Regional news

State Representative Bob Cupp (R-Allen County) announced information regarding the application process for the Local Government Safety Capital Grant.
 
Initiated by the Ohio House of Representatives - and funded via the state operating budget for fiscal years 2016-2017 - these grants are intended to help fund public safety projects in local communities throughout Ohio, including those in Allen County.
 

S.H.A.N.N.O.N. Service Club and the Bluffton Senior Citizens Center launch the 2016 Bluffton garage sale season at the end of February. There's even a chicken barbecue tossed in. Here are the details:

What's happening this month at the Bluffton Middle School? Here's an update from the school website:

The middle school continues its  Teens for Jeans drive. Teens for Jeans is an organization that donates jeans to the homeless kids in America.  

Drop off donations at the table in the entrance of the middle school. Any size and color is accepted. This event will run through the month of February.  

Free cookies are given to donors on Friday.

The Pandora United Methodist Church will host a free community meal on Wed. Feb. 24  from 5:30- 7 p.m. in the church fellowship hall, 108 E. Washington Street, Pandora.  The meal this month is provided by the Rebecca Circle. The menu is hot chicken sandwich, cole slaw, baked beans, dessert and beverage. 
 

Dr. Justin Kantner, O.D., Bluffton optometrist, is the guest speaker at the 7 a.m., Friday, Feb. 12, Bluffton Area Chamber of Commerce breakfast. The free breakfast is in the Bluffton town hall.

Kantner will tell about his plan to step away from his small-town practice and move with his wife, Elya, and their young son, Caleb, to southern rural Paraguay. There, he will become an optometrist and church planter. Elya will become a Bible translator.

Attention parents of Bluffton elementary students. The deadline to order a 2015-16 school memory book is Thurday, Feb. 11. According to the elementary school website the price is $18 per book or it can be upgraded to a hardcover for $23.  

Here's some additional elementary school news from the website:

TESTING DAYS:  Second grade students will take achievement tests in math and reading the week of March 14.  New state tests will be given April 20-21 for grades 3-5 in English/Language Arts. 

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