Front Pages from All America 7/13

Every day, I comb through the front pages of all the daily papers in America (provided via?The Freedom Forum ) and will highlight 5-10 front page items that have national significance, with my quick commentary

The Knoxville News-Sentinel (Tennessee)

THE FRONT PAGE STORY: Over 31K Dropped From TennCare

WHY IT MATTERS: All across the country, several states are cutting the medicaid rolls that swelled under rules put in place to help people during the COVID lockdowns.

THE TAKEAWAY: The tone of this story and every story about these cuts is one of sadness and anger. But had the medicaid rolls been allowed to stay the same, would there have been any major newspapers with stories complaining about how wealthier people who were back at work were still getting heavily subsidized health coverage? Of course not.

The Roanoke Times (Virginia)

THE FRONT PAGE STORY: U.S. Postal Service Denies Mail Slowdown in Virginia

WHY IT MATTERS: Noticeable problems with U.S. mail delivery are popping up all across the country,

THE TAKEAWAY: Whenever inflation hits the U.S., there's always a spike in labor strikes and other types of job actions. With the Postal Service and many of the airlines, we're seeing evidence of "sick-outs" and other on the job slowdowns taking the place of full-fledged strikes.

The Temple Daily Telegram (Texas)

THE FRONT PAGE STORY: Helping the Homeless

WHY IT MATTERS: Temple, Texas is another city dealing with an unprecedented and unexpected number of homeless and migrant people living on its streets. It has a new plan to house the homeless that it believes justifies another plan to clear out homeless tent encampments.

THE TAKEAWAY: Temple's plan for a homeless center that does not allow drug or alcohol abuse will work much better than large cities that are "dealing" with this problem by setting up open-air drug using areas.

Victoria Advocate (Texas)

THE FRONT PAGE STORY: VISD: Property Tax Deal Won't Come at Expense of Schools

WHY IT MATTERS: Public school funding is almost always a political battle, and Texas is close to reducing property taxes across the state.

THE TAKEAWAY: Whatever one thinks of the Texas property tax reductions, the bottom line is that using property taxes as the primary source for school funding is a bad idea.

The Citizen's Voice (Pennsylvania)

THE FRONT PAGE STORY: Geisinger Expansion will Nearly Double Plains Township Facility

WHY IT MATTERS: Hospitals continue to spend some of the huge funds that poured into their coffers during COVID.

THE TAKEAWAY: Yet another local paper dedicates most of its front page to an entirely uncritical and unquestioning story about a hospital expansion. The advertising and political power hospitals enjoy over local news media is evident almost every day.

The Springfield News-Sun (Ohio)

THE FRONT PAGE STORY: Mental Health Facility Receives Funding

WHY IT MATTERS: The fentanyl crisis and other factors are creating a growing need for more mental health facilities across America.

THE TAKEAWAY: Compare this story to the free advertisement masquerading as a news story about the Pennsylvania hospital expansion noted above. If only it were easier for privately-run hospitals to expand their mental and drug health divisions.

The McDowell News (North Carolina)

THE FRONT PAGE STORY: Ban on Cryptocurrency Mining Extended

WHY IT MATTERS: Bitcoin miners continue to seek areas with relatively inexpensive utility rates to set up their energy-consuming computer mining operations. But people living near bitcoin operations say they are invasive.

THE TAKEAWAY: Bitcoin mining, at best, provides towns with vacant buildings a stopgap way to fill those vacancies that will last as long as bitcoin mining remains lucrative. The good news is that maybe the renewed interest in these operations will get more people thinking about how to re-purpose vacant areas.