A groundbreaking ceremony was held for the new Hancock County Judicial Center building in downtown Findlay.

The new building will be located at 209 West Main Cross Street on what is currently a parking lot between Cory Street and the post office.

We spoke with Hancock County Commissioner Tim Bechtol about the new judicial center.

The new three-story, 47,000 square foot building will be home to Probate and Juvenile Court, which are currently located in a building just east of that location.

The new building will also house the juvenile probation office, the CASA/GAL office, the domestic relations court, and the adult probation offices.

The new judicial center is anticipated to be finished in the fall of 2024.

The cost of the building will be a little under $21 million.

As for the current Probate/Juvenile Court building, Bechtol said he’d like to remove the additions that were added to it over the years and preserve the original historic structure, but what will happen to it has not yet been decided.

(From the Findlay Rotary Club)

Scott Hohman was installed as president of the Findlay Rotary Club at the Club’s weekly meeting on Wednesday, June 28, 2023.

Hohman, is the president and founder of Resolute Wealth Advisor, Inc., a wealth management firm located in Findlay. His career in the investment, financial planning and wealth management industry began in 1992. He graduated from The University of Toledo with a Bachelors of Business Administration, later attaining the CFP® designation in 2003 from the Center for Financial Planning.

Hohman resides in Alvada with his wife Tonya. They both grew up in New Riegel and over 20 years ago chose to move back to the local area to be close to family while raising their 4 children (Andrew, Emily, Christen and Brody).

In addition to Rotary, Hohman has been actively involved with a number of organizations, past and present, including: St. Francis Senior Ministries, CSJI Tiffin, Inc., New Riegel Schools Board of Education and All Saints Catholic Parish Pastoral and Finance councils.

Other Rotary officers are: Leah Brant, president-elect; Robin Ridge, treasurer; John Harrington, secretary; Chris Webb, sergeant-at-arms; and Char Simons, immediate past president.

Club board members include, Brant, Angela DeBoskey, Jeff Fort, Hohman, Stan Kujawa, Irvin Reinhart, Bill Reist, and Dick Zunkiewicz.

The Findlay Police Department is warning people to beware of a scammer who is claiming to be collecting money on behalf of the Fort Findlay FOP Lodge 20.

The police department said the dispatch center has received calls from residents about someone claiming to be with the police department calling and asking for donations for the FOP Lodge.

The police department reminds people that it does not call seeking donations and that any such call is a scam.

And FOP Development Director Teresa White reminds people that the FOP Foundation does not make calls as part of their primary fundraising campaign.

People receiving such a call should not give out any personal information and hang up immediately.

Anyone wishing to donate to Fort Findlay FOP Lodge 20 can do so by visiting their website and clicking on ‘donate today’.

Hancock Public Health is warning that that area is experiencing unhealthy air quality levels again on Wednesday.

Findlay and Hancock County are included in an Air Quality Alert that was issued.

The bad air quality is due to smoke from wildfires in Canada drifting into the region.

“What does this mean for you?” the health department wrote on its Facebook page.

“The “Unhealthy” air quality designation indicates that the smoke and pollutants present in the air can potentially affect the health of sensitive individuals, such as children, the elderly, and those with respiratory conditions. It is crucial to take necessary precautions and minimize exposure to outdoor air.”

Check your local air quality level by clicking here.

The smoke and haze is expected to remain for much of Thursday as well, continuing to make the air unhealthy.

The Seneca County Sheriff’s Office says a man who abducted a baby from the North Baltimore area crashed into a house in Tiffin.

The Seneca County Sheriff’s Office says it was contacted by the Wood County Sheriff’s Office on Tuesday afternoon about a man who had abducted a 7-month old baby and was heading for Tiffin.

The man stated he was homicidal and suicidal and also said he had killed the baby.

When a sheriff’s deputy and a Tiffin police officer came up behind the car on Sandusky Street in Tiffin it accelerated and crashed into a house at full speed.

Officers broke a back window of the vehicle and retrieved the baby who was bleeding and had shallow breathing and the baby was rushed to a hospital.

The man was taken into custody and transported to a hospital.

The Tiffin Police Department Tuesday night said the baby passed away and that the man was in critical condition.

A loaded gun was found in the vehicle, according to police.

“The collaboration with our partners in law enforcement and Fire and EMS was once again on display during this tragic and rapidly evolving incident,” said Seneca County Sheriff Fred Stevens.

“Our hearts and prayers go out to the family of this innocent baby and to the deputies, officers and EMS that were involved in the lifesaving attempt for this infant. No one should have to deal with tragedy like this but unfortunately, they did today.”

K9 Sonny is retiring from the Hancock County Sheriff’s Office.

Sonny has been an integral part of the sheriff’s office for the past nine years along with his handler Sgt. Miller.

The public is invited to a retirement celebration for Sonny in the lobby of the sheriff’s office on Friday, July 14^th from 1 to 3.

“Sonny will be greatly missed in the office, and we hope he enjoys retirement!” the sheriff’s office said on their Facebook page.

Click here for a story and video of Sonny interacting with kids at Flag City Night Out last year.

K9 Charlie retired last October and you can get more on his retirement celebration by clicking here.

Findlay Mayor Christina Muryn participated in the Mayor’s Cup Skills Competition against 12 fellow mayors from northwest Ohio and southeast Michigan.

The challenge consisted of four events: a passing challenge, a catching challenge, a punting challenge and an obstacle course.

Mayor Muryn said she had a fun time competing and came in 5th place.

“I enjoyed an afternoon of football, I know it is hard to believe I was not a football player growing up but I was able to show off some of my skills and not embarrass myself so I consider it a win.”

The Mayor’s Cup was one of several events leading up to the XLII Italian Bowl on July 1. The Italian Bowl features the top two teams in the Italian Football League (playing American-style football), facing off on US soil for the first time at the University of Toledo Glass Bowl Stadium. The XLII Italian Bowl will be a key fixture of Toledo, Ohio’s Fourth of July weekend festivities this year.

The Mayor’s Cup competition allowed Ohio and Michigan mayors to show their hometown pride by cheering on local elected officials as they punt, kick, and pass their way to victory in Toledo.

The top five were as follow:

Oregon Mayor Mike Seferian (1st), Tontagony Mayor Matthew Shanahan (2nd), Toledo Mayor Wade Kapszukiewicz (3rd), Rossford Mayor Neil MacKinnon III (4th), Findlay Mayor Christina Muryn (5th).

There was a smoky haze in the air in Findlay and all across the region on Tuesday.

WTOL-11 Meteorologist John Burchfield explained,

“Wildfire smoke has once again entered the region, and the influx of cooler, more dense air behind a cold front has enabled the smoke to sink down to the ground level.”

The smoke affected the air quality, making it unhealthy for sensitive groups.

The National Weather Service said the haze would continue on Tuesday night, and then Wednesday would be mostly sunny with a high of 81 with improving air quality as the day progresses.

For the latest forecast click here.

(From the City of Findlay)

Safety is a pillar of the City of Findlay’s mission and values. The City is proud to have a culture of safety within its workforce that has led to $2,529,194.77 in workers compensation reimbursements since 2019.

The City participates in the Ohio Bureau of Worker’s Compensation (BWC) Group-Retrospective Rating Program. The City continues to pay its individual premium and has the opportunity to receive retrospective premium adjustments based upon the combined performance of the group.

The most significant contributor to savings within the group is each employer’s experience modification rate (EMR). BWC uses the historical payroll, industry type and claim costs to determine EMR. An employer with claim costs that are typical for its size and industry will have an EMR of 1.0. If the employer has lower claim costs than typical, their EMR will be below 1.0.  Conversely, if an employer has higher claims costs than typical, their EMR will be above 1.0.  The City of Findlay’s EMR for 2024 will be 0.71 and has had an average EMR of 0.82 for the last 5 years.

The City’s Human Resources office tracks workplace incidents and identifies possible preventative measures to avoid future occurrences. The City has partnered with BWC to have all facilities assessed for safety and makes changes based on findings.

The City looks forward to continuing to ensure a culture of safety amongst its workforce.

By law, Ohio’s new two-year budget must be in place by July 1, which is Saturday, but lawmakers may need more time.

Governor Mike DeWine sent out a press release saying “the legislative parties need to return to the bargaining table and keep working.”

Republicans realize they don’t have the votes to pass the budget – democrats don’t like what they see in the budget, and some believe the two-year budget isn’t lean enough because they want to return more money to taxpayers.

Governor DeWine says he has “full confidence in the General Assembly’s ability to get this budget passed by the Constitutionally prescribed deadline of June 30th.”