Report. Reflect. Respond.
Monday, June 15th, 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 2012, President Barack Obama announced the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, known as DACA, shielding many young immigrants brought to the U.S. as children from deportation.
FBI agents searched the Cleveland office of the Ohio Organizing Collaborative last week. Find out why in the Top of The Fold.
Also, More than 300 Ohio school districts are suing over the EdChoice voucher program. Read about their reasoning in our Education section.
Top of The Fold
FBI Searches Office of Cleveland Voter Registration Group
CLEVELAND — FBI agents searched the Cleveland office of the Ohio Organizing Collaborative last week, seizing documents and computer files in what a person familiar with the matter called a voter fraud investigation, a board member said.
Board member Prentiss Haney accused agents of "intimidation tactics and harassment" and said they also visited the homes of people tied to the voter registration group.
Auditors ask Ohio to Hit Pause on Property Tax Overhaul
COLUMBUS — Ohio's county auditors are urging lawmakers to pause new property tax reforms, with the auditors' association president asking for a time-out on House Bill 504 as counties scramble to absorb the $3.8 billion in changes passed late last year.
The bill would phase in large property value spikes over three years — taxpayers would pay a third of the increase the first year, two-thirds the next, and the full amount after that — but County Auditors Association of Ohio President Cindy Waugh says it is piling change on top of change and wants time to see how the existing reforms work first.
Bill Would Return Ohio to the Midwest Passenger Rail Compact
CLEVELAND — A new bill in the Ohio Senate would let the state rejoin the Midwest Interstate Passenger Rail Compact, a nine-state group that coordinates regional rail planning, pursues federal funding, and advocates for better passenger rail connections.
Senate Bill 449, sponsored by Sens. George Lang, R-West Chester, and Nickie Antonio, D-Lakewood, would put Ohio back in a compact it left in 2013, and rail advocates say a seat at the table could help advance two proposed Amtrak routes that include stops in Cleveland.
Page One
National
WASHINGTON — An Iran-linked hacker group known as Handala claims it breached FBI drones and threatened to target the World Cup, the SITE Intelligence Group said, though the claim remains unverified. Read more on the Iran-linked group's World Cup threat.
WASHINGTON — The U.S. Supreme Court is racing to decide nearly two dozen cases before its summer recess, including major rulings on birthright citizenship, the president's power to fire federal officials, and state bans on transgender athletes. See which big cases the Supreme Court still has to decide.
WASHINGTON — A major student loan overhaul takes effect July 1, ending the Biden-era SAVE repayment plan, starting two new Republican-designed plans, and setting new borrowing limits — changes experts warn could push millions of borrowers into higher monthly payments. See how the July 1 student loan changes could affect you.
Statewide
ASHTABULA — Wildlife officials are tracking a 576-pound black bear spotted in Ashtabula County. See whether a bear this size is normal for the area.
COLUMBUS — Columbus native James Fernandez plans to climb Mount Kilimanjaro this month in an effort to raise money for the Mid-Ohio Food Collective. Find out how much he hopes to raise.
TOLEDO, Ohio — City leaders say Toledo needs to rethink how it holds big public events after a shooting at the Old West End Festival hurt 12 people. See what Toledo's mayor said after the festival shooting.
NEW ALBANY, Ohio — Intel's big computer chip plant near Columbus has been delayed again and may not open until around 2030, years later than originally promised. Read more about the delays at Intel's Ohio plant.
CINCINNATI — Greater Cincinnati has passed Columbus to become Ohio's top region for jobs, a new bank report shows, with Cleveland coming in third. See how Ohio's big cities stack up on jobs.
COLUMBUS, Ohio — One artist and one grant organization have pulled their work and support from Ohio State's Wexner Center for the Arts over its name, as the fallout grows from billionaire Les Wexner's ties to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. Read more on the Wexner Center losing an artist and a grant.
DUBLIN, Ohio — Dublin City Schools is expanding its redistricting to include elementary schools, with consultant Woolpert set to redraw attendance maps to balance enrollment as some buildings sit at or near capacity while others have room to spare. Read more on Dublin's expanded redistricting plan.
Education
Ohio school districts press voucher fight, with teachers unions in their corner
By The Pennant Staff
COLUMBUS, Ohio — More than 300 Ohio school districts, about half the state, are suing over the EdChoice voucher program, arguing the state shortchanges public schools while spending more than $2 billion to send students to private schools.
A trial judge ruled the program unconstitutional last summer. The case is now before Ohio's 10th District Court of Appeals, where the Vouchers Hurt Ohio coalition says the state constitution requires lawmakers to fund public schools fairly.
Teachers' unions have become some of the loudest voices in the fight. Local unions and the Ohio Education Association are urging communities to push lawmakers for more school money, even as many districts cut jobs to close budget gaps. In Cleveland Heights, the teachers' union president said the district expects to lose $7 million over two years.
Some Republicans are pushing back. House Bill 671, by Rep. Jamie Callender, R-Concord, would withhold state funding from any district that sues the state over funding. Critics call it the "bully bill." Supporters say schools shouldn't use state money to sue the state.
The appeals court has not yet ruled.
Editorial
Public Project Lessons from Gahanna
By The Pennant Editorial Staff
Gahanna's $59 million civic center was supposed to open last November. Then April. Now the city is hoping for mid-July, and the holdup is electrical work so bad it has to be ripped out and done over.
Elford, the Columbus general contractor, told City Council on May 18 that it fired the electrical subcontractor over poor-quality work and hired a new firm to redo it. CEO Mike Fitzpatrick said his company will eat the cost, not the city. That's the right call, and Elford should absorb it. But it doesn't answer the bigger question of how the work got this bad in the first place.
Elford hasn't said who it fired. People close to the project tell The Pennant it was BW Electrical Services, out of Hillsborough, New Jersey. That's almost 500 miles from Tech Center Drive. BW was purchased in 2021 by Charge Enterprises, which turned around and filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 2024 before rebranding the whole operation as Charge Power Solutions.
To be frank, you don't have to know a thing about construction to see where this was headed. Somebody signed off on shipping critical electrical work to an out-of-state outfit whose parent had just been through bankruptcy court. And that raises a question worth asking out loud: why is a company from New Jersey wiring a public building in central Ohio at all? There have to be qualified tradesmen living right here who can do the job. Jess Howard Electric and Settle Muter Electric both sit within a few miles of the site. Either one could have driven over for a look.
We're not here to convict anybody before the facts come out. But the people of Gahanna paid for this building, and they're owed a straight answer about who picked this subcontractor and what the do-over is going to cost them.
Elford brought the news to the council. We hope it keeps that same candor if we find there is more to the story.
Questions, comments, and letters to the editor are welcome at [email protected].
The Back Page
Previous Poll Results
Are you satisfied with how the alleged medicaid fraud in Ohio is being handled?
- Yes - 25%
- No - 75%
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]