Sunday, July 26, 2026

Good Morning! On this day in 1884, Cleveland tested a mile-long electric streetcar line on Central Avenue, becoming the first U.S. city to operate an electricity-powered streetcar line.

🍦 A Cincinnati food festival was canceled shortly before it was set to begin this weekend. Find out what happened in today’s Top Stories.

In case you missed it, this week on The Flyover Podcast, Ayla tackled the weather pattern that could rewrite the entire winter. Forecasters now put the odds at 81% that El Niño reaches "very strong" status by winter, potentially one of the largest on record, and every corner of the country will be affected. When a pattern this powerful takes over, it doesn't just tweak the forecast, it decides which states get soaked and which dry out. Ayla broke down the five ways forecasters say this El Niño will shape the months ahead. So which side of the split does your state land on? Tune in here!

Today's sponsor, BluSky AI, is sharing how it aims to address the growing demand for AI infrastructure by developing data centers designed to come online faster and support the computing power behind modern AI applications.

Lawmakers Push $350M Ohio River Plan

Ohio lawmakers in both parties are urging Congress to create a federal Ohio River restoration program that could authorize up to $350 million annually for water quality, habitat restoration, flood resilience, and pollution cleanup.

Two companion Ohio Statehouse resolutions urge Congress to pass federal bills that would establish the program within the Environmental Protection Agency. Supporters note that other major watersheds receive dedicated federal support, but the Ohio River Basin does not.

The basin spans 15 states and supplies drinking water to more than 25 million people. American Rivers ranked the Ohio River the nation's second-most endangered river in 2023.

Permit Fight Cancels Cincinnati Food Fest

A weekend Cincinnati food festival was canceled hours before its Friday opening, leaving dozens of vendors with perishable inventory and sunk costs during one of downtown's busiest weekends.

The city said organizers applied for a special event permit in May and were denied because the last weekend of July had been closed to new applications since February. Officials also cited unresolved plans for crowd control, fencing, generators, and a possible stage.

Organizers accused the city of pressuring the private parking company that was hosting the event to back out and told vendors they had been "sabotaged."

One bakery owner said she was losing thousands of dollars. Mayor Aftab Pureval called the cancellation a significant financial burden for small businesses and directed his administration to explore possible help.

Severe Storms Loom for Monday

Forecasters expect a hot, humid day today across Ohio, with a few afternoon showers possible, before a Great Lakes system could bring rounds of strong or severe storms tomorrow.

Northeast Ohio should reach the upper 80s and low 90s the next two days. Damaging winds are the main concern in Monday’s strongest storms, with heavy rain possible into Tuesday.

Central Ohio should climb into the upper 80s today as humidity rises, with chances for rain and storms lingering into Monday and Tuesday.

Forecasters at the Storm Prediction Center have flagged the Great Lakes and the Ohio Valley for severe storms Monday afternoon through Monday night.

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The $7.6 Trillion Flowing Into AI Is Not What You Think

Goldman Sachs is projecting $7.6 trillion in AI investment by 2031.

The common assumption is that all of the AI money flows to names like OpenAI, Google, and Anthropic. But that is not where the infrastructure dollars are going.

Every AI model, chatbot, and recommendation engine needs compute power to run. And compute power needs physical infrastructure. Data centers. Lots of them.

The problem: AI demand has increased 1 million times in the last two years, stated Jensen Huang, NVIDIA’s CEO. Meanwhile, traditional data centers take 3 to 7 years to build. The infrastructure cannot keep up.

BluSky AI has developed a premanufactured solution ready in months, not years. They have a robust portfolio of sites with negotiated power ready for deployment. BluSky AI utilizes less power, smaller footprints, little to no water, and minimizes the impact on communities.

For the first time, everyday investors can back BluSky AI as they build the backbone of AI.

➤ Statewide: Gov. Mike DeWine and state transportation officials awarded $72 million to 33 safety projects in 23 counties, including roundabouts, turn lanes, crosswalks, and improved signs at locations with histories of crashes involving fatalities or serious injuries. (See Projects)

➤ Columbus: Police added a Flock camera page to their public transparency portal after an audit flagged 15,577 searches as potentially immigration-related, nearly all by outside agencies. (More)

➤ Avon: A sinkhole opened Saturday morning on westbound Interstate 90, closing the right through lane and pushing traffic toward the State Route 611 exit. (See Details)

➤ Washington County: A field survey found a third tornado track in southeast Ohio, bringing the confirmed statewide total from Tuesday's storms to nine. The track and rating await aerial review. (More)

➤ West Chester: Lakota school board members voted unanimously in June to put a 37-year, $223 million replacement bond issue on the November ballot, and board member Benjamin Nguyen says the district won’t be responsible for any increase in property taxes. (More)

➤ Toledo: The Ohio EPA said a University of Toledo building's cooling system discharged into the Ottawa River, where an angler reported dead fish. (More)

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➤ The Columbus Blue Jackets signed Columbus-born forward Cole Sillinger, 23, to a three-year, $13.875 million contract through 2028-29. He set career highs in assists and plus-minus and tied his career high in points last season. (More)

➤ The Cincinnati Reds beat St. Louis 4-2 on Friday behind Eugenio Suárez's 203rd homer, a two-run shot that tied Eric Davis for 10th in franchise history. (More)

➤ A leaked photo appears to show Ohio State football adding a JPMorgan Chase jersey patch this season. The school hasn't confirmed the sponsorship. (See Photo)

➤ A text message shows Texas Tech board chairman Cody Campbell warning Big 12 Commissioner Brett Yormark that Cincinnati coach Scott Satterfield should avoid escalating the Brendan Sorsby tampering dispute, claiming that Texas Tech had "plenty of receipts." (More)

➤ Yesterday’s Results: MLB | WNBA | Golf

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Data Centers Built For Coexistence

Communities across the country are pushing back on data centers, and for good reason. Massive facilities are draining local water supplies, straining power grids, and disrupting neighborhoods, all while offering little in return.

BluSky AI took a different approach.

Their SkyMod prefabricated, AI-ready data centers use less power, require little to no water, and fit onto smaller footprints. This minimizes the impact on the communities they're built near, from Colorado to Texas. This is AI infrastructure designed to coexist, not compete, with the people around it.

BluSky AI's model is a unique solution to meet the high market demands that aren’t being met by the industry.. Become a BluSky AI shareholder as they open the door to everyday investors.

This is a paid advertisement for BluSky AI Regulation A offering. Please read the offering circular at https://invest.bluskyaidatacenters.com/

➤ Federal sharpshooters will thin Medina’s deer herd from January 2027 through mid-March under a plan approved by the Medina City Council. Officials estimate roughly 1,000 deer live in the city, and 142 were killed in crashes last year. (More)

➤ Another Nine will open three more 24/7 self-service golf simulator sites around Greater Cincinnati by fall, including two in Liberty Township, Butler County. (See Locations)

➤ Backyard cottages and garage apartments could become legal in Cleveland Heights under a zoning proposal up for review this week. (More)

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The following stories are featured exclusively on The Flyover Podcast—a daily show that gives you the most important headlines in under 15 minutes, straight from the heart of the country. Clicking the link will take you directly to these stories:

➤ Delivery giants are rushing to keep weight-loss drugs cold. (Hear More)

➤ Thousands celebrated the birthday of the internet's favorite little monkey. (Listen Now)

➤ A beloved honey farm teetered on collapse, but one beekeeper refused to quit. (Podcast Available)