Monday, October 19th, 2026

Welcome to Monday’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 1987, “Black Monday,” the Dow Jones Industrial Average plunged 508 points, or nearly 23%, its largest one-day percentage drop ever.

In today’s Top of the Fold: Ohio’s Supreme Court temporarily restores eligibility for UC and Xavier players, and COPC says its August data breach affected 1.4 million people.

And in today’s editorial, The Pennant argues last week’s EdChoice ruling hurts Ohio’s poorest kids most and urges the Ohio Supreme Court to reverse it.

COLUMBUS — Central Ohio Primary Care Physicians says 1.4 million people were affected by its August data breach. 

A ransomware group gained access after a voice-phishing scam, exposing names, addresses, Social Security numbers, financial information, and some health data. 

Those affected will be notified by mail. COPC says the breach is contained, MyChart is safe to use, and it knows of no misuse so far. 

A cybersecurity expert warned the data could be used to open credit cards or bank accounts. More on this story here.

COLUMBUS — The Ohio Supreme Court last week temporarily restored the eligibility of several Class of 2022 basketball players, including Cincinnati’s MJ Collins and Xavier’s Filip Borovicanin, by staying an appeals court ruling that sided with the NCAA. 

The stay came a day after Gov. Mike DeWine signed an executive order letting Ohio colleges give those athletes a fifth year. 

Both sides must file briefs by 5 p.m. today explaining how DeWine’s order affects the case.

COLUMBUS — Ohio ranked 38th in the nonprofit SmileHub’s August ranking of the best states for disabled veterans, behind all five neighboring states. Pennsylvania placed highest among them at 11th. 

Ohio did better on health and rehabilitation access, ranking 17th, and placed third in physicians per capita. 

It ranked 34th in economic stability and 44th in infrastructure and community support. 

The report also found Ohio lacks veteran transition programs and a hiring preference for disabled veterans, though military retirement pay is fully exempt from state taxes.

Florida, Virginia and Texas topped the list. Mississippi ranked last.

COLUMBUS, Ohio — Despite what many call one of the most poorly officiated games in the Big Ten this year, Ohio State left Bloomington with a 19-15 win Saturday, snapping Indiana’s 22-game winning streak.

Now the 6-1 Buckeyes get the week off. They’re back in action on Halloween at USC, and they need the rest.

Ohio State came out of Indiana banged up:

The Buckeyes were already without RB Ja’Kobi Jackson and OL Austin Siereveld.

Buckeye Insiders will have the coverage all week. There’s no game Saturday, but Ohio State is right in the mix for the playoffs. For now, it’s behind freshman quarterback Luke Fahey.

Ask a parent in a struggling school district what “choice” means, and you won’t hear about constitutional theory. You’ll hear about a child falling behind, a classroom that isn’t safe, or a school that has failed for years while the adults in charge asked for patience.

For two decades, EdChoice has given those families a way out. Last week, a state appeals court ruled that way out unconstitutional.

The 10th District Court of Appeals said EdChoice creates a “competing system of uncommon schools” that drains money from public districts. The program survives for now while the Ohio Supreme Court takes up the case. But the message to families is clear: the system comes first.

We disagree.

EdChoice began in 2005 to rescue kids stuck in Ohio’s lowest-performing schools. Wealthier families have always had choice. They can afford private tuition or a house in a better district. EdChoice gives that same power to families who can’t.

The lawsuit was brought by more than 300 school districts, backed by a public-school establishment, including teachers' unions, that has opposed vouchers for decades. Their arguments center on money: diverted funding, squeezed budgets, harder-to-pass levies. Those are institutional concerns, not the concerns of a child reading two grades behind.

Critics have a fair point that since the 2023 expansion, much of the money goes to families who could already afford private school. Lawmakers should refocus the dollars on the low-income families EdChoice was created to serve.

But scrapping the program would hurt the kids with the fewest options most. Many of the roughly 180,000 students using EdChoice would be sent back to the very schools their parents worked to escape.

The Ohio Supreme Court should reverse this ruling. A good education shouldn’t depend on a family’s ZIP code or bank account. Schools exist to serve children, not the other way around.

This editorial reflects the views of The Pennant Editorial Board. Questions or comments are welcome at [email protected].

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