1-Color
January 16, 2014
50 cents Adams County and Jefferson County, Colorado | Volume 69, Issue 11 A publication of
westminsterwindow.com
People encouraged to get flu shots
Giving the gift of words
Department of Health reports that flu hospilizations triple By Tammy Kranz
tkranz@coloradocommunitymedia.com As cases of influenza hospitalizations increases rapidly, medical experts say it is not too late to get the flu vaccine. The Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment released its Flu Report, which revealed that a cumulative of 748 people, 73 in Adams County, were hospitalized as of Jan. 4, which is up from 263 as of Dec. 21. Susan Mazula, a nurse with North Suburban Medical Center, said the vaccine is given through March, and once it is given it takes about two weeks for the body to develop the antibodies. “We are currently seeing lots of influenza cases coming into the emergency room and some are sick enough that they need to be hospitalized,” she said. “The vaccine this year is a pretty good match for the virus that is going around, so please, get immunized.” The flu is spread by either direct or indirect transmissions. The virus is found in the nasal and oral secretion, Mazula said, and when a person sneezes or coughs, the secretion can travel as far as three feet. “If someone sick coughs directly onto your face, the virus will be absorbed through your mucus membranes (eyes, nose or mouth) — this is called direct transmission,” she said. “But if you touch a surface that someone just coughed on, or a moist tissue where someone coughed on it — the virus gets on your hands and if you touch your eyes, nose, mouth, then you get sick — this is called indirect transmission.” If someone cannot or does not want to get the vaccination, Mazula advises people to wash their hands or use hand sanitizer to kill germs, keep your hands from your face and stay away from people who have a fever and cough. Symptoms last between three and seven days and include fever, cough, headache, muscle aches, runny nose and sore throat. “Once symptoms begin, the sooner you see your doctor the sooner you can get started on anti-viral medication,” Mazula said. “These medications will help decrease the severity of the symptoms and help you feel better quicker (than if you take no medication).” She said people should go to the emergency room if they start to have breathing problems or develop other severe symptoms.
POSTAL ADDRESS
Third-graders at Sunset Ridge Elementary School in Westminster show off the dictionaries they received from the Westminster 7:10 Rotary Club. The dictionaries are produced by The Dictionary Project, Inc. in South Carolina, an organization created to provide a dictionary to students to help with their homework and their schoolwork. Rotarians presented over 1,800 new dictionaries, each personalized with the student’s name, to the third-grade students during the last weeks in December and the first weeks in January. Courtesy photo
Hickenlooper: State of state is strong Governor touts economic numbers during annual address. By Vic Vela
vvela@coloradocommunitymedia.com Gov. John Hickenlooper sounded like a man running for re-election during his annual State of the State address inside the Capitol on Jan. 9, as he touted Colorado’s economic rebound and called on lawmakers to “ignore divisive politics.” The governor sounded themes of unity throughout his speech, but particularly when he lauded Coloradans’ resilience during times of tragedy last year — which led to one of the most enthusiastically-received lines of the day. “Colorado does not shutdown. Colorado does not quit. Colorado does not break,” he said, to a standing ovation inside the House chamber, where all 100 state lawmakers were gathered. Hickenlooper hyped Colorado as a magnet for businesses and a state where job numbers continue to grow. And, for the most part, he stayed away from contentious issues that dominated the Legislature last year. While Democrats walked away glow-
Gov. John Hickenlooper motions to his cabinet, seated in the House chambers in the Colorado State Capitol, during the State of the State speech in Denver on Jan. 8. Photo by Hannah Garcia
ingly from the governor’s speech, many Republicans voiced a “wait and see” response. “Well it felt good, but let’s see if those feelings continue for the rest of the year,” said Rep. Carole Murray, R-Castle Rock. “When he talked about not wanting parties to lock down, I hope he holds to that with his own party.” Much of the governor’s speech focused Printed on recycled newsprint. on the state’s improving economic numPlease recycle this copy. bers. Hickenlooper said that the state has experienced a significant rebound in job numbers since 2010, when the state was ranked 40th in the nation in job growth. Now, the state ranks fourth in that category, has added 170,000 jobs over the last
few years, and has seen its unemployment rate drop from 9 percent in 2010, to its current rate of 6.5 percent. “But let’s be clear,” the governor cautioned, “the unemployment rate is not low enough, and all of us share a commitment to keep a statewide focus on this issue.” The state’s improving economy has also allowed lawmakers to work with more budget reserves than it had in recent years, which Hickenlooper said has been important when natural disasters have struck. “The single most critical factor in Colorado being able to stay open for business throughout hell fires and high waters has been reserves,” he said. Hickenlooper also talked about new business that lawmakers will attend to this session. They included legislation that seeks to cap college tuition rate hikes and provide more financial aid for students, a part of the speech that received a standing ovation from both sides of the aisle. The governor also talked about other priorities, such as improving technology to reduce wait times at Department of Motor Vehicles offices; expanding Internet access across rural areas; and extending job-creation tax credits for businesses. The governor — who is up for re-election in November — stayed away from controversy. His only mention of gun laws that were placed into law last year were done so in a way that addressed the mental health aspect of gun tragedies, while touting recent laws that created more mental health services. On oil and gas industry regulations, Hickenlooper — a former geologist and a friend of the industry — said that it’s important to recognize that oil and gas companies contribute billions of dollars to the state economy. At the same, industry leadState continues on Page 18