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Children’s MN CEO speaks out on gun violence, offers a solution
In a new book, Dr. Marc Gorelick, CEO of Children’s Minnesota, is advocating for a public health approach to combat gun violence.
MINNEAPOLIS — When news of yet another school shooting – this time in Georgia – reached Dr. Marc Gorelick on Wednesday, it brought back frustrating and familiar feelings for the former pediatric emergency room doctor.
“I’ve seen Children and adolescents who have been victims of gun violence, sometimes inflicted by others, sometimes inflicted on themselves,” Gorelick said. “You don’t forget those images, those, those patients have stayed with me for the last 35 years.”
Although Gorelick has since risen to CEO of Children’s Minnesota, those awful reminders of his past work have become more frequent.
When gun deaths surpassed car accidents as the number one killer of kids and teens in the United States a few years ago, Gorelick joined other Minnesota hospital CEO’s in declaring gun violence a public health crisis.
“I think part of what makes it so gut-wrenching for someone like me is understanding that it really is preventable,” he said.
Despite that belief, Gorelick says efforts to address the gun violence issue have remained largely stuck in place, which is why he decided to put his ideas into writing. His new book, Saving Our Kids: An ER Doc’s Common-Sense Solution to the Gun Crisis, was released last month.
“The goal of the book was to paint a picture of what would it look like if we acted like this is the public health crisis, we say it is,” Gorelick said.
To do so, he says we first need to fight the urge to run to our political corners after every mass shooting or high-profile crime.
“Too often we frame it as a moral issue,” Gorelick said. “Either you are a bad person because you have guns or you are a bad person because you want to take away somebody’s guns. It is not a moral issue. It’s a health issue. It’s the leading cause of death in Children. We need to think of it that way.”
Gorelick says that a shift in thinking would also require better cooperation between healthcare, government, families and individuals.
“A public health approach would suggest you need policies, you need education and you need community-based interventions,” he said. “I think a nice example here in the Twin Cities is something called Next Step. People who are victims of violence who come into one of our emergency departments are connected with resources to both support them and their families in the immediate trauma, but also to intervene, to help prevent them from getting reinjured.”
Though yet another mass shooting prompted the conversation, Gorelick points out that all of the other tragedies happening every day across the country are what is driving his approach.
“This happens in every single community in the United States,” he said. “It’s almost 5,000 Children and adolescents each year in the United States die of gun injury. Every one of those is a tragedy, he said.
“I know how difficult it is for our staff and for their families and for the communities. and I know that if we take the right approach, we actually can do something about this. This is not an insolvable problem.”
Saving Our Kids: An ER Doc’s Common-Sense Solution to the Gun Crisis is available for sale online. All proceeds from the sales, go to support violence intervention programs at Children’s Minnesota.
Economists say the rate cut will have positive and negative affects on American consumers.
SAINT PAUL, Minn. — The financial world is buzzing after the Fed announced plans to cut the federal interest rate by 0.5%.
The stock market reacted immediately after the announcement was made Wednesday afternoon, with many indexes jumping initially and then ending the day negative.
Economists say the rate cut will send shockwaves throughout the entire economy, but how will the rate cut affect the average American consumer?
Let’s start with credit cards.
University of Saint Thomas Economics Professor Tyler Schipper says the rate cut will have a significant impact on credit card interest rates.
“There are a couple of places where you’ll see the impact relatively early and one of those places will be with credit cards,” Schipper explains.
“Borrowers will see a lower rate on their bill very quickly, maybe a billing cycle or two, that you’ll actually start to see those credit card interest rates come down.”
It’s unclear how significant the interest rate cuts on credit cards will be, but Schipper says it’s very possible they will be close to matching the 0.5% cut on the federal rate.
“A half-percent drop may not seem like a big deal for some people, but if you have a lot of credit card debt, that can have a big impact on your ability to get on top of it,” Schipper says.
The Fed’s rate cut will also have an impact on auto loans.
Professor Schipper says there is a weaker correlation between the federal rate and the interest rates on car loans, but he suspects car buyers should see some relief in the coming months.
“Car loans are tricky,” Schipper says.
“My best guess would be they are responsive, but not as responsive as those credit card rates.”
The rate cut will also affect the housing market.
Schipper says mortgage rates were already going down heading into the Fed’s meeting this week, and we could see another drop slowly over the next few months.
But the immediate impact could be a rush of homebuyers coming back into the market.
“Because people have been sitting on the sideline for so long that they feel like it’s now time to start searching. So there very well might be a psychological effect to this,” Schipper says.
It’s not all good news for consumers.
Schipper says savers will see lower returns on their savings accounts, bonds and CDs, which could affect seniors who are depending on those higher returns to maintain their retirement.
“A lot of those interest rates that were rewarding savers are going to start to come down,” Schipper says.
“Where people might want to store their extra dollars is going to change again as these interest rates come down.”
The Fed will meet two more times before the end of the year, and many economists believe we could see another rate cut, maybe even two rate cuts, by the end of the year.
So, some good news for borrowers, but for savers, those high returns are going to come back down to a normal level.
The results are based on customer satisfaction ranking on each of seven dimensions from ease of travel and terminal facilities to food and retail offerings.
MINNEAPOLIS — Some may consider Minnesota flyover country, but when it comes to airports, Minneapolis-St. Paul International is apparently the place to be.
The annual North America Airport Satisfaction Study by consumer barometer JD Power said MSP is tops in customer satisfaction among mega airports, which includes those that serve 33 million or more passengers per year. Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport ranked second, followed by Phoenix Sky Harbor International.
The rankings are based on surveys of 26,000 customers who traveled through at least one U.S. or Canadian airport in the previous 30 days, and covers both arrival and departure experiences.
Researchers tallied passenger responses across seven core dimensions (in order of importance): ease of travel through the airport; level of trust with the airport; terminal facilities; airport staff; departure experience; food, beverage and retail offerings; and arrival experience.
2024 marks the second time MSP has topped JD Power’s airport survey in the past three years.
“Our purpose is to provide exceptional airport experiences so Minnesota thrives, and this prestigious recognition demonstrates that we are delivering for our travelers,” said Brian Ryks, CEO and executive director of the Metropolitan Airports Commission (MAC), which owns and operates MSP.
“This award also acknowledges the work and focus of all airport employees and our partners who ensure our airport facilities, services and hospitality are maintained at the highest levels and exceed travelers’ expectations,” Ryks added.
MSP is currently the 18th-busiest airport in the U.S. It served 34.7 million passengers in 2023, and traffic is trending 8% higher this year.
The Metropolitan Airports Commission (MAC), which operates MSP International, said the airport is not resting on its laurels. The largest renovation project in MSP history – updating concourses and gate areas in Terminal 1 – will be completed by late 2025, and ground was broken this summer for an expansion of Terminal 2 that will wind up in 2027.
In the large airport category, JD Power named John Wayne Airport in Orange County, Calif. the customer satisfaction champ, followed by Tampa International Airport and Kansas City International. Among medium airports, Indianapolis International came out on top, followed by Jacksonville International and Southwest Florida International.
A West St. Paul man was found guilty of murder by a jury. The same stems from a stabbing at a group home in 2020.
DAKOTA COUNTY, Minn. — A West St. Paul man has been found guilty for the murder of David Eugene Rahn more than four years ago.
The guilty verdict was reached after the four-day trial against John C. Adams II, who was found guilty of intentional second-degree murder. Dakota County Attorney Kathy Keena announced the jury’s verdict, saying she hopes the verdict gives “some measure of justice to the Rahn family.”
The case stems from an incident at a state-run group home on Feb. 17, 2020. Court documents state a nurse heard Rahn yelling for help in a bedroom, but someone blocked the door and told her it was okay. When officers arrived, Rahn with found with stab wounds.
According to Keena, Adams argued he was defending himself against Rahn, who came into his room and attacked him. The Hennepin County Medical Examiner’s Office ruled the death a homicide, and officers found the knife along with bloody gloves in a garbage can.
Adams will be sentenced in December.
