Friday, September 18th, 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 date in 1873, the Ohio Agricultural and Mechanical College, later renamed Ohio State University, officially opened its doors in Columbus with just 30 to 40 students.

Top of the Fold: Franklin County greenlights two data centers over resident objections, and a new poll shows Ohio's top races remain neck-and-neck.

And in the Peach Section today: Granville corrects our record on its five-star rating, Ohio tips surprisingly well, and Swift and Kelce's new mansion talks back.

FRANKLIN COUNTY — Franklin County commissioners unanimously approved rezoning Tuesday for two data center projects, the Beltline Energy Project and Gateway Digital Campus, despite months of resident pushback. 

Opponents, organized through the Pacific ROOT Coalition and Franklin County Rural Coalition, have called the developments a "gold rush," following a 13-hour hearing last spring.

COLUMBUS — A BGSU/YouGov poll of 1,000 likely Ohio voters shows Democrats Sherrod Brown and Amy Acton each leading Republicans Jon Husted and Vivek Ramaswamy by three points, within the poll's margin of error.

 Despite their edges, more voters still expect the Republican candidates to ultimately win.

COLUMBUS — Ohio's average price for regular unleaded climbed to $4.35 a gallon, AAA reported, up 21 cents from a week ago and just below the national average of $4.37. 

Diesel hit a record $6.33. Canton-Massillon and Akron posted the state's highest metro prices, while Belmont County remained the cheapest.

GRANVILLE — Thursday, we ran a story breaking down Ohio's new school report cards region by region, citing districts ranging from 2.5 to five stars. Granville's five-star rating didn't make the cut, and at least one reader let us hear about it.

We can't list every five-star district in Ohio in one story. But this reader wrote in, sent screenshots of the district's report card profile, and made a real case for it — so here we are on Peach Section Day, feeling guilted into adding this story.

Congratulations to Superintendent Jeffrey Brown and the Granville Exempted Village School District on the five-star rating. Sorry it took one email from a Blue Ace parent with at least one child, or a really close relative, in the district to give your excellent district a warm Pennant salute.

Everyone in Granville should swing by Whit's for a celebratory custard as they join Bexley, Upper Arlington, Grandview Heights, Olentangy, and New Albany-Plain at the top of the Central Ohio pack. Stick it on the fridge next to the other one.

In hopes this is the last time we have to revisit this topic until next year, here are a few more five-star districts around the state, for anyone else keeping score: Ottawa Hills and Perrysburg up northwest; Madeira, Mariemont, and Wyoming down southwest; Solon, Chagrin Falls, and Rocky River up northeast.

Now go enjoy tonight's game and grab a bite at what has to be a five-star, booster-built concession stand.

COLUMBUS — Good news if you wait tables in Ohio: your customers aren't the worst.

A new report from Toast, which handles digital payments for restaurants, put Ohio in the top 10 tipping states, with diners here averaging 20.7% at sit-down spots, well ahead of the 19.2% national average.

Ohio's got company. Indiana, Kentucky, Pennsylvania and West Virginia all cracked the top 10 too — apparently the whole Ohio Valley runs generous. Maybe those data centers are paying off after all; there's clearly extra to share at the local LongHorn.

Delaware topped the list at over 22%, while California, Washington, D.C., and Washington state brought up the rear, all under 18%. Read into that what you will.

Fast food tips held steady around 15.8% nationwide. Someone out there is actually tipping 20% on their new-and-improved Whopper Jr.

Toast didn't offer data on tipping at booster-built concession stands in five-star school districts. We'll just assume it's really good.

BRATENAHL — Most of us don't think about Travis Kelce or Taylor Swift on any given Tuesday. But there's a rabid, tireless sector of society that needs to know their every move, and for those people, we have news: the royal couple's new house talks.

The New York Post's Page Six reports the pair have installed a voice-activated warning system at their Bratenahl mansion, the kind that apparently scolds you the moment you wander too close. One neighbor told the outlet that getting near the property triggers a disembodied voice telling you to go no further — which might be the most 2026 home security story we'll run all year.

The couple bought the lakefront estate in March for $5.35 million, several months before their July wedding. Their spread isn't far from Kelce's hometown of Cleveland Heights (which just posted a 3.5-star rating on its own report card, up a full star from the year before) — and odds are decent it's already been dubbed The Lakes, since celebrities do love naming their homes.

Realtor Patricia Knight Gary told Page Six that Bratenahl already runs its own small police force, and she expects talk of beefing that up now that the world's most photographed couple has moved in down the street.

Page Six also reports the newlyweds haven't caused any commotion in the neighborhood — the talking house appears to be taking a page straight out of "Speak Now, or Forever Hold Your Peace."

What should Cleveland’s section of Lake Erie be called?
- Lake Erie—leave it alone - 40%
- The Gulf of Cleveland - 35%
- Mistake on the Lake - 15%
- Something else entirely - 10%

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