National Ice Cream month is set in July and to celebrate TourismOhio created the Ohio Ice Cream Trail. It spotlights 20 local ice cream shops from being family owned to nationally recoginized within Ohio. 

According to Sarah Wickman, chief communications and marketing officer for the department of developement, the first trail was created in 2018. There were originally 15 stops that  were selected based off of region representation, if the shop was well-known, or nationally recognized.

Five stops were added later through a poplular vote online in the summer of 2018, Wickman said. Some of the shops on the list Findlay's Deitsch's Brothers and Bluffton's Dari Freeze were added to the list. 

Erika Dietsch Brokamp, manager of the wholesale division for the company and operates the West Main Cross store, said that Dietsch's can also be found on this years Ohio Magazine.

Rachel Hawes, of Swartz Creek, Michigan, is suing Cedar Point and the ride manufacturer when flying debris from a rollercoaster hit her in 2021. Hawes filed the action in the Erie County Court of Common Please seeking damages in excess of $25,000.

The incident took place August 15 when Hawes was standing in line for the Top Thrill Dragster. A metal piece from a proximity flag plate detached from the ride and struck her in the head. She sustained head trauma and a traumatic brain injury, the suit states. She was treated by EMS and was transported to Firelands Regional Medical Center and later flown by helicopter to a Toledo Hospital.

Prior to the incident, Hawes was studying to become and educator. According to the lawsuit, she will not be able to work ever again due to her injuries. She is expected to lose earnings up to $1.2 million.

Since then, Hawes has built up $2 million in medical bills and is expected to have future medical and therapy costs be over $10 million, the suit states. 

Hedges-Boyer Park will be getting an update to its entrance when coming through Summit Street.This will increase the sidewalks width from 4 feet to 8 feet. A stone wall will be added on the hill near the YMCA of Bucyrus-Tiffin and youth football fields.

Tiffin Parks and Recreation Director, Bryce Kuhn, says that it will be safer for citizens to walk on the trail while cars drive up and down the hill. In addition, Kuhn says that concrete will be poured early next week. While lettering will be added to the wall and new singnage for the park entrance.

The funding for this project comes from the Tiffin Community Foundation's Clive Lupton Fund, which is used for park improvements, and the Meshech Frost Charitable Trust.

The Coast Guard continues its search for a man who fell off a boat in Lake Erie near South Bass Island late Tuesday.

According to the Coast Guard, the 21-year-old man was sperated from his vessel after falling out by winds and currents. This happened around 10:30 p.m.

As of Wednesday, the search for the man has continued with airplanes and helicopters assisting in the search. The name for the missing man has not been released.

On Tuesday, an issued warrant from the Tiffin-Fostoria Municipal Court is charging 23-year-old Jonathan Baker was charged with aggravated murder.

Baker is accused of kidnapping a 7-month-old baby in June following a domestic disturbance with his girlfriend. According to police reports, Baker traveled to Seneca County with the baby where he eventually crashed his vehicle into a home on South Sandusky Street once he noticed law enforcement was following him.

The baby was found in the back seat of the crashed vehicle. First responders performed life-saving techniques on the baby, but she later passed away from her injuries at Mercy Health-Tiffin Hospital. It is yet to be determined if the baby was injured during or prior to the crash.

Baker still remains at St. Vincent's Hospital in Toledo.

There is a possible chance that the legalization of recreational marijuana could be on the Ohio ballot in November.

The Coalition to Regulate Marijuana Like Alcohol are leading the way to make this happen. The group is proposing that adults over 21 can posses and use marijuana recreationally, according to the groups website. This also includes a 10% tax rate for adult-use sales. 

Ohio does allow medical marijuana use for patients recieving perscriptions from their doctor with a certifaction to perscribe medical marijuana.

On Tuesday, Ohio Governor Mike Dewine announced a $33.3 million grant that will help local schools. The grant will help 747 school districts to create safer and healthier learning environments for students. This will be made possible by the Ohio Department of Education's Stronger Connections Grant. 

A tier system was used for school districts to recieve part of the grant money. To be awarded Tier 1 or Tier 2 factors had to include health and safety collected from data, rates of poverty, chronic absenteeism, and exclusionary discipline. Schools that were eligible for additional money recived an additional Tier 3 amount. 

The local schools recieving grant funds are Tiffin City Schools with $68,749.93, $43,122.82 for Fostoria City Schools, $5,000 for Hopewell-Loudon, $55,000 for Mohawk Local Schools, and $5,000 for Old Fort. 

The American Red Cross are in need of blood donations to combat the nationwide shortage. To anyone who donates you could potentially win a prize. Communications manager, Christy Peters, says that they are collecting 50,000 fewer blood donations than needed in the past two months. Peters said, "We need more to give in July to help avoid a blood shortage that could impact patient care at hospitals across the country." 

If you donate between July 12 to August 12 you will be entered into a drawing for a chance to win a three-night New York getaway for two with a private shark dive adventure at Long Island. Donors will also recieve an official Shark Week T-shirt and be entered for the New York trip if you donate between July 17 to the July 31. You can find more details at RedCrossBlood.org/Shark.

To learn about where you can donate go to redcrossblood.org/give.

According to organizers, the petition drive has come to a hault. The petition was to add three citizen initiatives on the upcoming fall ballot that would make rule changes in the Findlay city government.

The drive is led by the Findlay Area Apartment Association and the initiative would require changes to the city's building and zoning code to be placed on the ballot, mandate more public speaking time for citizens at Findlay City Council meetings, and stop the city from turning off the water for property code violations. 

Paperwork to start the initiatives was filed to the city auditor, Jim Staschaik, on June 5. The organizers had until July 21 to collect 1,278 signatures from city registered voters and that they had recently voted in the govenors election. They would then file them with the Hancock Board of Elections on August 9. This would then be placed on the November ballot. 

Haydee Sadler, initiatives committee memeber, states that they talked with a few neighborhoods and discovered that voters wanted to discuss the August election. Sadler furthers that they are going to reorganize and focus on next year's election now.

The special election coming up on August 8 will be on Issue 1. To learn more about what you will be voting on go to issuereport.pdf (ohiosos.gov).