Report. Reflect. Respond.
Tuesday, July 21st, 2026
Welcome to Tuesday’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 2007, "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows," the seventh and final book in J.K. Rowling's series, went on sale and sold 8.3 million U.S. copies in 24 hours.
Ohio's governor's race has tipped to a dead heat, with Democrat Amy Acton now up by less than a point on Republican Vivek Ramaswamy. Who's got the momentum heading into fall? Find out in the Top of The Fold.
Also, JD Vance wants Republicans to rebuild the American union — but is he just Charlie Brown lining up to kick Lucy's football? Read why in our Editorial section.
Top of The Fold
Governor's Race Now A Toss-Up
COLUMBUS — The contest to replace term-limited Gov. Mike DeWine is now a coin flip.
The Cook Political Report shifted the race between Republican Vivek Ramaswamy and Democrat Amy Acton from "leans Republican" to "toss-up" on July 16, and the RealClearPolitics polling average has Acton ahead by less than a point.
Ramaswamy, a Cincinnati biotech billionaire and former presidential candidate backed by President Trump, has far outraised Acton, who served as the state's health director during the pandemic.
Five Die In Toledo Carbon Monoxide Tragedy
TOLEDO — A grandmother and four young children died after carbon monoxide filled their SUV while the family waited for help with a flat tire on July 15.
The children — Liberty, Storm, Legacy and Stone, ages 2 to 4 — and their 36-year-old grandmother, Candace McAllister, were found unconscious on Phillips Avenue, and the last child was taken off life support Friday.
Police say foul play isn't suspected, and investigators plan to examine the family's Ford Explorer.
Taco Bell Lettuce Tied To Ohio Outbreak
COLUMBUS — Ohio is one of five states in a cyclospora outbreak tied to shredded iceberg lettuce served at some Taco Bell locations, though investigators haven't confirmed a definitive source.
Federal officials have told people to avoid the shredded lettuce at Taco Bells in Ohio, Indiana, Kentucky, Michigan and West Virginia, and distributor Taylor Farms pulled all iceberg lettuce sourced from central Mexico on July 17 as a precaution.
A sample that first tested positive for the parasite was later flagged as a false positive, and the FDA says it has no confirmed positive product samples so far.
Page One
National
WASHINGTON — U.S. and Iranian forces continue exchanging strikes around the Strait of Hormuz despite negotiations toward a war-ending deal, with fresh attacks reported on shipping and on Kuwait and Bahrain.
WASHINGTON — Roughly 9.5 million people, or one in five federal student loan borrowers, are now in default following the expiration of pandemic-era payment pauses, pushing student loan defaults to record highs across the U.S.
WASHINGTON — Some Senate conservatives back attaching Trump's SAVE America Act to a stopgap funding bill, but GOP colleagues warn the move risks a government shutdown.
Statewide
DELAWARE — Five people died after a rescue attempt in the Scioto River. Two women pulled from the water Sunday later died in the hospital, and crews recovered the bodies of three men Monday.
COLUMBUS — Elon Musk has donated $5 million to "V-PAC: Victors, not Victims," a political action committee backing Ohio Republican gubernatorial candidate Vivek Ramaswamy.
COLUMBUS — Ohio Dominican University graduate assistant football coach Madison Lindamood has filed a lawsuit against the university, alleging the school retaliated against her after she reported being assaulted by a player at a university event, failed to properly investigate, allowed ongoing contact with the player and underpaid her for extensive overtime work.
STATEWIDE — The Storm Prediction Center has placed much of Ohio in a Level 3 risk for severe thunderstorms today, with wind gusts projected to reach more than 60 mph and a slight chance of tornadoes.
STATEWIDE — According to the Annie E. Casey Foundation's Kids Count Data Book, 68% of fourth-graders in Ohio are not proficient in reading, up 4 percentage points from 2019, and 68% of eighth-graders are not proficient in math, up 6 percentage points from 2019.
A Note from the Editor
The Adjectives Are Doing The Reporting Now
An adjective is a describing word — it dresses up a noun and, quietly, tells you how to feel about it. That is harmless in a grammar lesson and a thumb on the scale in a headline.
Open any news app and count them. A ruling is no longer handed down; it is a "stunning" or "chilling" blow. A bill no longer passes; it is a "radical," "disgraceful" power grab. Watch one story cross the dial: CNN calls it chilling, Fox News calls it outrageous, and both are selling the same feeling.
That is not reporting; it is editorializing dressed as a headline, engineered to spike your pulse and earn your click — because a calm reader scrolls past and an angry one taps.
Jamie Dimon has spent years telling young people the opposite: build emotional stability and EQ, read the argument you disagree with, think for yourself, and log off the feeds that reward reacting over reasoning. He is right. A steady country does not need a generation trained to click and react on cue.
That is why we started The Pennant. On the news pages you will get what happened and the facts to weigh it, and nothing dressed up to move you. We will save the adjectives for the editorial section — like this one — and let you supply your own outrage, if the facts earn it.
Editorial
What JD Vance Doesn't Understand About Organized Labor
By The Pennant Editorial Staff
Vice President JD Vance went on Joe Rogan's podcast last week to promote his new book, "Communion: Finding My Way Back to Faith."
He spent a good stretch of the visit selling conservatives on a rebuilt, modernized labor movement — tying the cost of living to union membership and arguing that Republicans should treat organized labor as the engine of a working-class comeback.
It is a neat story, but in reality, it’s about politics more than it’s about opportunity or affordability.
Start with the arithmetic Vance skips. Union membership has been sliding for four decades, from 20.1 percent of workers in 1983 to 10 percent in 2025, and just 5.9 percent in the private sector — the lowest share on record. That slide did not happen because unions were doing right by workers; it happened because fewer of them saw the point. Legislating the trend into reverse does nothing about the reasons it began.
The Back Page
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]