The Ohio Democratic Party is filing a lawsuit in the hopes of getting more than one ballot drop box per county before the November election.

Ohio Democratic Party Chair David Pepper said that more ballot drop boxes within each county would eliminate delays in boards receiving ballots through the mail.

The lawsuit names Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose as the lone defendant.

LaRose spoke about the issue recently saying that under current state law his office is only allowed to authorize one ballot drop box location per county.

LaRose says he has been and continues to be supportive of legislation that permits additional options for voters to return their absentee ballots, but as an executive office holder he must follow the laws as written by the Ohio Legislature.

The Hancock County Board of Elections has a drop box for absentee ballot requests and ballots outside their building at 201 East Lincoln Street.

People can drop their information in the drop box at any time.

You can also pick up absentee requests from the small box attached to the east side of the drop box.

The drop box is monitored 24/7.

People can also still mail the board of elections and request an absentee ballot.

Governor Mike DeWine is responding to a GOP effort to impeach him over his handling of the coronavirus pandemic.

During his Tuesday COVID-19 briefing, DeWine, a Republican, said if some Republican lawmakers want to spend their time drafting resolutions to remove him from office, they should “have at it.”

The governor said his focus remains on growing the economy and saving lives during the pandemic.

State Representative John Becker says DeWine has violated the Ohio and U.S. constitutions, as well as multiple sections of the Ohio revised code.

An employee died in an accident at the Hancock County Sanitary Landfill.

The Hancock County Sheriff’s Office says deputies were called to the landfill at 3763 County Road 140 at 3:15 Monday afternoon.

Deputies arrived to find that David Lehman, 70, of Findlay, had become pinned between his vehicle and a dumpster near the dump site.

Lehman was declared dead at the scene by Hanco EMS.

The sheriff’s office says the incident is still under investigation by their office and the Hancock County Coroner’s Office.

A Hancock County Sheriff’s Office K-9 helped locate a missing boy in a cornfield in Putnam County.

Deputy Matt Brunswick and K-9 Charlie responded to help with the search on Road P-1 in southeast Putnam County, just across the Hancock County line.

A mother had called 911 around 10 a.m. Tuesday saying they were playing outside and her one-year-old son went missing.

She told the 911 operator that the house was surrounded by cornfields and there was also a pond on the property.

Law enforcement and fire departments were dispatched and started looking for the boy.

A drone and Life Flight were also dispatched to assist in the search from the air.

Deputy Brunswick and Charlie then arrived and began searching the rear of the residence into a cornfield.

Ten minutes later K-9 Charlie located the little boy in the field.

The boy was reunited with his family and is doing fine.

Hancock County Sheriff Michael Heldman says both their K-9 officers, Charlie and Sonny, have proven extremely reliable and valuable over the last several years.

Just last Saturday Charlie helped get some drugs off the streets and put a wanted man behind bars during a traffic stop on State Route 15. Read that story here. 

The Ohio State Buckeyes football team is ranked high in the Associated Press preseason poll, but it will be short-lived.

The Buckeyes are number 2 in the poll, just behind Clemson.

Counting the Buckeyes, there are six Big Ten teams ranked in the preseason poll.

However, in week 2, they all will drop out of the poll because they are not playing in the fall because the Big Ten decided to postpone fall sports due to the pandemic.

A tanker truck carrying liquid asphalt overturned as it was going through the Lima Avenue double roundabouts in Findlay.

The crash happened at around 8 o’clock Monday night in the westbound lane of the roundabout on the east side of State Route 15/U.S. 68.

The tanker overturned onto its side and the cab of the semi hit a highway sign.

We were told on the scene that the driver of the semi was not injured.

The Findlay Fire Department and Street Department quickly responded and prevented the liquid asphalt from entering a nearby storm drain.

WFIN spoke with Findlay Fire Department Battalion Chief Matt Cooper on the scene.

Westbound Lima Avenue was expected to be closed for a while as the crash was cleared and the liquid asphalt cleaned up.

(the picture above was taken after the tanker was righted, and cooled asphalt can be seen stretching from the tanker to the ground)

Cleveland Browns fans won’t be allowed to tailgate at the Muni Lot this season.

Mayor Frank Jackson updated the city’s civil emergency related to the pandemic prohibiting use of the area.

Cleveland will also not be issuing permits for block parties or tailgating events until the order expires.

“Public and private gatherings of greater than 10 people occurring outside of a single household or living unit, including but not limited to block/street parties and tailgating events are prohibited,” the mayor’s order states.

The Browns are scheduled to open their season September 13th at the Baltimore Ravens.

Their first home game will be the following Thursday against the Cincinnati Bengals.

See the full schedule here. 

A lot of people took advantage of free COVID-19 testing at The Cube on the north side of Findlay on Monday.

Hancock County Health Commissioner Karim Baroudi says, with school starting and fall sports beginning, now is not the time to let our guard down against the coronavirus.

Karim says the test that was administered to people at the drive-thru event at The Cube was the PCR test, which is more reliable than the antigen test.

He says results should be back a little quicker than usual because the tests were sent to a lab that the Ohio National Guard partners with on testing events like the one at The Cube.

He says most people should get their results in 3 to 5 days.

For information on upcoming testing opportunities click here.

As of Monday, Hancock County had 59 active cases of the virus and six people had died from it.

More than 200 Ohio State University students have been issued an interim suspension for hosting or attending large parties, which violates the school’s COVID-19 ban on gatherings of more than ten people.

The suspensions were issued to 228 students on-and-off campus between Wednesday and Saturday.

Some of the students have already been “cleared,” and have been allowed to return to campus.

Last week, the university announced that students who didn’t follow social distancing and other safety guidelines would face disciplinary action.

A Hancock County K-9 officer was instrumental in getting illegal drugs off the streets and in putting a wanted man behind bars.

The sheriff’s office says K-9 Charlie was requested for a search of a vehicle during a traffic stop on State Route 15 on Saturday night.

The sheriff’s office says Charlie made a positive alert on a lockbox in the vehicle, revealing a variety of suspected illegal drugs and a loaded handgun.

A digital scale and other paraphernalia associated with drug trafficking was also located, according to the sheriff’s office.

The driver, a man from Toledo, also had two felony warrants through the Wood County Sheriff’s Office.

The man was placed under arrest on the warrants and charges associated with the traffic stop.

He was booked at the Hancock County Justice Center.