CELINA - A new partnership aims to gradually expand a place for homeless people to find temporary shelter as they focus on becoming productive, self-reliant community members.

Lord's Abounding Grace Church of Celina has joined forces with the Mercer County Homeless Coalition to enlarge what is being dubbed Hand Up Village on the grounds behind the rural church's property. [More]

CELINA - Track and field athletes traveled from near and far.

Because Celina's Varsity Track offered them a long-awaited chance to compete.

Saturday's Back on the Track Open was the first of two summer meets held in Celina. The meet featured rou [More]

CELINA - A 10th Mercer County person has died from COVID-19, according to a news release on Friday.

Three new cases of the virus also were reported, raising the county's total to 294. No new cases were reported in Auglaize County.

The 10th death was a 93-year-old woman who was a resident at The Gardens at Celina, county health district officials said in the release. [More]

MINSTER - The results have been good for Minster this summer when Eric Schmidt is on the hill.

That trend continued on Friday night. 

Schmidt pitched five innings of one-hit baseball and Minster held off a late Celina charge for a 6-4 victory.

The incoming senior had seven strikeouts to increase his summer K total to 32 through three games. He was coming off a 14-strikeout performance in last week's win over Covington. [More]

CELINA - A new case of COVID-19 raised Mercer County's total number of cases to 291 as the county was elevated to a Level 2 public emergency in the Ohio Public Health Advisory System on Thursday.

In Auglaize County, two new confirmed cases brought that county's total to 102. [More]

MARIA STEIN - Though he was blind for most of his life, Gilbert Rutschilling perceived the lay of the land and the flora and fauna that inhabit it with extraordinary precision.

Simply by listening, a sense he was compelled to hone to compensate for his lack of sight, Gilbert could name a bird by the sound of its song, know when it was safe to cross the road and determine a person's surname by the way he or she talked. [More]

CELINA - The men involved in Monday's fatal watercraft accident on Grand Lake have been identified.

The watercraft's operator who died after the accident near Coldwater Creek has been identified as Trevor Mobley, 26, Coldwater. The passenger, who survived the incident with minor injuries, was Corey Kuether, 29, Montezuma. [More]

ST. HENRY - Township trustees and village officials from southern Mercer County met Wednesday evening to discuss creating a new Emergency Medical Services district.

The EMS squads in the area are volunteer units operating under the Mercer County EMS operation. [More]

It had been a long time since Ryan Mikesell had played in a 5-on-5 game.

In his return to the court on Wednesday, the St. Henry graduate made a game-winner.

Mikesell scored 14 points and hit four 3-pointers - the last of which helped the Red Scare close out the Elam Ending and game with a 77-68 victory over Big X in The Basketball Tournament at Nationwide Arena. [More]