11/3/17 – 5:26 A.M.
A downtown Findlay business is closing its doors, at least for now. The Courier reports the Muddy River Bicycle Company plans to shut down by the end of the year. Co-owner Eric McKee tells the newspaper he needs to help deal with some family health issues.
McKee says he’s not sure how long the store will close for. He adds it could open in a new location in the future.
The business has operated out of the former Finder’s Records store since 2011.
MORE: The Courier
11/3/17 – 5:20 A.M.
The Hancock County Commissioners recently approved a new deal between the Hancock County Sheriff’s Office and employees at the county jail. The Courier reports the three-year deal gives employees a 2 percent annual wage increase.
The deal is retroactive to March 8 and will cost the county $44,500 per year. Negotiations started in April and led to the union eventually declaring an impasse. The State Employment Relations Board held a hearing on the issue on September 18 and issued their report in early October. Both sides rejected that report and came to an agreement on October 16.
The agreement makes some changes to vacation time. An employee will receive three weeks of vacation after seven years of service, instead of the previous eight years. Vacation will increase to four weeks after 14 years of service, instead of the previous 15 years, and five weeks after 20 years, instead of the previous 25 years.
MORE: The Courier
11/3/17 – 5:07 A.M.
Opponents of Issue 4 in Hancock County launched a robocall campaign against the quarter-percent sales tax increase Thursday. However elected officials say it’s full of inaccuracies…
Audio: RoboCall Audio
The Courier reports Prosecutor and former Commissioner Phil Riegle was talking about the sales tax issue when the call started making the rounds. He said the state sets the salaries for the commissioners. Riegle added pay raises for elected officials can’t take place during their current term. They can only take effect after an election.
The recording doesn’t identify the organization that paid for the call. The Hancock County Commissioners plan to address the robocall at a 10 a.m. press conference.
11/02/17 – 5:26 P.M.
Ohio Democratic Party chair David Pepper is traveling Ohio to talk with local candidates and stopped in Findlay. He said it is important for the Democratic party to support smaller, local elections because that’s where people get engaged.
He added that these kinds of elections can show people that politics can be positive and beneficial.
He said he is excited to see what the three Findlay City Council at Large candidates accomplish.
The three Democrats in the race are Mary Harshfield, Barb Lockard, and Heidi Mercer. They are facing Republican incumbents Jeff Wobser, Tom Shindledecker, and Grant Russel. The election is next week.
11/02/17 – 4:42 P.M.
A former financial secretary for the union representing factory workers at Cooper Tire and Rubber Co. faces embezzlement charges. The Courier reports that Ronald Coldren has been charged with embezzling over $30,000. He allegedly took the money from the United Steelworkers Local 207L between April 2012 and January of 2016.
If Coldren is found guilty he could face up to five years in prison, a fine of up to $10,000, or both.
Coldren resigned early last year after questionable credit card charges were brought to the union’s attention. He later came forward, admitting that he had made unauthorized purchases with the card.
11/2/17 – 11:15 A.M.
One of the people vying to replace Cliff Hite in the Ohio Senate met with the Hancock County Commissioners today. State Representative Rob McColley told the commissioners he approaches legislation with an economic development mindset…
Audio: Rob McColley
McColley works with the Community Improvement Corporation of Henry County. He told the commissioners one of his big goals is to improve workforce development in the state.
Commissioner Brian Robertson asked State Representative Rob McColley about how he would keep the state from putting increasing burdens on local government…
Audio: Rob McColley
McColley adds he sees the impact of state legislation affect communities on the border with Indiana and Michigan in Williams County. For instance, McColley says raising the cigarette tax caused people to go across the border to by cigarettes and other items. That caused a drop in sales tax revenue in Williams County.
McColley currently represents the 81st House District in Northwest Ohio. It includes Putnam, Henry, Williams, and part of Fulton County.
11/2/17 – 7:15 A.M.
The University of Findlay’s Helping Hands Food Drive took in donations for CHOPIN Hall Wednesday. The goal of the event was to collect 78,000 pounds of food, but the final number far eclipsed that. David Harr says they collected more than 97,000 pounds of food in an eight hour stretch.
Harr said that it was amazing to see the community come together…
Audio: David Harr
Harr added that it takes about 600-700 hundreds of hours of volunteer time to handle the event. The food will all go to CHOPIN Hall so that it will stay local.
11/2/17 – 5:30 A.M.
The Findlay-Hancock County Public Library has a new partner to offer you mobile access to digital material. The library says they’ve partnered with Hoopla Digital to allow cardholders access to thousands of e-books, audiobooks, movies, and albums.
If you have a valid library card you can go to HooplaDigital.com to create an account. You can then borrow 10 digital items per month with no waiting periods.
11/2/17 – 5:24 A.M.
Local gas prices have spiked this week. OhioGasPrices.com reports the average price for a gallon of regular is now $2.67 in Findlay. That’s the highest average we’ve seen since the middle of June of 2016. Prices have jumped nearly 20 cents over the last week alone.
Patrick DeHaan is an oil analyst with Gas Buddy and says there are a few reasons for the sudden increase. Refineries are producing lower amounts of gas due to maintenance and lower inventories are pushing prices higher. DeHaan also says the shut down of the Explorer Pipeline to repair a leak is limiting the flow of oil from the Gulf of Mexico to refiners.
⚠️ Reasons for pain at the pump in Midwest: refinery maintenance taking place (limiting ⛽️ production), Explorer Pipeline leak causing shutdown and limiting flow of barrels from Gulf (repair underway), gasoline inventories in region at 2yr low. Relief will take time. #OOTT
— Patrick DeHaan ⛽️ (@GasBuddyGuy) November 1, 2017
11/2/17 – 5:13 A.M.
A new organization is taking aim at the opioid epidemic in Fostoria. The Review-Times reports “H.O.P.E. in Fostoria” members held a kick-off event in order for people to learn more about the organization. The event featured a panel discussion covering ongoing efforts to raise awareness and combat the abuse of opioids like heroin and fentanyl.
H.O.P.E. stands for Heroin, Opioid, Prevention, Education. The group is a joint between the Fostoria Kiwanis Club and the United Way of Fostoria. The 13 members of the organization come from several backgrounds, including law enforcement and elected officials.
MORE: Review-Times