Thursday, June 11th, 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 1982, Steven Spielberg's "E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial" opened in theaters and became the top-grossing film of its time.

The Ohio Statehouse was scheduled to vote on several bills yesterday, including ones on Data Centers, Voter ID, and Medicaid Fraud. Scroll to the Top of The Fold for more information on this.

Also, the U.S. House passed a bill Tuesday that would speed up union contract talks. Read how this could affect Ohio in our Editorial section.

COLUMBUS — The Ohio Statehouse was expected to vote Wednesday on a slate of major proposals, including a 50% cap on data center tax breaks, a Medicaid fraud crackdown called the Shield Act, and a measure to put photo ID voting requirements in the state constitution.

COLUMBUS — A new deposition from the lawyer who led the investigation into former Ohio State physician Richard Strauss' sexual abuse was released this week, days after the university's $100 million settlement with 279 of the 280 survivors.

Read what the lead investigator said in her deposition.

CLEVELAND — JobsOhio announced a $300 million investment Tuesday to train Ohioans for future jobs, a decade-long program its leaders say will reach at least 50,000 new workers across the state.

WASHINGTON — The U.S. House passed a bill Tuesday that would speed up union contract talks, a change that could reach the many Ohio companies that don't use union labor.

The Faster Labor Contracts Act passed 230-193. Twenty Republicans joined every voting Democrat to push it through. Backers used a special move called a discharge petition to force the vote and get around House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La.

The bill would change federal labor law. Right now, a company can take months or even years to reach its first contract after its workers vote to form a union. Under the bill, the company would have to start talks within 10 days. If there's no deal in 90 days, a federal mediator steps in. If that fails, a three-person panel could write the contract for them. Both sides would be stuck with it for two years, with no appeal.

That matters in Ohio, where most building workers are not in a union.

Continue reading the article here.

Washington took a hard look this week at why watching football costs so much. The House Judiciary Committee, led by Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, held a hearing on the Sports Broadcasting Act, a 1961 law that lets leagues like the NFL sell their games as one big bundle. When that law passed, the bundle meant free games on the local channel. Sixty-five years later, it means a jumble and bungle of cable, streaming apps, and the NFL's Sunday Ticket, which can run hundreds of dollars a year.

For an Ohio family that just wants to catch the Browns or the Bengals on Sunday, the math keeps getting worse. You used to flip on the TV. Now you pay for cable, then pay again for a streaming service, then sometimes pay a third time for a game that moved to a new app.

The committee's own report found that fans get forced to buy a pile of games they don't want just to see the one team they do. That looks less like free-market sports and more like a football cartel.

We're also long past the days when Ohio State fans were lucky to catch the Buckeyes on TV more than twice a year.

Continue reading the editorial here.

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]