WAPAKONETA - A local optometrist admitted in an interview last year "it's very possible" he mistakenly touched the elderly woman he's accused of raping in his home in October 2009.

Early voting by absentee ballot has been steady in both Mercer and Auglaize counties this election season, according to officials.

Mercer County Bo

A 21-year-old Lewisville man reportedly had cocaine and heroin in his system when he caused an Oct. 3 traffic accident that critically injured a member of the Mercer County Emergency Response Volunteers. [More]

CELINA - The city now has eight voting precincts, not 10.

Mercer County Board of Elections members this week unanimously approved the changes required by House Bill 194, which mandates incorporated municipalities have at least 500 active registered voters in a precinct.

Tamara "Tammy" Evers of St. Henry, a former baby sitter found guilty in the July 2008 death of an infant in her care, will be sentenced Dec. 20 in Mercer County Common Pleas Court.

ST. MARYS - School officials agree tennis courts should be built at the new Memorial High School but are undecided on a design.

The school board's building and grounds committee Wednesday reviewed nine options for tennis courts presented by MSA Sport of Cincinnati.

The Mercer County Sheriff's Office has upgraded its website, www.mercercountysheriff.org.

The revised format was unveiled this week with the work being done in-house by technology coordinator Kory Hoffhines. [More]

CELINA - No way she'd ever write a book, she thought. Not until she woke up one morning with the idea in mind right down to the title - "Bloom Girl Bloom: Real Women with Real Answers." Now she's even working on a second book.

CELINA - A very stingy defense and a well-placed boot by Kelly Heitkamp helped the St. Marys Roughriders advance to Saturday's Division II district final. [More]

FINDLAY - A pair of Western Buckeye League teams will square off for a second time this season on Saturday evening with a district championship hanging in the balance.

KALIDA - The Ottawa-Glandorf Titans rallied from a poor first set to defeat the Coldwater Cavaliers 24-26, 25-21, 25-18 and 25-17 in the semifinals of the Division III district tournament on Wednesday night at Kalida High School.

Last week, an upset was brewing in Coldwater.

New Bremen (0-8) stayed close to Coldwater (6-2) all night and the Cardinals trailed by just two points and had the ball in the final two minutes with a chance to stun fans throughout the area.

The last time the Midwest Athletic Conference had three teams share the football championship was in 1989, when St. Henry, Minster and Delphos St. John's each went 5-1. Later that year, Minster went on to win the Division V state title.

The Celina football team will wrap up a disappointing 2011 season on Friday night with a road contest against Bath.

Good news has been few and far

By The Numbers:

2 - Out of the three previous occurrences, the number of times Coldwater was part of three-way tie for the MAC title (1975, 1987).

3 - Out of the three previous occurences, the number of times Minster was part of the three-way tie.