It may be July, but Operation Half Pint is spreading the Christmas spirit next weekend. The 3rd annual Half Pint 5k race will be held next Saturday, July 27th, at the Pangle Pavilion in downtown Lima. This year's theme is Christmas in July, and a portion of the proceeds will help fund the Christmas Cheer event organized by the Allen County Veterans Service Commission.

The U.S. State Department has approved a potential deal that could benefit the Joint Systems Manufacturing Center. According to Senator Rob Portman, Taiwan has proposed a $2 billion deal that would modernize 108 Abrams tanks for them. This would be on top of the over $2 billion dollars of work, for Abrams and Stryker vehicles as part of the National Defense Authorization Act, which has been approved by Congress. Foreign work was critical to help keep the plant open when the U.S. cut back on product at the JSMC a few years ago. The Lima plant in the past had deals with Morocco, Saudi Arabia and other countries for different versions of Abrams Tank.