Roundabout design chosen for dangerous intersection

Blood drive to be held in Van Wert

VW independent staff/submitted information

Healthy individuals are needed every day to maintain an adequate blood supply for patients in need. The community is invited to donate blood at the annual Day of Caring Blood Drive in partnership with United Way of Van Wert, Vantage Career Center and Trinity Friends Church. People can donate blood on from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. Friday, September 25, at Trinity Friends Church, 605 N. Franklin St., Van Wert.

The American Red Cross is partnering with Vantage for its high school scholarship program. Donating at this drive will help hospital patients in need, while also helping establish a scholarship fund to benefit students as they move on to higher education. Visit RedCrossBlood.org and enter sponsor code vwdoc or call 1.800.RED.CROSS to make an appointment.

Donors will receive a free American Red Cross t-shirt, while supplies last.  In addition, all who come to give September 21 through October 18, will receive a $15 e-gift card to a merchant of choice! Visit RedCrossBlood.org/Fall for details. 

Donating blood is an easy way to help others and only takes about an hour. Blood is a perishable product that can only come from generous volunteers, and the Red Cross encourages donors to give blood every time they are eligible. Seasonal activities can disrupt normal routines, but donation appointments can’t fall off the calendar.

How to donate blood

A blood donor card or driver’s license or two other forms of identification are required at check-in. Individuals who are 17 years of age in most states (16 with parental consent where allowed by state law), weigh at least 110 pounds and are in generally good health may be eligible to donate blood. High school students and other donors 18 years of age and younger also must meet certain height and weight requirements.

U.S. 127 accident…

These two vehicles were involved in a rainy Thursday morning collision in the 16000 block of U.S. 127. According to the Van Wert Post of the Ohio State Highway Patrol, it happened at approximately 7:15 a.m. Both vehicles were southbound on 127 when the car hit the rear of the SUV. The car then wound up in a nearby field. It was later removed and towed from the scene. In addition to the highway patrol, Ohio City Fire & EMS was at the scene. Bob Barnes photos

Service Academy meeting to be held

Submitted information

Congressman Bob Latta’s office will host an informational meetings for students and families from Ohio’s Fifth District regarding the United States Military Service Academy nomination and appointment process.

It’s scheduled for 7 p.m. Thursday, September 24, at Owens Community College, Findlay-area Campus, 3200 Bright Rd., Findlay. The meeting will be held at th Education Center in Conference Room 111.

The meetings will serve as an opportunity for potential student candidates to be advised of the congressional nomination process and meet with representatives from the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, U.S. Naval Academy at Annapolis, U.S. Air Force Academy at Colorado Springs, the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy at Kings Point, and the U.S. Coast Guard Academy at New London.

Potential candidates may also obtain an application for a military service academy nomination by attending one of the informational meetings or on Congressman Latta’s website at latta.house.gov. Completed applications are due October 9, 2026, with all supporting documents to be turned in by October 23, 2026.

Ohio’s Fifth District currently stretches from Van Wert, Paulding and Mercer counties all the way into Lorain County in northeastern Ohio. In all, the district is comprised of all or parts of 12 counties.

Cemetery tour canceled by wet conditions

Submitted information

Due to the recent rainfall and muddy conditions, tonight’s Van Wert County Heroes of Van Wert Cemetery tour has been canceled. This decision was made out of respect for the cemetery, those laid to rest there, and the preservation of this historic site. The tour will be rescheduled for spring, 2027, and a Women Heroes of Van Wert tour is also being planned for summer, 2027.

OVI checkpoint to be held on Friday

Submitted information

The Ohio State Highway Patrol announced today that an OVI checkpoint will be held in Van Wert County tomorrow (Friday) evening.

The OVI checkpoint, funded by federal grant funds, is planned to deter and intercept impaired drivers.

“There were 540 OVI-related fatal crashes in which 593 people were killed last year in Ohio,” Lieutenant Joseph Sisco, commander of the Van Wert post, said. “State troopers make on average 15,000 OVI arrests each year in an attempt to combat these dangerous drivers. OVI checkpoints are designed to not only deter impaired driving but to proactively remove these dangerous drivers from our roadways.”

The location of the checkpoint will be announced Friday morning.

Celebration planned at Eggerss Stadium

SCOTT TRUXELL/independent editor

90 years of football at Eggerss Stadium and a massive renovation project will be celebrated before Friday night’s Western Buckeye League game between Van Wert and Defiance.

Former head coaches, along with contractors and donors will be honored during festivities that will begin at 6:30 p.m. A special game ball delivery, via a skydiver, is planned just before the game’s 7 p.m. kickoff.

The history of Eggerss Stadium dates back to President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s government-funded Works Progress Administration. The WPA provided jobs to millions of depression-era Americans who were unable to find work. Examples of large-scale WPA projects include Camp David, Dealey Plaza in Dallas, and LaGuardia Airport in New York City.

Smaller-scale projects include schools, post offices, public libraries, and at least two other football stadiums in Ohio — Strobel Field in Sandusky and the Rubber Bowl in Akron. In many ways, Strobel Field resembles Eggerss Stadium, but is somewhat larger. The Rubber Bowl had fallen into disrepair and was demolished in 2018.

The WPA provided money for workers to build the stadium, and Hans A. Eggerss, inventor of the fiber drum and founder of the former Continental Can Company in Van Wert, loaned money to the school system for materials, leading local school officials to name the facility H.A. Eggerss Stadium in his honor.

Construction of the stadium began in 1935, and was finished in time for the following football season. It’s believed the total cost of the stadium came in under $100,000. Some say it was modeled after Toledo Waite’s football stadium.

Review: ‘Catch Me If You Can’ great show!

By DAVE MOSIER

The Van Wert Civic Theatre has a new production opening Thursday and it’s a good one — a really good one!

VWCT’s latest production is Catch Me If You Can, a 2009 musical by Marc Shaiman and Scott Wittman based on the 2002 movie starring Leonardo DiCaprio, which is itself based on the1980 autobiography by con artist Frank Abagnale Jr., written with Stan Redding.

The musical opens with Abagnale’s arrest by FBI agents led by Special Agent Carl Hanratty, the part played by Tom Hanks in the movie, in Miami International Airport. It then continues with a flashback to Abagnale’s youth in the 1950s, where his father, Frank Sr., a struggling businessman who kites checks, cheats on his taxes and cons banks into giving him loans he can’t pay back, instills that same grifting philosophy in his son.

When his parents divorce after his mother, Paula, is caught cheating with another man, Abagnale Jr. leaves home and begins a series of amazing impersonations, using his charm to pass himself off as an airline pilot, a doctor, and a lawyer, all for the purpose of writing millions of dollars in bad checks during a globetrotting spree that stretches over several years. He’s also being doggedly pursued by Hanratty and his FBI agents, who aim to stop his scamming ways.

Director Jerry Zimmerman and Music Director Terri Spencer have put together an excellent cast for what could be the smash hit of this VWCT season.

Ashton Szabados, who was impressive last season as Clyde Barrow in Bonnie and Clyde, a musical that recently competed at the state level, is also great as Abagnale Jr., playing the con artist with charm and endearing panache.

Nick Long plays Hanratty, Frank Jr.’s FBI nemesis, and is also wonderful as a driven man whose one and only aim in life is to bring Abagnale to justice.

Szabados and Long are the soul of this production, making Abagnale’s story not only believable, but also extremely entertaining. Both do a great job with the big numbers, but also add poignancy to the soft, emotional tunes.

Streets to close for homecoming parade

Submitted information

Van Wert High School’s homecoming parade will be held between 5:30-7 p.m. Wednesday, September 30. 

N. Jefferson St., from W. Main St., to W. Third St., S. Jefferson St., from W. Main St., to Crawford St., the 100 block of W. Central Ave., the 100 and 200 block of W. Jackson St., the 100 block of W. Sycamore St. will be closed for the parade. East and westbound traffic on W. Main St., at Jefferson St., will be temporarily stopped by an officer while the parade units cross the intersection.

AG candidates address Flock cameras

By Nick Evans/Ohio Capital Journal

The Republican candidate for Ohio Attorney General wants Ohio lawmakers to make abuse of the Flock camera database a felony but keep the system’s use for legitimate law enforcement purposes. His Democratic opponent doesn’t think the plan goes far enough.

The automated license plate readers have spread rapidly through state and local law enforcement agencies as a powerful tool for finding suspects.

The public backlash has grown just as quickly.

In addition to Americans’ abiding unease with government surveillance, critics point to news investigations which uncovered eye-opening examples of police abuse of the Flock database.

A bipartisan group of Ohio lawmakers want the state’s transportation agency to rescind Flock permits. One of them is filing legislation to prohibit government agencies from deploying cameras or accessing the database without first getting a warrant.

Keith Faber, the GOP candidate for Ohio AG in November, wants to punish misuse without losing access to a critical investigatory tool.

“Flock cameras can help Ohio police recover stolen cars, find missing kids, and catch violent criminals,” Faber said in a press release. “But that data exists to solve crimes. If someone abuses it to violate the Constitutional rights of law-abiding Ohioans, that should be a crime, the same as misusing any other sensitive law enforcement database.”

If elected, Faber is promising to work with lawmakers to make abuse of the Flock database a felony. In a video on social media he explained it’s already a felony under Ohio law to misuse of state’s central law enforcement database, known as LEADS.

“As your attorney general, I’ll work with the legislature to pass legislation and get Flock and similar data that same protection,” Faber sad. “Use it to solve a crime or protect the public, and you’re doing your job. Abuse it or violate someone’s constitutional rights, and you’ve committed a felony. That goes for everyone, badge or no badge.”

Hospital to teach kids via stuffed animals

Submitted information

Children and their favorite stuffed animals can get a hands-on introduction to healthcare during OhioHealth Van Wert Hospital’s Teddy Bear Clinic from 3-6 p.m. Tuesday, Sept. 22, from 4 to 6 p.m. This free event requires no registration. Families should enter through Door 2.

The Teddy Bear Clinic is designed to make healthcare feel friendly and fun while helping children become more comfortable with common medical experiences. Kids are encouraged to bring a favorite teddy bear or stuffed animal and guide their furry friend through interactive care stations.

Stations will include: vitals, lab, X-ray, vaccines, casting, exercise, hand hygiene and nutrition. At each station, children can participate in age-appropriate activities while learning more about how healthcare teams care for patients.