It has been 20 years since Mark Sutherin attempted to convince Hardin County to become a part of the Rails to Trails project which would have connected Marion, Hardin and Allen counties with a bicycle/walking path on the abandoned Erie Lackawanna Railroad bed. Even now, Sutherin’s eyes light up when he talks about the potential of the program for Hardin County.

The members of the OSU Extension Master Gardeners Volunteer Program all joined Dave McPheron on stage to accept the Community Service Award at Thursday’s Hardin County Chamber and Business Alliance Membership Meeting and Awards Ceremony at Ohio Northern University.

ADA — Ohio Northern’s players and coaches knew that it was hard to beat the same team three times in one season. On Thursday night the Lady Polar Bears found out just how hard it is when they faced Marietta, a team they had defeated by 40 points five days earlier, in the semifinals of the Ohio Athletic Conference tournament.

MARION — In the 1990s, Hardin County was considering becoming the middle link between Marion and Allen counties in a project which would have transformed the abandoned Erie-Lackawanna railroad bed into a bicycle/hiking pathway. The issue grew controversial in Hardin County and eventually the local plans were dropped, but Marion County pressed on and today, what remains a line overgrown with vegetation in Hardin County, is a much-used economic and health boost to thousands of residents in Marion County.

LIMA — With emotions still raw from the recent death of teammate Keegan McKee, the Ridgemont girls played basketball on Wednesday night. And for three quarters, the Lady Gophers looked like they were going to ride the wave of those emotions to a sectional tournament victory as they held a 13-point lead over Lima Central Catholic going into the final eight minutes.

Members of the Kenton girls basketball team presented towels to the Ridgemont Lady Gophers with the number 33 on them in memory of Ridgemont player Keegan McKee, who died in a car crash last week. The Gophers play their first game since the accident today at 6:15 p.m. against Lima Central Catholic at Bath High School. Submitted photo

France Lake at Kenton’s Saulisberry Park was alive this morning with the honking of geese who seemed to be enjoying the exceptionally warm February weather. The mercury is expected to push up near 70 degrees by Friday before falling to more seasonable levels for the weekend. Times photo/Dan Robinson

LIMA — The first time Ada and Hardin Northern met this season, the Polar Bears were unable to recover after a poor second quarter in which they were outscored by 15 points and ended up with a 13-point loss. On Tuesday, the Polar Bears didn’t let the same thing happen twice. During sectional semifinal girls basketball play between the two country rivals, the Polar Bears - behind the scoring punch of Ashton Dye and Holly Wilson - pulled away for a 60-49 victory.

BELLEFONTAINE — Two years ago, Benjamin Logan was starting a swim team. On Thursday, when Macy Arn jumps into the pool in the 50 freestyle, the Raiders will be represented for the first time at the Ohio High School Division II Swimming Championships in Canton. Arn, who qualified for the state meet with a fifth place finish of 24.48 seconds at Miami University, will swim her prelim heat on Thursday afternoon.

More than 100 Kenton High School students have been introduced to welding in the past two years. Reopening of the school’s welding lab is part of the advanced manufacturing curriculum offered through Ohio Hi-Point Career Center at KHS and the former Northwood building.