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A man was arrested while driving under the influence of alcohol while putting his dog in the driver’s seat. According to the Springfield Police Department in Colorado on the 16th, at 11:30 pm on the 13th, the police saw a vehicle traveling at 52 miles per hour (84 km) far exceeding the speed limit of 30 miles per hour (48 km) on a road in the area.

Police said the man appeared to be clearly intoxicated and began to run away when officers asked if he had been drinking. However, the man was eventually caught by the police about 18m away from the car.

Background checks confirmed that the man had previously had two arrest warrants issued for other crimes. He was imprisoned in a detention center for executing an existing arrest warrant, and charged with drunk driving, speeding, and resisting arrest.

The police added, “The dog at the scene was entrusted to the man’s acquaintance to take care of it for a while.”

When New York City announced that it would disperse and accommodate immigrants from Texas to hotels in Upstate New York, such as Lakeland and Orange Counties, the county governments are protesting strongly, declaring a state of emergency.

Mayor Eric Adams announced on the 5th that about 340 single male immigrants living in shelters and aid centers in New York City will be dispersed and housed in hotels in Lakeland and Orange counties for up to four months.

According to New York City, more than 60,800 asylum-seeking immigrants from Texas have arrived in New York City since last spring, and currently 37,500 are receiving protection and support from New York City.

“As more asylum seekers are expected to arrive in New York City after the 11th of this month, it is urgent to secure a place to accommodate them immediately,” said Mayor Adams.

Lakeland County and Orange County are protesting this.

In particular, Lakeland County declared a state of emergency and temporarily banned hotels and motels in Lakeland County from accommodating migrants without a license. The state of emergency included requiring the municipality that sent the migrants to the county to pay any costs incurred because of the displacement.

A prominent American scientist who was also mentioned as a candidate for the Nobel Prize has been criminally punished for collaborating with the Chinese government and hiding the fact that he received money.

Local media such as the Associated Press reported on the 26th that the Boston Federal District Court sentenced former Harvard University Chemistry and Biology Professor Charles River (64) to six months of house arrest and a fine of 50,000 dollars.

In 2011, Lieber received $50,000 a month from Wuhan Institute of Technology in China and participated in the Chinese government’s talent recruitment program.

The Chinese government has been running a talent recruitment program to acquire cutting-edge research achievements from foreign scientists.

While it is not illegal for American scientists to participate in China’s talent recruitment programs, scientists receiving US government funding must disclose their ties to foreign governments.

However, Lieber hid his ties to China, and he did not report to tax authorities that he had received the money.

China paid 158,000 dollars (about 210 million won) to former dean River in addition to 50,000 dollars a month.

According to the prosecution, the Chinese government paid Lieber the promised amount in $100 bills and opened an account with a local bank in China.

The amount of taxes that former Dean Lieber did not omit in his return amounts to $33,600 (approximately 45 million won).

The court also ordered former Dean River to pay taxes on the same day.

The court’s sentence of house arrest rather than the usual prison sentence appears to have considered the fact that Lieber is currently battling cancer.

In court that day, River’s head bowed, saying, “I regret what I did, and I will take responsibility.”

However, his lawyer said after the verdict that he was “thankful to the court” but emphasized that River’s criminal prosecution had nothing to do with espionage.

Under former President Donald Trump, the U.S. government intensively hunted down Chinese-funded scholars on the grounds that it needed to stop China from stealing key U.S. technology.

In many areas of California, the most populous state in the United States, a survey has found that air quality can adversely affect residents’ health.

According to a regional air quality report released by the American Lung Association on the 19th, the average level of ultrafine particulate matter (PM 2.5) over the past three years in 41 counties in California was rated F, the worst among five grades from A to F.

This is the result of a survey of 49 counties out of 58 counties in California.

According to the classification standard of this association, if the concentration of ultrafine dust is 35.5㎍/㎥ or more, it is ‘not good for sensitive groups’ (orange), if it is 55.5㎍/㎥ or more, it is ‘unhealthy’ (red), and if it is 150.5㎍/㎥ or more, it is ‘unhealthy’ (red). Viewed as ‘very unhealthy’ (purple). An ‘F’ grade means that the number of days belonging to the orange or higher stage exceeded about 21 days in 3 years.

By region, the air quality in the southern region was relatively worse.

In Los Angeles (LA) County, there were 39 days in the orange (71 ppb or more) stage, 13 days in the red (86 ppb or more) stage, and 1 day in the purple (106 ppb) stage.

LA received an ‘F’ grade in both the 24-hour short-term ultrafine dust level and ozone concentration level.

In particular, the level of ozone concentration was 175 days in the orange stage, 86 days in the red stage, and 16 days in the purple stage, accounting for 25.3% of the total surveyed period.

The ozone concentration was rated ‘F’ in 30 of the 49 counties surveyed.

San Francisco, another large city in California, contrasted with Los Angeles with only one day when the ozone concentration was above the orange level.

Southern California’s scorching sun and dry climate, along with exhaust fumes from numerous cars, are thought to be contributing factors to increasing ozone concentrations.

Higher temperatures and more frequent wildfires than ever before are also contributing to California’s air quality.

The LA Times pointed out, “Cleaning the air in California is becoming more difficult with climate change,” and “hot sunshine causes more wildfires and smog.”

The US government has decided to expand sanctions on drug distributors to prevent the so-called ‘zombie drug’, fentanyl (a type of narcotic painkiller) from entering the United States, which has emerged as a serious social problem.

In a material related to ‘Strengthening Efforts to Block Illegal Fentanyl Supply Chain’ distributed on the 11th, the Biden administration announced that it would strengthen efforts to block illegal financial activities, such as sanctions against drug distributors, to prevent the use of the US financial system for drug transactions.

Accordingly, the Administration plans to strengthen coordination with international partners on efforts to combat illicit financing and money laundering related to the drug trade.

It has decided to cooperate in blocking drug manufacturing and distribution by establishing a global coalition with countries with similar stances who believe that countering synthetic drugs such as fentanyl is important.

It will also strengthen information sharing between US intelligence and law enforcement agencies, and work with the private sector to ensure that chemicals and equipment that could be used to manufacture fentanyl do not fall into the hands of drug dealers.

Fentanyl, which is illegally manufactured and distributed, is the number one cause of death for Americans aged 18 to 49, and two-thirds of the 107,622 deaths from drug overdose in the United States in 2021 were due to fentanyl.

The White House stressed that man-made fentanyl poses a threat to national security, public safety, and health because it is easier to manufacture and transport and more lethal than conventional drugs such as heroin and cocaine.

The Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) has designated nearly 100 individuals and companies involved in drug trafficking, including fentanyl, as targets for sanctions in accordance with President Biden’s executive order in December 2021.

AFP news agency reported on the 31st that the dark cooperation between the United States and Mexico, which tried to curb illegal immigration to the United States, was once again revealed through the fire disaster at the Mexican Immigration Agency (INM) that caused about 60 casualties.

At least 39 people died, and 28 others were injured in a fire that broke out on the 27th at the immigration detention center in Ciudad Juárez, Chihuahua, northern Mexico, adjacent to El Paso, USA.

At the time, the camp housed 66 immigrants from Guatemala, Honduras, Colombia, and El Salvador.

The number of immigrants trapped here is just the tip of the iceberg compared to the number Mexico has detained and deported.

Mexico’s immigration agency detained at least 281,149 overcrowded migrants and deported 98,299 migrants, including children, in 2022 alone, Amnesty International (AI) said in its annual report published this week.

It is pointed out that such a stern response is due to Mexico’s active cooperation with the United States’ policy on deporting illegal immigrants.

In 2020, then-President Donald Trump introduced a policy to prevent the spread of COVID-19. The policy allowed illegal immigrants to be immediately deported without a refugee screening process.

AFP reported that many migrants who failed to cross the border were deported mainly overland through Mexico.

Between January and November of last year, the number of irregular immigrants registered in Mexico totaled more than 388,000, an increase of more than 30% compared to 2021.

Human Rights Watch (HRW), an international human rights organization, criticized the Immigration Agency fire case as revealing how fatal the US outsourcing of migrant control issues to Mexico had been.

Immigration expert Eunice Rendon also pointed out that Mexico is doing the “dirty work” for the United States.

At the same time, it was evaluated that this fire disaster was the result of the side effects of the United States’ immigration policy.

Online media reported on the 28th that about 80% of mass shootings in the United States involved legally sold firearms.

According to recent data released by the National Institute of Justice (NIJ) under the Department of Justice, an analysis of mass shootings in the United States between 1966 and 2019 that resulted in the deaths of four or more people found that 77% of shooters used at least one legally purchased firearm in their crimes. appeared to have been used.

Only 13 percent of the cases involved illegally purchased firearms being used for crimes, and there were also cases of shootings by stealing firearms from acquaintances such as family members.

It was found that more than 80% of gunmen who committed crimes in middle and high schools used firearms owned by their families.

The NIJ emphasized that even this is a figure that failed to verify information about 32.5% of all mass shootings.

This can be verified through real-life examples.

The suspect who killed six people, including students and faculty, at an elementary school in Nashville, Tennessee the day before was known to have legally purchased and possessed a total of seven tablets, including three guns used in the case.

The shooter who killed 10 people at a supermarket in Buffalo, New York, in May last year bought an AR-15 semi-automatic rifle and a shotgun from a federally licensed gun company, and received a rifle as a gift, the Associated Press reported.

A few days before the shooter who killed 21 people, including 19 children, at Rob Elementary School in Euvaldy, Texas, in May last year, he legally purchased two semi-automatic rifles.

The gunman who killed 17 students and teachers at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida in February 2018 also legally purchased an AR-15 semi-automatic rifle.

Governor Jash Green is planning to streamline the Aloha Stadium redevelopment project.

The main content is to make it easier to distinguish the roles of private companies and government.

In other words, instead of the existing method in which private companies oversee design, construction, maintenance, and management, and the government operates, the route is set in the direction of entrusting the operation to private companies.

Project costs are also planned to be fully or mostly paid by the state government.

State Budget and Finance Director Luis Salaveria explained that there has been a change in perception that private companies can be more efficient in construction and maintenance as well as operations than state governments.

According to an analysis released on February 16 by PFM Financial Advisors, a New York-based financial advisory firm, maintenance, management, and operating costs after the renovation of Aloha Stadium are expected to cost about $1.49 billion over 30 years.

However, if the work is done jointly with a private company, the cost is about 1.03 billion dollars, and a cost savings of 460 million dollars can be expected.

The size of the new Aloha Stadium has been adjusted from 50,000 seats to about 35,000 seats.

Salaveria explained that approximately 73 acres of state land surrounding the stadium will be allocated to private companies to develop restaurants, retail, housing, hotels, parking lots and other facilities of national interest.

Revenues from the new stadium and surrounding facilities are said to be deposited into the state’s general fund.

Director Salaveria added that public-private cooperation (P3) will be continued to expedite the redevelopment of the Aloha Stadium, which has been delayed, and that it is a realistic plan to accompany private companies.

Meanwhile, it is known that Governor Green’s business simplification plan has not yet been formally introduced to the stadium management board. Therefore, open tender proposals targeting private companies have not yet been prepared.

Director Salaveria replied that no specific schedule has been set at this time.

It is important to remember that delays in bidding and development increase costs, said Chris Kinimaka, director of the State Accountability Office (DAGS).

He invested about $25 million in preliminary work alone, including land use approval, environmental assessment and planning, feasibility studies, and selection of subcontractors.

However, the refurbishment plan has been delayed several times due to complex circumstances, such as going through difficulties in preparing the bill.

In September of last year, former governor David Ige completely stopped the redevelopment plan that was in progress at the time.

If Governor Greene’s new proposal goes ahead, the private company contract is targeted for early 2024 and the opening of the new stadium in 2027.

The state of Hawaii is facing a shortage of truck drivers.

Hawaii Transportation Association (HTA) President Gareth Sakakida explained that the driver shortage had been a topic of discussion since 1981, but it became more severe as the number of immigrants to the US mainland increased after the COVID-19 crisis.

A shortage of truck drivers means a threat to the logistics supply chain.

Chairman Sakakida said that although he is adjusting the transportation schedule as efficiently as possible so that goods can be supplied to each store on time, it is difficult to meet everyone’s needs due to a fundamental shortage of workers.

For example, even if there are several companies requesting supplies, there is no driver who can transport the goods at the same time, so the order of driving the truck must be determined.

In addition, it is said that it is a big problem that there is no extra manpower to replace it when traffic jams or unexpected events occur.

The truck driver shortage is a national phenomenon.

An October 2021 report from the American Trucking Association (ATA) analyzed that the truck driver shortage in 2021 will reach an all-time high of about 80,000 nationwide.
Major factors include the occurrence of elderly retirees, the lack of female workers, the decrease in driving school graduates due to COVID-19, and the lack of drug test standards for drivers due to the spread of marijuana legalization.

According to Honolulu City Government Civil Service (DCS) data, the number of commercial driver’s licenses (CDLs) on Oahu was 1,770 in 2022, down about 18% from 2,150 in 2021 and about 40% from 2,932 in 2019.

The number of new commercial driver’s licenses issued was 643 in 2022, up from 570 in 2021, 274 in 2020, and 629 in 2019. However, the number of renewal licenses in 2022 was 1,127, significantly reduced from 1,580 in 2021 and 2,303 in 2019.

Mainland truck drivers in the United States usually cite disconnection from family as a grievance due to long-distance driving. However, the state of Hawaii cited the lack of a highway network, narrow road conditions, and traffic congestion as difficulties.

It is known that there are many things to pay attention to for safe and efficient delivery in areas with a very high density of stores, such as Waikiki and downtown.

One of the reasons for the lack of drivers is that truck driving is not perceived as attractive to the younger generation as it used to be.

Professor Mike Scully, who oversees the commercial driver’s license course provided by the Leeward Community College’s Department of Continuing Education and Human Resources Development, said that the starting salary of a commercial driver in Hawaii is about $23 an hour, and that younger generations are encouraged to sit in front of computers and pay more. analyzed would be preferred. He added that traditionally truck drivers were poorly paid for the intensity and risk of the work.

Professor Scully said that since 2020, 125 students have completed the seven-week commercial driver’s license (CDL) training, and that most of the graduates are often hired immediately after training due to the current labor shortage in the industry.

Professor Scully’s curriculum is being operated with the support of about $35 million from the Good Jobs Hawaii program for human resource development planning at the community college affiliated with the state university.

Hawaii Transportation Association (HTA) President Sakakida pointed out that the age limit of 21 is also one of the factors that make it difficult to secure truck drivers.

The federal government limits the age of truck drivers traveling between states to 21. However, in the case of out-of-state truck driving within the state, it is known that younger age groups are also allowed.

President Sakakida explained that after graduating from high school, it would take three more years before he was old enough to get a truck driver’s license, and if that’s the amount of time, he would be more likely to find another job.

As Star Advertiser reports, some question whether an 18-year-old can drive a truck safely.

However, the truck industry believes that the risk can be minimized by strengthening training and regulations and accompanying experienced drivers.

In fact, the Federal Motor Vehicle Transportation Safety Authority (FMCSA) is said to have launched an apprenticeship program last year that allows commercial driver license holders aged 18 to 20 to drive weekly trucks accompanied by an experienced driver.

San Francisco has been the slowest to recover from the pandemic of any major U.S. city.

According to the Economic Recovery Tracking Index launched by the Bay Area Council Business Group on the 28th, San Francisco’s regional economic recovery ranked 24th, behind Baltimore, among 25 large cities across the country.

Economic recovery was ranked based on 15 indicators, including regional job growth, population growth, office occupancy, labor force growth, sales tax receipts and new home construction.

According to commercial real estate firm CBRE, San Francisco had 27% of all office space in the city empty by the end of 2022. This is because permanent telecommuting has skyrocketed due to the pandemic. According to the Federal Census Bureau Community, 5 to 10 percent of Bay Area workers reported working from home in 2019, but that number soared to 46 percent in 2021.

San Francisco recorded the lowest score in the economic activity index, with a score of 3.2 out of 100. A $96 million decrease in city sales tax revenue from 2019 to 2021 was a major factor. Washington, D.C., ranked second worst, with a score of 12.7 out of 100. Sales tax revenue and decline in travel/visitors were among the indicators of economic activity.

The San Jose area ranked 16th out of 25 large cities, showing a better situation than San Francisco, but the economic recovery was still on the slow side.

The only category where both San Jose and San Francisco topped the list was investment.

Meanwhile, among the 25 large cities in the United States, Texas had the fastest recovery from the pandemic, with Austin in first place and Dallas in second.

Denver, Colorado came in third, followed by Tampa, Florida, and Miami, fourth and fifth, respectively.