Drivers who use a portion of North Main Street in Findlay will have to take a short detour for a few weeks.

North Main Street is closed at the railroad crossing just north of Center Street as crews make repairs to the crossing.

The closure began on Monday is anticipated to last until Friday, September 25th.

In addition to the work the railroad is doing at that crossing, the City of Findlay has several projects underway this week.

From the city:

Due to the construction, the following streets will be closed to traffic 09/14 thru 09/18:

Sixth Street will be closed from Brookside Drive to Main Street. Access to the businesses and residences on Sixth Street between Blanchard Street and Washington Avenue will be maintained if no other access is available to their property.

Hancock County 236 will be closed from Lakeview Parkway to Sandusky Street.

Front Street will be closed from Main Street to East Street for curb replacement and resurfacing.

Blanchard Street will be reduced to one lane in each direction from Sixth Street to Main Cross Avenue.

Motorists are advised to avoid these areas if possible. Short delays should be expected in these areas over the next week. Contact the Findlay Engineering Department at 419-424-7121 for more information.

 

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Governor Mike DeWine has signed a bill giving people, businesses, schools and other entities legal immunity from COVID-19-related lawsuits.

Supporters of the bill say it should alleviate the fear that some schools and businesses might have about reopening and unintentionally spreading the virus.

The governor says the bill will help protect Ohioans from the virus while at the same time ensure that the economy doesn’t suffer further harm.

Lawsuits will be allowed to continue if the virus is transmitted by “reckless or intentional misconduct.”

The measure will retroactively apply back to March 9th, when the coronavirus pandemic began, and until September 30th, 2021.

 

Those voting by absentee ballot in Ohio this fall will have to pay their own postage.

The Ohio Controlling Board has denied a request from Secretary of State Frank LaRose to spend $3 million to include prepaid postage with the ballots.

Some board members say they hesitate to make changes so close to the election, adding that Ohioans still have many options for voting.

The voter registration deadline is October 5th and early voting begins the following day.

Both state and local officials are urging people voting by absentee to not procrastinate in sending back their ballot for the November 3rd general election.

The Ohio Secretary of State’s office mails an absentee ballot application to all registered voters.

The Hancock County Board of Elections has an absentee ballot drop box outside their building. Get more details here. 

 

A student at Findlay High School has tested positive for the coronavirus.

The school district sent parents a letter on Monday informing them of the positive case.

The letter states that Hancock Public Health will be reviewing how many people the infected student came into contact with.

And the health department will get in touch with individuals who were determined to have had close contact with the positive-test student.

Findlay City Schools points out that its greatest priority is the safety of its students, staff and community members and will continue to follow all COVID-related safety procedures.

The school district also encourages people to remain calm and to be empathetic and respectful to those affected.

Findlay City Schools has created a daily-reporting dashboard of students and staff who have the coronavirus which you can access by clicking here.

As of Monday afternoon, the dashboard indicated that one student at the high school had tested positive and 46 were in quarantine.

The dashboard also says three teachers at the high school are under quarantine.

As of Monday, Hancock County was still at level 2, or the orange level, on the state’s COVID-19 alert map.

 

The Hancock County Sheriff’s Office has been awarded $42,742 in federal traffic safety funding from the Ohio Traffic Safety Office.

The sheriff’s office says the funding, which is passed through the Ohio Traffic Safety Office from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, will support efforts that focus on traffic safety priority areas such as seatbelt use, impaired and distracted driving, motorcycle safety and youth drivers.

The sheriff’s office says competitive grant proposals are accepted and reviewed by OTSO, with funds awarded to projects that will have the greatest impact on reducing fatal crashes or significantly improving traffic safety systems.

For more information on the national effort to improve traffic safety click here for the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration website.

(below is video from a crash that the sheriff’s office responded to in June)

 

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The Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure will be virtual this year.

We spoke with the director of Susan G. Komen Northwest Ohio, Mary Westphal, as the street ribbons were painted in Findlay in advance of this year’s event.

 

 

The pink ribbons were painted in front of Blanchard Valley Hospital and Maraton Petroleum.

Mary says Findlay has really rallied around the virtual event this year.

 

 

And she says some people plan to walk the actual route of the race on Saturday, September 26th in Findlay.

Get more on the 2020 Komen Findlay Virtual Race for the Cure here.

 

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The Findlay Trojans lost a heartbreaker in their home opener against St. John’s on Friday night.

It was a defensive struggle in the first half and the Trojans were trailing St. John’s 6-3 at halftime.

But Findlay’s offense came alive in the second half and they were leading by a score of 24-19 late in the 4th quarter.

St. John’s would score with about one minute to go to go up 25-24.

Findlay had one last possession and marched down the field but threw an interception and lost by one point.

This is the first loss of the season for the Trojans after previous road wins at Whitmer and Fremont.

Findlay is on the road next Friday night at Central Catholic in another game you can hear right here on WFIN.

You can also listen to replays of Trojans games by clicking here.

 

DEFENSIVE STRUGGLE – It’s a low-scoring affair at the half as the @FCSTrojans trail St. John’s 6-3 at the half here on WFIN. pic.twitter.com/HzGCRkG7sZ

— WFIN News (@WFINradio) September 12, 2020

 

An eighth Hancock County resident has died from the coronavirus.

Hancock Public Health says the patient was a 92-year-old man.

Health officials say, as of Friday, there have been 595 total cases of the virus in the county and eight deaths.

38 of the cases are active which means the patient is currently under quarantine or isolation.

Hancock Public Health says 50 people have been hospitalized from the virus in Hancock County since the beginning of the pandemic and eight residents have died from it.

Hancock County is still at level 2, or orange, on the state’s COVID-19 alert map.

 

Friday marked 19 years since the terrorist attack on September 11, 2001 at the World Trade Center in New York City that took the lives of nearly 3,000 people.

Among the dead were 343 firefighters.

Findlay Fire Department Battalion Chief Matt Cooper says they took some time on the anniversary to reflect on the sacrifice made by so many of their fellow firefighters.

 

 

He says the firefighters that entered the World Trade Center on 9/11 weren’t thinking about themselves or the possibility that they could die, they were just doing their job and trying to help the people stuck in the buildings.

 

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Ohio Supreme Court Justice Judi French was the guest speaker at the Hancock County Republican Party luncheon on Friday.

French became a justice in January of 2013 and was elected to her first full term in 2014.

Justice French says she’s proud of the decisions she has written and has established herself as a conservative justice by applying the law in a straightforward way.

She says one of the big things on the horizon is a uniform sentencing database to require all courts to collect uniform data to see if there are sentencing disparities based on race or other factors.

 

 

Justice French says she’s used her voice as a supreme court justice to advocate for changes and programs that will ensure access to justice for all Ohioans.

From 1997 to 2002 Justice French worked for Ohio Attorney General Betty Montgomery and argued two cases before the United States Supreme Court.

One of those cases was the Cleveland school vouchers case, in which her presentation of the state’s position helped ensure equitable educational opportunities for all Ohio students.

French is from Mahoning County and got her law degree from Ohio State and currently lives near Columbus.

French is up for re-election in November and is being challenged by Democrat former Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner.