Report. Reflect. Respond.
Wednesday, April 29th, 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 April 29th, 1865, Abraham Lincoln’s body lay in state at the Ohio Statehouse in Columbus as part of the national as part of his National Funeral Train.
Former Ohio House Speaker Larry Householder has exhausted his appeals in a $60 million corruption case — and his last hope now rests with the president. Find out more in the Top of the Fold.
Also, find out what education would look like without property taxes in our editorial section.
Top of The Fold
Supreme Court Upholds Convictions in Householder Federal Bribery Case
The U.S. Supreme Court refused to hear the appeal of former Ohio House Speaker Larry Householder and ex-lobbyist Matt Borges.
The denial means their convictions stand in their $60 million FirstEnergy corruption case.
With no legal options left, Householder's attorney says they will now seek a presidential pardon.
Ohio Adding Hundreds of New Jobs Across the State
Governor DeWine announced five new business projects that will create 437 new jobs in Ohio, including a Whirlpool factory in Perrysburg and a headquarters expansion in Worthington.
Page One
National
New Jersey - Fifteen agricultural drones stolen from a New Jersey shipping company last month were found sitting in a Dover warehouse, where workers spotted them and called police. Federal investigators, including Homeland Security and Customs and Border Protection, are still working to find out who took them. (More)
DC - The Supreme Court is deciding whether people can sue the company that makes Roundup weedkiller for giving them cancer without a warning label. Bayer, the German pharmaceutical and agricultural company that owns Roundup, has faced tens of thousands of lawsuits that claim the herbicide causes a type of cancer called non-Hodgkin lymphoma. (More)
Iran - President Trump signaled he will likely reject Iran's proposal to end the war, which would reopen the Strait of Hormuz but leave the country's nuclear program unresolved — a trade-off U.S. officials say would surrender a key piece of American leverage. (More)
Statewide
Cleveland - A special meeting took place on Monday to discuss the future of the Cuyahoga County Jail, whose construction was halted back in March by Cuyahoga County Prosecutor Michael C. O’Malley. (More)
Toledo - The University of Toledo College of Pharmacy’s pharmacy residency match rate has ranked No. 1 in the state of Ohio. (More)
Van Wert - The $60 million Mega Millions jackpot has been claimed in Ohio. The ticket was sold at Tyler’s Short Stop in Van Wert. The shop will receive a retailer selling bonus of $60,000. (More)
Dayton - The University of Dayton is rolling out a new curriculum that integrates AI, regardless of major. The goal is to teach students how and when to use AI as a tool. (More)
Columbus - Virgil Larson, 45, is facing federal charges after Larson crashed his vehicle, and a missing 12-year-old girl from North Carolina was found in his passenger seat. He is also charged with multiple child exploitation and child pornography offenses. (More)
Columbus - Amber Blackburn, a former Columbus police officer, filed a federal lawsuit on Monday against the City of Columbus, police chief Elaine Bryant, and other officials, claiming that she was fired due to her being white and without an investigation. (More)
Cincinnati - Corrine Baum, a teacher for BrightPath, an early learning and childcare provider in Cincinnati, has been fired for posting a video on TikTok lamenting that President Donald Trump was not killed in the Saturday White House Correspondents' Association Dinner shooting. (More)
Cincinnati - A grand jury has indicted Daesha Smart, 29, with attempted murder of a fellow inmate earlier this month. (More)
Did You Know?
Earth Pulses Every 26 Seconds — and Scientists Still Don't Know Why
Every 26 seconds, Earth sends out a faint seismic pulse from the Gulf of Guinea off the west coast of Africa, and scientists have been trying to explain the mysterious heartbeat since it was first discovered in the 1960s. (More)
Of Interest
Someone Got Shot. They Grabbed the Wine Anyway.
Writing in his Substack newsletter, senior White House Correspondents' Dinner producer Peter Girnus describes the chaotic scene after a gunman fired a shotgun inside the Washington Hilton at this year's dinner. A Secret Service agent took a round to his protective vest and walked to the ambulance on his own.
The guests took the wine — 147 of 188 bottles disappeared during the evacuation.
One woman checked the vintage label before choosing a bottle. Girnus tells the story with a somewhat dry and disturbing tone. Read the full essay at his Substack, I Ordered the Wine.
Editorial
School Funding Without Property Tax: What Would It Actually Look Like?
By Morgan B
The Pennant Education Editor
The Committee to Abolish Ohio Property Taxes is gathering signatures for a constitutional amendment aimed at the November 2026 ballot. The group has already cleared the signature threshold in 44 of Ohio's 88 counties and says it's targeting roughly 620,000 signatures by the deadline.
If the amendment passes, Ohio's primary funding source for public schools disappears.
Property taxes generate roughly $24 billion each year for Ohio's local governments—equal to the state's income and sales tax revenue combined. For schools, that's about half of all K-12 funding.
Replacing that revenue means raising other taxes significantly. Early estimates from the Ohio Office of Budget and Management indicate sales tax rates could need to reach 15–18%, up from Ohio's current 5.75%. An income tax replacement would push rates to 11–15%, compared to Ohio's current top bracket of 3.5%.
Total elimination isn't the only idea floating around the Statehouse. One state lawmaker has proposed a land value tax—taxing only the underlying land, not the buildings—a model used in Pittsburgh. Others argue the state should simply pick up more of the tab. That argument has constitutional weight: the 1997 DeRolph ruling found Ohio's reliance on local property taxes unconstitutional because it created gaps between wealthy and poor districts. Nearly three decades later, the state's share is actually lower than it was then.
Even the modest property tax relief bills Gov. Mike DeWine signed in late 2025 have superintendents warning of budget squeezes. "It's a complete disaster for all of us," said George Wood, superintendent of Federal Hocking schools in Athens County.
Property tax relief polls well, particularly among seniors on fixed incomes. But the revenue funds real services, and shifting it elsewhere doesn't make it cheaper. Voters who get a chance to weigh in this November will essentially be choosing which tax they'd rather pay.
The Back Page
Who do you think stole the drones?
Previous Poll Results
Have you or anyone you know faced foreclosure recently?
- Yes - 2%
- No - 98%
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