A Wendy’s Buyout Could Be Just Weeks Away

Local News

The Columbus Zoo is about to get a lot brighter. The Lantern Festival returns Aug. 20, bringing glowing animals, live shows, and — new this year — dinosaurs to the zoo after dark.

If you've been in past years, you know the drill: massive, colorful lantern displays take over the pathways each evening, most shaped like animals. This year adds a few prehistoric ones to the mix.

There's more than lanterns, too. Every night brings live entertainment — acrobatics, kung fu demonstrations, that kind of thing. About 20 artists came in from China to build this year's displays, keeping alive a lantern-making tradition that goes back to the Han Dynasty.

It runs Thursday through Sunday evenings through Oct. 25. Parking's free, and you can grab tickets for just the festival or bundle it with regular zoo admission at a discount.

So if a night walking through glowing wildlife — dinosaurs included — sounds like your thing, you've got plenty of chances before fall wraps up.

Local News

If wings, mac and cheese and waffle fries sound like a good combination, there's a new spot on Sawmill Road you'll want to know about.

It's OX-B's, a Central Ohio chain that got its start in a storage container in Newark before growing into locations across places like Westerville, Pataskala, Lancaster, and Marion. This new spot, just across the road from Life Time Fitness, opened not long after they closed their Short North location at the end of July. They've confirmed the soft opening on social media, with a full grand opening still to come once they finish training staff.

They're open every day but Monday, with slightly later hours on weekends.

Local News

Remember that Wendy's buyout talk we told you about? Well, things are getting interesting.

Nelson Peltz — Wendy's largest shareholder — is reportedly putting together an actual bid to take the Dublin-based burger chain private, according to CNBC. That's a pretty big jump from simply kicking the tires on the idea.

There's no official offer yet, and the whole thing could still go nowhere. But one could reportedly come within the next few weeks.

Investors liked the sound of that. Wendy's stock jumped 14% on the news, its best week since June. Some of that pop came from short sellers who had bet against the stock and suddenly had to scramble.

And what a week for Wendy's. Just a few days ago, we told you the home of the Frosty had lost its longtime spot as America's No. 2 burger chain by sales. Now its biggest shareholder might want to buy the whole thing.

It all comes while Wendy's is trying to get itself back on track after a rough earnings report last week. The company cut its dividend and ditched its 2026 forecast, adding even more uncertainty to an already bumpy year.

No deal yet. But for one of Dublin's biggest hometown names, the next few weeks could be worth watching.