TOLEDO - A 51-year-old former school board member and mayor charged with coercion and enticement and receipt and distribution of child pornography made his initial appearance on Tuesday in the U.S. District Court's Northern District of Ohio.

Jef [More]

ST. HENRY - A St. Henry man faces felony charges after reportedly sending sexually explicit photos and saying he wished to meet someone he believed was a 13-year-old girl, according to the Mercer County Sheriff's Office.

Kevin J. Fullenkamp, 60, was arrested after a Newbury, Massachusetts, police detective contacted the sheriff's office. [More]

Compiled by Gary R. Rasberry

A year after breaking into the top 10, Vivian Niekamp wraps up her high school diving career with a podium finish.

The New Bremen senior placed seventh to earn first team All-Ohio honors at the Division II State Girls Diving Championships held Wednesday at Branin Natatorium in Canton. [More]

ROCKFORD - Federal officials have charged a 51-year-old Rockford man with coercion and enticement and receipt and distribution of child pornography, according to a Federal Bureau of Investigation news release.

Jeffrey Armstrong had been scheduled to have an initial appearance on Tuesday in the U.S. District Court's Northern District of Ohio in Toledo, court documents show. [More]

FORT RECOVERY - School board members on Monday authorized the superintendent and treasurer to enter into an agreement with the Fort Recovery Athletic Boosters to build a roughly $1.3 million baseball and softball complex.

Board president Nick Wehr-kamp said board members authorized the superintendent to turn over land temporarily to the Athletic Boosters to build the complex, who will then return the land to the district when the complex is complete. [More]

FORT RECOVERY - Despite a never-say-die effort from New Knoxville, including two runs in the second half to cut the deficit, Fort Recovery held on for a 65-51 win in the Division IV boys basketball sectional opener at Fort Site Fieldhouse.

With the victory, Fort Recovery moves on to play St. Henry in the Division IV sectional final at Redskin Gymnasium on Friday at 7 p.m. [More]

CELINA - City councilors continue to push Celina as a destination location on the vanguard, advancing legislation that would usher in electric vehicle charging stations and allow officials to apply for more than $125,000 in grants for kayak launch pads and pickle ball courts. [More]

There's nowhere to go but up for Holden Cubblerly.

The Celina senior is making his fourth trip to the Division II state diving championships on Thursday and is looking to move up from his third-place All-Ohio showing a season ago.

Cubberley joins three other area divers competing this week, all of whom dove last year as well. New Bremen's Vivian Niekamp is making her fourth trip to state while St. Marys' Xander Spees and Kameron MacLean are each making second trips each. [More]

CELINA - As COVID-19 continues to pull focus both globally and locally, seasonal influenza activity has been almost nonexistent in Mercer County and the U.S.

Flu activity in the U.S. has been "unusually low," according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. In fact, flu activity is the lowest it's been since the CDC started routinely collecting data in 2005. [More]

FORT RECOVERY - Holly Gann knew her Fort Recovery squad didn't want to end their season in the sectional final.

The Indians tied the game at 45-all with 45 seconds remaining in a wild fourth quarter, then outscored New Bremen 8-5 in the overtime to claim the Division IV girls basketball sectional title 53-50 on Saturday night at Fort Site Fieldhouse. [More]