29-year-old Alicia L. Frankforther, of Findlay, was sentenced in the Hancock County Common Pleas Court this week to 5 to 7 and a half years in prison.

She plead guilty in August for involuntary manslaughter in the death of 31-year-old Cody R. Schoonover of Benton Ridge. Frankforther supplied Schoonover fentanyl on March 12, 2022, he then died that day. The offense for involuntary manslaughter was a first-degree felony.

There were additional charges to her sentencing with two fourth degree felony counts of aggravated trafficking in drugs. The sentencing will be for one year in prison with each count to run consecutively, and then the sentence for involuntary manslaughter will begin. Frankforther could serve 9 and a half years in prison.

The Distinguished Service Medallion was given to Trooper Casimir A. Von Sacken from Colonel Charles A. Jones. They honored Von Sacken for his actions that took place early in the morning on July 15.

Trooper Van Sacken noticed a vacant house fire on Mott Avenue near Elgin in Toledo while driving someone home who was arrested for an OVI. He pulled his car over and radioed the Bowling Green Dispatch Center to request the Toledo Fire and Rescue Department. While waiting for help, he acted fast by alerting the next-door neighbors of the fire as their sliding door melted. The neighbors made it out safely as the fire spread quickly and potentially saved their lives.

Trooper Von Sacken began his career in 2010 in the 150th Academy Class. In April of the following year, his commission was earned, and he was assigned to the Lima Post. In 2012; he was transferred to the Bowling Green Post.

The public Utilities Commission of Ohio has awarded $23,500 of grant money to go to the fire department for hazardous materials training. The training is to make sure personnel are acquired in public safety and use proper techniques when managing a hazardous materials spills and releases that occur during tansportation.

There grant money can be used for courses on first response awarness, operations and technician, highway response specialist, incident command and tank car specialist. It can also be used for qualifying training for intermodal hazardous materials, incident and rail hazardous response training, rail/highway incident response training, and hazardous materials planning and survey studies. 

An additional grant was given to the fire department from the Firehouse Subs Foundation for $21,589. This will go towards 24 new fire hose nozzles.

The United Way of Hancock County is going through the county to get fundraising for their 2023 Annual Campaign. This year's campaign theme is "Difference Makers," which emphasizes on people being capable of making a difference for vulnerable children, families, and individuals in our community through charitable giving, advocacy or volunteer work.

There will be multiple events to kick this campaign off with bus tours, workplace campaign kickoff events and a Downtown Restaurant Tour. The events are to build corporate enthusiasm, provide volunteer engagement, and educate the public on the efforst of local non-profit agencies.

The campaign will run till November 17 with a goal to raise $2 million. To donate head to www.uwhancock.org.

Ohio will be installing naloxone kits in rest stops across Ohio to provide emergency help if someone is experiencing an overdose. Govenor Dewine announced the new program saying that these kits were made in collaboration with Recovery Ohio, Department of Transportation and the state health department's Project DAWN (Deaths Avoided with Naloxone). Naloxone is known to be a nasal spray used for somebody that has overdosed on a narcotic like heroin.

There will be more than 130 boxes installed in 65 rest stops across Ohio. Two kits will be installed in Hancock County along I-75 with one northbound and the other southbound. Two kits will be installed along I-75 in Allen and Wood County. While Wyandot County will have two kits in rest stops along U.S. 30, one eastbound and the other westbound, and two kits will be placed northbound and southbound of U.S. 23.

4,195 people in Ohio last year were killed by unintentional drug overdoses compared to 1,275 traffic deaths.

Sheriff Michael E. Heldman announced today that the Hancock County Sheriff's Office has been awarded $41,204.04 in federal traffic safety funding from the Ohio Traffic Safety Office. 

The funds passed onto the OTSO are from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration in support of safety partners statewide. They focus on restriant use, impaired & distracted driving, motorcycle safety and youthful drivers.

The OTSO receive competitive grant proposals to be reviewed and accepted. The Funds are then awarded to the project that will have a great impact on lowering fatal crashes and imrpoving traffic safety systems. 

Sandy Hallet was announced to be the new Seneca County Executive Director of the Family and Children First Council. She will be taking over the position from Sharon Thibodeai who was the head of the FCFC for 20 years.

Hallet is a graduate of Kent State University and moved to the Tffin area in 2007. In that same year she co-founded the Seneca Autism Learning and Support Association. A nonprofit organizattion for autism. Some roles Hallet has taken on are being a Parent Mentor, a Family & Community Liaison for a multi-county region and has served on the Seneca County Board of Developmental Disabilities. She has also written two books called "How Our Children With Autism Raised Us As Parents" and "Raising Ry Ry, My Teenage Son With Autism".

The FCFC is a was established in Ohio in 1988 that works with the state and local government, communities and families. The purpose is to help children and families by building community capacitiy through coordination and systems that help families live within the county.

The City of Tiffin was notified by ODTO that they have been selected to recieve upt $500,000 in federal funding from the ODOT Urban Pacing Program. These funds will help with the resurfacing of North Sandusky Stree north of Tob Street. This program will cover 80% of all resurfacing associated costs. 

The ODOT Urban PPaving program is a federally funded grant program that assists with resurfacing costs involving state highways located in municipalities.

The funds will also be used with federal funds recently recieved from the ODOT Small Cities Program. So far, the city has now recieved $2,158,691 in federal funds to make repairs to SR 53. The funding will become available in July of 2025 with construction starting in early 2026. 

Since 2018 the City Engineers office has been able to successfuly leverage nearly $12 million in local, state and federal grant funding for community infrasctructure projects.

This month the Ohio Department of Education released its school district report cards for the 2021-2022 school year. The categories that make out the schools ratings are Achievement, Progress, Gap Closing, Graduating, and Early Literacy.

Fosotria's overall district rating is 2.5. The ratings in the sub categories are 2 for Achievement, 2 for Progress, 1 for Gap closing, 1 in Graduation and 2 in Early Literacy. According to superintendent, Andrew Sprang, the school saw improvement in Early Literacy. An area of improvement Sprang wants to work on is writing. 

Hopewell-Loudon recieved an overall district rating of 5 with a 5 in Achievement, 5 in Gap Closing, 5 in Graduation and 3 in Early Literacy. Superintendent, Matt White, was overall happy with the schools rating and wants to continue to work hard on improving Early Childhood Literacy.

Other area schools with ratings were Seneca East Schools recieving a perfect rating of 5, Mohawk Local Schools with a 4, and Lakota Local Schools recieving a 3.5.

On Sunday, a motorcycle collided with a sport utility vehicle Sunday at the intersection of Haskins and Bishop roads.

70-year-old Craig Kleine, of Bowling Green, was pronounced dead at Mercy St. Vincent Hospital in Toledo. Kleine was transported to the hospital by air ambulance, according to a release from the Wood County Sheriff's Office.

The crash stemmed from Kleine traveling south on Haskins Road when 42-year-old Tiffany Crain, of Bowling Green, did not yeild at a stop sign while driving her SUV east on Bishop Road. Crain did not suffer any injuries.

The crash remains under investigation.

The Ohio State Highway Patrol's Norwalk Post is currently investigating a one-vehicle accident that happened Monday around 4:21 p.m. on Snyder Road west of Ohio 61, Peru Township.

81-year-old Shirley McQuillen, of Willard, was driving a 2016 Ford escape while traveling east on Snyder Road. According to the report, McQuillen went off the right side of the roadway hitting a fence post and a tree before overturning. 

She was not wearing a seatbelt and was trapped in the vehicle. The Huron River Joint Fire District helped McQuillen get out of the vehicle by non-mechanical means. The injuries she sustained from the crash ended up being fatal.

Drugs and alcohol are not a factor in the crash. The accident is still under investigation.

The deadline for voter registration is Tuesday October 10 for the November 7 election. The Hancock County Board of Elections office will be open 8:30 a.m. to 9:00 p.m. that day.

To be a registered voter you must be a citizen of the United States of America, 18-years-old on or befor November 7, 2023 and a resident of Ohio for 30 days befor the election. Voters can check their registration status at www.hancockcountyohioelections.gov to their registered address. The file address can be changed in-person or at the elections office 9 p.m. on October 10 or online.

Locations that you can register are Findlay Hancock County Library, Fostoria and Findlay Lincense Bureau, Hancock County Courthouse Treasurer and Auditor's offices, Hancock County Board of Alcohol, Drug Addiction and Mental Health Services office, McComb Public Library, Kaubisch Mmeorial Public Library in Fostoria, Fostoria's Auditor's office, WIC Office, Hancock County Job and Family Services and the Hancock County Board of Developmental Disabilities office.

Early and in-person absentee voting for the November general elections starts October 11 in the Board of Elections office. The last day to request an absentee ballot by mail is October 31 by close of business. The final day for in-person absentee voting is November 5. Absentee ballots can be found on the election website and physical copies can be found at the offices drop box located east of the office door.

For more information on absentee ballots call the board office at 419-422-3245. 

Local food manufacture, Balleich Snack Foods, has been acquired by Grippo's out of Cincinnati. The goal is to enhance productivity, brand portfolio and market outreach. 

Both companies were founded over 100 years ago. Leading their industries in the regions they are located in. Ballreich was created in 1920 by Fred and Ethel Ballreich. While Grippo's was a family owned business back in 1919. It was started by Angelo and Emma Grippo in downtown Cincinnati making sugar cones and pretzels. 

Grippo's are the official chip for the Cincinnati Reds, Columbus Blue jackets, University of Cincinnati Athletics, Xavier University Athletics, FC Cincinnati, the Cincinnati Zoo and the Cincinnati Bengals.

The company's snacks can be found in Ohio, Kentucky, Indiana and Tennessee.

A man was in a crash Wednesday evening when a vehicle and skateboard clashed with eachother. According to Ohio State Highway Patrol, the crash happened around 9:36 p.m. at the intersection of Hayes Avenue and Brush Street.

The investigation has determined that 59-year-old Andrew Myers, of Fremont, was going eastbound on Hayes Avenue. While 32-year-old Ryan M. Crispen was going westbound on Hayes Avenue on a skateboard. Myers attempted to make a left turn on Brush Street when he hit Crispen. He was not wearing a seatbelt when the crash happened and did not sustain any injuries.

Crispen was not wearing protective equipment and sustained serious injuries. He was flown to St. Vincent's Medical Center in Toledo where he is in critical condition. Alcohol does not appear to be a cause for the accident.

The crash is still under investigation.

Heavenly Pizza announced Thursday that they will be expanding their franchise nationally by trademarking the buisness. The new locations will be Bowling Green, Sandusky, and Newnan, Georgia. The company already has locations in Findlay, Fremont, and now Tiffin.

This news coming a week later after breaking ground for their new location and headquarters at 68 W. Market Street in Tiffin. According to the Seneca Regional Chamber of Commerce, the 4,300-square-foot one story building will be used for dine-in, carry-out and drive-through purposes. The new location will open May 1, 2024.

Heavenly Pizza was founded in 1981 in Tiffin.

37-year-old Vladimir Tasciuc of Aurora, Illnois was indicted by a Hancock County grand jury for allegedly trying to harm two people with a semi. Tasciuc is being charged with two counts of felonius assault that are both second degree felonies. He has been accused of slamming a Freighliner truck into two vehicles on September 7th.

A news release from the Wood County Sheriff's office says that 80-year-old Sally Doren was pronounced dead at the Wood County Hospital after her car collided with a tow truck at the intersection of U.S. Route 6 and Huffman Road. 

Doren was traveling north on Huffman while the truck was going west on U.S. Route 6. Once she striked the truck, the car went of the southside of the roadway and Doren was ejected from the vehicle. The truck driver was not injured.

The crash is still under investigation.

The 62-year-old, Xiaosong Wang, of Bowling Green was indicted Wednesday for allegedy shooting and killing two men and woudning a third on September 17th. The victims were Bing Luan Lin, Zhichun Huang, and Renshuang Qiu. 

Lin and Huang were both owners of Ninja Hibachi Sushi Steak House at 1080 S. Maint Street in Bowling Green. Wang and Qui were employees at the restaurant according to a release by the Wood County prosecutors office. The release says that a dispute happened at a Bowling Green residence where several employees lived. That's when Wang fired his gun on the three victims with a .45 caliber hand gun killing Lin and Huang while wounding Qiu. 

Wang is being charged with two counts of aggravated murder, two counts of murder, three counts of attempted murder, three counts of felonius assault and two counts of possession of criminal tools. Wang could face a life sentence in prison with no parole, or 35 years in prison and could have a chance at parole. Since he used a fire arm that could add a mandatory three years to any other sentence he might serve. 

Currently, Wang is in custody at the Wood County Justice Center on a $2 million bond and a federal detainer from the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Wang's case has been assigned to the Wood County Common Pleas Judge Joel Kuhlman and his arraignment is scheduled for September 28th. 

On Wednesday, a Wood County grand jury has indicted 32-year-old Aaron Hilt for allegedly crashing into an Arlington school bus early this month. 

Hilt is facing 13 counts of aggravated vehicular assault. All counts are third-degree felonies after allegedly sending students and faculty to the hospital with non-life threatening injuries. He has also been indicted on a fifth-degree felony for vandalism and two counts of operating a vehicle while under the influence. 

If Hilt is convicted, each charge for aggravated vehicular assault has a maximum penalty of five years in prison. While adding an additional year for the vandalism charge. That could total to 66 years of prison time. 

The incident occured September 7th at 9:15 p.m. where Hilt went off the interstate and through a fence that stopped on the side of the road. Hilt was allegedly under the influence, but refused to take a test, according to the Ohio State Highway Patrol. The accident occured on I-75 near the Eagle Road exit when the junior high football team was traveling back from a game at Elmwood. There were 39 students and staff on board. The bus driver was able to make a controlled stop when getting hit. 

Hilt is currently incarcerated at the Wood County Jail with a $50,000 bond while waiting to be arraigned October 2nd. 
 

67-year-old Brian Lee Ziessler was sentenced Wednesday morning for 15 years to life in a state prison for murdering his wife in 2021 at their Marion Township home. Zeissler was senteced by the Hancock County Common Pleas Court by Judge Jonathan Starn.

The autopsy of 59-year-old Sherri Ziessler found six gunshot wounds. The lab testing determined that he used a revolver and was found at the crime scene near the victims body with six fired special cartridge cases.  

Zeissler will be eligible for parole after 15 years and has already recieved credit for 668 days at the Hancock County Jail.

At 2:20 a.m. Wednesday the Hancock County Sheriff's Office repsonded to a call of a man shooting off a gun in the area of Kenwood Ct. and Tanglewood Drive in Findlay.

As the deputies arrived to the location, they found 49-year-old Anthony Rose, of Findlay, sitting in the driveway of his home. It has been determined that the gunshots came from Rose's home. He claims that someone was in his residence, but nothing was found to support the claim. The shots that went off did strike a neighboring home with minor damages. 

Rose was arrested and charge with inducing panic, using weapons while intoxicated and discharging a firearm into a habitation. There were no injuries and other properties damaged in the residential area.  

At 2:20 a.m. Wednesday the Hancock County Sheriff's Office repsonded to a call of a man shooting off a gun in the area of Kenwood Ct. and Tanglewood Drive in Findlay.

As the deputies arrived to the location, they found 49-year-old Anthony Rose, of Findlay, sitting in the driveway of his home. It has been determined that the gunshots came from Rose's home. He claims that someone was in his residence, but nothing was found to support the claim. The shots that went off did strike a neighboring home with minor damages. 

Rose was arrested and charge with inducing panic, using weapons while intoxicated and discharging a firearm into a habitation. There were no injuries and other properties damaged in the residential area.  

The Ohio State Highway Patrol is investigating a single-vehicle crash that happened at 6:43 a.m. today on southbound I-75 at the Devils Hole Road overpass.

The investigation states that a Chevrolet Cruz, driven by 42-year-old David F. Collins of Chesterfield, MI, drove off the right side of the road way, behind the guardrail and hit the bridge support pillar for the Devils Hole Road overpass. Collins did pass away from his injuries at the scene of the crash.

The accident remains under investigation.

The Tiffin Police Departments K-9 Unit will be making its return soon with Officer Elizabeth Miller starting her first day of training. A picture of Officer Miller was posted on social media Monday to let the public know about the news. 

Since 2018 the department has not had a K-9 Unit in place until Tiffin Police Chief David Pauly started to talk about bringing back the program. To make this a reality the department needed $21,000. 

The Kiwanis Club of Seneca County held fundraising events that would raise $30,770.54. All of the money came from t-shirt sales, dinners and community donations. As the department nearly reached their goal in July the Tiffin Bark Park, Inc.'s President Kieth Hodkinson reached out to help by making a donation. Hodkinson's donation was to honor his late dog, Ringo, by giving them a $1,000 check to help with equipment and training for the program.

Officer Miller is training with a two-year-old Belgian Malinois named Zeke. Training with Zeke could take 6-7 weeks depending on how well they work together. 

The 21st annual Rail Fest will be held this weekend at Fostoria Junior/Senior High School at 1001 Park Avenue, and Fostoria Elementary School at 1202 H.L. Ford Drive.

Every year the festival averages 1,000 attendees that can check model railroad dispalys in the elementary school gymnasium, and then head over to the junior/senior high school where vendors are selling model-railroad components, models, books and other train items. 

The railpark will also be open at 499 S. Poplar St. The rail preservation society will also be opening the B&O Railroad caboose from the 1960s for visitors from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.

Admission is free for children under the age of 5 and $5 for everyone else that goes to the festival. The festival will begin at 10 a.m. and end at 4 p.m. 

The Division II Committee on Infractions has reported that Findlay Failed to certify eligibility for 82 student-athletes across 11 sports. The violations started during the COVID-19 year that left the former Director of Compliance overwhelmed with their responibilities while dealing with virtual work conditions. By not filling out the required documents 90 violations of NCAA rules occured, and the ineligible athletes that weren't documented competed in 136 contests. The university did agree to the violations avoiding any formal hearing or summary disposition. The Division II Committee of Infractions reviewed the case to determine the best resolution. This is what the staff and the university agreed on. Three years of probation, a $2,500 fine, and vacating all records in which student-athletes competed in while ineligible, the university must provide a report on the contests impacted to the NCAA media coordination and statistics staff within 14 days of the public release of the decision. There are no further updates at this time.

On Tuesday, Nicholas Scoles, was promoted to the rank of fire captain in the City Council chamber. Scoles will be responsible for supervising fire crews that will begin on Septmeber 17. Since 2011 Scoles has been a firefighter. During that time he has earned his Emergency Medical Technician and Hazmat Technician certifications, became a Swift Water Rescue Swimmer and has been a part of the Tactical EMS team. When he isn't on the job, Scoles has served on the National Alliance on Mental Illness, was an Honor Flight Guardian and volunteer with Habitat for Humanity.

Tiffin native Hope Madden will be attending the Tiffin-Drive-In's first independent horror film festival with her film "Obstacle Corpse". 

Madden's career started six or seven years ago writing screenplays which led her to filmmaking and directing. She began making short films the first month of COVID after her screen plays were accepted by 12 festivals and won one. One of those film's "Godspeed" was accepted by a festival and won awards. This then lead her to creating a short film called "Obstacle Corpse" and would eventually turn into a feature lenght film. 

Before the festivities begin, the band Tinfoil will be performing, and Madden will be available for meet and greets. The other directors of the short films being presented will also be at the event. 

If you want to go to the gates will open at 6:30 p.m. and the cost is $10 per carload. You can also preorder your tickets with this link: https://bit.ly/460xWlK

This week the Tiffin Police Department and Tiffin Fire/Rescue will be visiting Tiffin City School's and Tiffin Calvert this week for Safety City. The event is to teach students about the importance of road and fire safety. 

The Seneca Parks board and staff members visited three projects at Meadowbrook Park that recieved some fudning from the Community Grants Program.

One of the projects involved a paved path that connects the park to Hopewell-Loudon School. The $67,000 trail was paid for with %15 school funds and 85% by three grants.

The second project involved an update to a swing set that was worth $8,827. The swings are "expressions" swings where the parent or whoever can swing with the child and see the expression on their face.

The last location was a tree memorial that opened recently and used $9,000 in Seneca Parks grant funds. This allows people to memorial trees and plant them at the park and are able to look up their location.

The Tiffin Fire/Rscue Division will be hosting the first Pumpkin Drop set for October 19th. The event will take place in Downtown Tiffin after Trick or Treat in city lot 6 at 6:30 p.m. The pumbkin will be dropped from the top of the firefighters 100-foot ladder truck.

Seneca County will be holding Community Emergency Response Team Coordinator training starting September 21 to November 12. From 6:30-9:30 pm at the Fairgrounds at 126 Hopewell Avenue, Tiffin. 

The training will help you identify and anticipate disasters, reduce fires at work or at home, extinguish small fires and much more. 

CERT is a program that is ran by FEMA that stemmed from the aftermath of 9/11.

The Council's Water and Sewer Committee will be meeting Wednesday at 4:00 pm to go over the request from the state to run water to Van Buren State Park. 

This request is the first phase of the Ohio Department of Natural Resources Division of Parks and Watercraft. The goal is to revitalize the resevoir at the Van Buren Lake dam by creating wetlands and habitat areas. 

ODNR, with the help of H2Ohio, has proposed that by revitalizing the area will be to decommission the dam. This will allow new wetlands and habitat areas to grow and reduce nutrients, sediments and other pollutants that flow through the reservoir area from the watershed that feeds Rocky Ford Creek. 

You can either attend the meeting at the Findlay Municipal Building at 318 Dorney Plaza, or watch it live on the city's YouTube page: Findlay Ohio.