Heidelberg University's Master of Arts in Counseling program received the 2026 Innovative Counselor Education Program Award from the North Central Association for Counselor Education and Supervision, a 13-state region. The program was recognized for its twice-a-week schedule, a bridge program that now includes Tiffin University students, federal internship stipends and a 96% licensure pass rate.

Seneca County commissioners accepted EMS Director Chris Hafley's retirement, effective Jan. 8, 2027, and appointed Assistant Chief Nic Summers as chief of emergency services. The two will serve as co-directors until January. Lynn Love, who started as an EMT, was named assistant chief.

The Seneca County Veterans Service Commission has named Bettsville native Dan Steele, a U.S. Army veteran who served in Vietnam with a combat engineer unit and later spent 25 years caring for Bettsville Schools, its Veteran of the Year. He will be honored Nov. 11 at American Legion Post 733 in Bettsville.

Findlay-Hancock County Habitat for Humanity dedicated Homes 71, 72 and 73 on Bishop Lane and announced a 2027 Women Build. Longtime supporter Sandy Franks is giving $25,000 now and another $25,000 once the community matches it. Construction on Home 74 starts in March 2027.

After the chemical leak in north Toledo, Seneca County EMA Director John Spahr told The Advertiser-Tribune the county faces no risk from that incident but has about 50 sites that report hazardous materials. Here is how the county would warn you, how to sign up for Hyper-Reach alerts and how to shelter in place.

The Sandusky County Drug Task Force says Kerry Pitts was arrested Oct. 20 and Christopher McDonald on Oct. 22 on first-degree felony cocaine trafficking charges after months-long investigations in Fremont. More charges are expected after state lab results.

A sworn account from Christa Pike's attorney says she strained, flinched and struggled to breathe for 30 minutes after Tennessee's lethal drug was given. Opinion: the Eighth Amendment and Tennessee's own constitution ban cruel and unusual punishment, and Tennessee owes the public answers.

Union workers at the Wilson football factory in Ada approved a new three-year contract Thursday evening by a 62-30 vote, a week after 99% rejected the company's "last, best and final offer." Other terms have not been released.

Ohio's secretary of state is reviewing complaints about a Ramaswamy campaign ad in which Amy Acton's estranged mother calls her a liar. Vice President JD Vance told Republicans to stop "whining" about it, Libertarian Don Kissick urged Ramaswamy to quit the race, and Acton called the ad "a horrible thing to do."

Carole Ann Bishop, 79, of Findlay, a Fostoria native and 1965 Fostoria High School graduate known for her quick wit, died Oct. 18. Visitation is Friday, Oct. 23, at Coldren-Crates Funeral Home.

Clausel Dorante, 51, of Findlay, died Oct. 20. Coldren-Crates Funeral Home in Findlay is assisting the family; a full obituary has not yet been published.

David B. Shumway, 84, of Richfield, a Tiffin native and steel industry engineer who raced motorcycles as an amateur, died Oct. 19. He will be laid to rest at Greenlawn Cemetery in Tiffin.

Linda Lou Wotring, a Fostoria native who founded Heritage House Assisted Living in Toledo and opened her home to foster children and refugee families, died Oct. 19, her 87th birthday. Services are Saturday in Toledo.

North Baltimore police are asking for help finding Cody A. Fletcher, 36, wanted on a probation violation. Police say he is considered armed and dangerous and should not be approached.

John Charles Huber, 75, of Fostoria, an Army veteran who spent 30 years at Atlas Crankshaft and ran Buck's Construction, died Oct. 20. Visitation is Friday and the funeral is Saturday at Hoening & Son Funeral Home.

7 Brew is open in Tiffin and coming to Findlay's Tiffin Avenue, but the chain does not publicly name its roaster, bean origins or coffee grade. Here's what it does disclose, how coffee is graded, and what its own nutrition guide shows about sugar in its drinks.

Vice President JD Vance and Attorney General Todd Blanche announced in the Cincinnati area that a nationwide surge led to actions against more than 40 defendants tied to nearly $42 million in alleged SNAP fraud. The largest case alleges $29.7 million in fraud using stolen Ohio EBT data.

Gregory Garrow, 61, of Wauseon died Wednesday morning when his car hit an oncoming pickup as he tried to pass a semi on County Road D in Fulton County, the Ohio State Highway Patrol said. Troopers said fog was a factor and the crash was not related to the Toledo chemical leak.

President Trump says every adult U.S. citizen will get a $5,000 "Trump Dividend" if Republicans keep the House and Senate on Nov. 3. No bill exists yet, Speaker Mike Johnson says Congress would have to approve it, and budget analysts put the cost at about $1.2 trillion.

Mobile Meals of Toledo expects to go from about 260,000 meals in 2026 to as many as 800,000 in 2027 as it adds 12 senior centers. The nonprofit says it needs to grow from about 300 volunteers to as many as 500.

Bowling Green police say a 30-year-old woman arrested after a downtown fight Saturday kicked a nurse and struck an officer at Wood County Hospital. In a separate case, an 18-year-old Elyria woman was charged with assault after a bar altercation Sunday.

Findlay City Council voted 9-1 Tuesday to remove a proposed ordinance on city use of artificial intelligence from its agenda, with the council president saying it had not gone through the usual review. Mayor Christina Muryn said the administration hopes to have its own AI policy by year end.

Kayem Foods is recalling about 1.58 million pounds of ready-to-eat meat and poultry, including Kayem hot dogs, bacon and deli meats and Al Fresco chicken sausage, after a warehouse cooler malfunction. Products were shipped nationwide; FSIS has not yet posted a state retail list.

Rhode Island Democratic Party Chair Liz Beretta-Perik resigned Tuesday after her husband, Michael Perik, was indicted in Jefferson County, Ohio, in what Auditor Keith Faber calls the theft of about $20 million from the now-closed Eastern Gateway Community College. She is not charged.

Bowling Green received a $1 million state REDD grant to extend water and sewer to a planned 117-lot workforce housing subdivision at Brim and Bishop roads, and council approved moving ahead with a roundabout at East Wooster Street and Dunbridge Road.

Blanchard Valley Regional Health Center in Findlay, Memorial Hospital in Fremont and Sojourn at Seneca in Tiffin are each getting $1,377,479 from Ohio's $92 million Rural Health Transformation Program round. Fostoria Community Hospital is not among the 22 hospitals named.

James Heneghan, 33, a Hancock County, Indiana, sheriff's deputy, is charged with 441 counts, including 220 felony official misconduct counts, after state police said he ran thousands of Flock license-plate searches on people in his personal life. He is on unpaid leave and due in court Oct. 29.

Jonathan Schmidt, charged with aggravated murder in the April beating death of his mother-in-law, Marcia VanDruten, is due in Lucas County Common Pleas Court at 2 p.m. Wednesday for a hearing marked "plea indicated," WTOL reported. A plea could cancel his Dec. 7 trial.

Most of the 1897 Wheeling and Lake Erie Railway bridge over the Maumee River will be replaced in a roughly $65 million project likely starting in 2029, The Blade reported after Monday's news conference with Rep. Marcy Kaptur. A $43.5 million federal grant anchors the work.

Elon Musk is funneling more than $7 million to independent groups backing U.S. Sen. Jon Husted in his Nov. 3 race against Sherrod Brown, according to a Guardrails Action analysis reported by the Ohio Capital Journal. Husted's office did not respond to the outlet's questions.

An Ottawa County grand jury has indicted Ohio state Rep. Elgin Rogers Jr. on OVI and firearms charges from an Aug. 13 Clay Township traffic stop, 13abc reported Monday in an update to its earlier coverage. He remains on the November ballot in House District 42.

Craig Alan Sipe, 63, of Akron is charged with aggravated murder after police say a 61-year-old woman was shot and killed inside the Cuyahoga Falls Natatorium Sunday morning in what they believe was a domestic-related attack. He is set to be arraigned Monday.

A 6-year-old Tiffin dirt bike racer who has made the podium all season is in the running for a $25,000 prize in Stan Lee's Super Kid contest. Voting for the current round closes Oct. 22.