Thursday, July 16th, 2026

Welcome to Thursday’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 history, July 16, 1969, Apollo 11 launched, carrying Neil Armstrong, the Wapakoneta, Ohio native who would become the first man on the Moon four days later.

Experts are predicting that an increase in gas prices is imminent. Read why in the Top of The Fold.

Also, Ohio is on track to repeat one of New York’s biggest mistakes. See what that is in our editorial.

Crude oil prices climbed $10 a barrel from last week as uncertainty over the Middle East situation persists.

Experts are warning that the increase may soon reach the pump, with some predicting prices could exceed $4 a gallon.

To soften the blow, consumers are encouraged to track gas prices before stopping at the pump and take advantage of available discounts.

The Ohio Chamber of Commerce, the state's largest business network, endorsed Republican gubernatorial nominee Vivek Ramaswamy.

Chamber President and CEO Steve Stivers cited Ramaswamy's tax policy as a key factor, pointing to his goals of eliminating the capital gains tax and eventually the state income tax.

With November approaching, polling has tightened unexpectedly between Ramaswamy and Democratic nominee Amy Acton, with several prediction sites calling the race a toss-up.

Liberty Township trustees are seeking a court order to shut down two short-term rental properties after shots were fired at an after-prom party at one of them in May, followed by additional shootings at the rentals in recent weeks.

The move comes as Ohio lawmakers consider legislation that would strip local governments of their authority to regulate or ban short-term rentals such as Airbnb and Vrbo.

Local officials oppose the bill, arguing communities know their residents' needs better than the state does, while real estate and business groups back it.

UNIVERSITY HEIGHTS — The U.S. Supreme Court agreed June 30 to hear a case testing how far local zoning authority can reach into religious practice inside a private home, a question with implications far beyond one Cleveland suburb. 

The dispute began in 2021, when Orthodox Jewish resident Daniel Grand invited a dozen friends to his home for Sabbath prayer services. Before any gathering occurred, the city issued a cease-and-desist order, saying Grand needed a special-use permit reserved for houses of worship.

At a Planning Commission hearing on his permit application, some neighbors argued the gatherings would alter the neighborhood's residential character, comparing a prayer group to a bank or car wash moving in next door. Others were more pointed: one letter to the commission stated, "I am not Jewish, and I do not want our neighborhood labeled as Jewish." Grand withdrew his application after learning approval would bar him from living in the home himself, then sued, alleging religious discrimination.

Legal advocates say the case could reach well beyond synagogues, potentially shaping how cities regulate home Bible studies, homeschool co-ops, and other small private gatherings that fall into a gray area between "private life" and "assembly" under local ordinances. 

Both a federal district court and the Sixth Circuit ruled against Grand, saying his case was premature because he never finished the zoning process — the narrower procedural question the Supreme Court will now decide. University Heights disputes that any enforcement action was ever taken.

COLUMBUS — The Wall Street Journal editorial board didn't mince words this month, calling New York's one-year pause on large AI data centers "an act of monumental self-sabotage." Gov. Kathy Hochul says she's protecting New Yorkers from rising utility bills. Funny how that argument surfaced in an election year, right as polling showed voters souring on data centers.

Here's what the anti-data center crowd keeps saying: these facilities jack up electric bills, drain local water and power, and shouldn't get built without a public vote. None of that survives contact with the numbers. An Electric Power Research Institute study found data centers actually lowered residential rates between 2015 and 2024, because they spread the grid's fixed costs across more demand. 

New York's real electricity problem is homemade — the state has shut down 4.4 gigawatts of reliable power since 2019 and replaced less than 3 gigawatts of it, mostly with renewables that don't run around the clock.

Continue reading the editorial here.

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