The Hancock County Farmers’ Market opened for the season on Thursday.

It will run every Thursday from 4 to 6 p.m. through October in the parking lot of the Marathon Center for the Performing Arts.

Ann Boyd, the volunteer manager of the farmers’ market, says the market seems to get bigger each year.

On the first day on Thursday, she said there were 15 vendors set up, offering everything from homemade baked goods to kettle corn to knife sharpening.

She says once more vegetables come into season the number of vendors will reach the upper 20s.

Ann herself grows and sells herbs and herbal products at her area of the MCPA parking lot.

People are being asked to wear a mask and follow social distancing guidelines.

It was a sad end to the search for a missing boy in southwest Putnam County.

The sheriff’s office says the body of 5-year-old Isaac Schroeder was found in the Auglaize River near Fort Jennings on Thursday, the day after he went missing.

Hundreds of volunteers had been searching for Isaac, who was autistic.

The sheriff’s office says a volunteer rescue worker located Isaac’s body within a log jam along the river bank at 5:07 p.m. Thursday about 3/4 of a mile downstream from his residence.

The sheriff’s office extends its sympathies to the Schroeder family and also thanks the hundreds of volunteers who helped in the search.

A man originally charged with escaping from authorities in Putnam County is on the loose again after not turning himself in to serve his sentence.

The sheriff’s office is asking for the public to keep their eyes open for David Cole.

They say he was sentenced on a charge of escape and was scheduled to turn himself in to the Putnam County Adult Detention Facility but did not.

Additional charges are now pending.

Last September, the sheriff’s office says Cole failed to return from his court-ordered work release and was later located and arrested.

Anyone with information on Cole’s whereabouts is urged to contact the Putnam County Sheriff’s Office at 419-523-3208.

(ONN) – A former TV meteorologist in Columbus has been sentenced to prison after previously pleading guilty to possessing child pornography.

Mike Davis was sentenced on Thursday to a minimum of four years in prison and could serve up to six years.

Davis said before his sentencing he didn’t realize at the time that downloading and collecting thousands of child porn images was hurtful to kids.

Investigators say Davis uploaded 16,000 illegal images since 2012.

He was arrested last September.

Prosecutors said this case was among the most severe of its type they have ever seen.

Dozens of Findlay and Hancock County businesses have been recognized with safety awards.

Details are in the following news release from the Findlay – Hancock County Chamber of Commerce.

50 area businesses and organizations were honored for their safety achievements by the Hancock County Safety Council, a program of the Findlay – Hancock County Chamber of Commerce, and co-sponsored by the Bureau of Workers’ Compensation, Division of Safety & Hygiene. Through its relationship with Ohio Bureau of Workers’ Compensation, more than $60,000.00 was reinvested in the Findlay-Hancock county area business community in 2019 to continue efforts for providing safe work environments.

Special Awards were presented to businesses accumulating at least 500,000 hours and at least six months without a lost-time injury. Businesses working for the entire year without a lost-time injury or illness were awarded the 100% Award and Group Awards were given to companies with the lowest incident rate in each group. Achievement Awards were presented to companies decreasing their incident rate by at least 25 percent from the previous year.

The following recipients excelled in their field in one or more of the award categories:

50 North

Black Swamp Area Council 449 BSA

Blanchard Valley Hospital

Blanchard Valley Residential Services

Bodie Mechanical Services Inc

Charles Construction Services, Inc.

City Apparel

City Dry Cleaning

City Uniforms and Linen

Crushproof Tubing Co.

Custom Staffing – Findlay

Davis & Newcomer Elevator

DNC Hydraulics

Findlay City Schools

Findlay Country Club

Findlay Products Corporation

Findlay Warehousing Co., Inc.

Findlay•Hancock County Chamber of Commerce

FMT, Inc.

Fresh Encounter Inc.

FriendsOffice

G.S.W. Manufacturing, Inc.

Garlock Brothers Construction, Inc.

Great Scot, Inc.

Hancock County

Hancock-Wood Electric Cooperative, Inc.

Helms & Sons Exc.

Helms Construction, Inc.

HHWP Community Action Commission

Humane Society & SPCA of Hancock County

Hyway Trucking Company

JK-CO, LLC

Kan Du Group Inc.

Kirk Bros. Co., Inc.

Kirk Bros. Masonry, Inc.

L & H Bulk Services, LLC

Legacy Farmers Cooperative

Molten North America Corporation

Nissin Brake Ohio, Inc.

Premier Material Concepts

Pride Transportation Co., Inc.

Prism Propane

ROKI-AMERICA Co., Ltd.

Rowmark, LLC

Sparks Commercial Tire, Inc.

Stearns Companies LLC

TH Plastics, Inc.

The Doepker Group, Inc.

TJD Industrial Cleaning & Maintenance, Inc.

Vorst Custom Cabinets

Hancock County Safety Council is a program of the Findlay-Hancock County Chamber of Commerce co-sponsored by the Bureau of Workers Compensation, Division of Safety & Hygiene. Our focus is to increase awareness of a safe environment in the workplace.

For information regarding enrollment in the Hancock County Safety Council and eligibility requirements for the discount program, contact the Findlay•Hancock County Chamber of Commerce at 419.422.3313, or email info@FindlayHancockChamber.com.

A man is facing felony drug charges after being pulled over by the Ohio State Highway Patrol in Wood County.

The highway patrol says they pulled over a rented minivan with Florida registration on Interstate 75 on May 19th for a following too close violation.

They say criminal indicators were observed and they asked to search the vehicle.

They say a search of the van revealed 136 grams of heroin, 60 grams of methamphetamine, 300 suspected fentanyl pills and marijuana worth approximately $60,212.

The driver, Cecil Wilson, 50, of Michigan, was booked at the Wood County Justice Center on trafficking and possession charges.

If convicted, he could face up to 38 years in prison.

The Hancock County Sheriff’s Office says a pedestrian died after being hit by a vehicle while walking along a road near Bluffton.

It happened Wednesday night at 10:18 on State Route 235 near County Road 29.

The sheriff’s office says the pedestrian, 44-year-old William Lawson, of Cincinnati, was walking southbound on State Route 235 when he was struck by a southbound vehicle.

Lawson was pronounced dead at the scene.

The vehicle did stop after hitting him.

(ONN) – A federal court panel has temporarily stopped Ohio ballot campaigns from proceeding under less restrictive signature-gathering rules they’d been granted amid the coronavirus pandemic.

The three-judge panel of the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals stayed the more flexible rules while the state appeals.

A lower court allowed E-signatures and extended the deadline for turning them in.

The state has appealed and asked the full Sixth Circuit to take up the case.

The government argues that wet ink signature requirements laid out in Ohio’s constitution cannot be changed without a vote of the people.

The Ohio Department of Transportation says U.S. 30 westbound will close for an emergency culvert replacement just east of Upper Sandusky.

Details are in the following news release from ODOT.

The culvert replacement plans have changed for the emergency repairs on U.S. 30 east of the city of Upper Sandusky, just east of its interchange with U.S. 23 as the feasibility of safely replacing the westbound lanes, one lane at a time, is uncertain.

Work began last week to remove the failed, corrugated metal culvert which washed out due to heavy rains May 19, 2020. The project will remove the existing culvert and replace it with a 78-inch concrete culvert. The eastbound lanes are expected to reopen the week of June 1.

The westbound lanes are currently stable though conditions have the potential to deteriorate abruptly once excavation begins. To ensure the public’s safety, both westbound lanes will close for the replacement. In addition, the location will remain under observation until the work can begin.

Kokosing Construction Co., Inc., Columbus, the general contractor for the project plans to close the westbound direction route for five to seven days.

Tentatively, the project to replace the westbound portion is set to begin anytime between June 1 – 8. The closure will occur as soon as possible following the reopening of the eastbound lanes and the ramp from U.S. 23 northbound which is currently closed for pavement repairs.

While the westbound route is closed, motorists will be detoured onto county Highway 330, just west of Bucyrus, back to U.S. 23/U.S. 30 at Upper Sandusky.

A group of bus drivers in one Ohio school district came up with a unique way to honor the graduates of 2020.

The bus drivers for the Loveland City School District lined up more than 20 buses to spell out 2020 as a tribute for the graduates who won’t get to have a traditional commencement ceremony.

“Some of us have been around long enough to transport these kids since kindergarten”, said bus driver Jennifer Bloom Bowman.

“And some of us have only been working with the district for a few years, but the one thing we all have in common is the love for our students. This is a huge accomplishment and any way we can show them some love, we will do it. So here’s to the Class of 2020. Your bus drivers are proud of all of you.”

(picture and video courtesy of Loveland City Schools)