Friday, October 30th, 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 1938, Orson Welles’ radio adaptation of “The War of the Worlds” convinced some listeners that Martians had landed in New Jersey.

Friday’s Top of the Fold: Ohio’s top court ends a $900 million pandemic fight; early voting nears a record, and the Buckeyes face USC without Sayin.

And in the Peach Section, a never-ending cruise ends in Cambodia, European pilots admit to cockpit catnaps, and we all fall back in time.

COLUMBUS — The Ohio Supreme Court won’t reconsider its ruling in a case seeking $900 million in federal pandemic unemployment benefits, effectively ending a five-year legal fight. 

Gov. Mike DeWine stopped the extra $300 weekly payments in June 2021, months before the federal program ended, after business groups said they were keeping people from returning to work. 

Lower courts sided with about 300,000 unemployed Ohioans, but the justices ruled the case moot. Read more here.

COLUMBUS — Ohio is on pace to set a record for early and absentee voting in a governor’s race, Secretary of State Frank LaRose says. 

About 68% of requested absentee ballots had been returned a week before Election Day. 

The state set its all-time early voting high in 2020 and its previous governor’s-race record in 2022. 

With Election Day on Tuesday, LaRose says voters still holding mail ballots should drop them off at their county board of elections rather than mail them.

LOS ANGELES — No. 2 Ohio State (6-1, 4-0 Big Ten) arrived Thursday ahead of Saturday’s matchup with Southern California, which kicks off at 7:30 p.m. on NBC. 

The Buckeyes are favored by less than a touchdown despite playing without injured quarterback Julian Sayin. 

Coach Ryan Day hasn’t named a starter, but freshman Luke Fahey, a California native, has been ahead of sophomore Tavien St. Clair. USC (6-2) lost 24-7 at Wisconsin last week.

 Our friends at Buckeye Insiders are there, too, and you can get pregame and postgame coverage here.

We borrowed a copy of The Wall Street Journal sitting in front of the office next door and discovered this gem: A cruise that was supposed to last up to 20 years just ended. In Cambodia.

For around $100,000 (not bad if you have the means), passengers bought cabins on the Odyssey, a 642-foot ship promising a years-long voyage around the world. A $3,500 monthly fee covered three meals a day, laundry, Wi-Fi, and two drinks with lunch and dinner. Compared with, oh, say, an assisted living facility in Deshler, Ohio, or a freshman dorm at Urbana University, it sounds kind of reasonable.

On Monday, passengers woke up to a message that the ship couldn’t get enough fuel and they had until 2 p.m. to get off in Sihanoukville, a port town better known for casinos and online scams than as the Buc-ee’s of cruise stops.

One couple sold their business in Maui for a 144-square-foot cabin, roughly the size of the shower stall and freshen-up area at the Iowa 80. Suddenly, the Odyssey of the Sea has become the world’s largest floating rest stop.

Look, failure is not an option. Remember Apollo 13’s Odyssey? It had an untimely explosion in space, and Tom Hanks splashed down safely.

The cruise line’s position is that, technically, the cruise hasn’t ended. It’s just somewhere in Cambodia. Read more about the floating home that stopped floating here.

If the cruise story has you rethinking travel by sea, hold off on booking that flight to Europe.

A survey of about 7,200 pilots for the European Cockpit Association found 76.8% had at least one “microsleep” while flying in the previous four weeks. A microsleep is a brief, involuntary snooze.

When the Peach Section gang came across this story, our reaction was consistent with our aviation expertise, which comes entirely from 1980s cinema classics. “Surely you can’t be serious.” “I am serious, and don’t call me Shirley.”

Nodding off is understandable during a Reds game at the end of July. Nearly 7 miles above the Atlantic? Not gonna lie, that seems like it could be a problem.

About a quarter said they generally kept flying without reporting fatigue. That’s a bold strategy considering the alternative.

Luckily, there are two pilots up front. If they both nod off, hopefully planes still have Otto, the inflatable autopilot. Stay awake for the full story here.

Now we end our travel adventures with a little time travel. At 2 a.m. Sunday, Ohio clocks fall back an hour. No DeLorean required.

Congress first adopted daylight saving time in 1918 to save energy during World War I, then brought it back during World War II. Since then, the only things in Ohio that reliably change twice a year are the clocks and the Browns’ starting quarterback.

A bill to stop changing the clocks passed the House in July. Much like the Odyssey, it’s tied up in the Senate with nowhere to go.

Remember: Spring forward, fall back. Never fall forward. Set your clocks and read more here.

Which issue do you think should be the top priority for the next governor?
- Managing data center growth - 8%
- Gas prices and the cost of living - 42%
- Government fraud - 33%
- Something else - 17%

The Pennant welcomes letters to the editor and guest columns from readers. Submissions may be edited for length, clarity, and AP style. The Pennant reserves the right to verify all information contained in submissions before publication.

Please send all submissions to [email protected]