Regional news

2014 will be remembered for several things, but the thing most area residents will remember is the “Winter of 2014.”

Guy Verhoff, Pandora weather observer, provided The Icon with the 2014 summary with comparisons back to 2006.

In 2014 the Ada Icon had 60,558 total visits from 26,975 individuals, according to Google Analytics.

The vast majority were from Ada-Kenton-Lima-Bluffton-Findlay, reaching over 6,000 viewers. Here are some of the additional stats on the Icon in 2014:

60,558 total visits
120,018 total page visits
26,975 individual visits
1:27 average time on the site per visit

3,432 total visits to classified page
3,573 total visits to news page
2,082 total visits to obituaries page
1,466 total visits to photo gallery

Following the passage of the extenders legislation, the Internal Revenue Service announced today it anticipates opening the 2015 filing season as scheduled in January.

The IRS will begin accepting tax returns electronically on Jan. 20. Paper tax returns will begin processing at the same time.

The decision follows Congress renewing a number of "extender" provisions of the tax law that expired at the end of 2013. These provisions were renewed by Congress through the end of 2014. The final legislation was signed into law Dec. 19, 2014.

Seventy-five Hardin County farmers and landowners attended a Farm Bill Update meeting held at the Hardin County courthouse held recently, according to Mark Badertscher of the Hardin County Extension Service.

Badertscher said that the  meeting will be repeated on Wednesday, Jan. 7 at 6:30 p.m. 

The Ada Music Boosters would like to remind everyone of multiple fundraising opportunities available throughout the year.  Some require nothing more than shopping the way you already do and some are mutually beneficial to not only the Boosters, but to you as well.

Programs currently available include:
Ada Bingo - Ada Bingo continues to be a favorite Thursday night event for many Ada residents. If you haven’t been out, come try it.

Here's a story that will interest all Ada railfans. It is reposted from The Ohio Association of Railroad Passengers (dba All Aboard Ohio). Click here for more information about All Aboard Ohio.

For advocates of rail transportation, one of the most enjoyable developments is to see a railroad line come back to life. 

That’s been happening recently to the 270-mile Fort Wayne Line between Tolleston (Gary), Ind., and Crestline, Ohio, via Ft. Wayne, Lima - AND ADA - and Bucyrus. This was one of America’s premier passenger rail lines, linking Chicago and East Coast.

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