Page 1 of today's Daily Chief Union

Daily Chief-Union/Brandon Drake
Remaining safe this winter
Carey Fire Chief Jay Gretzinger shows the appropriate way of examining a smoke detector at the emergency services building in Carey. Having a working smoke alarm in a home is just one of the fire safety tips local officials said people can use when heating their homes this winter and throughout the year.

Fire officials say heat homes safely
By BRANDON DRAKE
Staff writer
With the latest round of arctic-like wintery conditions that have roared into Ohio this week, fire officials are reminding residents to focus on fire safety when heating their homes this winter and to use extra caution if relying on alternative heating sources to pinch a few dollars on heating bills.
House fires kill more people in the United States than all natural disasters combined, according to the American Red Cross. In Ohio, state fire Marshal Michael P. Bell reported in a news release that 10 people died and 56 people were injured in 1,612 heating related fires in homes in 2006, the last year in which fire data is available.

Page 1 of today's Daily Chief Union

Automatic doors coming to Wyandot County Courthouse
By LAUREN SCHLOSSER
Staff writer
The Wyandot County Courthouse doors soon will swing open at the touch of a button.
Commissioner Ed Kuenzli said automatic doors will be put in at the front entrance to the courthouse, for ease of use for those who are handicapped. Bids will be taken soon.
Commissioner Mike Wheeler said elevator cables in the Wyandot County Courthouse will be replaced Feb. 18 because it is Presidents Day and citizens will not be in the building.
The Commissioners' Office received a letter from David Balz, who owns an empty building near Wyandot Memorial Hospital that used to be a medical associates office. In the letter, Balz said the building would be cleared out, and that if former coroner Herschel Rhodes has any papers still in the building, they should be removed.

Page 1 of today's Daily Chief Union

Lawmakers seek extension of energy tax breaks in economic stimulus package
WASHINGTON (AP) - Unable to extend tax breaks as part of a broad energy bill two months ago, lawmakers are trying to attach some of them to an emergency economic aid package containing rebates for millions of taxpayers.
But that strategy may also falter when the Senate votes next week on the $193 billion economic stimulus bill that has been expanded over what already was approved by the House. Both President Bush and Senate GOP leaders have warned against adding to the House-passed bill.