Current Events: We discussed the Measles outbreak - there have been 681 cases of measles across the US, the highest number of case since the disease was declared eliminated by the US in 2000. Why is this happening and why are there so many people who fear getting vaccinations for their children? Also, most of the current outbreaks are the result of people traveling to a foreign country and bringing this highly contagious disease back with them. Children in the US are susceptible to measles if they have not been vaccinated or are too young to have completed the series of vaccines that protect the immune system. - We then looked at how NYC, founded in 1625 (by Dutch settlers who originally called it New Amsterdam), is now a city of 8 million people, the largest city in the US. A lot of NYC has spread from its original state across the surrounding waters of the Hudson and East Rivers as landfill. - We then learned about a high school student in Santa Barbara, CA who's family lost their house last year from mudslides caused by heavy rains after the horrible, dry fire season in CA. He has started a "Bucket Brigade" to help others in the community adversely affected by the CA wildfires and mudslides.