(ONN) – Ohio’s governor wants state lawmakers to drop bills that would prohibit local governments from forbidding the use of plastic bags.

Gov. Mike DeWine opposes a pair of bills offered by fellow Republicans to forbid municipalities and counties from banning single-use plastic bags by groceries and other stores.

Some local governments are trying to regulate plastic bags in an effort to reduce litter and plastic waste in landfills.

Some lawmakers and business groups say the local bans make it harder for grocers and other businesses to operate.

DeWine says local communities should be allowed to do what they think is best.

Saturday marks the 78th anniversary of Pearl Harbor Day, which brought the United States into World War II.

Claude Campbell is a local WWII veteran and said that he was only 14 when the war started and enlisted in the navy a few years later.

Campbell recalled that a friend of his didn’t have to serve because he had lost two brothers in the war already but begged his mother to let him go.

When she agreed, Campbell and four others decided to join the military with their friend.

He said he didn’t know much about Pearl Harbor at the time of enlisting because he lived in a small town that only had a local paper and he didn’t listen to the radio much.

Campbell said that they got out of boot camp in August of 1945 and the war had ended a short time later.

After the war, Campbell spent several years in Pennsylvania and moved to Pandora with his wife in 1972.

He now lives in Bluffton.

Get the full interview below.

Arcadia is one of many school districts that are using cameras to catch people disobeying bus laws.

Transportation supervisor Bret Voges explained that they starting using the cameras because of drivers passing buses illegally.

 

He said the cameras catch drivers that don’t stop and the license plate information is sent to the police so they can be fined, which he says happens often, unfortunately.

Voges added that state law will no longer require front-end license plates starting this June which will affect the usefulness of the cameras.

He said that districts that only have front-facing cameras will not be able to catch drivers without a front-end license plate.

The superintendent of Tiffin City Schools is charged with driving under the influence after being pulled over in Marion County.

Court records in Marion Municipal Court show Gary Barber, 55, is charged with OVI, OVI test refusal and a traffic lane violation.

Records show the alleged violations happened at 10:49 Friday night November 29th.

Barber was issued a summons to appear in court on February 5th.

In 2017 Barber entered a no contest plea to an OVI charge in Tiffin Municipal Court and he paid a fine and had his license suspended for 6 months.

The Tiffin City Schools Board of Education issued the following statement:

The Board wants to advise staff, students and the parents of the school district that Superintendent Barber is presently on a medical leave of absence.

The Board is looking into all of the current circumstances and will be developing a plan for the effective and efficient management of the operations of the District.

At present, Assistant Superintendent Bob Boes continues to manage the day-to-day operations with the support of the District’s competent administrative team.

Just because recreational marijuana is legal in Michigan doesn’t mean drivers can take it across the border to Ohio.

That’s what the Ohio State Highway Patrol is saying this week, adding that they’re concerned about drivers being stoned while crossing state lines.

Officers will be conducting impairment tests if they suspect someone is high while operating a vehicle.

In the 2018 midterm election, Michigan became the 10th state to approve the recreational use of cannabis.

Marijuana for recreational use by adults went on sale in Michigan on December 1st.

(ONN) – Ohio’s top law enforcement official has sent more than $325,000 in grants for new body armor to local police departments over the past three months.

Attorney General Dave Yost said the money went to some 60 police departments through the Ohio Law Enforcement Body Armor Program.

The program was launched in August 2018 by then-Attorney General Mike DeWine after the Associated Press reported more than 50 Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation agents were wearing expired bulletproof vests despite pleas for replacement vests.

The Findlay Police Department did not apply for this particular grant.

They had previously been awarded funds through the Department of Justice Ballistic Vest Partnership, which they have participated in for several years.

The Hancock County Sheriff’s Office says a woman was injured when she ran a stop sign and caused a crash.

It happened a little before 6 p.m. on Wednesday at County Road 212 and Township Road 230, on the northeast side of Findlay.

The sheriff’s office says Shianne Newman, 25, of Findlay, was driving north on Township Road 230 when she failed to yield for traffic and turned west onto County Road 212.

Her car was hit by an SUV driven by Gaye Habib, 24, of Findlay.

Newman was injured in the crash and was taken to Blanchard Valley Hospital.

Both vehicles sustained disabling damage in the crash and had to be towed.

Newman was cited for failure to yield at a stop sign, and Habib was cited for driving under suspension.

The Hancock County Grand Jury indicted 36-year-old Kory Conley on two vehicular homicide charges Tuesday.

Hancock County Prosecutor Phil Riegel explained that 36-year-old Kory Conley is accused of hitting 55-year-old Kenny Bender on September 27.

 

Bender was hospitalized but passed away due to his injuries on October 4.

You can learn more about the accident here and about Bender here.

Kenny loved riding his bike around town and, in his memory, a lot of people participated in a special bike ride to his funeral.

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Findlay City Council gave the Blanchard Street project a second reading at its meeting on Tuesday.

The project will likely receive a third reading and could be voted on at council’s next meeting on December 17th.

The controversial proposal calls for reconfiguring Blanchard Street into one lane in either direction, with a dedicated center turn lane, from Sixth Street to Center Street.

The project also calls for a bike lane to be constructed on either side of the street.

The city says the project would improve safety at 17 intersections along the Blanchard Street corridor and reduce rear-end and T-bone crashes.

The project also includes a multi-use path along Lincoln Street.

Some residents have been outspoken in their opposition to the project.

The mayor admitted the project could have been better communicated to the public.

The estimated cost is $2.7 million, of which all but $214,000 would be covered by grants from the Ohio Department of Transportation.

The city says its max share of the cost would be no more than $328,000.

Councilman Jeff Wobser is proposing a scaled-down version of the project that doesn’t include dedicated bike lanes and would not receive any money from the state.

Ohio State’s Ryan Day is the 2019 Big Ten Dave McLain Coach of the Year.

Members of the media who cover the conference gave Day the honor, making him the first Buckeyes head coach in 40-years to take home the award since Earle Bruce in 1979.

Since the Big Ten first began giving out Coach of the Year, prior to Day, an Ohio State coach had only been chosen three times with Woody Hayes winning in 1973 and 1975 and Bruce in 1979.

Including Day, each of the coaches to win the award led the Buckeyes to an undefeated regular-season record.

(picture courtesy of Ric Kruszynski of Columbus Wired)