Now accepting applications for the Hancock Leadership Class of 2025!
The Chamber’s Hancock Leadership program provides a unique learning experience by preparing community leaders who have a passion to serve the Findlay/Hancock County area through a dynamic learning experience that encourages self-discovery, fosters relationships and inspires stewardship. Participants make connections with the community in which we live and work, as well as build their interest in leadership opportunities!
Since 1985, more than 1,000 area leaders have graduated from this annual program, representing more than 500 area businessesand/or service organizations.
The deadline to apply is June 7, so visit https://buff.ly/2HN443S to submit your application today!
University of Findlay and Bluffton University have received their first collaborative grant since announcing their proposed merger in March. The Council of Independent Colleges (CIC) awarded the Improving Science Pedagogy Grant, funded by the W.M. Keck Foundation in the amount of $2,000 for their shared work.
The goal of the grant is to revitalize science education in the classroom while bringing together faculty from Bluffton University’s Department of Health Sciences, Natural Science, and Mathematics and the College of Sciences at University of Findlay.
“This grant represents what both institutions perceive as a beginning step to foster informal interactions among faculty members,” said Christine Denecker, Ph.D., associate vice president for learning and innovation.
The grant will allow faculty to gain insights into each other’s academic programs, departmental objectives, and the specific goals of individual courses. Through a collaborative effort, faculty members hope to create a supportive framework to exchange best practices in STEM teaching methods, case study approaches, laboratory exercises, and more.
“We anticipate that the successes of this project will set a precedent for other academic programs and colleges across both institutions,” said Hillary Hartman, University of Findlay grants manager. “The results could serve as preliminary data for subsequent external grant applications.”
Members from each university also plan to disseminate their experience through this project at national conferences, helping to educate and assist other higher-learning institutions as they navigate through changing times in education.
The two institutions announced a proposed merger in March, but the process of receiving required regulatory approvals is estimated to take 12-15 months or more.
Principal and Staff Minister Jeffrey Falck says they’ll be celebrating with a special church service on Sunday, May 19.
We’re excited to celebrate 75 years of God’s blessings in allowing us to provide a Christian Education to our church families and anyone in the Jenera community and surrounding area.
The congregation was established in the late 1800s and the discussion to start a Christian Day school started to pick up around 1938. After World War 2, the members determined the time was right to begin the school, and the school officially started in the 1948-1949 school year, operating out of the church basement since no permanent school building existed.That first year started with 72 students in Kindergarten through 8th grade and one full time teacher. We have since expanded to include preschool classes to children as young as 3.
The current school building includes additions from 1951, 1968, and the 1984 addition that includes classrooms, kitchen facilities, and a full-size gym used for our many extra curricular activities throughout the year.
We are blessed with a staff of 6 full-time teachers and a principal and an enrollment of 66 this school year.
A service of thanksgiving will be held this Sunday, May 19 at 10:30 AM with a 1997 graduate Pastor Silas Schmitzer preaching and the school children singing two songs. All are welcome. People are welcome to check us out on Facebook by searching Trinity Lutheran School Jenera or going to our website at tlcjenera.org
The City of Findlay put up the Hometown Hero banners along Main Street ahead of Memorial Day and the 4th of July.
This batch of banners includes 106 in total and 18 new ones.
The new banners are located on the west side of Main Street from Front Street up to the Hancock County War Memorial at Center Street.
The new banners displayed are of James Bish, Mike Crawford, David Davis, Sr., Richard Earl Ebert, Richard Gerald Ebert, Glenn Farmer, Robert Grant, Bert Meyers, Dale A. Miller, Felipe Pina Jr., Gregory Pope, Michael “Mick” Reed, Eugene Reinhart, Jack Reynolds, Monte Sampson, Roger Thomas, Mark Tiell, John Wallace.
Mayor Christina Muryn says City of Findlay recognizes the great sacrifice that our military members make in serving our country.
She says the Hometown Hero banners honor local members of the military and include active, retired and deceased service members.
The banners will be displayed through the end of July 2024. The following are banners that will be displayed: James Bish, Marlo Brannan, Herman Baughman, Donald Brumley, MD, Robert Brown, Robert Bushong, Charles Clapper, Michael Colquitt, Mike Crawford, Julian Davis, David Davis, Sr., Donald DePuy, James DePuy, Thomas Diller, Cyrus Dillinger Jr., Gerald Droll, Trey Dukat, Richard Earl Ebert, Richard Gerald Ebert, Glenn Farmer, Alfonso Gonzalez, Jr., Robert Grant, Todd Hicks, David Karcher, William Kiser, Derek Kistler, Richard Krout, Charles Leatherman, Rollie Leatherman, Ben Leonard, Fred Leonard, James Logsdon, Richard Long, Barry Lord, Josiah Lord, Ben Lunn, Lester MacGregor, Harold Main, Donald Mathias, John Mathias, Richard Mathias, Merle May, Michael May, Douglas McDaniel, Larry McDaniel, Leo McKee, Paul McKinniss, Richard Mestrez, Bert Meyers, Norman Meyers, Ervin Miles, Dale A. Miller, Donald Misamore, Richard Muzy, Ivan Nesler, Francis Norton, Rex Orians, Wilson Parish, Jeffry Patterson, Caleb Peeples, David Pelphrey, George Phebus, Gary Phillips II, Felipe Pina Jr., James Anthony Poignon, II, Gregory Pope, Jerry Quinlan, Michael “Mick” Reed, Eugene Reinhart, Jack Reynolds, Harry Routson, Monte Sampson, Carl Schneider, George Schneider, Lawrence Schneider, Otto Schneider, Andrew Schultz, Maurice Schutz, Jack Smith Jr., Daniel Snyder, James Speck, Sr., Craig Spieker, Virgil Stechschulte, Cloyce Steegman, Robert Stimmel, Allen Straight, Jerry Street, Jeffrey Sullivan, Terry Sutherland, Roger Thomas, Mark Tiell, Arthur Tighe, Richard Ulrich, Louis Urschalitz, Mary Urschalitz, Norbert Urschalitz, William Urschalitz, Fred Van Voorhis, John Wallace, Drew Whitacre, Alvin Wilkins, Francis Wilkins, Kenneth Wilkins, Leland Wilkins, Myrl Wilkins, Robert Windle.
The City of Findlay displays banners recognizing the United States Military Service Members at various times throughout the year with the most prominent times being May, July, and November. For more information on recognizing an active, retired, or deceased service member, please visit www.findlayohio.com/hero or contact the Mayor’s Office at 419-424-7137.
“It is our desire to continually recognize the military service members who have given so much of themselves to serve our country. This is one small way we can do that and show our communities strong support of those who serve, our country, and our community. I felt this was a great way to utilize a prominent location downtown to recognize individuals in our community that fought to protect our freedoms,” said Mayor Christina Muryn.
UPDATE – Brayden Grace was located in Columbus and arrested.
(ONN) – A teenager with ties to Columbus is wanted by the FBI in connection with swatting incidents.
That’s when a person makes a false threat like a shooting or a bomb threat to get law enforcement to respond.
18-year-old Brayden Grace is said to have been part of an online group called Purgatory that would do that.
One of their targets was an Ohio casino.
Grace has ties to the Columbus area.
Retired FBI special agent Harry Trombitas says these are extremely serious crimes.
Brayden Grace was located today and taken into custody in Columbus, OH. He was wanted by the #FBI after being charged in relation to several nationwide swatting incidents. pic.twitter.com/Hy7QTIzrgg
Working with Rowmark, a committee of Van Buren students created the Founder’s Wall.
“We are particularly excited about our Founder’s Wall as it both celebrates our community members who made donations in our first year, as well as displays the remarkable skills of our students.”
“It is entirely their design and construction, from the creation of the logo to the name plates of our donors.”
During the project, the students got to tour the Rowmark facility and learned about laser engraving, sublimation, and the products and processes used to create their donor wall.
The Founder’s Wall is prominently displayed in the entrance of Van Buren High School.
The Van Buren Schools Education Foundation was formed in February 2023 as a community organization with the mission of providing the means to support the transformation of ideas into impactful experiences for Van Buren Local Schools.
Since the fund was established, we have raised over $80,000. The fund will grow in perpetuity and be used to distribute grants to teachers and organizations within the Van Buren School community.
The City of Findlay Street Department tested the city’s outdoor warning sirens on Wednesday morning, but you probably didn’t hear it.
That’s because the 16 sirens were each tested separately and for a very short time.
The city performed the testing because four of the sirens stopped working when they were sounded during the tornado warning on May 7.
All 16 sirens are now working properly and the city said it believes it was an issue with older radio equipment that caused the four sirens to stop going off on May 7.
Monthly, Findlay and Hancock County test their outdoor warning sirens at 10 a.m. on the first Monday of the month and all 16 sirens worked during that test.
The Blanchard Valley Health System Auxiliary recently awarded 11 $1,000 scholarships to students in Hancock and surrounding counties interested in pursuing a health-related career.
The 2024 BVHS Auxiliary scholarship winners include: Ella Armstrong (Bluffton High School), pursuing a nursing degree at Goshen College; Jacob Barnhart (Findlay High School), pursuing a health sciences degree at The Ohio State University; Brooke Camper (Bluffton High School), pursuing a nursing degree at Cedarville University; Molly Crates (Findlay High School), pursuing a biomedical engineering degree at The Ohio State University; Emma Hoffman (Ottawa-Glandorf High School), pursuing a nursing degree at Bowling Green State University; Paige Maas (Ottawa-Glandorf High School), pursuing a nursing degree at Bowling Green State University; Christian Price (Fostoria High School), pursuing a pharmacy degree at the University of Findlay; Iris Schorsch (McComb High School), pursuing a nursing degree at Owens Community College; Kaytlynn Schroeder (Leipsic High School), pursuing a nutrition and dietetics degree at Bluffton University; Cora Sterling (Findlay High School), pursuing a nursing degree at Ohio Northern University; and Adelaide Wilt (Findlay High School), pursuing a pre-medicine/biology degree at Miami University.
Monies for the scholarship fund are derived from the annual membership dues contributed by Auxiliary members.
(ONN) – A new law could increase penalties for sextortion crimes in Ohio.
Ohio lawmakers are working to stop an online crime that’s leading to teen suicide.
Braden’s Law is named after Braden Marcus, a 15-year-old Olentangy High School student.
He died by suicide after falling victim to sextortion in 2021.
The FBI reports more than 13,000 sextortion cases of minors since Braden’s death.
Braden’s Law would make sextortion a first, second and/or third degree felony in ohio.
“If you’re one of those terrible, evil people that are thinking about committing this crime, maybe you’ll think again,” said State Rep. Brian Lorenz of Powell.
Sextortion is defined as ‘the practice of extorting money or sexual favors from someone by threatening to reveal evidence of their sexual activity.’
