The Ohio State University says it will allow players’ families to attend this weekend’s game against Michigan at Ohio Stadium, if the game is played.

OSU said players may invite a total of four family members to the game, which is also Senior Day for the Buckeyes.

No fans were allowed to attend Ohio State’s last home game, against Indiana

Senior Day festivities will be scaled back this year because of the pandemic, with the Big Ten Network planning to air senior tributes for all-conference member teams to compensate.

OSU also said that Michigan players would be allowed to invite family members to the game since it is their season finale.

Both Michigan and Ohio State have had to cancel games because of COVID-19 and there are concerns about whether the rivalry game will be played on Saturday.

Just in case you forgot what week it is ❌#GoBuckeyes pic.twitter.com/4LRjYzz768

— Ohio State Buckeyes ? (@OhioStAthletics) December 7, 2020

The Fostoria Fire Division battled a house fire on Saturday morning.

Firefighters arrived at 225 East North Street at around 8:30 a.m. Saturday to find heavy smoke coming from the second floor and roof gables.

The fire department says crews made an aggressive interior attack on the fire and searched for a person who was reported to be inside, which later was confirmed to not be the case.

All off-duty personnel were called in to fight the fire.

The fire department says the cause of the fire is suspicious in nature and is under investigation.

The Findlay Post of the Ohio State Highway Patrol has named Trooper Matthew Cook its Trooper of the Year for 2020.

The award recognizes Trooper Cook’s outstanding service at the Findlay Post during 2020.

“Fellow officers stationed at Findlay chose Trooper Cook based on leadership abilities, professional ethics, courteous treatment of others, enthusiastic work attitude, and cooperation with supervisors, peers, and the public,” said Lt. Matt Crow, Findlay Post Commander.

Trooper Cook, who is 34 and lives in McComb, is now in contention for the District and State Trooper of the Year Award that will be announced at a later date.

Trooper Cook joined the Highway Patrol in 2014 and has served at the Findlay Post throughout his career.

Originally from Perrysburg and a home school graduate, Trooper Cook graduated from Owens Community College with an Associates Degree in Criminal Justice.

Other Highway Patrol awards received in the past include the 2016 Findlay Post Trooper of the Year, Criminal Patrol Award, Health and Physical Fitness Award, and the Safe Driving Award.

Six Hancock County residents died of the coronavirus from Wednesday to Friday.

The Friday numbers from Hancock Public Health show 52 fatalities from the virus, up from 46 on Wednesday.

Active cases increased to 372 on Friday, a jump of 27 cases from Wednesday.

Active cases are patients who are currently under quarantine or in isolation.

44 people were hospitalized with the virus in Hancock County on Friday, an increase of two from Wednesday.

State data shows Putnam County has had 56 deaths from the virus since the pandemic began.

Statewide, there have been more than 456,000 cases and nearly 6,900 deaths since the pandemic started.

pic.twitter.com/Ewx8wuqIX9

— HancockPublicHealth (@HancockHealth) December 4, 2020

The City of Findlay says more than $436,000 in federal CARES Act funding that the city received has been awarded to 15 local nonprofit organizations.

The Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act is a more than $2 trillion economic relief package passed by Congress in response to the economic fallout of the coronavirus pandemic.

Among the nonprofits that received funding: Marathon Center for the Performing Arts was awarded $112,833, Habitat for Humanity $74,675 and Cancer Patient Services $36,929.

See the full list and get more details in the following news release from the City of Findlay.

The City of Findlay is pleased to announce funds awarded from the Hancock County Resilience Program. A total of $436,823.77 was awarded to 15 local nonprofit organizations.

The money was distributed to the city from the federal CARES Act. A committee comprised of representatives from The Findlay-Hancock County Community Foundation, city council, a township trustee, United Way of Hancock County as well as the mayor determined the awards following a thorough review and discussion. The following organizations were awarded funding:

Black Heritage Library – $5,000
Black Swamp Area Council – $39,437
Camp Fire Northwest Ohio – $28,328.49
Cancer Patient Services – $36,929.31
CASA – $11,071.00
Children’s Museum – $4,321.11
Christian Clearing House – $43,182.55
Findlay Family YMCA – $25,000
Habitat for Humanity – $74,675.43
Hancock County Humane Society – $13,810
Hope House – $4,607.88
Marathon Center for Performing Arts – $112,833.69
Northwest Ohio Railroad Association – $12,724.55
Silver Blades – $14,500
Youth for Christ – $10,402.76

“The City of Findlay is pleased to partner with the representatives from the selection committee to award these deserving nonprofits with much needed funding,” said Mayor Christina Muryn. “As we navigate the effects of the pandemic, these organizations will play a critical role in caring for individuals and families. I am grateful to each selection committee representative for their time in making these awards happen.”

“I am pleased that the City was able to put this additional distribution of CARES Act funds to good use in supporting our local nonprofit organizations,” said Mayor Christina Muryn. “We were able to offer full funding to the majority of the requests we received. I will continue to advocate for local, state, and federal support of nonprofits, businesses, individuals and our community and hope to see the impact of that advocacy in the coming months.”

“This funding process is a great opportunity to help nonprofits in need,” said Brian Treece, President & CEO of The Community Foundation. “The pandemic has impacted nonprofits who have seen demand for service increase while fundraising has decreased. This will likely continue into 2021 and we hope this funding will help. We are grateful for all the nonprofits do to serve our community.”

Note: Many of the essential service nonprofits have received direct state or federal aid where various other 501(c)3s have not.

(ONN) – At a special news conference Friday afternoon, Governor DeWine said that as many as 660,000 doses of the COVID-19 vaccine could arrive in the Buckeye State before the end of the year, a much higher amount than originally anticipated.

He said the first batch of doses, around 100,000, should arrive around December 15th.

While DeWine stressed that there are many factors at the federal level that could lower that number, he nonetheless said that many of Ohio’s most at-risk, frontline medical workers, first responders and elderly patients in nursing homes could receive a vaccine within the next several weeks.

More than 450,000 Ohioans have contracted the virus, and nearly 6,900 have died.

Click here to check out the latest COVID-19 data.

Phase 1A of distribution priorities – in no particular order ⬇

◾ Healthcare workers and personnel who are involved in the care of COVID-19 patients
◾ EMS responders
◾ Vulnerable individuals who live together in close proximity and those who care for them ⬇ pic.twitter.com/jJ6HiEylWX

— Governor Mike DeWine (@GovMikeDeWine) December 4, 2020

Ohio Treasurer Robert Sprague, of Findlay, says a state program has helped the Village of Carey save a lot of money in interest costs.

Details are in the following news release from the Ohio Treasurer’s Office.

The Ohio Market Access Program (OMAP) administered by Ohio Treasurer Robert Sprague has helped the Village of Carey (Wyandot County) enter the market to refinance outstanding debt, saving an estimated $42,750 in interest costs.

“With budgets tightening across the state, the Ohio Market Access Program gives local governments a leg up as they finance important infrastructure projects,” said Treasurer Sprague. “This is the third consecutive year that Carey has utilized OMAP, and we look forward to our continued work with the village as they navigate the municipal debt market.”

The OMAP credit enhancement allowed the Village of Carey to achieve considerable interest cost savings. The original note proceeds were used to finance the construction of power distribution lines installed to service a school building and an industrial park.

“We are very excited with the savings the village will be seeing with the OMAP deal, especially during these trying times,” said Carey Village Administrator Nathan Curtis.

OMAP is a credit enhancement program that leverages the state’s excess liquidity and high short-term credit rating to help improve market access and lower borrowing rates for local governments. Since its 2014 launch, OMAP has supported more than 190 deals, ranging from $390,000 to over $100 million. There have been no defaults, and to date, OMAP has generated more than $3.8 million in estimated savings for local governments.

Any government subdivision in good fiscal standing, including cities, villages, school districts, counties, townships, and special districts, issuing short-term debt is eligible to participate.

For more information, click here. 

At Kaleidoscope Farms in Mt. Cory, co-owner Matt Reese told us demand is high for real Christmas trees in what’s been a tough 2020 for everyone.

Matt told us that they sold out of their bigger trees earlier than usual this year.

He believes the increased demand is from people tired of being cooped up inside and wanting to find a fun family activity, and also wanting a nice, real tree to enjoy over the holidays.

Matt says each year they sell more trees than the previous year.

This year he expects to sell around 1,800 trees.

He says they still have some really nice 5 and 6 footers left but you better hurry.

Ohio lawmakers are moving closer to making Juneteenth a paid state holiday.

The Columbus Dispatch reports that the Ohio Senate approved a bill which would make June 19 a paid holiday for government employees.

If signed into law, Ohio would join Texas and a handful of other states that acknowledge the holiday with paid time off.

Juneteenth commemorates the end of slavery in the United States.

It was on that date in 1865, two-and-a-half years after the Emancipation Proclamation, that the news of the abolition of slavery and the end of the Civil War reached Texas.

The measure now moves to the Ohio House.

The number of counties at the highest level of Ohio’s COVID-19 alert map has doubled.

The Ohio Department of Health reports that Medina, Portage, Richland, Stark and Summit Counties are the latest to be elevated to level 4 or purple.

A purple designation is based on a number of factors, the most serious of which is the county’s ability to accommodate COVID-19 patients in their hospitals.

Montgomery, Lorain and Lake Counties remain at level 4, while Franklin County is now back to level 3 or red.

Hancock County and most of its neighbors are still on level 3, or the red level.

Wood County has been removed from the level 4 watch list, and is still red.

All but eight of Ohio’s 88 counties are now at red or purple.

All of Ohio’s counties are considered to have a high incidence of cases.

Click here to check out the map.

Here is a comparison between last week and this week.

More information: https://t.co/58Cg4HJ1uM pic.twitter.com/FvsWGdZudY

— Governor Mike DeWine (@GovMikeDeWine) December 3, 2020