To celebrate International Bat Week, we are happy to announce the conclusion of our Bat Condo at Aeraland Recreation Area, a project which started in late summer.
The condo is 8’ x 8’ wide & 8.5’ high, and is designed to hold up to 10,000 mother bats and their young.
Hancock Park District would like to give a special thank you to Brandon Burrow and all volunteers, Marathon Petroleum Company, Alvada Construction & Hancock-Wood Electric for making this project possible.
It is estimated that approximately 400 volunteer hours went into this project.
The Ohio State Highway Patrol is reminding drivers to slow down after pulling over a driver for going more than 100 miles per hour on Interstate 75.
The Highway Patrol posted a picture on social media of the traffic stop made by a trooper from the Lima Post.
“No matter how safe of a driver you think you are, there is no excuse for 109 mph! Speed limits aren’t a suggestion, they are the law. Since 2018, there have been 1,910 speed-related fatal crashes on Ohio roadways.”
Yesterday, a Lima Post trooper stopped this vehicle on I-75. No matter how safe of a driver you think you are, there is no excuse for 109 mph! Speed limits aren’t a suggestion, they are the law. Since 2018, there have been 1,910 speed-related fatal crashes on Ohio roadways. 🚙🚓 pic.twitter.com/7RLsR6iSbB
Chamberlin Hill Elementary School held its Halloween Parade on Friday afternoon.
The youngsters dressed up in their favorite costumes and walked down the sidewalks outside the school as family members cheered them on and took pictures.
Other Findlay City Schools also had Halloween Parades for the kids and families to enjoy.
See video from the parade below.
Findlay’s Trick-or-Treat is on Saturday from 6 to 8 p.m.
In accordance with the order issued by the President of the United States of America and in remembrance of the victims of the shooting in Lewiston, Maine, Governor DeWine has ordered that the flags of the United States and the State of Ohio shall be flown at half-staff upon all public buildings and grounds throughout the State of Ohio until sunset on October 30, 2023.
Over the last three weeks’ officers of the Tiffin Police Department have been participating in mandatory Continuing Professional Training (CPT). The State of Ohio requires all law enforcement officers meet the requisite number of hours of professional training every year. The Tiffin Police Department took the training a step further by moving shifts and schedules so that every officer was able to participate in both the classroom instructional training and all the practical applications by not only meeting but exceeding the required hours by the state.
The topics of training this year included legal updates, arrest search and seizure review, crime scene processing updates, Taser recertification, critical incident response, school threats and safety, anti-harassment training, OVI updates, emergency management resources, force on force exercises, multiple search techniques, tactical proficiency, requalification on various firearms, wellness and resiliency, and host of other additional hands-on and classroom instructional training.
I provided this information because I want this community to understand that this police department strives to be the best law enforcement agency it can be. To be the best you must train and practice like it’s the real thing and that takes effort. There was no lack of effort during these past three weeks of training. The Tiffin Police Department’s dedication to continuous improvement should serve as reassurance to the Tiffin community of our commitment to provide exceptional police services at the highest of standards. Professionalism is not the job you do; it’s how you do the job. This community deserves a professional law enforcement agency that gives 100% effort every day. Whether in our training or our day to day interactions with the public, the Tiffin Police will continue to strive to earn your continued support and trust.
Special thanks to following for assisting the Tiffin Police Department with providing and exceeding the professional training hours required:
Project HOPE’s annual Trick-or-Treat on Horseback fundraiser is coming up.
It will be held on two weekends; October 21st and 22nd, and on the 28th and 29th at 6645 Township Road 215, east of Findlay.
Project HOPE (Horses Opening People’s Eyes) is a nonprofit organization offering equine-assisted therapy.
The organization uses horses to help people dealing with emotional and behavioral challenges.
Learn more about the organization by clicking here, sign up for the Trick-or-Treat on Horseback by clicking here, and see video from previous years by clicking here.
Hancock County has been awarded a $550,000 federal Bureau of Justice grant to expand services at a local residential center that provides stabilization and recovery support services for those with mental health and substance use disorders.
The 3-year grant comes through the Bureau’s Justice and Mental Health Collaboration Program. The Board of Hancock County Alcohol, Drug Addiction and Mental Health Services will administer the grant, and contract with the Family Resource Center of Northwest Ohio to implement it along with other community partners.
FRC operates the Steady Path Stabilization Center at 2627 Crystal Avenue in Findlay. The center opened in 2022 and is a 24/7 monitored, short-term, step-down, and diversion residential home that provides a safe place for stabilization services for individuals with persistent mental health concerns and those with co-occurring substance use disorders.
Precia Stuby is director of the ADAMHS Board of Hancock County.
In addition to mental health services, Steady Path offers programming designed to help transition individuals from higher levels of care, such as psychiatric hospitalization and incarceration, to supportive outpatient services
The federal grant was sought to help address a growing need for stabilization services in the community for those who have encountered the justice system and are leaving the county jail or other custodial settings. The grant will help fund the Steady Path Forward Project, a collaboration between ADAMHS, FRC and criminal justice partners, including the Findlay Police Department, Hancock County Sheriff’s Office and Hancock County Adult Probation.
National estimates indicate that over half of all individuals in jail or prison have a mental health problem and are likely to stay locked up longer and return to incarceration more often.
Locally, about one in every six inmates at the Hancock County jail are on psychotropic medications and about one in two inmates have been returned to jail four or more times. Only about 30 percent of inmates are first-time offenders.
The objectives of the grant, which builds upon a 2020 grant that supported the establishment of the Steady Path, are three-fold: to enhance and expand the center; expand the capacity to identify, treat and support the recovery of individuals at the “intersection of justice and mental health,” and grow existing justice and mental health collaboration programs “across people and places at any point in the criminal justice system.”
Since Steady Path opened last year, it has received 398 referrals with 235 enrollments completed. With the new grant, officials hope to serve at least 150 individuals at the Steady Path over the next 36 months.
Blanchard Valley Hospital, a division of Blanchard Valley Health System, has been awarded on Newsweek’s list of America’s Best-In-State Hospitals 2024. This prestigious award is presented by Newsweek and Statista Inc., the world-leading statistics portal and industry ranking provider. The awards list was announced on October 25, 2023, and can currently be viewed on Newsweek’s website.
“Blanchard Valley Hospital is honored to recognized on Newsweek’s list of America’s Best-In-State Hospitals 2024,” said Myron D. Lewis, president and chief executive officer of BVHS. “Our associates and providers work hard to provide excellent care every day, and are honored to be recognized for their passion and commitment to our patients and community.”
Proximity and access are of the utmost importance when choosing between top hospitals. The America’s Best-In-State Hospitals 2024 ranking was created to identify the top hospitals at the state level. Hospitals from all US states were eligible for the ranking and included in the nationwide survey. The 25 states with the most hospitals according to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) were surveyed individually. The remaining states were grouped into four regions: Northeast, Midwest, West, and South. Leading hospitals from these states were considered accordingly. Four data sources were used for the evaluation:
Nationwide online survey: Over 10,000 medical professionals (doctors, hospital managers, and healthcare workers) were asked to recommend the best hospitals (in and out of state) based on their expertise.
Quality Metrics Data: Data from CMS available for Mortality, Safety, Readmission, Experience, Timely & Effective Care was considered.
Patient Experience: Cleanliness of the hospitals and quietness, communication of the nurses/doctors and staff responsiveness, care transition, medicine communication, and discharge information.
PROMS Implementation survey: To account for the increasing importance of Patient Reported Outcome Measures (PROMs).
To learn more about the services at Blanchard Valley Health System, please visit bvhealthsystem.org.
The Findlay Police Department said a man was taken into custody after shooting a gun into the ground near people.
Police were dispatched to the 200 block of Edith Avenue at around 12:15 Thursday morning on the report of shots being fired in the area.
Officers began checking the area and then another victim called police and said he had been shot at by a man and that they saw the man enter a shed behind a residence in the 200 block of Lester Avenue.
Police checked the shed and no one was located inside.
Contact was made with a resident at 224 Lester Avenue and police say he eventually admitted to shooting a pistol into the ground at the victims.
Police said the suspect, Martin Munoz, 54, was taken into custody for aggravated menacing and discharging a firearm within city limits.
