Wednesday, August 19th, 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 1934, the first All-American Soap Box Derby was held in Dayton: no engines, no fuel, just a hill and a kid with a wrench.

Two workers unaccounted for after explosions tore through a South Toledo plant, and federal investigators hunt a sex-trafficking suspect — both stories top of the fold.

And, in today's editorial: a Senate candidate sings the "Blue's Clues" mail song, Ramaswamy visits his old barber, Acton pitches a tent. Consultants got paid.

TOLEDO — Two people were found dead after explosions and fire tore through Brent Industries, a 42,000-square-foot industrial textile cleaning plant on South Avenue, early Tuesday. 

Crews arrived at 4:50 a.m. to a second-alarm blaze with ongoing explosions that collapsed part of the building and ruptured a water line, cutting hydrant pressure. 

Two employees suffered minor injuries. The plant was in the middle of shift change.

COLUMBUS — Federal investigators are searching for Raymond Jones, 38, of Florida, wanted on charges including sex trafficking by force, fraud or coercion. 

Assistant U.S. Attorney Jennifer Rausch said Jones traveled to multiple states selling women and is charged in connection with at least six victims, though more are possible. 

Some crimes allegedly occurred at hotels near Easton.

LONDON — A woman has pleaded guilty to gross abuse of a corpse, a fifth-degree felony, after a newborn was found in a Madison County garbage truck. 

Anuradha Manukonda was indicted in April 2025, nearly two years after the infant was found in Plain City. 

DNA identified her as the mother. Prosecutors filed no homicide charges, saying compactor injuries made the time and cause of death impossible to determine.

This is such a Michigan story.

Abdul El-Sayed, running for U.S. Senate up there, put on a green shirt and sang the mail song from "Blue's Clues" to explain how voting by mail works. He danced through the whole thing.

So it appears he's targeted in on the "Blue's Clues" voting block. Does he know they can't vote?

Fox News said conservatives ripped it as cringe, with Ted Cruz taking a swing at it. Millennials appear to have loved it, but they hit the like button on just about anything with a green shirt and a memory attached. Steve Burns himself gave it a "10/10 skidoo."

But hey, before Ohioans start to believe we are above campaign oddness, look at our own screens.

Vivek Ramaswamy shot a spot in his boyhood barber's chair in Sharonville. His super PAC is spending $25 million this summer. The most memorable person in the ad is the guy with the clippers. Does anyone believe Ramaswamy would actually let that man cut his hair now?

Amy Acton went the other way. Her first ad is a tent off Route 7. No barber, no clippers. Just a candidate on the shoulder of a state route with a tent that came from somewhere.

Somebody scouted that spot. Somebody hauled the tent out there and staked it in the weeds before the sun got high and killed Dr. Acton's backlight.

Now picture the meeting where all of this got sold.

"Okay, picture this. He dresses like Steve from 'Blue's Clues.' Can we get the dog? Can we license the dog?"

Meanwhile, in Ohio.

"Let's do the barber thing. Makes our guy look regular."

"The tent worked for somebody in another state. Colorado, I think. Or was it New Mexico? Let's try something like that."

These are the ideas that consultants lie awake at night to produce. They roll over and scribble this stuff down on a pad they lifted from the DuBois Cross Country Inn. Then they are paid millions in PAC money for it. Somewhere in Ohio and Michigan, that money bought a green shirt, a pair of clippers, and a tent.

It's campaign season, and we are all about to suffer for it.

So long, Ohio. See you at the mailbox. Or make that the ballot box.

Questions, comments, and letters to the editor are welcome at [email protected].

What do you think of Ohio's new attendance law, which tracks total hours missed instead of excused vs. unexcused absences?
- I support the change - 40%
- I oppose the change - 20%
- Not sure - 20%

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.

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