Wednesday, May 20th, 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.

On this day in 1998, Frank Sinatra was laid to rest at Desert Memorial Park in Cathedral City, California.

A provision has been added to a math interventions bill that would exempt schools from Ohio's statewide science of reading requirement. Find out why and what this means in the Top of the Fold.

Also, AI is increasingly becoming a political issue. You can read more about this in our Business and Government section.

Ohio lawmakers added a provision to a math interventions bill that would exempt the state's eight classical schools — which follow Hillsdale College's K-12 curriculum — from Ohio's statewide science of reading requirement, drawing criticism from education advocates who warn the carveout undermines a literacy initiative backed by more than $168 million in state investment.

More on this story here.

Ohio health officials have approved a new computer program that uses data to help find and stop Medicaid fraud.

The state will spend $900,000 on the program in 2026, with the federal government covering about half the cost.

Find more on the fraud investigation here.

A man from New Albany was sentenced to nine years in prison for stealing $10 million from people who thought he was investing their money in Bitcoin.

More on this story here.

Across the country, anger over artificial intelligence and the massive data centers that power it is changing elections and crossing party lines, according to a new Wall Street Journal report published Tuesday. 

Voters are ousting politicians who approve data centers, and communities from Maine to Arizona are trying to ban them. Around 360,000 Americans have joined Facebook groups opposing the facilities. One polling firm found AI has risen faster than any other issue in the past year.

AI companies are spending hundreds of millions of dollars to fight the backlash, but local groups have already blocked or delayed 48 projects worth $156 billion. A record 20 were canceled in early 2026.

The issue hits close to home in Ohio, where the state is already spending public money on tech accountability — including new tools to detect Medicaid fraud and protect taxpayer dollars from misuse.

There is something faintly absurd about a government building flying an American flag sewn overseas. House Bill 223 would put an end to it in Ohio, and the General Assembly should pass it.

The bill, introduced by Reps. Ty Mathews, R-Findlay, and Bernie Willis, R-Springfield, is straightforward: state agencies and political subdivisions would be prohibited from spending public money on U.S. or Ohio state flags not manufactured in the United States.

The case rests on three points. The first is symbolic coherence. The flags above our courthouses and firehouses are not decorative merchandise — they are the physical expression of national and state identity. That they should be produced by American workers is not a partisan position. It is an obvious one.

The second is fiscal responsibility. Taxpayer dollars spent on foreign-made flags leave the country. There is no compelling public interest in subsidizing overseas manufacturers of U.S. symbols. H.B. 223 corrects that oversight.

The third is the direct human benefit to the women at the Ohio Reformatory for Women in Marysville, where incarcerated women have sewn American and Ohio flags by hand since 1926. Ann King of Ohio Penal Industries told the House Government Oversight Committee the flag shop could grow if the bill passes. That is job training and earned income for women returning to Ohio communities.

On cost: American-made flags can run higher than imports. But the Legislative Service Commission notes 95% of U.S. flags are already domestically made, and Ohio's existing OPI contract means most agencies need no new vendor. The marginal cost is negligible. The principle is not.

H.B. 223 is modest in scope and sound in purpose. The full House should send it to the Senate, and the Senate should send it to the governor's desk.

Ohio's flags should fly proudly. They should also be made by the hands of Ohioans.

The Pennant welcomes letters to the editor and reader responses. Send correspondence to [email protected]

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]