A joint recommendation was accepted during a sentencing hearing for a Pickerington man in Wyandot County Common Pleas Court on Tuesday morning. Jason S. Smith, 40, was sentenced to two years in prison for second-degree drug abuse (possession of heroin).

WHARTON — Three bids were accepted for work inside the village of Wharton corporation limits during a regular village council meeting Tuesday evening. The bids placed by Bryce Walter of J.B. Walter Co. were selected by council to have exclusive rights to village general maintenance, snow removal and trash pickup from Jan. 1 to Dec. 31, 2017.

The Daily Chief-Union office will be closed Monday and Jan. 2 and no newspapers will be printed those days in observance of the Christmas and New Years holidays. The deadline for advertisements for Tuesday’s edition is noon Friday.

CAREY — Carey FFA member Olivia Coppler placed eighth in the state in Division I in the state job interview career development event at Ohio State University. This CDE allows students to have a job interview for any agriculture job.

MOUNT VICTORY – The 2017 Conservation Tillage Club breakfast program series will begin Jan. 10 at the Plaza Inn Restaurant in Mount Victory. Each session will start at 7:30 a.m. with a complimentary buffet breakfast followed by the program at 8 a.m.

COLUMBUS — The Ohio Beef Council, representing beef farmers throughout the state, has partnered with Kroger and the Ohio Corn Marketing Program to provide beef to Ohio families in-need this holiday season. A beef donation will be made to the Mid-Ohio Foodbank through a campaign that launched Dec. 2 on Facebook.

COLUMBUS — Farmers in the Western Lake Erie Basin have another opportunity to obtain conservation financial assistance. The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Natural Resources Conservation Service is accepting applications until Jan. 20 for funding through the Tri-State Western Lake Erie Basin Phosphorus Reduction Initiative.

The Upper Sandusky Exempted Village School Board approved changes to the high school course selection guide for the 2017-18 school year during its meeting Monday night. Junior government now will be reduced to the minimum half credit required by the state, allowing students instead to take college and career readiness, which will be a new junior requirement.

Thirteen people attended a public hearing before Upper Sandusky City Council on Monday evening to express their opposition to a special use permit for a bed and breakfast at 442 S. Sandusky Ave., and council ultimately voted 6-1 to accept a recommendation by the planning commission to deny the request.

Upper Sandusky City Council took the first step Monday toward allowing low-speed and other vehicles to be operated within city limits, but there will be a short time that no golf carts and similar vehicles will be permitted on roadways.