Friday, June 26th, 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 1974, at 8:01 a.m. at a Marsh supermarket in Troy, a 10-pack of Wrigley's Juicy Fruit gum became the first retail item ever scanned with a Universal Product Code.

Gov. Mike DeWine vetoed a bill that would have required mail-in voters to upload a picture of their photo ID. Read his reasoning in the Top of the Fold.

Also, have you always wanted to grow tomatoes, but don’t know how? Find the perfect guide in our Peach Section.

COLUMBUS — Gov. Mike DeWine vetoed House Bill 472 Wednesday night, killing a Republican measure that would have forced most absentee voters to upload a photo ID and electronic signature to a not-yet-built state portal — calling it "all burden for so little benefit."

The veto breaks with his own party and with years of his signing GOP election bills, and Senate Republicans signaled they may not return from summer break to override him.

For more, go to the veto that split Ohio Republicans.

WASHINGTON — A divided Supreme Court ruled Thursday that the Trump administration can strip Temporary Protected Status from more than 356,000 Syrian and Haitian immigrants, holding that the TPS law keeps courts from reviewing most challenges.

The ruling hits home in Springfield, where thousands of Haitian residents now face losing their work permits and possible removal.

Keep reading: CBS News on what the decision means for 356,000 immigrants.

ST. CLAIRSVILLE — A developer called EnergiAcres wants to build a 2-to-3-gigawatt data center on thousands of acres in Belmont County, dubbed "The Real Stargate Ohio," drawn by the region's gas lines and power infrastructure, with a target of opening in 2029.

Commissioners say they're just now learning the details, an early sign that Ohio's energy-rich eastern corridor is landing on the data center map. Wondering where it could go?

This link maps out the corridor, drawing the next big project east.

Ohio's sports venues stretch from a $7 minor league baseball ticket to a $150 FC Cincinnati seat, and the experience varies just as much as the price.

A Columbus Clippers game at Huntington Park is one of the best family values in the state. Tickets average $15 to $22, parking is manageable, and the ballpark keeps kids engaged with a mascot, a scoreboard, and cheap cotton candy. The Toledo Mud Hens at Fifth Third Field offer Triple-A baseball with a downtown Toledo setting — tickets start around $12 and average $18 to $32, with the added draw that on any given night, you might be watching a Detroit Tigers prospect weeks away from his MLB debut. The Dayton Dragons at Day Air Ballpark are the most affordable game in Ohio, with tickets starting around $11 and averaging $15 to $26. The ballpark has earned a loyal following for its promotions, family-friendly atmosphere, and the fact that it rarely has a bad seat.

For fans ready to step up to the majors, Ohio has two options. The Cleveland Guardians play at Progressive Field on the lakefront — expect $25 to $60 per ticket and $20 to $30 for downtown parking, though a Tuesday day game with good seats can still come in under $200 for four. Down south, the Cincinnati Reds at Great American Ball Park sit on the Ohio River with one of the better views in the National League. Tickets run $20 to $55, depending on the seat and opponent, parking downtown averages $15 to $25, and the ballpark's layout makes it easy to keep track of young kids. Both parks offer the full major league experience — bigger crowds, better talent, and noticeably higher concession prices than their minor league counterparts.

Soccer is the shortest clock on this list. Columbus Crew tickets run $20 to $35, and the match is over in 90 minutes. FC Cincinnati at TQL Stadium offers a family pack — four tickets with food included — for $140 total. The club's supporter section, the Bailey, is loud and intense, which is either the point or a reason to sit elsewhere, depending on how old your kids are.

Let's settle the picnic-table argument first. Botanically, a tomato is a fruit — it grows from the flower and carries the seeds, same as an apple. But in 1893, in Nix v. Hedden, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled 9-0 that a tomato is a vegetable for tariff purposes, since nobody serves it for dessert. Ohio, for its part, sided with science and made the tomato its official state fruit in 2009 — so pick your side of the horticultural scale and move on.

We come by the obsession honestly. Alexander W. Livingston of Reynoldsburg bred the first larger, sweeter tomatoes in the late 1800s, and the town still calls itself the birthplace of the tomato — and still throws the Reynoldsburg Tomato Festival every summer, set this year for Aug. 13-15 at Huber Park.

Now to the growing. Ohio's window is short, so don't dawdle. Set transplants out after the last frost, usually mid-May, and you can keep planting seedlings into late June and still beat the first October cold. Starting from seed is a spring-only job, though — sow those indoors in March, because seeds dropped in the ground in summer won't ripen before frost.

Read the full article here.

Have you ever visited your local zoo?
- Yes - 85%
- No - 15%

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