(From the City of Findlay)

The City of Findlay along with its ongoing partnership with the Miracle League of Findlay, is delighted to announce that they have been awarded $250,000 of Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) funding for park improvements at Blanchard Valley Health System (BVHS) Miracle Park.

Grant funding will allow for the purchase and installation of accessible equipment stations around the Miracle Park complex to support exercise and rehabilitation for adults with disability, and will also be ideal for seniors with limited mobility.

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) administers the CDBG program to provide annual grants on a formula basis to states, cities, and counties to fund community development activities with the stated goal of building stronger and more resilient communities.

This project is part of the Miracle League’s larger initiative to create a state-of-art Fitness Park, which will not only encourage regular exercise but also foster community engagement by providing space where individuals of all ages can come together to pursue a healthy lifestyle.

The BVHS Miracle Park is part of Findlay’s Flag City Sports Complex located at 3430 North Main Street.

The new equipment stations will be installed around the existing facility grounds during the 2025-26 calendar years.

Additional funding for the Fitness Park is being provided by Miracle League and private donations.

If you are interested in supporting this project, please check out the miracleleagueoffindlay.com website, or findlayohio.gov/recreation for more information.

(From the Ohio State Highway Patrol)

The Ohio State Highway Patrol (OSHP) joined forces with other members of the 6-State Trooper Project to focus on move over enforcement. During the project, 511 motorists in Ohio were issued citations for move over violations.

The high-visibility enforcement effort included the Indiana State Police, Michigan State Police, Pennsylvania State Police, West Virginia State Police and OSHP. The initiative began on Sunday, July 21 at midnight and continued through Saturday, July 27 at 11:59 p.m.

Collectively, troopers from the five states cited 1,134 violators during the enforcement effort.

The 6-State Trooper Project is a multi-state law enforcement partnership aimed at providing combined and coordinated law enforcement and security services in the areas of highway safety, criminal patrol and intelligence sharing.

A complete breakdown from Ohio’s enforcement can be found here and for the compiled results here. Kentucky State Police did not participate.

(From the City of Findlay)

Car Tunes on Main will be held on August 3, 2024, from 12noon-5pm.

Main Street from Lincoln Street to Front Street and Main Cross, Crawford, Sandusky, and Hardin Streets from East Street to Cory Street will be closed for the event.

Visit https://www.flagcitycorvettes.com/car-tunes-2024 for more information.

(From Findlay City Schools)

We are so proud to be represented by school board member and Findlay Fire Department Battalion Chief Matt Cooper, retired FBI agent Dr. Gregory Vecchi, Lieutenant Andrew Welch of the Findlay Police Department, and Lieutenant Evan Slates of the Ohio State Highway Patrol at the Ohio School Safety Summit.

Participants from school districts across Ohio were guided through the implementation of SafeDefend within Findlay City Schools, and given a detailed explanation of the incredible and unique community collaboration that has been built here.

We are hopeful that others might model their own district safety systems after the supports and systems we have in place for FCS.

(ONN) – Ohio Governor Mike DeWine is against a constitutional amendment concerning redistricting that Ohioans will see on the November ballot.  

The amendment’s goal is to end gerrymandering in Ohio by creating a group of 15 citizens to create the maps instead of politicians.

The group would evenly be split among Democrats, Republicans, and independents.

However, the governor says he believes if the ballot initiative passes in November it would lead to more gerrymandering in the state.

Instead, he is calling on the state of Ohio to take up a similar map-drawing process to Iowa which has a five-member bipartisan commission to draft legislative maps.

Those maps are then passed on to the state’s legislature who can either accept, reject or modify those maps.

The Findlay Police Department, Findlay Fire Department, and Hanco EMS conducted active shooter training at Donnell Middle School ahead of the new school year beginning.

Drills were also conducted the previous week at Glenwood Middle School.

Police Chief James Mathias says the training is very important to get each agency on the same page in the event that a major emergency response is needed.

In the fall of 2022, police responded to two active shooter hoax calls; one at Findlay High School and the other at Liberty Benton High School.

Then in April of 2024, the high school fell victim to another swatting hoax.

This will be the second school year that all schools will be equipped with the SafeDefend active shooter protection system that allows emergency responders to be notified of an active threat immediately and what area of the building the system was activated.

See some video of the training below.

(From Blanchard Valley Health System)

Blanchard Valley Pain Management, a division of Blanchard Valley Health System, is expanding to North Baltimore.

Providers from Blanchard Valley Pain Management had previously seen patients for several years at St. Luke’s Hospital in Maumee, which closed in May 2023.

“When St. Luke’s closed, many of those patients wanted to stay with our providers,” said Jenn Reese, director of pain management. “Some now come to Findlay for their appointments. However, we kept hearing from residents of Wood County who were looking for care closer to home. We’re excited to bring our providers to North Baltimore to give these patients that opportunity.”

Heather Auxier, APRN-CNP, will see patients at the North Baltimore Medical & Diagnostic Center, 209 Briar Hill Road, North Baltimore. Beginning in September, appointments will be available on Fridays.

“We know that there is a need in Wood County,” Reese said. “Chronic pain is more common as the population ages. The Wood County area also is home to many adults working in factory and industry jobs who might benefit from our care. As always, we want to remind people who are experiencing chronic pain to get it checked out rather than simply resigning themselves to living in pain.”

Reese added that various treatments exist. Many patients find relief after interventional procedures and significantly improve their ability to function.

For more information or to make an appointment, please call 419.423.5555. Self-referrals are welcome.

Other Blanchard Valley Pain Management locations are scheduling patients in Findlay, Bluffton, Carey, Kenton, Lima, and Ottawa. For more information, please call 419.423.5555 or 1.888.458.5550, or visit bvhealthsystem.org.

(From the Ohio Treasurer’s Office)

Ohio Treasurer Robert Sprague announced a credit rating upgrade from Standard & Poor’s Global Ratings (S&P) to AA+ for Ohio’s Major New State Infrastructure Project Revenue Bonds. S&P cited the “expectation that pro forma maximum annual debt service (MADS) coverage will remain very strong” as well as “Ohio’s demonstrated history of maintaining an adequate level of lawfully available funds” and “strong federal and state programmatic support” among reasons for the upgrade.

“This key credit rating upgrade is a testament to strong fiscal management by our office, as well as our ongoing partnership with the Ohio Department of Transportation,” said Treasurer Sprague. “The AA+ rating from Standard & Poor’s will lower the costs of financing for ODOT and help them use federal Title 23 money more efficiently when funding construction projects around the state.”

The AA+ rating indicates a high degree of creditworthiness and can be attributed to the office’s timely repayment to bond holders, efficient management of Title 23 monies, and a commitment to prudent management of the Highway Operating Fund. The improved rating from Standard & Poor’s comes in connection with a Major New State Infrastructure Project Revenue bond issuance to be used by ODOT for construction projects. These bonds are debt-financing instruments that are eligible for reimbursement using future Federal-aid highway funding under Title 23. Some of these projects include bridge replacements, pavement rehabilitation, and lighting upgrades. Ohio’s Major New State Infrastructure Project Revenue bonds are also backed by a secondary pledge of other lawfully available funds in the Highway Operating Fund.

In December of 2023, S&P Global Ratings upgraded the state of Ohio’s issuer default and general obligation bond ratings to AAA. The Major New State Infrastructure Project Revenue bond rating was not included in the upgrade at that time, due to the fact that investors are repaid from federal reimbursements. The last time these bonds were upgraded by S&P (to the AA rating) was over 20 years ago, in 2003. Ohio’s issuer default rating and general obligation bonds hold the highest ratings possible of “AAA/Aaa/AAA” from S&P Global Ratings, Moody’s Investors Service, and Fitch Ratings.

(From the Findlay Police Department)

On July 30th Officers Hackworth and Bormuth were dispatched to 522 College St. for a welfare check.

During the investigation, Officers observed suspected drugs and drug paraphernalia.

Subsequently, Officers obtained a search warrant for the residence and located 6 grams of suspected fentanyl, a hypodermic syringe containing an unknown substance, approximately 70 scheduled prescription pills, numerous items of drug paraphernalia, over $9,000.00 in U.S. currency, and items indicative of drug trafficking.

The suspect was arrested on an unrelated arrest warrant.

Additional charges are expected pending laboratory results.

(ONN) – 2024 is one for the record books as Ohio notches its 65th tornado of the season.

In southwest Ohio, the National Weather Service has confirmed that an EF-1 tornado touched down in Warren County in the early morning hours of Tuesday.

The tornado had an eight-mile path that lasted 10 minutes with wind speeds nearing 100 miles per hour.

The tornado also impacted Clinton County.

This is the 65th tornado of this year, further adding to the total that makes this the most active season in recorded history.

The previous record was 62 tornadoes in 1992.

The tornado caused some damage to the homes in its path.