Monday, April 27th, 2026

Welcome to Monday’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 27th, 1822, Ulysses Grant, the Union's top general during the Civil War and later the 18th President of the United States, was born in Point Pleasant, Ohio.

Recently, there has been a surge in foreclosures in Ohio. Find out why in the Top of The Fold.

Also, be sure to check out Part III of our Gone Dark series below.

A man identified as Cole Allen, 31, of Torrance, California, is suspected of opening fire at the White House Correspondents' Dinner, prompting Secret Service to rush President Trump and first lady Melania Trump to a secure area — though Trump wanted to stay and continue the event, law enforcement insisted he return to the White House. After returning, Trump held a press conference where he called for the dinner to be rescheduled within 30 days. (More).

The group pushing to abolish all property taxes in Ohio said it has collected 305,000 of the 413,487 signatures needed to reach the November 2026 ballot.

The Committee to Abolish Property Tax in Ohio has until July 1 to collect the required signatures to make the November ballot. Leader Brian Massie said the committee may still submit what it has or shift its focus to 2027.

Read more on Ohio Property taxes here.

In a story published by the Dayton Daily News, contributing writer Denise Callahan reports that Ohio foreclosure filings have surged more than 370% statewide since mid-February.

In her story, Callahan reports that the foreclosures are largely driven by skyrocketing property values that jumped an average of 34-37% in several Southwest Ohio counties following 2023 reevaluations.

Find the whole story here at Dayton Daily News.

When Pinterest starts running ads about going offline, you know something has shifted. On the heels of the landmark social media case, the question now is whether schools are keeping pace.

Social media bans were the first move. Ohio took that step at the start of this year. House Bill 96 required every Ohio school district to adopt a policy prohibiting student cell phone use during the instructional day. But phones are just the starting point. For younger students — specifically K-3 — the harder conversation is only beginning.

Ohio's 2025 Learning Standards for Technology call for K-2 students to explore digital tools and resources with educator guidance, leaving screen time exposure ambiguous. Meanwhile, neighboring states are moving more aggressively.

West Virginia lawmakers introduced a bill that would prohibit electronic devices for learning and testing in classrooms for students in 3rd grade and below — laptops, computers, and tablets included (WDTV). Missouri is pushing to cap digital exposure for K-5 students at 45 minutes per school day, prohibiting digital textbooks and 1:1 device programs for younger grades (Missouri Independent). Indiana went further than most, banning all portable wireless devices during instructional time — not just personal phones, but school-issued tablets, laptops, and gaming devices too (The Exponent).

Ohio is surrounded on nearly every side by states that have either enacted restrictions or are actively moving legislation targeting early elementary screen time. Ohio has the phone ban and the AI policy mandate — but no equivalent restriction on classroom screen time for its youngest learners.

China has also lost at least nine top scientists working in military AI, hypersonics, and space defense under what might be considered suspicious circumstances — including an AI professor who died in a 2 a.m. car crash that state media called a "sacrifice" while he was war-gaming Taiwan invasion scenarios. Newsweek has published an extensive report on the dead Chinese scientists.

Newsweek investigations reporter Didi Kirsten Tatlow raises a serious question that military analysts are now quietly asking: Is there a black-ops "scientist war" underway between the United States and China? The article documents at least nine Chinese scientists and defense researchers who have died since 2018 — a pattern strikingly similar to the 11 or 12 American cases now under investigation by the FBI and Congress.

The most prominent example in the Newsweek report is Feng Yanghe, 38, a professor at China's National University of Defense Technology, who died in an early morning car crash in Beijing on July 1, 2023.

Continue reading the full story here.

Here is a number worth knowing: 113. That is how many school levies appeared on Ohio ballots in November 2025. Nearly 60 of those came from Northeast Ohio districts. And according to the Ohio School Boards Association, districts across the state are already lining up for another run at voters this fall. 

The levy conveyor belt is not slowing down. Frankly, it is speeding up. Consider this your official notice of what’s coming — and your summer reading and research assignment.

Ohio schools are funded through a combination of local, state, and federal dollars. The state's share has been shrinking for years — dropping to 36.5% this year and projected to fall to roughly 32% in the next budget cycle. As the state pulls back, the gap doesn't disappear. It gets quietly reassigned to your property tax bill.

That is not an accident. It is a structural problem that no yard signs or emotional levy campaigns can fix. It requires a top-to-bottom overhaul of how Ohio funds its public schools — and that overhaul has not happened.

Continue reading the full editorial here.

Will You Be Going to See The World's Largest Rubber Duck This Weekend?
- Yes - 25%
- I’m not sure, but I want to - 25%
- No - 50%

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