Tuesday, August 11th, 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 2014, actor and comedian Robin Williams died at 63. The "Good Will Hunting" Oscar winner had Parkinson's; an autopsy found Lewy body dementia.

Threats cancel a Max Miller rally as Ohio Republicans keep their distance, and electric bills hit record highs with the blame harder to pin down than it looks. Both, top of the fold.

And inside: Looks like Ross Bjork will kill the banjo; plus, why nobody puts "socialist" on a school board yard sign.

BRUNSWICK — The Strongsville GOP canceled Monday's SAVE America Act rally at Mapleside Farms, where Rep. Max Miller, R-Ohio, and Rep. Anna Paulina Luna, R-Fla., were to appear. 

Chairman Shannon Burns cited threats posing a safety risk; Brunswick's police chief said his department knew of none. 

Miller, who denies his ex-wife's domestic abuse allegations, is locked onto the November ballot after letting Saturday's withdrawal cutoff pass. He is staying in.

STARK COUNTY — Residential electricity prices across Ohio are up about 26% since early 2023, and a Perry Township couple watched their all-electric home's bill pass $500 in December and hit $600 by February, with a crypto mining campus now sitting across the street.

 Ohio Consumers' Counsel Maureen Willis and Ohio Chamber of Commerce CEO Steve Stivers both say data centers are part of the story, but fuel costs, aging infrastructure and a regionwide demand spike all factor in.

 According to Willis, how those costs get split up is still an unsettled question.

DUBLIN — Wendy's second-quarter U.S. same-store sales fell 7%, and traffic dropped 12.5%, prompting the Dublin-based chain to pull its 2026 outlook and cut its quarterly dividend in half.

New CEO Bob Wright told analysts the problem starts with the food, saying cost and efficiency decisions have degraded quality and that 245 restaurants have already closed this year.

COLUMBUS — Wisconsin has "Jump Around." Penn State has "Zombie Nation." Michigan, insufferably, has an entire student section howling "Mr. Brightside."

During the 2025 college football season, Ohio State had a gentle acoustic meditation about being treated well. Piped into a stadium holding 100,000 people who came to yell, Caamp's "Ohio" landed like a bris at the Henry County Fair demolition derby.

Team blogs savaged it all season. Last week on 97.1 The Fan's T-Bone and Tyvis, athletic director Ross Bjork conceded. He listed the Caamp song among the misses, explained that the premise had been nostalgia and statewide public trust, and allowed that going forward the experts should probably handle the music.

Statewide public trust. Delivered by banjo. In the second quarter of a noon kickoff, to a crowd that had been awake for four hours and sober for none of them. It's a fine instrument for a porch in Hocking Hills, but the Shoe wants a banjo like it wants Tim Beck back calling plays.

The second miss was not charging admission to the funeral. Put a number on the scoreboard, a thermometer next to it, and a promise: a million into the NIL fund and the banjo dies.

He'd have cleared it before game two against Grambling State.

Bjork called it a miss. That's AD speak for: it's gone. Sloopy stays in the third quarter. The only thing left worth investigating is why it took a full season.

Nobody puts "socialist" on a school board yard sign. Nobody runs for city council on it either. You'll figure that out after they're in office and start voting — and speaking on the record.

The Wall Street Journal noted this week that Democratic primaries this year have nominated House candidates with Democratic Socialists of America ties in New York and Colorado, a likely DSA mayor in Washington, and a far-left Senate contender in Michigan.

Wisconsin is the one to watch. A DSA member currently leads the polling for the Democratic nomination for governor, on a platform that includes repealing right-to-work, publicly owned grocery stores and a state bank. Trust us, once those folks get a little power, it's obvious.

Ohio isn't Wisconsin. But there are people here who would like to try.

They aren't starting at the top. Movements never do. They start on school boards and city councils, in races decided by a few hundred votes in an off year. In an off year, nobody asks a candidate about their broader philosophy. We assume the job is bus routes and zoning.

Most of you are busy with life. You're earning a living and managing a household. Somebody has to get the kids to soccer, football, or band practice. You don't have time to research seven names on a nonpartisan ballot. That isn't a lack of civic responsibility; it's a math and time management problem all busy people face.

So here's the shortcut. Forget the labels. Watch what people do.

Continue reading the editorial here.

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