Report. Reflect. Respond.
Friday, October 2nd, 2026
Welcome to Friday’s edition of The Pennant. To listen to this newsletter, click the “Listen Online” link in the top right corner of this email.
On this day in 1950, Charles Schulz's "Peanuts" debuted, and Snoopy arrived two days later. In 1971, Rod Stewart's "Maggie May" hit No. 1.
Top of the Fold: More than 900 Ohio police agencies failed to report rape kit results. Plus, deputies reopen a 1998 Youngstown cold case.
And in The Peach Section: saying goodbye to Mr. Belding, Rick and Evie's return to "The Mummy," a Buckeyes road trip, and the apple butter nobody knows how to use.
Top of The Fold
Ohio Looks to Fix Rape Kit Reporting
COLUMBUS — Ohio Attorney General Andy Wilson is forming a task force to fix how police report rape kit data.
The kits hold evidence that can help identify attackers. More than 900 Ohio police agencies did not report any rape kit results in 2025. State law requires the reports, but there is no penalty for skipping them.
Wilson called the system "cumbersome." The group will suggest changes to state lawmakers. Gov. Mike DeWine has also asked lawmakers to update the law.
Sheriff Reopens 1998 Killing of Youngstown Man
RAVENNA — The Portage County Sheriff's Office is reopening the unsolved killing of Dominic Thomas, 29, of Youngstown.
He was found shot several times on a road in Garrettsville on Feb. 1, 1998. Investigators think he was killed somewhere else and left there.
The case went cold quickly, and police never found a link between Thomas and the place he was found.
Anyone with information can call the sheriff's office at 330-296-5100.
Ohio's Minimum Wage Going Up in January
COLUMBUS — Ohio's minimum wage will rise to $11.40 an hour on Jan. 1, up from $11.
Tipped workers will get $5.70, up from $5.50. That's a 3.5% raise, bigger than this year's 2.8%.
Ohio voters decided in 2006 that the wage must rise with inflation each year.
The raise covers businesses that bring in more than $420,000 a year. Workers at smaller businesses and 14- and 15-year-olds stay at $7.25.
Page One
National
WASHINGTON — Senate Democrats blocked Ohio Sen. Jon Husted's bill aimed at making data centers cover their added power costs, as Republicans worry rising electric bills could hurt them in November.
WASHINGTON — The Trump administration began sending $500 refunds to more than 950,000 Obamacare enrollees in 30 states, who the White House says were overcharged under the Biden administration.
NASHVILLE — Death row inmate Christa Pike was still alive, snoring, more than 40 minutes after a second lethal injection, witnesses said. She was hospitalized, and the governor halted executions.
Statewide
FINDLAY — Sheetz opened a $169 million food production and distribution center Tuesday, expected to bring 750 jobs over five years and be fully operational by Oct. 11.
CHILLICOTHE — The Chillicothe Ross Chamber of Commerce urged the city's Planning Commission to set clear data center rules before they're needed, speaking for nearly 800 member businesses.
TRENTON — Amazon will host an open house on its planned data center campus 5-8 p.m. Oct. 15 at Edgewood Middle School. Residents must register in advance.
CLEVELAND — The Guardians open the AL Division Series against the rival White Sox at 1 p.m. Saturday at Progressive Field on TBS.
DAYTON — GE Aerospace and its foundation will invest nearly $500,000 in southwest Ohio job training, including about $300,000 for Sinclair's welding and technician programs and $130,000 for Troy's Hobart Institute.
Hey, Hey, Hey: Saying Goodbye to TV's Favorite Principal
If you can still hum the "Saved by the Bell" theme song, you're probably between 35 and 50. You remember dancing to New Kids on the Block or the Backstreet Boys and figuring out your first Game Boy. And you spent your Saturday mornings at Bayside High.
Mr. Belding was there, with a goofy grin and a "Hey, hey, hey, what is going on here?"
Dennis Haskins, who played Principal Richard Belding on "Saved by the Bell" and its spinoffs for more than a decade, died at 75, his agent announced Monday.
You watched him chase Zack Morris down the halls, always a step behind, while Zack talked his way out of trouble on a cell phone the size of a brick. Off camera, Haskins loved karaoke so much he recorded an album of it: "Karaoke with Your Favorite Principal Dennis." He was a regular at a Burbank karaoke bar. Those close to him say he fought Parkinson's for eight years.
Class dismissed, Mr. Belding.
Rick and Evie Are Back. Save Room for Popcorn.
Still misty-eyed over Mr. Belding? Here's some good news from your Blockbuster days: Brendan Fraser and Rachel Weisz are filming "The Mummy 4" on a former military base in England, according to the New York Post's Page Six.
The first "Mummy" hit theaters in 1999. It scared the bejeezus out of you, so much that you checked under the bed for flesh-eating beetles. But it was so much fun that you still catch yourself saying, in your spookiest voice, "Death is only the beginning."
Oh, and as for Weisz: the best-looking librarian on the planet and every 15-year-old boy's movie crush still looks great at 56.
No Blockbuster run needed this time. The movie opens in theaters Oct. 15, 2027. Grab the popcorn, and since plenty of theaters serve beer now, you're finally old enough to order one.
Football and Apple Butter
Tom and Tony from Buckeye Insider are somewhere on I-74 in a rental car, eating cheese curds on a road trip pushing 10 hours. They're headed to Iowa City, where No. 5 Ohio State visits No. 14 Iowa Saturday, 3:30 p.m. on CBS. The last time the Buckeyes visited Kinnick Stadium, it was ugly: Iowa 55, Ohio State 24, in 2017. You can catch their pregame and postgame coverage here. And if you're one of those true fans who enjoy yelling online during the game, follow @TonyGerdeman on X (formerly Twitter).
At the end of the first quarter, you'll see one of college football's best traditions. Everyone waves to the kids at the University of Iowa Stead Family Children's Hospital next door. If you're a diehard, it's the kind of perspective moment we all need after screaming at our flat screens.
The Peach Section's prediction: Ohio State will win, but not by enough.
Not a football person (God forbid)? It's apple season: the Johnny Appleseed Festival in Defiance, the Norton Cider Festival, Burnham Orchards in Berlin Heights, and MacQueen's Apple Butter Festival in Holland, home of the spread everyone buys and nobody knows how to use.
The Back Page
Do you like apple butter?
Previous Poll Results
Should schools embrace AI, or should they tighten restrictions on it?
- Embrace AI - 20%
- Tighten restrictions - 30%
- Both - 50%
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