Severe Thunderstorm Watch issued March 22 at 5:43PM EDT until March 23 at 12:00AM EDT by NWS Wilmington OH (details ...)
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH 73 IN EFFECT UNTIL MIDNIGHT EDT TONIGHT FOR THE FOLLOWING AREAS
IN INDIANA THIS WATCH INCLUDES 8 COUNTIES
IN EAST CENTRAL INDIANA
FAYETTE UNION WAYNE
IN SOUTHEAST INDIANA
DEARBORN FRANKLIN OHIO RIPLEY SWITZERLAND
IN KENTUCKY THIS WATCH INCLUDES 3 COUNTIES
IN NORTHERN KENTUCKY
BOONE CAMPBELL KENTON
IN OHIO THIS WATCH INCLUDES 32 COUNTIES
IN CENTRAL OHIO
DELAWARE FAIRFIELD FAYETTE FRANKLIN HOCKING LICKING MADISON PICKAWAY UNION
IN SOUTH CENTRAL OHIO
ADAMS HIGHLAND PIKE ROSS SCIOTO
IN SOUTHWEST OHIO
BROWN BUTLER CLERMONT CLINTON HAMILTON WARREN
IN WEST CENTRAL OHIO
AUGLAIZE CHAMPAIGN CLARK DARKE GREENE HARDIN LOGAN MERCER MIAMI MONTGOMERY PREBLE SHELBY
THIS INCLUDES THE CITIES OF ABERDEEN, ADA, ALEXANDRIA, AURORA, BATESVILLE, BEAVERCREEK, BELLEFONTAINE, BELLEVUE, BLANCHESTER, BRIGHT, BROOKVILLE, BURLINGTON, CAMDEN, CELINA, CHILLICOTHE, CIRCLEVILLE, COLDWATER, CONNERSVILLE, COVINGTON, DAY HEIGHTS, DAYTON, DELAWARE, DILLSBORO, DOWNTOWN CINCINNATI, DOWNTOWN COLUMBUS, DOWNTOWN DAYTON, EATON, ERLANGER, FAIRBORN, FAIRFIELD, FLORENCE, FORT THOMAS, FRANKLIN, GEORGETOWN, GREENDALE, GREENFIELD, GREENVILLE, HAMILTON, HIDDEN VALLEY, HIGHLAND HEIGHTS, HILLSBORO, INDEPENDENCE, KENTON, KETTERING, LANCASTER, LANDEN, LAWRENCEBURG, LEBANON, LIBERTY, LOGAN, LONDON, MANCHESTER, MARYSVILLE, MASON, MIDDLETOWN, MILAN, MILFORD, MINSTER, MOUNT CARMEL, MOUNT ORAB, MOUNT REPOSE, MULBERRY, NEW BREMEN, NEWARK, NEWPORT, OAKBROOK, OSGOOD, OXFORD, PEEBLES, PICKERINGTON, PIKE LAKE, PIKETON, PIQUA, PLAIN CITY, PORTSMOUTH, RICHMOND, RIPLEY, RISING SUN, SEAMAN, SIDNEY, SPRINGBORO, SPRINGFIELD, ST. MARYS, SUMMERSIDE, TIPP CITY, TROY, URBANA, VERSAILLES, VEVAY, WAPAKONETA, WASHINGTON COURT HOUSE, WAVERLY, WEST COLLEGE CORNER, WEST JEFFERSON, WEST UNION, WHEELERSBURG, WILMINGTON, WINCHESTER, WITHAMSVILLE, AND XENIA.
32° 32° Mon 47° Mon 47° 29° 29° Tue 53° Tue 53°
Thursday, July 19th, 2018

Indiana man sentenced in local break-ins

By Ed Gebert
CELINA - An Indiana man who had pleaded guilty to charges stemming from 21 thefts and break-ins in Mercer County was sentenced on Wednesday to more than 10 years in prison.
Jason D. Amspaugh, 32, Union City, must serve the prison time after completing a 30-month sentence handed down last month in Auglaize County Common Pleas Court on two counts of felony theft. He still faces charges in Darke, Miami and Shelby counties and in Randolph County, Indiana.
Ten of the 21 charges to which Amspaugh pleaded guilty on June 12 in Mercer County Common Pleas Court were either theft or breaking and entering. Four were grand theft charges and another was failure to comply with the order or signal of a police officer. He was sentenced to 124 months in prison for these charges.
The remaining six were misdemeanor charges of petty theft. Amspaugh received 180-day sentences for each of these, to be served concurrently with the 124 months.
Amspaugh also must pay restitution of $96,635, including the return of stolen property. He must forfeit a 2011 Dodge pickup and a 2011 Chevrolet SUV, which reportedly were used in the commission of some of the crimes. He was given a mandatory driver's license suspension of three years. Amspaugh was credited for 332 days already spent in jail awaiting sentencing.
At the sentencing hearing, defense attorney Andrew Pratt argued that his client should serve a long prison sentence and then be granted judicial release. Pratt argued that Amspaugh was a family man with a wife and four children when he encountered stressful situations including a cancer diagnosis. He was prescribed the drug Percocet to help him deal with the pain from cancer treatments and became hooked on opiates and began acting out of character from his former life, Pratt said.
Amspaugh apologized for his actions, reiterating that his prescription medication to help him deal with the pain of his cancer treatments caused his behavior to spin out of control.
Amspaugh was apprehended on Jan. 21 when he reportedly was observed trying to steal something from under the hood of a pickup truck at a Celina dealership. While officers were checking a nearby vehicle, the lights came on and an officer could see a male, later identified as Amspaugh, hunched down inside the cab, according to a Celina police news release.
When confronted by deputies, Amspaugh tried to drive the truck away, but crashed it into a parked car before it crossed Schunck Road, entered a ditch and came to rest, according to the release. Authorities reportedly found an estimated $75,000 worth of stolen merchandise in a search of Amspaugh's property in Union City.
Additional online story on this date
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Outside contractors to provide service
Local elections officials this week signed off on contracts to provide new systems to help people with disabilities vote during the state's by-mail absentee-voting period.
WAPAKONETA - Construction continues on Pratt Industries' new paper mill and corrugated box factory, which will bring 300 jobs to the area, as city officials prepare their own projects to support the new plant.
New Bremen school board learns about Cardinal Campaign
NEW BREMEN - Community member Jon Wells introduced the Cardinal Campaign to school board members on Wednesday evening.
The campaign "is a 10-year vision, fully dependent on private donations and support from the booster group," he said.
CELINA - Michael Malyska was sentenced on Wednesday to three years of community-control sanctions for reportedly pointing a gun at a person in the Mercer County Community Hospital parking lot in Coldwater in February.
CELINA - A Celina woman pleaded guilty to drug and failure to appear charges on Wednesday in Mercer County Common Pleas Court.
Kristy Gross, 33, is charged with aggravated possession of drugs, a fifth-degree felony, and failure to appear, a fourth-degree felony in a plea agreement.
MONTEZUMA - Village officials plan to file charges in Celina Municipal Court against a resident who reportedly has failed to clean his property after having been told to do so for more than a year.
CELINA - RJ Corman will close Staeger Road in Mercer County between state routes 29 and 703 on July 25-28, according to a Mercer County Engineer's Office news release.
CELINA - This year's 11 queen contestants will wear swimsuits for the last time at the 63rd annual Miss Lake Festival competition on July 23 in the Celina Education Complex auditorium.
State ACME Tournament Preview
The Coldwater baseball team had a run to the Division III state finals in June.
Now the Cavaliers find themselves in the state ACME tournament.
Auglalize-Mercer Pony League Tournament Championships
Compiled by Gary R. Rasberry
Coldwater Gray jumped out to an 8-0 lead after three innings and never looked back in capturing the Augalize-Mercer Pony League Tournament Championship with an 8-3 win over Marion Gold on Wednesday night at Coldwater's Memorial Park.
MENDON - Many longtime enthusiasts pining for the return of their cherished homegrown Tabfest hootenanny that last went down in 2013 will see their prayers answered this weekend at the 22-acre bucolic setting of the Mendon Speedway at Grand Lake Motorcycle Club.
CELINA - Billed as one of the top wedding bands in Ohio, The Chuck Taylors will play a different venue on Sunday when the group rocks Lakeshore Park as part of the Celina Summer Concert Series.