Story 1: U.S. Intelligence Flights Surging Off Cuba

The U.S. Navy and Air Force have quietly conducted at least 25 surveillance flights near Cuba since February — some coming within 40 miles of the coastline.

This is barely registering in the news cycle, and it absolutely should be. While everyone's eyes are on Iran and Ukraine, we're running an aggressive intelligence operation ninety miles off the Florida coast. That's not routine — that's a posture shift. Whether it's about monitoring Russian naval activity, drug trafficking corridors, or something else entirely, the American public deserves to know why we're suddenly that interested in what's happening in Havana.

Speaking of things hiding in plain sight...

Story 2: Utah Supreme Court Justice Resigns Amid Redistricting Text Scandal

A Utah Supreme Court justice resigned after her ex-husband accused her of exchanging inappropriate texts with an attorney tied to the progressive group challenging the state's congressional map — a map she voted against.

Let that sink in. A sitting Supreme Court justice — someone tasked with impartial constitutional review — allegedly had back-channel communications with an attorney from the very organization litigating the case in front of her. If those allegations hold up, this isn't a political story, it's a corruption story. And the fact that it's being swallowed up by the Virginia redistricting drama means it's getting exactly the burial it doesn't deserve.

From courts behaving badly to governments spending badly...

Story 3: Iran's Water Crisis — A Nation Running Dry While Funding Proxies

Iran is facing a catastrophic water crisis, not simply because of drought, but because the Islamic Republic has consistently chosen to fund foreign proxy wars and ideological projects over basic infrastructure for its own people.

This is the story underneath the story of the Iran nuclear standoff. While negotiators haggle over uranium enrichment and sanctions relief, tens of millions of ordinary Iranians are running out of water. The regime's priorities are laid bare here — missiles and militias over municipal water systems. If you want to understand why so many Iranians have taken to the streets, you don't need to look at politics. Just look at the taps.

From a government failing its people to a government profiting off them...

Story 4: Gavin Newsom's $20 Million Diaper Deal and the Nonprofit Network Connected to His Wife

California Governor Gavin Newsom is under scrutiny over a $20 million state contract to distribute free diapers to newborns — awarded to a nonprofit with ties to his wife's network.

Free diapers sounds wholesome until you follow the money. This is the Newsom playbook in full color: frame it as compassion, bury the contracting process, and make sure the right people are in the room when the checks get signed. The man is running a shadow economy of goodwill and government dollars, and California taxpayers keep funding it. If this were a Republican governor with his wife's fingerprints on a $20 million deal, it would be the top story on every network for a week.

And finally, a media story that deserves more than a footnote...

Story 5: CBS News Radio Signs Off After 99 Years

Later this month, CBS News Radio — one of the oldest and most storied broadcast news operations in American history — will go silent after 99 years on the air.

This is not just a business story. This is the end of an era in how America understood itself. CBS News Radio was on during World War II, the Kennedy assassination, the moon landing, and September 11th. The fact that it's dying with barely a mention tells you everything about where we are. We don't eulogize institutions anymore — we just quietly unplug them. And when the next crisis hits and people reach for something authoritative, they're going to find a podcast and a lot of hot takes. Present company included.