The Salvation Army Findlay Corps says it has reached its 2023 Red Kettle Campaign goal.

Major Mike Morales said the campaign reached its $80,000 goal on Thursday.

He says the goal was achieved thanks to the generosity of this community.

“I cannot say enough about my appreciation for the community helping us as we help their friends and neighbors,” Morales said.

“It’s a very heartfelt appreciation.”

Morales says he’s been in charge of other Salvation Army’s and nothing compares to the generosity of Findlay and Hancock County.

He says the campaign will continue until December 23^rd at 8 p.m., and then he’ll post the final amount raised as soon as he has it.

Money raised from the campaign goes to cover the cost of food and toys for those looking for assistance and also helps them maintain other programs throughout the year such as the soup kitchen, food pantry and youth and music programs.  

The organization Best Christmas Ever let us tag along as they surprised a Van Buren family.

The charity helps out families who have fallen on hard times at no fault of their own.

This year the organization surprised four Findlay-area families with a custom and unique Best Christmas Ever tailored to each family’s situation. 

Jaclyn Pessel says you truly do get more out of giving than you do receiving.

Jaclyn says the surprises wouldn’t be possible without the generous community we live in.

You can see video of the Van Buren surprise below, and you can learn more about Best Christmas Ever by checking out their website here and Findlay Facebook page here.

Hancock County Prosecutor Phil Riegle provided the following statement in the aftermath of the Ohio BCI investigation and grand jury review of an incident in September in which Ohio State Highway Patrol troopers fired their weapons at two murder suspects during a pursuit in September.

On September 2, 2023, the Ohio State Highway Patrol and a number of other local law enforcement agencies participated in a high speed pursuit of two individuals wanted in connection to a carjacking and shooting from Michigan beginning in Wood County, Ohio and culminating in Hancock County Ohio. Trooper Huffman and Trooper Born led the pursuit down I75 and onto Ohio 15. During the pursuit which reached speeds of over 100 miles per hour, the suspects fired gunshots at troopers from their vehicle, cut off numerous unrelated vehicles nearly causing a number of high speed crashes, and tried to ram or crash Trooper vehicles. This was a very dangerous situation and the lives of many members of the general public as well as Troopers and other law enforcement were put at risk.

When the suspects stopped for a short time at Ohio 15 and Ohio 37 on the exit ramp, Trooper Born used a rifle and fired shots at the vehicle in an effort to end the dangerous situation. The vehicle took off again and was traveling along the ditch along east bound Ohio 15 until it hit a culvert at Township Road 240 and came to a stop. After giving verbal commands to show hands and end the situation, all of which were ignored, Trooper Huffman then fired shots at the vehicle again in an effort to end this extremely dangerous situation and protect the lives of the general public. No additional shots were fired. The suspects were eventually taken into custody and one suspect needed medical attention which he received and has fully recovered.

Ohio BCI-a separate and distinct state agency under the Attorney General- conducted a thorough investigation of the situation viewing/collecting hours of body and dash cam footage, conducting a large number of interviews, and reviewing radio traffic. Ohio BCI submitted that report to the Hancock County Prosecutor’s Office for review. Per best practices, the investigation was then submitted to the Hancock County Grand Jury for their review as well. Yesterday, the Hancock County Grand Jury reviewed that BCI investigation and after deliberation declined to request charges against the Troopers.

In a world where law enforcement is under a constant microscope and second guessed regularly, the public usually only receives bad news about law enforcement. This skewed view overlooks the thousands of professional officers who do their jobs and do it well everyday. In this case, Trooper Huffman and Trooper Born acted as heroes. On September 2, 2023 they put their lives on the line in an effort to protect the general public from two suspects who could have caused horrific damage to life and limb of countless others, as well as cause thousands of dollars of damage to property as well. The Troopers used force, but also showed incredible restraint. Trooper Huffman, Trooper Born, and dozens of other law enforcement officers involved in this incident from a number of law enforcement agencies deserve our sincere thanks and are owed a tremendous amount of respect. We thank them for their service. May God bless all our law enforcement officers who risk their lives to protect ours.

A man was arrested after a drug-related search warrant was executed at his Tiffin residence.

Authorities say a drug task force carried out the search warrant at an address at 253 ½ 4^th Avenue, that being the residence of 37-year-old Nathaniel R. Heil.

Authorities say the task force located suspected crack cocaine, criminal tools, and cash in the residence.

Heil has pending charges for trafficking in drugs and criminal tools stemming from this investigation as well as additional counts of trafficking from previous investigations.

Tiffin Police Chief David Pauly said the success of an investigation isn’t always about the amount of drugs confiscated but more so about addressing the complaints from citizens and improving the quality of life in the community.

People are encouraged to continue to report suspicious activity to their local agencies or the Seneca County Drug Task Force – METRICH Enforcement Unit crime hotline at 419-443-0463, extension 1140.

(From the West Ohio Food Bank)

The West Ohio Food Bank will be offering a free ham dinner to anyone who wants one on Christmas Eve, Sunday, December 24, 2023, from 9am-11am at the food bank on East Kibby Street in Lima.

Members of the West Ohio Food Bank staff, along with some volunteers, will pass out the meals, drive-thru style, just like we do for our monthly food distributions.

Cars with families can line up in our back lot, drive up, and receive one meal for each person in their family, and if you know of anyone that cannot make it, you can pick up a dinner for them as well!

The meals will consist of ham slices, mashed potatoes, macaroni and cheese, applesauce, a roll, and a dessert.

These meals are free to anyone who wants one, while supplies last, starting at 9am until 11am or until the dinners are gone.

A huge thank you goes out to Riteway Foods, Bob Evans Foods, Our Daily Bread Soup Kitchen, and all of the volunteers who made these meals possible.

Findlay Village Hardware stopped by the sponsor locations for Kahuna’s All-Star Christmas Jam to pick up their Toys for Tots boxes and deliver them.

The 9th Annual Kahuna’s All-Star Christmas Jam raised a lot of money and toys for the local Toys for Tots chapter.

The annual event featuring The Big Kahuna of 106.3 The Fox and his All-Star Band was held at Alexandria’s in Findlay on December 6^th.

“We had a great turnout, I think the biggest crowd we’ve ever had and certainly the most toys we’ve ever had donated,” Kahuna said.

There was no cover charge and people were asked to donate a new toy or make a monetary donation to Toys for Tots.

The All-Star Christmas Jam this year brought in $1,559 in monetary donations and six large garbage bags and two full Toys for Tots boxes full of toys.

“It was a great outpouring of support for the Toys for Tots program and for the band,” Kahuna added.

The Hancock County Veterans Service Office is getting the word out about their Veterans Response Team and is seeking Veterans to help out with it.

The initiative is being headed up by Daniel Harmon, an Army Veteran and former Findlay police officer.

Harmon says the program trains Veterans in crisis intervention and mental health first aid so they can co-respond with law enforcement to de-escalate situations involving Veterans as a peer.   

“We have found over the years that a peer response is the best response, because these are people that have lived experience and kind of have an understanding of what these folks are going through.”

After the situation is de-escalated the Veterans Response Team will then refer the Veteran to any resources in the community that could assist them.

Harmon says they’re looking for Veterans who want to volunteer and go through the training and be on call to assist when needed.

Veterans interested can email veterans@co.hancock.oh.us or call 419-424-7036.

The Ohio State Highway Patrol is asking drivers to make a commitment to driving safely and responsibly over the Christmas holiday.

The Highway Patrol says its troopers made 58 OVI arrests over the Christmas holiday last year.

“This holiday season make a commitment to the safety of yourself and others by planning ahead to designate a sober driver.”

During last year’s Christmas holiday, there were six fatal crashes that killed 12 people.

Half of those crashes were OVI-related.

Findlay City Schools is reminding students and parents of the dates of Winter Break.

The school district says Winter Break will run from Friday, December 22^nd through Tuesday, January 2^nd.

The first day back for students will be Wednesday, January 3^rd.

Click here for the full Findlay City Schools calendar.

The Ohio State Highway Patrol says a man wanted in Michigan was arrested in North Baltimore after a pursuit that began in Michigan.

On Tuesday around noon, the Highway Patrol was advised that Michigan State Police were in pursuit of a possible homicide suspect on Interstate 75 southbound approaching the state line.

Troopers responded to the area and took the lead in the pursuit near Wales Road in Northwood.

Law enforcement officers and troopers attempted to deploy stop sticks multiple times as the pursuit continued southbound, but were unsuccessful.

The suspect vehicle continued southbound on Interstate 75 and exited onto state Route 18 in North Baltimore and pulled into the Love’s Travel Stop.

The suspect fled on foot and troopers and law enforcement officers quickly took him into custody.

The suspect, identified as Ronald Lamar McLaurin, 33, of Warren, Michigan, was medically cleared at a local hospital before being incarcerated at the Wood County Jail.

He was charged with failure to comply with the order or signal of a police officer and receiving stolen property, both felonies.

The Ford Escape McLaurin was driving was stolen, according to authorities. 

The Ohio State Highway Patrol was assisted during the incident by the Michigan State Police, Perrysburg Township Police Department, U.S. Border Patrol, and the North Baltimore Police Department.

The incident remains under investigation.