Early voting for the November 3rd election gets underway on Tuesday.

Jody O’Brien, with the Hancock County Board of Elections, says don’t be alarmed if you see a line stretching outside.

She says with social distancing requirements and the fact that their office is rather small, most of the line will be outside.

She says their office hours this week will be 8 to 5.

Also beginning Tuesday, absentee ballots will start to be mailed out to people who requested one.

In addition to voting early in person at the board of elections, voters can also mail back or drop off their absentee ballot, and of course just show up to the polls on election day on November 3rd and cast your ballot then.

Get more important election information from the Hancock County Board of Elections by clicking here.

Monday was World Teachers’ Day.

Findlay High School Principal Ryan Imke says it’s always important to appreciate all that teachers do, and especially so this year considering the challenges the pandemic has been presenting.

“You cannot say enough about all the hard work that our teachers are doing, they are going above and beyond to meet the needs of our students on a daily basis.”

Imke said he believes every day should be teacher appreciation day.

The theme of World Teachers’ Day this year was “Teachers: Leading in crisis, reimagining the future”.

Get more on World Teachers’ Day by clicking here. 

Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose issued a directive Monday saying that county board of elections officials could vote to have more than one drop box per county, but the additional drop boxes would have to be located at the board of elections.

LaRose’s directive means voters will still have to go to their county board of elections to deposit their absentee ballot in a drop box if they don’t want to mail it back.

Democrats and voting rights groups argue that distrust in the postal service and concerns about COVID at the polls would lead more Ohioans to drop off their absentee ballot rather than to mail them or vote in person.

On Friday a panel of judges from the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that LaRose could allow counties to have multiple drop boxes throughout their county.

For months, his main contention was that he didn’t have the legal authority to allow multiple drop boxes, but was in favor of the idea.

The Ohio Democratic Party and voting rights groups had filed lawsuits on the state and federal level to allow multiple drop boxes per county.

LaRose’s directive also allows boards of election to station bipartisan elections officials outside the building to collect absentee ballots.

The Hancock County Board of Elections  has a drop box outside its building at 201 East Lincoln Street in Findlay.

Both total cases and active cases increased in the latest COVID-19 data released by Hancock Public Health.

The agency says, as of Monday, there have been a total of 807 cases in the county, which is an increase of 28 from Friday.

The number of active cases as of Monday stood at 85, an increase of 15 from Friday’s numbers.

A total of 62 people have been hospitalized from the virus in Hancock County since the beginning of the pandemic.

13 Hancock County residents have died of COVID-19.

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

State data shows Putnam County had 677 cases and 27 deaths as of Monday.

Putnam County is still at level 3, or the red level on the alert map.

The Ohio State Highway Patrol is collaborating with five other states on a distracted driving enforcement initiative.

The 6-State Trooper Project got underway on Monday and will go through Monday, October 12th.

The high-visibility enforcement will include the Ohio State Highway Patrol, Indiana State Police, Kentucky State Police, Michigan State Police, Pennsylvania State Police and West Virginia State Police.

Since 2015, there have been 75,411 crashes in Ohio which involved on or more drivers who were distracted by something within their vehicle.

Of those, 227 were fatal crashes which resulted in 248 deaths.

“You are putting your life and the lives of others in danger any time you take your eyes off the road,” said Colonel Richard S. Fambro, Patrol Superintendent.

“Distracted driving can have devastating consequences for families.”

Ohio law bans all electronic wireless communication device usage for drivers under 18.

Texting while driving is illegal for all drivers.

If Republican Secretary of State Frank LaRose wants to expand the number of ballot drop boxes beyond one per Ohio county, he can – but an appellate court won’t force him to.

That was the essence of a ruling that left the fate of LaRose’s order restricting counties to one drop box each in his hands.

Curbside dropoff of ballots has been a growing trend amid the coronavirus pandemic and postal cutbacks.

Ohio’s 10th District Court of Appeals agreed with a trial judge that LaRose’s directive was not reasonable, but said it didn’t violate state law so shouldn’t be blocked.

LaRose has said he would prefer to have more drop boxes in each county, but that the state legislature would have to permit it.

The Hancock County Board of Elections has a drop box outside its building at 201 East Lincoln Street in Findlay.

It was the day a single mother of four had been working toward for a long time.

On Saturday, Habitat for Humanity of Findlay/Hancock County held a dedication ceremony for its 45th overall build and its 2020 Apostle Build.

The home at 1410 Logan Avenue in Findlay’s West Park neighborhood is for Allison Bowyer, who has been working hard to get ahead and do better for her kids.

Allison prepared for her new home by attending home ownership and Dave Ramsey Financial Peace University classes.

She also put in 400 hours of sweat equity into building the house and working at the ReStore.

An Apostle Build is where 12 churches partner together to each cover 1/12 of the cost.

Allison’s new home was dedicated on Saturday morning and you can see video from the dedication here.

Before you can make your voice heard in the November election you need to be registered to vote.

Jody O’Brien, Republican Director of the Hancock County Board of Elections, is reminding voters that the voter registration deadline is Monday, October 5th.

Jody says the Hancock County Board of Elections will be open until 9 p.m. Monday for the last day of voter registration. You can also register online by clicking here. 

Jody says absentee ballots that were requested will then start to be mailed out to voters on October 6th, which is the same day early voting begins.

She’s asking people to not procrastinate in sending back their absentee ballot.

She says the last day an absentee ballot can be postmarked is November 2nd, the day before the election.

You can also just drop it in the drop box outside the board of elections at 201 East Lincoln Street in Findlay.

A man was killed in a crash just south of Leipsic.

The crash happened Saturday at about 8:09 p.m. on State Route 65 near road F-6.

The Ohio State Highway Patrol says Jeremy Diemer, 46, of Leipsic, was driving his SUV south on State Route 65 when he went off the right side of the roadway, down an embankment and rolled.

Diemer was ejected from the vehicle which came to rest in a field on its top.

He was pronounced dead at the scene by the Putnam County coroner.

The highway patrol says the crash remains under investigation.

Ohio Governor Mike DeWine has issued a proclamation declaring Sunday, October 4th as a Day of Prayer related to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The governor says the Day of Prayer is for President Trump and First Lady Melania Trump, who recently contracted the coronavirus, and for all of those suffering from or impacted by the virus.

DeWine and his wife Fran met in person with Trump during his September 21st rally near Dayton.

Both the governor and First Lady were tested for COVID-19 on Friday and the results came back negative.

(above picture courtesy of Governor DeWine)

.@LtGovHusted and I have issued a proclamation declaring Sunday, October 4, as a Day of Prayer. The Day of Prayer is for President Donald Trump and First Lady Melania Trump, who recently tested positive for COVID-19, as well as all those suffering from or impacted by coronavirus. pic.twitter.com/tl8Fk1SxJW

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