Fricker’s sponsors $1 day

Fricker’s will be sponsoring a $1 day at Camp Clay Aqua Park this summer. Local businesses purchase the day for the Van Wert community; access includes swimming, floating playground, zip-line, paddleboats, a half-acre beach and the 3,600-square-foot splash pad, which is new in 2015. To learn more, visit the YMCA website at www.vwymca.org. Shown are […]

Crestview board plans special meeting

Crestview Board of Education information CONVOY — Crestview Local Board of Education has scheduled a special meeting 6:30 this evening for the purpose of hiring a new instrumental music instructor and band director. The meeting will be held in the district boardroom. The board plans to issue a one-year contract to Jason Lozer to be […]

City spraying for mosquitoes this week

City of Van Wert information According to Van Wert Safety-Service Director Jay Fleming, the city will be spraying for mosquitoes in the evening this week, weather permitting.

Todd M. Fickert

Todd M. Fickert, 44, of Columbus, and formerly of Rockford, died at 4:56 p.m. Sunday, June 28, 2015, at Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center in Columbus. He was born November 13, 1970, in Decatur, Indiana, the son of Richard “Dick” and Virginia “Gini” (Hofmann) Fickert, who both survive in Rockford. Other survivors include a […]

Old Fashioned Farmers Days dates set

DAVE MOSIER/independent editor This weekend will feature not one, but two longtime events. In addition to the Holiday at Home celebration, this weekend will feature the 39th annual Old Fashioned Farmers Days festival held at the Van Wert County Fairgrounds. The annual event will run from Thursday, July 2, through Sunday, July 5. This year’s […]

GOBA riders stranded

High water made this year’s Great Ohio Bicycle Adventure more, well, adventurous than ever, as bicyclists were stranded by high water around Fort Jennings and Middle Point. Pete Weir, who helped oversee local activities for the GOBA trip this year, which began and ended in Van Wert, said the wind, rain and road flooding made […]

Gas prices up in Ohio, down in 39 states

Gasoline price information Average retail gasoline prices in Ohio have risen 9.4 cents per gallon in the past week, averaging $2.82 per gallon on Sunday, according to GasBuddy’s daily survey of 5,345 gas outlets in Ohio. This compares with the national average that has fallen 1.3 cents per gallon in the last week to $2.78 […]

High water woes

High water was a problem all weekend in Van Wert and Paulding counties, from cars hydroplaning on county roads, to stranded bicyclists from the Great Ohio Bicycle Adventure to high water in a number of areas, including flooding in Payne and Willshire. Above, a man rows a boat in the Payne area because of flooding, […]

Elks donate to Summer Food Program

Van Wert Elks information Van Wert Lodge 1197, Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, recently donated $500 to the YWCA of Van Wert County for the YWCA’s Summer Food Program. This is the 20th year the YWCA has run this important program. The Elks donation is from a Gratitude Grant the lodge receives from the […]

Several hurt in rollover crash on U.S. 127

Ohio State Highway Patrol information The Ohio State Highway Patrol’s Van Wert Post is investigating a serious injury motor vehicle crash on U.S. 127, near Ohio 709 approximately five miles south of Van Wert. On Saturday at 7:07 a.m., the Van Wert Post of the Ohio State Highway Patrol received reports of a serious injury […]