Category: ESTA News

While many people are focused on the presidential election on November 5, voters in the City of Fairfax, Virginia, will also be voting for mayor, city council members, and school board members. In the past, Fairfax City’s public office elections were held without party affiliation, but starting in 2022, they will be able to state their party affiliation and support just like other general elections.

While this has the positive effect of increasing voter turnout, it has also had many negative side effects. Fairfax, a small city with a population of 22,000 and registered voters of 18,000, has ended up being swayed by two-party politics, putting party lines ahead of local issues, and the conflict among residents has reached a peak ahead of this presidential election.

Unscrupulous campaigning has been uncovered, including damaging and even removing and switching the campaign signs of opposing candidates. Ahead of this election, candidates running for mayor and city council attended a candidate forum on the 25th of last month, directly meeting residents and communicating with them to appeal for support.

Incumbent mayor Catherine Read emphasized, “When elections were held in May in the past, the voter turnout was only 20%, but with the change to November in 2022, the voter turnout was 59%.” She added, “There is some controversy over this, but we need to recognize the change.” She also said, “Voters already know the political leanings of the candidates,” and “We need to be honest about what the candidates support and what voters want to know, not about partisanship.” She added, “I support Democratic values.” Challenger Susan Kuiler said, “I will run as an independent,” and “I will listen to the voices of residents who are concerned about partisan fighting, and work with the city council and staff to make a bipartisan effort for the development and safety of Fairfax.”

These remarks reflect concerns that since Fairfax local elections also require candidates to disclose their party affiliations, the city council, like the state and federal legislatures, will lose its bipartisan efforts and become a wasteful partisan fight. The argument is that candidates who are elected with the support of the Democratic Party will inevitably be conscious of their party’s platform while conducting their legislative activities and will ultimately prioritize the party’s position over the residents.

In fact, it has been reported that the city council has engaged in wasteful battles over abortion rights and sexual identity issues before local issues. In this situation, candidate Queller emphasized, “I hope that the election will be held freely without being influenced by the two major parties,” and “If I become mayor, I will work to restore the trust of the residents, and once I am elected, I will no longer be self-righteous and not listen to the residents.”

There are 11 candidates running for the six-member City Council, and the Fairfax Democratic Party has officially endorsed three candidates: Billy Bates, Stacy Hardy-Chandler, and Taylor Alice Geaghan. The Republican Party, on the other hand, has not endorsed a candidate this time, just like in the last election. Incumbents Jeff Greenfield, Kate Doyle Feimgold, and Billy Bates, all of whom are seeking reelection, are expected to win, while Anthony Amos, who served as an aide to Fairfax County’s only Republican supervisor, Pat Herity, is also expected to win.

Meanwhile, three-term Korean American Councilor So-Jung Lim has not run this time. “Comparing when I first entered the city council to now, I am just exhausted and disappointed,” said Rep. Lim. “In the past, despite different political tendencies, it was possible to reach an agreement through discussion, but it is difficult to expect that anymore.”

The safest city in California is Irvine, Orange County. It is followed by Chula Vista, San Diego, and Glendale, Los Angeles County. The top five safest cities in the country, according to personal finance company WalletHub, are South Burlington, Vermont; Casper, Wyoming; Warwick, Rhode Island; Burlington, Vermont; and Boise, Idaho.

Irvine was ranked 11th among the safest cities in the country and was selected as the safest city in California. In California, Irvine, Chula Vista, Fremont, Glendale, Santa Rosa, Santa Clarita, and Garden Grove were selected as the safest cities in that order.

Former President Donald Trump, the Republican presidential candidate, claimed on the 7th that immigrants commit violent crimes because of bad genes while criticizing the Biden-Harris administration’s border policy. In an interview with the conservative radio show The Hugh Hewitt Show that day, former President Trump criticized the rapid influx of immigrants for driving up housing prices in the United States.

“We’re allowing people to come in through open borders. 13,000 of them were murderers,” he said without providing any evidence. “Many of them have murdered more than one person, but now they’re living happily in the United States,” he said. “Murderers have those genes. Now we (around us) have a lot of bad genes.” He continued, “There are 425,000 people who should not be in the United States,” and criticized them, saying, “They are criminals.”

Former President Trump previously pledged to pursue an ultra-hardline anti-immigration policy, including promising to deport the largest number of illegal immigrants on his first day in office, targeting anti-immigrant sentiment in the United States. Former President Trump claims that his rival Vice President Kamala Harris, who served as the “border czar” of the Biden administration, failed to control the border, leading to a large influx of illegal immigrants, and that these immigrants are causing violent crimes, driving up housing prices, and taking jobs from black and Hispanic Americans. However, there are no statistics showing that crime rates are higher in areas of the United States where many immigrants reside, and there are even research results showing that immigrants are less likely to commit crimes than non-immigrants.

In a debate on the 10th of last month, former President Trump made the unfounded claim that Haitian immigrants who are legally residing in Springfield, Ohio, are eating their neighbors’ dogs and cats. He also stated that he would revoke the residency status of Haitian immigrants if he were to take office.

Former President Trump was heavily criticized late last year when he compared immigrants to “vermin” and said, “Immigrants are polluting the blood of America” while mentioning a hard-liner stance on illegal immigration. At the time, there were criticisms in the United States that this statement was like the claims of the Nazi regime, which pursued a policy of exterminating Jews. Former President Trump’s repeated, ultra-hardline anti-immigrant remarks appear to have been made in consideration of anti-immigrant sentiment in the United States.

In a survey conducted by CBS last month, more than 50% of respondents said they supported former President Trump’s pledge to deport large-scale illegal immigrants.

As Virginia’s Fairfax County moves to reduce its heavy reliance on property taxes and diversify its tax sources, including food taxes, there is continued opposition from local food service industries, including Korean restaurants, and some residents.

According to local media outlets such as ABC7 News, Fairfax County is considering imposing a 6% food tax even though it has already collected a whopping $240 million more in taxes this year than originally planned. According to ABC7 News, the county government is considering imposing a food tax to diversify its tax sources, saying that if it wanted to, it could send $200 checks to every resident, including children.

Supervisor Walter Alcorn said, “66% of the county’s tax revenue comes from property taxes, which is too high,” and that “we need to diversify our tax sources,” and it has been reported that the other supervisors, except for Pet Harrity, are in favor of imposing a food tax. Local restaurant businesses, including Korean restaurants, are raising their voices in opposition to the food tax, concerned that the number of consumers who feel the burden of rising dining out costs will decrease due to the county’s move to impose a food tax.

An official from the Metropolitan Washington Restaurant Association said, “Right now, not only the cost of dining out, but also the cost of operating a restaurant is higher than ever,” and “Now is not a good time to be pushing for a food tax.” The owner of the pizza restaurant “Paisanos,” which employs more than 1,000 people, also said, “I hope they reconsider imposing the food tax and find other sources of revenue.” A resident who identified himself as a restaurant manager in the Reston area expressed his regret, saying, “It seems like there is no place where taxes are not rising these days, making it harder to live in the county,” and “It’s ridiculous that they are pushing for it again this time when the food tax was already rejected in two previous referendums.”

Meanwhile, Alexandria, Falls Church, and Prince William counties already have food taxes in place, and last year, Alexandria earned $31.6 million in tax revenue, Falls Church $5.6 million, and Prince William County $44.9 million.

With the 2024 general election taking place on November 5, the Maryland Board of Elections has announced three voting options and deadlines. Maryland voters can exercise their right to vote early, by mail, or in person on Election Day. Of course, voter registration is required.

Voter registration must be completed by Tuesday, October 15, whether by mail or online. Early voting will be held from Thursday, March 24 to Thursday, March 31, from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. at a total of 97 early voting locations across the state. The same hours will be held on Saturdays and Sundays. Early voting locations are set up in 14 Montgomery locations, 5 Howard County locations, 10 Anne Arundel County locations, 11 Baltimore County locations, 8 Baltimore City locations, 3 Carroll County locations, 4 Harford County locations, and 4 Frederick County locations.

Any registered voter can vote by mail, but you must apply in advance to vote by mail. The registration deadline is Tuesday, October 29. To vote by mail, voters must return their marked ballots by mail by 8 p.m. on Tuesday, November 5, or drop them off at drop boxes located throughout the state. They can also visit an early voting location or a polling place on Election Day to deliver their ballots.

On Election Day, November 5, in-person voting is available at each polling place from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. There are a total of 286 polling places set up across the state.

One of the concerns that has grown during the COVID-19 pandemic is that autism may increase. However, a study of babies exposed to COVID-19 in the womb during the pandemic found that the risk of autism was not higher than that of children before the pandemic.

Professor Danny Dumitriu’s team at Columbia University’s Sargelos School of Medicine announced on the 24th in the American Medical Association’s Journal of JAMA Network Open the results of a study of more than 2,000 children born between January 2018 and September 2021.

“Pediatricians, researchers, and developmental scientists have also been concerned about the possibility of an increase in the incidence of autism due to the COVID-19 pandemic,” Professor Dumitriu said. “But fortunately, this study found no signs of such an increase.”

During the pandemic, rumors that vaccines can cause autism and other conditions spread, and experts said that stress due to lockdowns can have a negative impact on pregnant women and fetuses, raising concerns that autism in children may increase. The study involved 2,499 children born at New York-Presbyterian Morgan Stanley Children’s Hospital and Allen Hospital from January 2018 to September 2021.

Of the 516 children born before the pandemic and 1,533 born during the pandemic, 1,198 were not exposed to COVID-19 in the womb, 231 were exposed, and 104 had unknown exposure. The research team calculated the risk of autism by assessing the behavior of their children at 16 to 30 months of age using a neurodevelopmental screening questionnaire for parents. The scores were compared between children born before and during the pandemic, and between children exposed to COVID-19 in the womb and those not exposed. The analysis results showed that there was no significant difference in the positive rate of autism tests between children born before the pandemic and children born during the pandemic. In particular, the study showed that children exposed to COVID-19 in the womb had a lower positive rate of autism tests than children who were not exposed.

Professor Demetriou said, “This study is not a diagnosis of autism, but a survey on the risk of autism through a questionnaire for parents, so it is still too early to provide a definitive diagnosis figure,” but added, “This is comforting news for pregnant women who are worried about autism in their children due to the still prevalent COVID-19.” He continued, “This is a very reassuring study result because autism is known to be affected by the fetal environment,” adding, “However, since disabilities can develop later, we will continue to track the children who participated in the study to see if they develop diseases such as autism.”

The New York City Council is pushing forward with a plan to open restrooms in New York City government buildings to the public. The ordinance, recently introduced by New York City Councilwoman Rita Joseph, is aimed at making restrooms in city government buildings accessible to the public as part of efforts to expand public restroom accessibility.

According to the ordinance, New York City government buildings must post instructions on the location and hours of restrooms in the building so that they are available for use by the public during business hours, as well as instructions on how to access the restrooms for people with disabilities.

In addition, the status of restroom operation must be reported to the City Council every quarter. “Currently, there is only one restroom for every 7,800 people in New York City, which is very poor,” said Councilwoman Rita Joseph. “With the implementation of the ordinance, the goal is to increase this to one restroom for every 2,000 people by 2035.”

Councilman Joseph added, “Last year in New York City, 4,000 summonses were issued for public urination. In order to reduce this waste of administrative power, it is urgent to expand access to public restrooms.”

The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reported on the 17th that JP Morgan Chase, the largest bank in the U.S., is in talks to issue an Apple credit card. The source said that JP Morgan began discussions with Apple to issue a credit card early this year, and that the deal has recently progressed. However, the source added that it could still take several months to conclude the contract, and that the deal may not be concluded because important details such as the price are still being negotiated.

The discussions follow Apple’s decision last year to end its partnership with Goldman Sachs, the issuer of the Apple Card, which includes a credit card and savings account. Apple launched the Apple Credit Card in 2019 in partnership with Goldman Sachs, and launched a savings account this year. However, in November last year, the two companies agreed to end the partnership within the next 12 to 15 months, and Apple has been looking for a new card issuer.

Apple has also reportedly been in contact with credit card issuers Synchrony Financial and Capital One. The WSJ assessed that if the deal between JPMorgan and Apple goes through, it will further solidify the union between the largest bank in the U.S. and the largest tech company in the world.

JPMorgan currently offers discounts to Chase card customers when they buy Apple products, and Apple earns revenue by receiving a certain amount of commission from JPMorgan every time a Chase card customer uses Apple Pay to make a purchase. It is reported that there are 12 million Apple credit card users in the U.S. Meanwhile, Apple has been partnering with Goldman Sachs on credit card business since 2019, but it is known that it has not been smooth from the start.

Apple irritated Goldman Sachs by advertising that the card was not issued by a bank, and by requiring cardholders to receive bills at the beginning of each month, dissatisfaction among Goldman Sachs customer service staff, whose work is concentrated during this period, grew.

Seven weeks after Victoria Lee, a Korean American woman suffering from a mental health crisis, was shot and killed by police in Fort Lee, New Jersey, the New Jersey State Attorney’s Office has yet to release any results of its investigation, leaving her family worried. Some are even concerned that, based on past similar incidents, it could take more than two years for the State Attorney’s Office to release the results of its investigation into Lee.

According to our investigation, there have been no cases in which a resident suffering from mental health issues was shot and killed by police in New Jersey over the past two years, from 2023 to the present, in which the State Attorney’s Office has released any results of its investigation. A representative example is the March 2023 death of Najee Seabrooks in Paterson. Paterson police officers responded to the apartment where Seabrooks was suffering from a mental health crisis and shot and killed her after a four-hour standoff. A total of five officers subdued Seabrooks at the time, two of whom fired the shots. However, the state attorney’s office’s investigation into these five officers is still ongoing, a year and six months after the incident. When

New Jersey Spotlight asked the state attorney’s office in March, the first anniversary of the incident, whether the five officers were still working, the office simply stated, “We cannot answer that question because it is under investigation.” It is also unclear when the grand jury will convene to decide whether to indict these five officers. According to New Jersey Spotlight, as of March, all five officers were still working as police officers after the shooting. Last August,

52-year-old Andrew Washington, who had a mental illness, was shot and killed by police officers who responded to the scene in Jersey City. In that case as well, the state attorney’s office’s investigation into the officer who fired the shot is still pending, and all officers involved in the incident are still working. According to a civil lawsuit filed by Washington’s family last month, the family called a mental health hotline operated by a medical institution instead of 911 at the time of the incident last year, but the police arrived at the scene, and although Washington was alone in the house, the police forcibly broke down the door and shot and killed him.

After the incident, Jersey City Mayor Steve Plupp defended the police response at the scene, saying there was no problem, and the family eventually filed a civil lawsuit against the Jersey City government, police, and emergency personnel. Considering this precedent, the state prosecutor’s investigation into Victoria Lee’s death is also expected to be prolonged by one to two years.

Regarding this, Lee’s family said, “Unlike in the past, there is a lot of evidence to determine the truth through police body camera footage, etc., but it is difficult to understand why the state prosecutor’s investigation is taking more than one to two years,” and “What the family wants is the investigation results to come out quickly.”

Furthermore, even if the state prosecutor’s investigation is concluded after several years of waiting and a grand jury is held, there is no guarantee that an indictment will be made. According to research by Philip Matthew Stinson, a criminal justice expert at Bowling Green University, only 1-2% of police officers were charged with murder or manslaughter in on-duty shootings that killed people between 2005 and 2020.

Korean A has been raising her voice with her husband every night due to her high school son’s drug problem. Unlike A, who wants to actively treat A’s drug addiction, her husband is trying to hide it because he is embarrassed.

Eventually, she admitted her son to a rehabilitation center in town, but her husband was not pleased with it until the end. One day, while she was in the rehabilitation center, A’s son came home after escaping from the center. A’s husband happened to be the only one at home. A’s husband gave his son money and told him to hurry up and go back to the rehabilitation center.

On the way back to the rehabilitation center, A’s son could not resist the temptation and bought drugs with the money his father gave him. A, who lost control for a moment, was eventually found dead from an overdose. As the problem of drug and drug abuse, including the spread of fentanyl, becomes increasingly serious, the number of Koreans dying from it is also increasing.

The number of Koreans dying from drugs has exceeded 100 for the second consecutive year since 2022 and has increased by more than 130% compared to six years ago. Experts emphasized that more active prevention and treatment efforts are needed, pointing out that Koreans, who are ignorant about drugs and value their unique appearance, often miss the active treatment period and suffer.

According to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), 102 Koreans died unintentionally, not by suicide, from drug and drug addiction or overdose across the United States in 2023. This is a 132% increase compared to 2018, six years ago, and has recorded more than 100 for two consecutive years since 2022, when there were 105.

The number of Korean American drug-related deaths increased from 44 in 2018 to 72 in 2019, 97 in 2020, 98 in 2021, and exceeded 100 in 2022. A total of 518 people died from drug addiction and overdose between 2018 and 2023. Pastor Han Young-ho of Nanum Mission, who has been running a Christian faith-based treatment and rehabilitation program for drug-abusing youth for 28 years, emphasized, “In the case of youth drug problems, immigrant parents often lack information about drugs and only realize the severity of the problem after their children have become addicted.” He emphasized, “Now is the time to move beyond prevention and quickly move toward treatment and rehabilitation.”

Pastor Han also pointed out the Korean American culture of respect. “It is important to actively deal with drug problems rather than hide them,” he added. “Many people come to me only when they have reached a point where they can no longer do anything because of their respect.”

Pastor Han continued, “Drug addiction is a difficult disease to cure,” but “it is a disease that can be cured,” and urged, “If you see signs that your child is using drugs, never hide it, but seek professional help to solve the problem early.”