Front Pages from All America 7/10

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

Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel (Wisconsin)

THE FRONT PAGE STORY: Ex-Officer's Termination Case Accepted by State Court

WHY IT MATTERS: This is a case filed by a cop who was fired after Milwaukee police tased a then-Milwaukee Bucks player for a traffic violation.

THE TAKEAWAY: The ex-officer contends he wasn't fired for the tasing, but for the social media posts he made about the incident that were deemed racist. This case could become a key 1st Amendment battle when it comes to what public employees can and cannot say.

The Parkersburg News and Sentinel (West Virginia)

THE FRONT PAGE STORY: Bob Huggins Threatens to Sue WVU

WHY IT MATTERS: Huggins says he never actually resigned from his head basketball coaching job after his DUI arrest last month.

THE TAKEAWAY: This could be yet another 1st Amendment issue, as many believe Huggins was really fired for making an anti-gay slur on a Cincinnati radio show in May. In addition to that, the massive salaries head coaches of major sports receive at state universities is another issue that will definitely be put in the spotlight during this fight. Huggins will most likely end up running another school's hoops program, much like Bobby Knight was when he was run out of Indiana.

The Columbian (Washington)

THE FRONT PAGE STORY: Washington Mulls Handprints for Booze Sales

WHY IT MATTERS: Alcohol and legal pot sellers are looking for more tools to make sure they don't get in trouble for selling to minors. But they also crave customer biometric info that can be used for their other businesses.

THE TAKEAWAY: On the surface, this is already an important a public safety issue with a bit of a privacy rights debate sprinkled in. But it's also another example of how states are thinking about how to curb the alcohol and pot-fueled increase in youth violence. There's a lot to unpack here that makes this story worth watching for some time.

The News Leader (Virginia)

THE FRONT PAGE STORY: Augusta Health Adds Urology Department

WHY IT MATTERS: This story and how it is presented is a great learning opportunity for those who don't know about the power and influence of the hospital industry in America.

THE TAKEAWAY: This entire front page story is just a free advertisement for a local hospital's new division. Now, no one is saying there isn't some importance to this story, but the front page/non-critical treatment of it is an example of the power hospitals wield over local news outlets that emanate from their advertising dollars. This is similar to the political power hospitals conglomerates have in state legislatures that emanates from their political donations and status as most states' top employers. The most powerful and dangerous monopoly in America is the hospital industry, as I repeatedly explained for CNBC over the past decade.

The Tennessean (Tennessee)

THE FRONT PAGE STORY: Health Care Booming in Music City

WHY IT MATTERS: Health care has long been the fastest growing segment of the national economy; especially when it comes to job growth. Nashville has worked to become one of the nation's health center hubs.

THE TAKEAWAY: This story and its front page coverage is a bit of a variation on the story listed above about the urology department in Virginia. The Tennessean is also showing its hospital ad dollars bias with its uncritical tone, but this is still an important story worthy of front page news. A better way to cover this is by asking just how much medical competition exists in Nashville and whether the economic boom could be threatened by hospital consolidation. Cities and states with more than one dominant hospital system provide those areas with better care and more of a positive economic impact.

The Daily Herald (Utah)

THE FRONT PAGE STORY: New Program Aims to Streamline Patient Access to Birth Control Services

WHY IT MATTERS: After 60 years, birth control pills and similar products are finally becoming available over the counter in the U.S., just like they've been everywhere else in the world for decades.

THE TAKEAWAY: Beginning about 10 years ago, more Republicans began to see that making birth control pills easier to get would not only reduce the number of abortions in America, but it might take away a big Democratic Party fundraising and mobilization trigger. Sadly, it appears that the radical pro-abortion rights groups are basically ignoring the move to OTC birth control. It seems like they and the pro-life groups would rather just keep fighting and to hell with solutions.

San Antonio Express-News (Texas)

THE FRONT PAGE STORY: Mayor Eyes Manager Limits

WHY IT MATTERS: San Antonio voters approved salary caps and term limits for its city manager, and the politicians have been pushing back ever since.

THE TAKEAWAY: The argument against term limits and salary caps for politicians is always the same: they will supposedly push away the best and most effective politicians and administrators. The problem is, there is no evidence that higher paid politicians, a) work more effectively, b) won't still seek and find other ways to enrich themselves, and c) won't be any more tempted by opportunities for corruption.

The Herald (South Carolina)

THE FRONT PAGE STORY: 8 Top-Paying Open South Carolina Government Jobs

WHY IT MATTERS: Government jobs all across America remain vacant.

THE TAKEAWAY: This is an interesting addition to the story posted above about the term limits and salary cap in San Antonio. For highly-educated people who paid massive amounts in law school and med school tuition, why would ANY of them want a government job that while higher-paying than average, is still much lower-paying than similar private sector jobs? When you think more about the possible reasons for this, you don't have to be a genius to realize that corrupt and not-so-corrupt people may be attracted to such a job for not the most savory reasons. If paying more for these jobs came with the same accountability and scrutiny that 99% of private sector jobs have, then you could make the argument that the public should pay more for these positions. But they don't, so perhaps the reason South Carolina can't fill these jobs is because it has fewer corrupt doctors and lawyers?

The Argus Leader (South Dakota)

THE FRONT PAGE STORY: Changes Made to New Sustainability Framework

WHY IT MATTERS: Environmental groups have successfully pushed many state legislatures to pass lofty emissions reduction goals that include vows to stop all net use of fossil fuels withing a decade or two. South Dakota was seemingly going along with this trend until now.

THE TAKEAWAY: The strategy for these environmental groups is to get these kinds of sustainability pledges into state law and then launch massive, industry-crippling lawsuits when those deadlines are not met. As a small, deep red state, South Dakota was always a strong candidate to push back on these efforts but it's impressive to see how far it got in this state as it is.

York Daily Record (Pennsylvania)

THE FRONT PAGE STORY: Wendy's Looks to Improve Area Restaurants

WHY IT MATTERS: Fast food restaurant sales have been booming in America, and that's setting off competitive efforts to grab more of the growing revenue pie by the big fast food chains.

THE TAKEAWAY: Before you write off the front page treatment of this story as being similar to the hospital story favoritism, note the point I made above about the massive growth in fast food sales in America. Soaring food price inflation is making the drive-thru a more crowded place across the country, as people are finding even lower end sit-down places like Applebee's or Denny's to be too costly.