Local

Know: Major League Soccer announced the four finalists for the next two expansion teams, but St. Louis did not make the cut, Nov. 29.

Inform: While St. Louis made a bid to be an expansion team in January, voters rejected the use of a tax on businesses to fund building a new soccer stadium, April 4. The defeated measure led MLS to choose Cincinnati, Detroit, Sacramento and Nashville as the final four cities. Nashville and Sacramento have an advantage since their city councils have already invested millions of dollars in renovations and pre-construction plans. Bids for the next round of consideration to join the league will be made from each city starting Dec. 6. MLS will make its final decision on which two cities will be the expansion teams by the end of the year. Cities that made bids in January along with St. Louis include Charlotte, North Carolina; Indianapolis, Indiana; Phoenix, Arizona; Raleigh-Durham, North Carolina; San Antonio, Texas; San Diego, California and Tampa-St. Petersburg, Florida. They may also be considered for expansion teams in the future, as the league eventually will grow to 28 teams. Last December the league announced that teams 25 and 26 will play in 2020.

Care: The St. Louis region is known to have strong sports teams. From the Cardinals World Series Champions in 2011 to the Blues entering the semifinals in 2017, a national soccer team would fulfill needs of soccer fans throughout the St. Louis area. Athletics at the professional level stem from athletics at the high school level. With the girls varsity soccer team winning the state championship last season, student athletes are representing EHS a high level. If an MLS team is added to St. Louis, then there will be more local opportunities for athletes.

National

Know: CVS Pharmacy bought Aetna for $69 billion, Dec. 3.

Inform: The acquisition of the insurance company could decrease healthcare costs and adapt the 9,700 stores into convenient medical centers for basic procedures and first-aid care. If the deal is able to push people into using walk-ins more than emergency rooms for minor problems, Wall Street analysts predict that the deal can lower spending. Selling at $207 per share, the merger of CVS and Aetna is expected to be the biggest health-care merger of the year with the hope of providing a familiar presence to communities, according to Aetna chief executive Mark T. Bertolini. The combination of the broad range of CVS’ health services with Aetna’s 22 million insured members has the potential to dramatically modernize the use of pharmacies and walk-in clinics. CVS’ plan consists of creating a community-based hub. After leaving the hospital, patients would be able to check in with their nurses at CVS locations by reviewing and managing their medications. Nutrition and wellness are also on the list of things to be included into this newly-packaged company.

Care: The merge of companies is not new, but this particular alliance in the healthcare industry may be the innovation the country needs or at least a step in the right direction. Everyone needs healthcare. The system in place now is not ideal. With the government’s current focus on tax reform, healthcare reform has been pushed to the side. It all starts with reshaping primary care and building a community of health centers for everyone, including the poor.

International 

Know: Chanting their opposition of President Juan Orlando Herandez’s bid for a second term, Hondurans marched in Tegucigalpa for an impartial count of the results of last week’s presidential election, Dec. 3.

Inform: Once election results came in and showed Salvador Nasralla, the opposing candidate, with a lead of five points, the commission–controlled by allies of Hernandez–suspended the presidential election count for a day and-a-half. After opening the election back up, Hernandez gained on Nasralla. The European Union and the Organization of American States then persuaded the commission to not announce Hernandez as the winner, Nov. 30. Once violence broke out on the streets, the Honduran government responded with a 10 day curfew of 6 p.m. to 6 a.m and sent soldiers out to the streets to enforce the mandate. Even though some citizens remained in their homes, they made sure their voices were loud and clear by banging pots and pans from their balconies. Some soldiers used tear gas and shot bullets at protesters, resulting in eight deaths so far.

Care: Protests against government policies don’t just occur in Honduras. Police brutality has taken effect nationwide, occurring at least once every few weeks all over the country. Protesting has become not a simple act of expression, but rather a controlled act with multiple penalties, including imprisonment or death. Not all protests are seen as peaceful protests, when in fact they can be. St. Louis citizens marched with a clergy through the Galleria and no one was arrested or injured, Dec. 3. With freedoms of speech, expression and press, responsibility from citizens and law enforcers is needed to have a balance of power. The right to petition the government and peaceful assembly is at the heart of democracy, which is why it is included in the First Amendment. There are unrests and destabilized governments all around the world from Honduras to Spain. While not all nations have the same type of government, the same issues of petition and unrest are still being dealt with across the globe.