Report. Reflect. Respond.
Tuesday, May 12th, 2026
Welcome to Wednesday’s edition of The Pennant. To listen to this newsletter, click the “Listen Online” link in the top right corner of this email.
Today is Ohio Tourism Day at the State House. Ohioans can come for entertainment, demonstrations, and interactive experiences all relating to the best that Ohio has to offer. (Visit the website here)
Governor Mike DeWine has named Dave Yost’s replacement for Attorney General. Find out who it is in the Top of The Fold.
Also, read about how much help or damage restricting phones in schools has done in our Education Section.
Top of The Fold
DeWine Appoints Andy Wilson as Ohio Attorney General
Gov. Mike DeWine appointed Andy Wilson, director of the Ohio Department of Public Safety, to fill the attorney general vacancy left by Dave Yost's resignation, bringing a background as a former county prosecutor and senior criminal justice advisor to the role.
Read more on Andy Wilson here.
Ohio Police Departments Join Forces with ICE
Ten rural Ohio police departments have signed voluntary agreements with ICE to help enforce federal immigration law, but many are not actively participating due to severe staffing shortages, including one chief who told the Ohio Newsroom he is now his department's only officer and is filing retirement paperwork.
Cyberattack on Canvas Disrupts Schools Nationwide
A ransomware attack knocked out Canvas, a learning platform used by half of U.S. colleges and universities, exposing data for 19,000 Columbus City Schools students and staff and leaving Ohio State offline as the academic year wound down.
Page One
National
CDC - Acting CDC Director Dr. Jay Bhattacharya told CNN's Jake Tapper that the hantavirus outbreak aboard the MV Hondius is "not Covid" and that the agency has delivered "an absolutely professional response," pushing back against criticism that the CDC was slow to act. (More)
Pentagon - The Pentagon began releasing a new batch of declassified UFO files on Friday, including old State Department cables, FBI documents, and NASA transcripts describing sightings such as Buzz Aldrin observing a bright light during Apollo 11 and a mysterious object making "multiple 90-degree turns" at high speed. (More)
Virginia - The Virginia Supreme Court struck down a Democratic redistricting measure, eliminating four House seats Democrats expected to win in November and potentially giving Republicans a net gain of six to seven seats. Virginia Rep. Jennifer McClellan vowed Democrats would fight back through the courts, state legislatures, and at the ballot box. (More)
Statewide
Northeast Ohio - As new parenthood brings isolation and less adult interaction, some Northeast Ohio parents are building their own communities to combat loneliness, a trend explored in Monday's "Sound of Ideas" on Ideastream Public Media. (More)
Columbus - About 12,000 Ohio State graduates celebrated commencement Sunday, but face a tough job market where entry-level unemployment has climbed above 5%, with many employers still in "wait-and-see mode" on hiring, according to Nationwide Insurance economist Ben Ayers. (More)
Pickerington - Pickerington voters crushed a proposed 1.25% school income tax levy by nearly 3,400 votes, with the superintendent citing $5 gas prices and rising housing costs as key factors in the 63% rejection. (More)
Dayton - Wright-Patterson Air Force Base launched a months-long treatment and inspection plan to combat the box tree moth, an invasive pest from East Asia now under quarantine in 14 Ohio counties that can strip and kill mature boxwood shrubs. (More)
Heath - One woman believed to be in her 70s died early Monday when fire broke out at Bill E. Mitchell Retirement Village in Heath, with four other residents hospitalized for breathing problems and displaced residents sheltering at a nearby church while the state fire marshal investigates, Heath Fire Chief Warrant McCord said. (More)
Education
The Cellphone Ban Verdict: Mixed — But Patience May Pay
By Morgan B
The Pennant Education Editor
The largest study ever of school cellphone bans landed this week, and the verdict is more measured than either side wanted: the pouches do their job, but the academic and behavioral payoffs aren’t showing up overnight.
Researchers from Stanford, Duke, Michigan, and Penn analyzed data from roughly 4,600 schools using Yondr’s lockable phone pouches — the first nationally representative study to track phones actually locked away, not just tucked in backpacks. Published Monday by the National Bureau of Economic Research, it’s the most rigorous look yet at a policy now sweeping the country.
The headline findings: teachers reported fewer classroom distractions. But test scores, attendance, and discipline rates didn’t budge in the short term. Student well-being initially dipped, and suspensions briefly ticked up — the predictable backlash of teens losing a daily habit.
Then came the patience piece. Stanford economist Thomas Dee, who co-led the study, found that schools sticking with bans for three years saw student well-being climb above baseline, and discipline rates return to normal. He called the early results “sobering” — but not the final word.
The timing is notable for Ohio. The state’s bell-to-bell ban under R.C. 3313.753 hit full enforcement in January, and Gov. Mike DeWine has leaned heavily on anecdotal wins from districts like Dublin to make the case. The new data suggests he’s directionally right — but parents, teachers, and administrators expecting an overnight academic turnaround may need to reevaluate their expectations.
The pouches work. The miracle will have to wait.
Editorial
Ohio Schools Face a Skeptical Electorate Heading into Fall
By the Pennant Editorial Staff
Two-thirds of Ohio school levies failed in the May primary, and the numbers tell a story that school boards cannot afford to ignore heading into November.
The facts are telling. Of the 66 levies on the ballot statewide, only 24 passed — a 36% passage rate, half of what it was this time last year. Just 12 of 50 new money levies were approved, a 24% success rate.
In Northeast Ohio alone, voters rejected 10 of 11 school income tax requests. Streetsboro schools failed a levy for the third consecutive time despite warnings of cuts to junior varsity sports and arts programs.
In Southwest Ohio, Franklin City Schools and Fairfield Schools both came up short, with Fairfield now facing elimination of 15 teaching positions, 10 English tutor positions, and all school field trips.
Voters are tapped out, and they know it. Property values surged across the state, tax bills followed, and taxpayers have started saying “no.” Schools going back to the ballot in November without showing voters exactly where the money went and why they need more will get the same answer.
Asking overtaxed homeowners for more money in an election year where economic anxiety is driving every vote is a fight most districts are not ready to have. Ohioans have been pretty clear. The question is whether anyone in those school board meetings is listening.
The Pennant welcomes letters to the editor and reader responses. Send correspondence to [email protected].
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]