Thursday, August 27th, 2026

Welcome to Thursday’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 2008, Barack Obama was formally nominated for president at the Democratic National Convention in Denver.

Ohio schools begin their first full year under the new cellphone ban, and the DOJ sues a Franklin County court over its immigration arrest rule. Those are at the top of the fold.

And a heartfelt tribute bids farewell to Dolly Parton, plus our editorial board sounds off on a federal judge blocking Ohio's new voter ID requirement.

Ohio lawmakers passed a law in 2024 requiring public schools to adopt cellphone policies to limit classroom distractions.

Last year's budget tightened the law to ban student cellphone use throughout the entire instructional day, including lunch, passing periods, and recess.

The law took effect Jan. 1, making the 2026-27 school year the first under the full ban.

Reactions have been mixed, with supporters praising the move to limit smartphone distractions and harm, while critics argue the ban handicaps students' technology literacy and makes it harder for parents to reach their children in emergencies.

The Department of Justice sued the Franklin County Municipal Court Tuesday over its rule barring civil arrests at or near the courthouse without a judicial warrant.

The DOJ argues the rule obstructs federal law enforcement and conflicts with federal immigration law, which allows ICE agents to make warrantless arrests under certain circumstances.

The Justice Department is asking a federal judge to declare the rule unlawful and block the court from enforcing it against federal officers.

The FBI arrested Alex Justin Miller, 26, of Ohio, for allegedly making violent threats against President Donald Trump and Rep. Randy Fine, R-Fla., and his family.

In an email to Fine, Miller allegedly threatened to burn his house down, behead him, and murder his entire family, closing with "DEATH TO RANDY FINE AND DEATH TO DONALD TRUMP!!"

The U.S. attorney charged Miller with interstate transmission of a threat to injure, which carries a maximum sentence of five years in prison.

Dear Dolly,

Thank you for being the ultimate role model in rhinestones. 

You’ve always said it takes a lot of money to look this cheap, and that same wit and sparkle have carried you through every chapter of an extraordinary career. You’ve poured out love, sparked laughter, and given us music so beautiful it feels like it was written straight from the soul. Through it all, you’ve never wavered on what matters most — faith and family — holding onto them through every hardship, because as you always say, if you want the rainbow, you gotta put up with the rain.

But of all your countless gifts, none will echo further than the one you’ve given young children everywhere: the spark of early literacy. 

You started the Imagination Library in honor of your father, who never learned to read or write, and turned his story into a mission that has placed a book in the hands of children across the globe every month, free of charge. Because of you, countless kids have grown up with a library of their own before they even started school, and a lifelong love of reading in their hearts.

Nobody could ever come close to a legend like you.

Welcome home, Dolly.

With gratitude and admiration,

Jolene

A federal judge from the Northern District just ruled that Ohio can't check whether new voters are actually U.S. citizens. Apparently that's OK. What could go wrong?

Judge Solomon Oliver Jr. struck down the state's new rule requiring people to show a passport, birth certificate, or similar document when they register to vote at the BMV. A signature saying "yes, I'm a citizen" was good enough, he said. Anything more, according to his ruling, breaks federal law.

We'll ignore the fact that people might lie.

We don't buy it. You've heard it all before — you need ID to cash a check. You even need an ID to change two $50s for a $100 bill at most banks. You need it to buy a case of Garage Beer at a gas station.

But prove you're a citizen before you register to vote? Apparently that's asking way too much from responsible voters.

Several other states passed nearly the same kind of law this year. Ohio's lawmakers debated this one. The governor signed it. Poof! It's a law.

Then one judge in Cleveland decided he knew better.

This will get appealed, and it should be. The question was never whether it's reasonable to check someone's citizenship before they vote. It's whether that decision belongs to the people Ohioans elected — or to whoever happens to be sitting on the bench that day.

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