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WAPAKONETA — Students at Wapakoneta High School will soon be required to turn off and lock away their cell phones and smart devices when they enter school each day.

LIMA — Dozens of community members lined the entryway at Lima’s Unity Elementary to greet pupils for their first day of classes Wednesday morning, as part of a “Clap In” event at the schools.

LIMA — A transgender bathroom ban was first introduced by North Carolina in 2016. The law, HB2, proposed people use bathrooms aligned with their gender from birth and not what they identify with. It was officially repealed in 2020 after a partial repeal in 2017 and statewide boycotting and frustrations among the community. Eight years later, states are forming similar versions of HB2 and are making it further, being signed into legislation. As it stands, 20% of the states have an active bathroom law. The law states that transgender people must use the bathroom according to their gender from birth and not what they identify as, emphasizing schools, locker rooms, and government-owned buildings.

PERRY TOWNSHIP — The possibility of a new data center coming to Perry Township has been known for some time, with the project discussed by township trustees back in May and again at a township trustees meeting in June, during which several township residents expressed both concerns and support for the potential facility to be located along state Route 65 between Breese and Hume Roads. What was not known at the time was which company was behind the proposal.

LIMA — Brandon Monford, also known as Sax B, said the Lima Music Festival will be special if only because all of the performers have ties to Lima.

Putnam County Common Pleas Court

LIMA — Area law enforcement officials are looking for information about crimes or people below. The Lima/Allen-Putnam County Crime Stoppers Program offers cash awards of up to $1,000 to anyone who provides anonymous tip information that would lead to the arrest of anyone listed on this page. Please call 419-229-STOP (7867).

LIMA — A jury found a Lima man guilty of possession of a fentanyl-related compound, engaging in a pattern of corrupt activity, the illegal manufacture of drugs, aggravated possession of drugs and having weapons under disability on Tuesday in the Allen County Common Pleas Court.

When he left his job at the Lima Locomotive Works on Friday, he was, the Lima Republican-Gazette wrote on Sunday, May 18, 1924, “plain old James H. Smith.” By Sunday, according to the Gazette, he was “Sir James Henry Smith,” the main character in a real-life fairy tale.

LIMA — It has been a lengthy process filled with design meetings, environmental studies and staff surveys, but on Tuesday, Allen County Commissioners approved a resolution to seek contractor bid submissions for the new county administration building in downtown Lima.