11/15/18 – 5:02 A.M.
UPDATE – 10:59 A.M. (Reflects cancellation of Level 1 Advisory in Putnam County)
A winter weather advisory remains in place until 7 p.m. for Hancock, Seneca, Wood, and Wyandot Counties.
There are some signs of improvement, as Putnam County is no longer under a Level 1 Roadway Advisory.
The National Weather Service has issued an Ice Storm Warning for Putnam, Allen, and Hardin Counties until noon. They could see up to a third of an inch of ice in areas to our south and west.
11/15/18 – 10:03 A.M.
UPDATE – 10:32 A.M. (Reflects one lane of traffic opening back up)
A crash on I-75 northbound near Cygnet has closed two lanes of the interstate. The State Highway Patrol reports multiple cars were involved in the crash. The left lane is the only open lane at this time, and our Waze traffic map is showing a slowdown stretching from Cygnet south past North Baltimore.
You’re asked to avoid the area for now.
We’ll have more details as they become available.
11/15/18 – 10:23 A.M.
Cooper Tire & Rubber has named their next Chief Financial Officer. The Findlay-based company says Christopher Eperjesy will join the company on December 10. He’ll take the place of Ginger Jones, who announced her retirement earlier this year.
Eperjesy currently is the CFO of the IMAGINE Group and has served in the same role for Arctic Cat.
CEO Brad Hughes says “As a seasoned CFO and leader who has been an important part of driving complex company transformations across a variety of industries, Chris brings a wealth of strategic finance expertise to Cooper.”
11/15/18 – 7:39 A.M.
If you use an antenna to watch WBGU-TV, you’ll have to rescan your channels later this month to make sure it continues to show up on your TV. The signal switch will happen at 11:30 a.m. on November 27. Even though WBGU is changing frequencies, it will still show up on Channel 27.
You can rescan your channel by using the settings function on your remote control. You don’t need new equipment to continue getting WBGU. You also don’t need to make any adjustments if you use cable or satellite to get TV.
MORE: The Courier
11/15/18 – 7:29 A.M.
A Columbus Grove businessman will renovate a vacant building in the village. The Putnam County Sentinel reports Christopher Halker has bought the Crawford building at 100 North High Street.
The village has agreed to pay up to $15,000 to meet liens on the property. They are also providing two roll off dumpsters during the renovation process. Council says the cost is much lower than the roughly $100,000 it could have cost to demolish the building.
If Halker doesn’t complete the renovation in a timely manner he’ll have to reimburse the village. He plans to locate a Thrivant Financial office in the building.
MORE: The Courier
11/15/18 – 7:19 A.M.
If you take part in the gas aggregation program in Findlay you’ll see slightly lower rates for the next year. The city says the 12-month fixed rate will be $4.34 per thousand cubic feet from December through next November. That compares to the current rate of $4.37 per thousand cubic feet of gas.
Volunteer Energy Services of Pickerington remains the aggregation supplier.
MORE: The Courier
11/15/18 – 5:21 A.M.
A grain truck collided with a semi on State Route 235 Wednesday afternoon, injuring a Jenera man. The State Highway Patrol reports the crash happened on Route 235 at the exit ramp from southbound I-75.
34-year-old Landon Ross of Stow had stopped at the intersection, but then pulled into the path of a grain truck driven by 50-year-old Franklin Niese. Niese went to Blanchard Valley Hospital for treatment of non-life threatening injuries. Troopers cited Ross for failure to yield from a stop sign.
11/15/18 – 5:13 A.M.
Biologists and civil engineers have started relocating mussels in the Blanchard River. The Courier reports the group from Stantec Engineering is collecting and moving the mussels out of the area where the river benching project is taking place. Workers are demolishing the dams one-by-one to gradually lower the river levels. Each time they take out a dam, the lower water level exposes more mussels.
Angela Sjollema is a wildlife biologist with Stantec. She says they are finding younger mussels, which is good for the health of the river. Sjollema says that means they are reproducing, and keeping the river clean.
On Wednesday the group removed around 200 mussels from the Cory Street dam location. That included around seven different species.
MORE: The Courier
11/14/18 – 6:25 P.M.
Birchaven Village was named to the list of Best Nursing Homes 2018-29 by U.S. News and World Report. This is the fourth time the nursing home made the list. Birchaven Village was one of over 2,900 facilities recognized by U.S. News as Best Nursing Homes. They were one of over 1,800 who received this recognition for high performing overall care.
Birchaven Village administrator Bridgett Mundy said, “This recognition is a testament to the dedication of our entire care team.”
Officials from the Liberty-Benton school district gave a presentation about future building options Tuesday night. The Courier’s Kathryne Rubright explained that the state is forcing the school to make the changes.
To address the issue, Liberty Benton is various options including different renovations and building a new building. You can read more about this and find more about the current ideas here.