It appears another blast of winter weather is coming.

It’s expected to hit Wednesday with rain and freezing rain and then snow.  Snow could last until late Wednesday night.

Three area boys basketball teams made it to the ‘Sweet 16.’

In Division III, Huron will play Ottawa-Glandorf at 8pm Wednesday at Bowling Green State University.  

In Division II regional semi-final action, Norwalk will take on Vermilion at 6:15 Thursday also at Bowling Green.  We’ll have complete live coverage starting at 5:30 on 95.3, WLKR.  Pre-sale tickets for Norwalk and Vermilion are available from 8am until 3:30pm tomorrow through Wednesday, 5 until 7:30 tomorrow night and 8am until 2pm Thursday.  All pre-sale tickets are $6…They will be $8 at the gate.  Parking at Bowling Green is $5. 

An arrest has been made in connection with a weekend bar shooting in Fremont that left three men dead and one wounded.

33-year-old Igmidio Mista was taken into custody at 9:45 this morning in Fremont.  He’s currently charged with three counts of first degree murder.  Witnesses said Mista shot four men early Sunday morning after an argument at the Last Call Saloon.  The victims have been identified as:  28-year-old Ramiro Sanchez, a bartender at Last Call Saloon; 25-year-old Daniel Ramirez, a patron at the bar; 26-year-old Jose ‘Andy’ Chavez, an off-duty Elmore Police Officer who was at the bar.  A fourth man, 25-year-old Ramiro Arreola was taken by Lifeflight to St. Vincent Mercy Medical Center…He’s now out of the hospital.

A Sandusky County grand jury has heard evidence, connected to a 26-year-old homicide.

It’s not yet known if the grand jury will return an indictment, in the case of Isabel Cordle. She was found dead in her Bellevue home in January of 1988. Authorities said Cordle was killed by an axe blow to the head. An investigation turned up several suspects, but no one was arrested. The case was featured last fall, on TNT’s ‘Cold Justice’ show.

Due to the unusually harsh winter, the state has extended the Home Energy Assistance Winter Crisis Program until April 15^th.

The program provides assistance to eligible households that are threatened with disconnection, have been disconnected, or are running low on bulk fuel. There’s a toll-free hotline, 1-800-282-0880, and a website energyhelp.ohio.gov.

A jury has found an Ashland couple ‘guilty’ of enslaving a mentally-disabled woman, and her daughter.

Jordie Callahan and Jessica Hunt now face life in prison. Two other defendants will be sentenced later this month, after pleading guilty.

The city of Norwalk’s Planning Commission will meet this Wednesday, at 7pm at Norwalk City Hall.

It’s a big basketball weekend in this area.

Tonight, the Bellevue Lady Red will play for a regional championship, and a spot in next week’s Final Four. Bellevue will take on Toledo Rogers at 7:30, at Ontario High School. Tomorrow night, the Norwalk Truckers and the Perkins Pirates will clash for a third time this season. The winner will head to the Sweet Sixteen. Tomorrow night’s game will tipoff at7, at Mansfield Sr. High School. You can hear both games, Bellevue and Rogers, and Norwalk and Perkins live on 95.3, WLKR.

It’s being called one of the largest heroin busts ever, in Huron County.

It happened yesterday afternoon, in Norwalk. 20-year-old Lewis Turner of Lorain was arrested after the controlled buy outside Dave’s Food Mart. Turner is accused of selling more than $5,000 worth of heroin to a confidential informant. Authorities said he was in possession of more heroin, and $7,000 in cash. He was taken to the Huron County Jail.

A jury now has the case of an Ashland couple accused of imprisoning and abusing a mentally-impaired woman and her young daughter.

Deliberations began late yesterday afternoon, and will resume this morning in the so called ‘slave labor’ trial. Prosecutors said Jessica Hunt and Jordie Callahan lured the victims into their home, stole their monthly government assistance checks, and forced them to do manual labor. If convicted by a federal jury, Hunt and Callahan could be sent to prison for life.

The longtime head of the Firelands Chapter of the American Red Cross is retiring.

Ron Rude will step down in July. He’s been with the Red Cross for nearly 40 years, 26 of them as director. After Rude’s retirement, the Firelands and Lorain County chapters will merge into a single unit.

It’s the weekend we lose an hour of sleep, as we ‘spring ahead’ one hour, to Daylight Saving Time.

The time change takes effect at 2am Sunday.

The nation’s largest office-supply retailer has announced plans to close 10 percent of its stores by the end of next year.

That means up to 225 Staples locations will shut down by the end of 2015. Staples officials said half of its sales are now generated online, so cuts will be made, to become more efficient. It’s not yet known how many jobs will be lost, or what locations will close.

Public health officials are investigating a possible mumps outbreak at Ohio State University.

As many as 11 students are said to have the contagious infection.

Ohio’s January unemployment rate was 6.9 percent in January, down from 7.1 percent in December, according to data released this morning by the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services.

The number of workers unemployed in Ohio in January was 395,000, down 16,000 from December.

The figures are in and they show Lake Erie is now 96-percent covered by ice.

NOAA’s Great Lakes Environmental Research Lab says in some sport, its two-feet thick.

It’s Norwalk and Perkins, part III.

The two basketball teams will meet in the Division II district title game Saturday, at Mansfield Sr. High School, with the winner advancing to the Sweet 16.

In sports…

More boy’s tournament basketball tonight on 95.3, WLKR.  Willard will take on Huron in the Division III district semi-finals at Ashland University.  Coverage begins at 6, with tipoff at 6:15.

A house fire on State Route 601 in Norwalk has done at least $100,000 damage.

According to Norwalk Fire Chief John Soisson, crews were summoned to 4001 Route 601 shortly before 9pm.  They arrived to find heavy smoke and an extensive fire inside.  Townsend Township firefighters provided mutual aid.  It’s believed the fire began in the furnace room.

A train derailment in Willard led to train back-ups around the area this morning.

State Route 13, between U.S. Routes 250 and 224 was closed for a short time by a train blocking the tracks.  The road re-opened after the train was separated.  We’ll have more on the derailment as details become available.

The Second Harvest Food Bank of North Central Ohio has kicked off its annual‘Harvest for Hunger’ campaign.

They hope to collect enough in donations and food to provide more than one million meals to those less fortunate in Huron, Erie, Lorain and Crawford counties.

A portion of State Route 101 in Erie County has been renamed, in honor of a Sandusky native killed overseas.

Governor John Kasich has signed a bill renaming some of Route 101 the “Sgt. First Class Charles L. Adkins Memorial Highway.” Adkins was a 1993 graduate of Margaretta High School. He was killed in Afghanistan in April of 2011.

Huron County deputies continue to investigate an alleged sex offense, involving a 38-year-old man, and a 13-year-old girl.

The alleged offense occurred last week, at a home on Greenwich-Milan Townline Road in Norwalk. The Sheriff’s Office was notified by Huron County Children’s Services. The suspect has not been arrested.

17 months in prison, for a Willard man convicted of sexually assaulting a woman last June.

David Barnum was sentenced yesterday, in Huron County Common Pleas Court. He was originally charged with rape, but later pleaded guilty to a reduced charge of aggravated assault. The 17-month prison term is one month shy of the maximum.

Students at Margaretta Elementary may have been exposed to a suspected case of whooping cough.

School officials sent an e-mail to parents yesterday. Official test results are expected tomorrow.

If you’re on the Columbia Gas of Ohio budget payment plan, get ready to shell out more money.

Columbia Gas says budget plan customers will see bills jump by an average of $20 a month, due to an increase in the price of natural gas.  The increase will take effect immediately.

State Representative Terry Boose of Norwalk is inviting all Huron County business owners to a roundtable discussion with Ohio Bureau of Workers Compensation Administrator/CEO Steve Buehrer on Monday, March 10^th.

The event will begin at 9:30am, at the Huron County Chamber of Commerce Office on West Main Street in Norwalk. Attendees will learn about the Bureau’s ongoing initiatives, and will be able to ask questions and provide input for improvements. Business owners can RSVP by calling 419-245-3017.

A statewide tornado drill and test of the Emergency Alert System will take place at 9:30 tomorrow morning, as part of Spring Severe Weather Awareness Week.

Counties throughout Ohio will sound outdoor warning sirens. Schools, homes and businesses are encouraged to practice tornado drills and emergency plans.

A look ahead: 2014 Skywarn tornado and severe weather spotter training will be held Tuesday, April 8^th, from 6:30 until 8:30pm at the Fisher-Titus Learning Center at Norwalk High School. Training is free. Those who attend and complete the program will be registered with the National Weather Service Office in Cleveland, and will be issued a Skywarn spotter ID card.

Norwalk City Council will meeting in regular session tonight.

It’s a very light agenda, with a few routine items. The meeting will start at 7:30, in the Norwalk Muni courtroom.

Around Ohio…

Allegations of hazing and alcohol abuse have led to the closure of a fraternity at Miami University in southwest Ohio. Beta Theta Pi closed its Oxford, Ohio chapter last week. It may be re-established in the 2016-2017 school year.

Six men have been charged in connection with at least 60 cell phone store break-ins around Ohio, Indiana and Kentucky. The Dayton-area men are accused of stealing more than $300,000 in electronics, in smash-and-grab thefts between April of 2012, and January of this year.

Richmond Heights Schools superintendent Richard Moore II has been placed on paid leave, amid allegations of bribery and extortion. He’s accused of shaking down a daycare business that contracted with the school system. The district’s building director has been charged too.

A benefit concert will be held March 14^th, for former Perkins firefighter James Dickman. Dickman died in late January, fighting a blaze in Toledo. The March 14^th concert will begin at 6pm, at the Kalahari Convention Center. The concert will feature Remembering Venice, a band Dickman played with. Video of Dickman singing with the band will be played during the performance. The cost is $10. Proceeds will benefit Dickman’s wife and children.

The infamous ‘caged kids’ case in Huron County is officially over.

Welfare officials in Stark County will pay $2 million to three children they placed with Michael and Sharen Gravelle, ending a series of civil lawsuits.  The Gravelles spent two years in prison in 2005 for locking 11 adopted and foster children in makeshift cages in their Clarksfield Township home.  Advocates for the kids sued agencies in several counties, including Huron County, saying there wasn’t enough oversight of their special needs.

In sports…

It’s a Division IV boys district semi-final basketball doubleheader night with both games LIVE on 95.3, WLKR.  At 6:15, St. Paul will take on Buckeye Central, followed by Plymouth and St. Mary Central Catholic.  Both games are at Willard High School.