the national value of a volunteer hour is $29.95.

While corporate groups are the most common team make-up for Days of Caring, any group can volunteer, whether it be a classroom of students, a church group, or a group of friends.

“We invite anyone to come volunteer with us,” said Sarah Mayle, volunteer coordinator for UWHC. “Students in particular are seeing an increased need to fulfill volunteer requirements for schools. Teachers can sign up to lead a team of students for a great group volunteering experience.”

UWHC can also tailor volunteering for groups outside of the scope of Days of Caring. Last year, the agency connected 46 groups with projects where volunteers were able to make a difference.

Registration for Spring Days of Caring is open and closes on April 14, and UWHC will connect volunteer teams and agencies for final project planning by the week of April 24. To learn more, register a volunteer team, or register a project, visit www.uwhancock.org and click on the Volunteering tab.

In September, UWHC will host a second opportunity to participate in Days of Caring. Fall Days of Caring will run Sept. 18 – 20, and a separate registration will open for those dates later this year.

Last year’s volunteer teams represented: Marathon Petroleum Corp., Blanchard Valley Health System, Whirlpool Corp., First National Bank of Pandora, Freudenberg-NOK Sealing Technologies, City Apparel, Goodyear/Cooper Tire & Rubber Co., the McComb Future Farmers of America Club, Fifth Third Bank, Aktion Club of Hancock County, Hearthside Food Solutions, the United Way of Hancock County Community Connections Group, UIS Insurance & Investments, the Hancock County Democrats, and Gilmore Jasion Mahler, LTD.

Findlay High School Assistant Hockey Coach Cliff Browne will be receiving the 2023 OHSAA Ethics and Integrity Award.

Cliff will receive the award at the first intermission of the State Hockey Championship game at Nationwide Arena in Columbus on Sunday, March 12^th.

The OHSAA Ethics and Integrity Award is presented annually to an Ohioan who has displayed outstanding traits of ethical behavior and integrity in the performance of duties and responsibilities and is a role model for others.

The award is the highest honor the OHSAA Sportsmanship, Ethics and Integrity Committee may bestow.

Cliff tells WFIN News that he was very surprised to learn that he would be receiving the award, especially after seeing who some of the other recipients have been over the years.

“Then I thought, over the last 50-plus years of coaching baseball and hockey and hopefully making a difference in many young boys’ and girls’ lives, I began to feel very, very proud and appreciative that there was such an award like this to honor people who have done this over their livelihoods.”

Cliff joins a prestigious list of previous winners that includes Archie Griffin, Katie Smith and Jerry Snodgrass.

Since 1979, Cliff has been involved in coaching all levels of youth and high school hockey, and in initiating Findlay Amateur Hockey Association (FAHA) Annual Golf Outing to raise funds to reduce ice fees and fund player cost scholarships.

After retiring from Marathon in 2005, Cliff devoted even more time as an assistant coach for Findlay High School.

Last October, the Findlay High School Hockey program was presented with the “Excellence in Community Service Award for the Northwest Region” given by the Ohio School Boards Association for their continued dedication to the community.

The Findlay-Hancock County Community Foundation’s Fun for All series – a series of free events happening in January, February, March and April – continues this weekend.

“We’ve heard time and time again that finding affordable, family-friendly activities is a challenge in Hancock County. The Community Foundation is proud to provide Fun for All to help bridge the gap,” said Foundation President and CEO Brian Treece.

Saturday, March 11 will be a Free Play Day at the Children’s Museum of Findlay from 10 to 4.

Previous events featured a Family Movie Day at the Marathon Center for the Performing Arts and a Free Skate Day at The Cube.

Click here to see the full schedule.

The Findlay-Hancock County Community Foundation thanks its community partners for making the events possible.