The Minnesota Department of Health has confirmed two more measles cases in the state, saying one case is concerning because officials can’t trace a known exposure to the infectious disease, which could mean that the virus is spreading in the state.

The two new cases brings the state’s total this year to four.

The new cases, which officials say are unrelated, were reported in the east metro area. One person in Washington County, whose vaccination status is unknown, was exposed during domestic air travel outside of the state. The second new case is the infection of an unvaccinated Dakota County child who has not traveled outside the state in the last month and has no known exposure to the disease.

Both are recovering at home.

“Anytime we confirm a case of measles unrelated to travel that has no known source it is worrying,” said Jessica Hancock-Allen, infectious disease division director at the health department. “This is because it could be a sign that measles is spreading in the community undetected by public health and healthcare systems. It is uncertain where the child was exposed and whether others may have been exposed.”

The child was infectious while at the Mall of America theme park on May 24. Disease investigators say anyone who was at the mall between 5 and 9 p.m. that day might have been exposed. Any symptoms would appear eight to 12 days after exposure, meaning in this case between May 31 and June 14, officials said. Symptoms include fever, cough, runny nose and watery eyes followed a few days later by a rash that typically spreads from the head to the rest of the body.

People who are unvaccinated or who have not had measles are most at risk and should watch for symptoms.

The state department of health is working with local health departments to reach anyone they believe may have been exposed to either person.

People who suspect they have measles should call their health care provider before going to a clinic to avoid exposing other people, officials said.

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The best prevention is immunization. Children should receive two doses of measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccine: first at 12 to 15 months of age and the second at 4 to 6 years of age.

Minnesotans who don’t have health records or are unclear about their vaccination record can go to Find My Immunization Record. Most people born before 1957 have had measles and are considered immune.

Measles is highly contagious and can lead to hospitalization and even death. The virus can remain in the air for up to two hours after an infected person leaves an area.

Additional information about measles can be found on the MDH Measles website.

El informe dice que si continúan las bajas tasas de natalidad y de inmigración, envejecerá la población y crecerá menos el mercado laboral del país.

(Michael Appleton/Mayoral Photography Office)

Los Estados Unidos han venido haciendo frente al progresivo envejecimiento y su población adulta (aquellos mayores de 65 años) ha crecido más deprisa que aquellos menores de 18 años, lo que supone que uno de los problemas a los que se enfrentará el país será la disminución de su población en edad productiva.

Según un informe del Proyecto Derechos Civiles de la Universidad de California en Los Ángeles (UCLA Civil Rights Project), la tasa total de fertilidad del país está por debajo del nivel de reemplazo en la mayoría de los grupos raciales y étnicos, exceptuando a hispanos nacidos en el extranjero y algunos otros grupos inmigrantes.

Se prevé también que los asiáticos y los isleños del Pacífico aumenten sus tasas de fecundidad, aunque sus tasas actuales de fecundidad están por debajo del nivel de reemplazo en el país. 

El informe dice que si continúan las bajas tasas de natalidad y de inmigración, envejecerá la población y crecerá menos el mercado laboral del país.

La proporción de adultos mayores de 65 años superará a la de niños menores de 18 años en 2034, estiman los autores del informe, lo que podría tener enormes consecuencias en la productividad a medio y largo plazo.

El informe recomienda animar a los estudiantes internacionales a quedarse en EE. UU., desarrollar programas de formación profesional para educar a los jóvenes indocumentados que ya viven aquí y promover la formación en el puesto de trabajo para inmigrantes.

Otra recomendación es estudiar políticas para que la gente que viene de fuera pueda trabajar aquí haciendo lo que sabe.

Así que para hablar sobre el informe, invitamos a Raúl Hinojosa-Ojeda, uno de los autores y profesor del Departamento de Estudios Chicanos y Chicanas de la Universidad de California en Los Ángeles (UCLA por sus siglas en inglés).

Más detalles en nuestra conversación a continuación.

Ciudad Sin Límites, el proyecto en español de City Limits, y El Diario de Nueva York se han unido para crear el pódcast “El Diario Sin Límites” para hablar sobre latinos y política. Para no perderse ningún episodio de nuestro pódcast “El Diario Sin Límites” síguenos en Spotify, Soundcloud, Apple Pódcast y Stitcher. Todos los episodios están allí. ¡Suscríbete!

The post PODCAST: ¿Cómo puede la inmigración salvar la economía de EE. UU. si hay pocos nacimientos? appeared first on City Limits.

Hey, how’s the water? Pleasant? Sharks? Any shark trouble?

Fifty years ago, a certain film franchise hadn’t yet asked audiences those questions, in so many words. “Jaws” the first, and by several hundred thousand miles the best, opened in 1975; three years later “Jaws 2” arrived, dangling the marketing tagline “Just when you thought it was safe to go back in the water.” That first sequel wasn’t much, but people went. That’s what moviegoers did then, reliably. They went to the movies, in a time just before sequels clogged an entire popular culture’s plumbing system.

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It’s different now. “Star Wars” and then Marvel Studios, among others, have ensured our risk of franchise fatigue, and a rickety industry’s default reliance on a few big familiar name brands. So why am I cautiously optimistic — hope springs occasional, as they say — about the summer season, a time when all the franchisees come out to play and take you away from the sun?

My reasoning is simple.

A few weeks ago, “Thunderbolts” — the 36th title in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, and yes, that’s too many — turned out pretty well. More recently, “Final Destination Bloodlines,” the sixth in the “Final Destination” killing spree, was fresh enough, in its blithe smackdowns between humans and Death, to remind us: You never know when one of these franchise entries will pay off, even modestly.

“Mission: Impossible — the Final Reckoning,” already in theaters, will soon be joined by dinosaurs, superheroes, naked guns and men in capes, all familiar, most having endured earlier big-screen adventures somewhere between bleh and much, much better than bleh. If many can’t help but favor the forthcoming releases promising something new, or -ish, well, the ones that succeed have a way of ensuring the industry’s future. And every time a standalone of populist distinction like this year’s “Sinners” finds an audience, an angel gets its wings.

Here’s a list of 10 summer offerings, five franchisees, five originals. Release dates subject to change.

The romantic comedy “Materialists” stars Dakota Johnson and Pedro Pascal. (A24)

“Materialists” (June 13): Writer-director Celine Song’s second feature, after the quiet triumph of “Past Lives,” stars Dakota Johnson, Chris Evans and Pedro Pascal, aka the Man Who Is Everywhere, in a romantic comedy about a high-end matchmaker’s triangular conundrum. Song knows the value of a triangle; in an apparently glossier vein, her “Past Lives” follow-up should make it crystal clear and, with luck, a winner.

“28 Years Later” (June 20): Ralph Fiennes brings nice, crisp final consonants to a ravaged near-future in director Danny Boyle’s return to speedy, menacing rage-virus junkies, with a script from franchise-starter Alex Garland. This is my kind of continuation; the first two films, “28 Days Later” and “28 Weeks Later,” both worked, in interestingly different ways. Jodie Comer and Aaron Taylor-Johnson co-star.

“Elio” (June 20): Pixar’s back, which historically and statistically means good news more often than not. This one’s about an 11-year-old accidentally but not unpleasantly beamed into outer space’s “Communiverse” after making contact on Earth with aliens. Can Elio save the galaxy while representing his home planet well and truly? The directors of “Elio” are Madeline Sharafian (who made the Pixar short “Burro”), Domee Shi (“Bao,” “Turning Red”) and Adrian Molina (“Coco”).

“28 Years Later” stars Ralph Fiennes as a survivor of the rage virus introduced in “28 Days Later.” (Sony Pictures)

“Sorry, Baby” (June 27): I’ve seen this one, and it’s really good. The story hinges on a maddeningly common incident of sexual assault, this one rewiring the life of a future college English department professor. But “Sorry, Baby” is not a movie about rape; it’s about the days, weeks and years afterward. Writer-director-star Eva Victor (who played Rian on “Billions”), here making a sharp-witted feature directorial debut, proves herself a triple threat with a wide-open future.

“F1” (June 27): “Top Gun: Maverick” director Joseph Kosinski returns for what sounds a little like “Top Gun: Maverick: This Time on Wheels, and the Ground.” Brad Pitt plays a former Formula 1 superstar, now mentoring a reckless hotshot either to victory and wisdom, or defeat and a tragic embrace of his character flaws. Damson Idris, Javier Bardem and Kerry Condon co-star.

Scarlett Johansson plays a covert operations expert on an island that really needs one in “Jurassic World Rebirth.” (Jasin Boland/Universal Studios)

“Jurassic World Rebirth” (July 2): The latest in a hardy multi-decade franchise that has known triumph as well as “Jurassic World Dominion.” Heartening news on the director front: Gareth Edwards, who did so well by Godzilla in the 2014 “Godzilla,” wrangles the new storyline, with Scarlett Johansson leading an ensemble of potential snacks (humans, that is) in and out of digital harm’s way on a secret research facility island fulla’ trouble.

“Superman” (July 11): The whole double-life thing has gotten to the Kryptonian strongman by now, and in director James Gunn’s take on the “Superman” myth, he’s determined to resolve his Smallville upbringing and Clark Kent newspapering with the wider galaxy’s perilous demands. David Corenswet leaps into the title role; his co-stars include Rachel Brosnahan (Lois Lane) and Nicholas Hoult (Lex Luthor).

“The Fantastic Four: First Steps” (July 25): Despite two of the least grabby words ever to fill the right-hand side of a movie title’s colon, “First Steps” already has stoked the enthusiasm of millions with a pretty zingy trailer, which of course automatically means the film is a classic. (Kidding.) We’ll see! The motley yet stylish quartet, led by Pedro “Everywhere, All the Time” Pascal, squares off with the ravenously evil Galactus and Galactus’ flying factotum, the Silver Surfer.

Lois Lane (Rachel Brosnahan) sizes up her coworker in disguise (David Corenswet) in “Superman.” (Jessica Miglio/Warner Bros. Entertainment)

“The Naked Gun” (Aug. 1): First there was “Police Squad!”, the one-season 1982 wonder that introduced America’s most serenely confident law enforcement know-nothing, Frank Drebin, originated by the magically right Leslie Nielsen. Then came the “Naked Gun” movies. Now Liam Neeson takes over in this reboot, with a cast including Pamela Anderson and Paul Walter Hauser.

“Caught Stealing” (Aug. 29): In director Darren Aronofsky’s 1990s-set NYC thriller, a former pro baseball player (Austin Butler) attempts the larceny equivalent of stealing home once he’s entangled in the criminal underworld. This one boasts an A-grade cast, with Zoë Kravitz, Liev Schreiber, Regina King and Vincent D’Onofrio taking care of goods and bads alike.

Michael Phillips is a Tribune critic.

Better use of city resources

Gary Todd’s recent commentary on needless city spending decisions, in this case another bikeway that will cost over $10M for a one-mile section, got me thinking about what else we could get for that money. Don’t get me wrong. Being a bicyclist, I fully support building infrastructure to encourage environmentally friendly transportation, but we need to carefully consider all aspects of such decisions. The proposed improvements don’t seem to be viable high-capacity bike routes, given the constraints Todd points out in his piece, and other uses of the funds could and should be considered a higher priority.

Smoother roads that are already used by both cars and bikes would benefit both.

According to a retired public works professional of my acquaintance, $1M would pay for about a one mile of a “mill & overlay” (a method of smoothly and durably resurfacing worn asphalt roadways).  It turns out that the $7.4M available from MSAS funds would allow the city to resurface all of Summit and Grand Avenues in my stomping grounds. Note that Summit carries a lot of bike traffic as well as cars. I’m sure taxpayers on the East Side and North End also would have recommendations for streets that could use a resurfacing. Better yet, since according to St. Paul’s government website our residential streets are on a 124-year replacement cycle, my friends in Frogtown wouldn’t mind their streets being redone.

St. Paul has reached is maximum sustainable tax burden and needs to be more judicious about how it spends its funds. Todd is correct that our city government needs to be guided by rational priorities and accountable to the residents lest we lose more people and businesses to suburbs. Taking care of what we already have should be the highest priority, and only when those needs are met should we look to build more infrastructure, whether it be parks, bike lanes and trails, or buildings.

I believe the solution is to have broader, earlier and functional public input to public works decisions. This will avoid the perception that we have a misguided, unaccountable city government.|                                  |

Timothy R. Church, St. Paul

 

Cheer for good cheer

For those of us living daily with depression and/or anxiety, reading a newspaper or watching TV can be upsetting. So, if you’d like something to make you feel good, feel hopeful, read about and watch female athletic teams from Minnesota – Frost, Lynx, college-system teams, your local high schools.

Minnesota turns out an amazing number of excellent, skilled female athletes who compete in almost all sports, locally, nationally and internationally.

Cheer your life up a bit, by cheering for our incredible female athletes.

Nancy Lanthier Carroll, Roseville

 

Taking the low road

Our Minnesota governor and self-proclaimed “knucklehead” decided to take the low road during his recent commencement address to University of Minnesota Law School graduates.

His address, which more resembled a campaign speech, took aim at President Trump and his “tyrannical” immigration policies. Instead of encouraging the graduates to do their best in maintaining objectivity and casting prejudices aside in their law careers, Walz ripped into his worn-out and dangerously inciteful rhetoric of our 47th president.

Everything Tim Walz claims Trump has done to over-step his role as the leader of America, this “tyrannical” governor of ours is doing to our state.

Our governor issued his own dystopian orders when he closed down our schools and small businesses. This order put out of work thousands of our residents who needed the work most, forced many small businesses to shutter their doors for good and caused mental health issues for our students.

Gov, Walz overreached by forcing State of Minnesota employees to take the COVID vaccine or lose their jobs and encouraging other government agencies and private businesses to do the same.

And in an order that was truly draconian and in line with Walz’s socialist moves, he set up a tip line for state residents to report on neighbors violating his social-gathering restrictions. What better way to sow fear and mistrust among neighbors and mold your minions to be compliant with your autocratic decrees?

This is a governor who foolishly and unapologetically let an $18 billion surplus turn to mush after the $250 million Feeding Our Future fraud slipped under his nose.

There was a recent news report that Tim Walz was a front-runner for the 2028 presidential race. Really?

Richard Rohland, Roseville

 

Scenario #2 is superior

Autocracy: a system of government by one person with absolute power.

The 35W bridge rebuild has a critically important lesson for today.

A new bridge was needed. Time was of the essence. There were two scenarios for how this project could go.

Scenario #1: One person running the job, making every decision. This leader makes all the decisions, so decisions can be made faster and the project is expedited.

Scenario #2: A group comes together made up of structural engineers, architects, environmentalists, people who will actually be doing the work to rebuild, OSHA and budget watchers. They will take time to analyze the failure, and weigh options for pros and cons.

We used Scenario #2, and were still able to replace the bridge in an unbelievably short time.

Why did we choose 2? Because Scenario #1 has no checks and balances. With only one voice, one decider, potential flaws can creep in unnoticed and unchallenged. Potential time and cost-saving ideas are unheard. And essential aesthetic and environmental issues are ignored.

Scenario #1 is autocracy. Today, we are safe on the 35W bridge because we chose the harder, messier, and, I would argue, demonstrably superior road to results.

Currently, it feels like our country’s economy, our constitutional rights, and our once lauded role in the world have been plunged into a deep and fast-moving river of chaos. And we are supposed to trust the bridge-building expertise of an autocratic executive.

Governing well requires Scenario #2. That’s why the founding fathers created three separate and coequal branches. No kings. No autocrats.

We all have strengths and flaws. No one person, party, or branch of government has all the answers. Only by working together, questioning, offering ideas, and respecting each other will we remain worthy of our country’s rich heritage and able to safely and securely meet the challenges of tomorrow.

Bonnie Bakkum, Lake City

 

Couldn’t get there from here

Late last month my wife and I decided to have a nice dinner at a restaurant on Grand Avenue in St. Paul. I soon found that I couldn’t get there from here. In fact, I don’t think I could have gotten there even if using the Mars rover, although the terrain looked similar. Road construction or rather destruction made our chosen establishment somewhat inaccessible.

I reached out by phone and was told I might find parking somewhat proximate to their location. But walking across that ditch of destruction formerly known as Grand Ave. was a greater challenge than a couple celebrating their 56th wedding anniversary wished to embark on. Sadly I had to inform the restaurateur that they would have to manage without my meager contribution to their bottom line, and wish them well. I’m hoping they can survive this period of dirt, dust, assessments and business decline. Then to reap the reward of a road, a road not unlike what they had, before this all began.

Bob Emery, Mendota Heights

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