Over the next several days, the nation will celebrate the 4th of July. As a reminder to everyone, the Allen County Sheriff’s Office and the Ohio State Highway Patrol as well as other local law enforcement will be working to enforce Ohio’s impaired driving laws throughout the holiday to keep our roadways safe from impaired drivers.
Want to know when you or your neighbors can discharge fireworks? Ohio law regarding fireworks changed on July 1, 2022. It is now legal to discharge 1.4G consumer fireworks on specified dates. A white paper from the state fire marshal is summarized below. The full document is HERE.
Discharge is permitted on specific days and at specific times if not banned or further restricted by a local political subdivision. Ohioans may discharge 1.4G consumer fireworks only from 4 p.m. until 11 p.m. (with specified variations) on the following dates:
Have intersections that you avoid or fear as a driver? The Icon hears complaints about a variety of locations. Here's a May 2023 vehicle crash report compiled from the Ohio Department of Public Safety crash report website.
05/06/2023 - Failure to yield right of way on SR 103 at SR 235, 3 vehicles - OSHP - Orange Twp. - Property Damage
05/13/2023 - 1 vehicle on U.S. 30 struck a deer - OSHP - Richland Twp. - Property Damage
05/13/2023 - 1 vehicle on County Rd. 304 struck a deer - OSHP - Orange Twp. - Property Damage
LIMA–The Ohio State Highway Patrol announced that an OVI checkpoint will be held from 6:00-8:00 p.m. on June 23 on State Route 309 near mile post 17, in Allen County.
The OVI checkpoint, funded by federal grant funds, is planned to deter and intercept impaired drivers.
The checkpoint will also be held in conjunction with nearby saturation patrols to aggressively combat impaired driver-related injury and fatal crashes.
The Lima/Allen County Safe Community Coalition reports there were two fatal traffic crashes on Allen County roadways during April and May 2023.
Thus far, there have been a total of 6 fatalities on Allen County roadways due to traffic crashes in 2023. In comparison, during 2022 there was one fatal crash through May.
CORRECTION: The Bluffton Police Department has reissued this notice with the incident date corrected to June 7-8.
On June 8th, 2023, at approximately 0945 hours, the Bluffton Police Department received a complaint of Breaking and Entering that occurred at the Bluffton Swimming Pool sometime after the close of business on June 7th, 2023. The unknown suspect(s) took the following items: keys to the cash register, HP laptop with power cord estimated value $500.00, photographic optical equipment value at $143.00, and a safe containing money and checks in the amount of $930.00.
