When 2016 Upper Sandusky graduate Corrie Knapp was diagnosed with diabetes at age 11, she was lucky to be able to have a support system in one of her best friends since preschool, Emma Smith. The two, now 21, attended a camp for children with Type 1 diabetes together when they were 12. Knapp explained that campers were encouraged to bring along camp buddies as support. After the camp experience, which the two didn’t like very much because of the long drive, Knapp and Smith discussed the need for a camp closer to home.

REYNOLDSBURG — The Ohio Department of Agriculture, in coordination with USDA Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, has detected sudden oak death caused by Phytophthora ramorum on rhododendron plants shipped to Walmart and Rural King stores throughout the state. Both retailers have agreed to initiate a voluntary recall of plants from their stores.

Daniel Pollock splashes water at the splash pad during the Splash Pad Fun Day Tuesday at Bicentennial Park in Upper Sandusky.

Adults in attendance for the traveling exotic zoo presentation at Water Works Park in Carey on Tuesday morning had the opportunity to pet Darwin, a 4-year-old red kangaroo, which is native to Australia.

An officer assisted Wyandot County EMS with a patient on the 100 block of Essex Way the early morning of July 16. An officer assisted the Ohio State Highway Patrol with a K-9 search on U.S. 23 southbound near East Wyandot Avenue the morning of July 16. Marijuana remnants and a pill bottle with an unknown crystal substance were recovered in the search.

Local farmer Don Worden and Worden Farms of Crawford County was recently awarded an America’s Farmers Grow Community donation, which he directed to the Crawford County Fair.

In addition to funds given to the Crawford County Fair by local farmer Don Worden, the recent recipient of an America’s Farmers Grow Community donation that he gave to the fair, local 4-H club, Liberty Leaders recently donated funds to help put siding on the dairy beef barn at the Crawford County Fair.

COLUMBUS — Ohio agricultural producers who lost property due to recent natural disasters may be eligible for U.S. Department of Agriculture physical loss loans. The Farm Service Agency offers these low-interest loans to agricultural producers in 21 Ohio counties, the primary damaged area, who incurred losses due excessive rain, flash flooding, flooding, hail, high winds, lightning and tornadoes that occurred between Nov. 1, 2018 and June 13, 2019. Approval is limited to applicants who suffered severe physical losses only, including the loss of buildings and livestock. Applications are due March 2, 2020.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture is extending the deadline to file crop acreage reports for agricultural producers in Ohio impacted by flooding and heavy moisture. The new Monday deadline applies to reporting spring-seeded crops to USDA’s Farm Service Agency county offices and federal crop insurance agents.

COLUMBUS — The State Executive Director for Ohio’s Farm Service Agency, Leonard Hubert, reminds producers that the signup period for Lake Erie CREP runs through Aug. 23. CREP is a federal conservation partnership with the state of Ohio through ODA. CREP is designed to address agriculture-related environmental concerns. Ohio’s Lake Erie CREP began back in 2000 with the main objective to improve water quality in all of our rivers, streams and tributaries within the Lake Erie watershed with a special emphasis on the Blanchard and Tiffin Rivers as important tributaries of the Maumee River. These conservation practices will target environmentally-sensitive areas to reduce sediments and nutrients, minimize the risk of flooding, and improve habitat for a variety of wildlife species.