ADA — Since the age of 7 when she would volunteer on Bingo night each Wednesday at the St. Marys Living Center, Sara Vordermark has had a desire to work with the elderly. She turned that desire into a career she truly loves, interacting with senior residents on a daily basis as the assistant administrator at Vancrest of Ada.

Hardin County Democrats heard from five candidates during their Presidents’ Day Luncheon on Saturday in Kenton. The keynote speaker was Michael Galbraith of Maumee, who is running for the Fifth District seat in Congress now held by Republican Bob Latta.

Two Ohio Northern University students take a dip into the ice-covered waters at the university’s pond near fraternity circle Saturday morning. The students jumped into the cold water to raise funding for the American Red Cross.

With Bluffton clogging up the paint defensively on Saturday night, Kenton got the job done beyond the three-point arc, making 12 three-pointers on the way to a 59-53 victory over the Pirates in a non-league boys basketball game. Trailing 38-35 entering the fourth quarter, Jaron Sharp nailed a trey that tied the game.

MOUNT VICTORY — Even though they had jumped out to a 16-6 first quarter lead over Mohawk on Saturday afternoon, the Ridgemont girls basketball team was still not hitting its full stride. But in the latter stages of the second quarter, the Gophers found an offensive rhythm that they would carry into the second half to pull away for the 57-21 win in the regular season finale.

FOREST — The connection between Hempy Water and Miss Ohio Sarah Clapper got off to a rocky start, but has developed into a partnership which has brought Clapper’s inspirational message to hundreds of area students.

MOUNT VICTORY — Not too many life events can be more intimidating than purchasing your first vehicle on your own. But with some first-hand knowledge about the process from Nelson Auto Group owner Greg Nelson, Ridgemont FFA students may now feel more comfortable when they buy their first vehicle.

Justin Hord, a ninth-grader at Hardin Northern High School, shares his science fair project with judges Travis Rettig and Nancy Souder on Friday. Hord’s project compared how long it took for solutions such as Coke, apple juice, milk and water to remove the coloring on Skittles candy. About 180 projects from students in grades 5-10 were presented to the judges …

BOWLING GREEN — Ada’s Klava Katayama and Zach Beaschler will have to wait until today to find out if they qualified for the Division II state swim meets.

Hardin County law enforcement officials are leading an effort to honor a deputy sheriff killed in the line of duty 119 years ago. Hardin County Deputy Frank Morrison was shot and killed by Ike Bird of Mount Victory as the deputy attempted to serve a warrant for Bird’s arrest on May 6, 1899.