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An anti-nuclear billboard recently erected at a Tacoma intersection is drawing attention from pedestrians, but reactions are mixed, KOMO News reports. The

billboard, a cartoon of a bewildered boy holding an ice cream cone and surrounded by nuclear missiles, reads, “Did you know that the most heavily deployed nuclear weapons in the world are just 34 miles from here? Let’s abolish them.” The billboard,

erected by the advocacy group Global Zero Centre for Nonviolence (GZCNA) at the intersection of 6th Avenue and Stevens Street in Tacoma, is targeting the nuclear missiles stationed at the Kitsap-Banger Naval Base in Hood Canal, 34 miles away.

“We have a responsibility to eliminate the nuclear weapons because there could be an accidental missile or nuclear warhead at Bangor Base, and if Bangor Base is targeted in a nuclear war, our residents would be killed,” GZCNA’s Glenn Milner told KOMO News.

But one resident said, “We have to use nuclear weapons to survive a nuclear war. I’ve lived here my whole life, and I’ve never worried about Bangor Base nuclear weapons.” Another resident said, “That’s ridiculous. It’s not fair that other people have nuclear weapons, and we don’t.”

On the other hand, some residents supported GZCNA, saying someone should have already put up an anti-nuclear message and that more billboards like this should be on Tacoma’s streets. The group put up its first billboard last year and added four more this year: Seattle, Tacoma, Everett and Lake Forest Park.

Hyundai and Kia are being sued for allegedly collecting personal information such as drivers’ driving habits and driving data through smart connectivity applications and secretly selling it without the consent of the vehicle owners. The claim is that insurance companies that received this driver information analysed the drivers’ driving habits, such as acceleration and sudden braking, and used them to raise vehicle insurance premiums, causing damages.

According to federal court documents, a Hyundai car owner named Mark Will (who lives in Illinois) recently filed a class action lawsuit against Hyundai and Kia, claiming that he was harmed by the automakers’ actions. In the complaint filed with the Federal Court for the Central District of California on July 29, the Hyundai owner claimed that “Hyundai and Kia shared the details of the vehicle owners’ driving data applications with data trading company Verisk Analytics, which then passed them on to auto insurance companies, which ultimately used them to calculate individual insurance premiums.”

Plaintiff Mark Will bought a new Hyundai Santa Fe in 2019, and between December 2023 and April 2024, Hyundai shared data about his driving habits with Verisk, which then passed that information on to the insurance company, causing Will’s insurance premiums to increase by about $250, according to the law firm Keller Roback in Santa Barbara, which represented the lawsuit. The plaintiffs allege that Hyundai’s Blue Link and Blue Link+, and Kia’s Kia Connect, commonly referred to as “connected car” applications, were originally intended to provide emergency services and promote safe driving, but Hyundai and Kia invaded drivers’ privacy and caused economic harm, such as higher insurance premiums, by sharing their data with data trading companies without their consent.

The defendants in the class action lawsuit include Hyundai and Kia in South Korea, their U.S. subsidiaries Hyundai Motor America and Kia America, and Verisk Analytics. The plaintiffs asked the federal court to order Hyundai and Kia to share driving-related information with data companies, along with actual and punitive damages through a jury trial. In relation to this, the New York Times (NYT) pointed out this issue in early March when it reported that some automakers, including Hyundai and Kia, were making millions of dollars a year by using customer driving data through transactions with auto insurance companies.

At the time, the NYT reported that “various driving information, such as hard braking or rapid acceleration while driving, is being secretly traded from automakers including GM, Hyundai, Kia, Mitsubishi, Honda, and Acura to auto insurance companies, and most customers are unaware that they have consented to the collection of such data.” According to the newspaper, some car owners have actually experienced increased insurance premiums due to driving habits such as speeding, sudden braking, and sudden acceleration, and in some cases, their auto insurance applications have been denied due to this.

The insurance companies cited driving habit data collected from smart connected applications as the basis for such measures. When such issues were raised, GM, which provides smart connection application services such as ‘OnStar’, announced at the end of March that it would be the first automaker to end data transaction contracts with data companies such as Verisk and LexisNexis.

At the time, GM spokesperson Kevin Kelly said, “Starting March 20, OnStar smart driver customer data will no longer be shared with LexisNexis and Verisk,” and “Customer trust is our top priority, and we actively comply with applicable policies related to customer personal information.”

This summer, New Jersey residents are increasingly complaining about their electric bills skyrocketing. A Parsippany resident complained on social media, “I just got my electric bill for July and it’s a whopping $782. I can’t believe it; my house is average-sized.” Another person agreed, saying, “I’m in the same situation,” and “My electric bill, which is usually $150-$160, suddenly jumped to $495.”

The spike in electric bills is attributed to the fact that New Jersey’s major electric companies raised their rates across the board on June 1, and the record-breaking heat wave has led to a surge in electricity Saczawa PSE&G, which primarily supplies power to northern New Jersey, raised its monthly rates by 9 percent, while JCP&L, a power company in central New Jersey, raised its rates by 8.7 percent.

But even after accounting for the rate increases, customers say they are being billed excessively. Experts say that the fact that last month was much hotter than the previous year is also a reason for the surge in electricity bills. This June was the second warmest June on average in New Jersey since 1985, but last June was unusually cold.

The analysis is that the rate increases and the fact that air conditioners were running much longer than usual this summer have led to high electricity bills. “The rate increase is too much,” said one JCP&L customer, “but it seems to be because the air conditioners were on all day because of the heat.” “The biggest factor in the increase in electricity bills this summer is the hot and humid weather,” said Christopher Hoenig, a JCP&L spokesman. “In general, air conditioners consume the most electricity in homes.”

Meanwhile, in New Jersey, there is an electric bill assistance program for low-income families, seniors, and people with disabilities. Application qualifications and detailed information for each assistance program can be found on the state website (nj.gov/dca/dhcr/offices/energy.shtml).

Arlington County, Virginia, has been named the nation’s top digital county for the third year in a row.

The Centre for Digital Government and the National Association of Counties (NaCo) have been ranking cities across the country with similar populations for the 22nd year in a row based on openness of public data, citizen-centricity, collaboration with experts and businesses, security, and innovation.

According to the rankings, Arlington County has ranked first for three consecutive years among cities with populations between 150,000 and 249,999 and has reached the top spot for the seventh time in history. Stafford County, Virginia, also ranked third in the nation in this announcement.

Arlington County received particularly high marks for its integrated payment system across all county departments, innovative use of artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning in public safety calls, and cybersecurity training for county employees.

Meanwhile, Virginia’s Fairfax County ranked 2nd nationwide among cities with a population of over 1 million, and Prince William County ranked 3rd nationwide among cities with a population of 250,000 to 499,000.

Police are searching for a suspect after an attempted kidnapping attempt on a woman in broad daylight. According to Fairfax City police, a man attempted to kidnap the woman around 4:30 p.m. on the 3rd in the area of 10200 Main Street and ran away. The two men did not know each other.

The victim told police that the kidnapper was a black or Hispanic man wearing white striped clothing and that he ran into the woods nearby after the kidnapping attempt. She underwent a medical examination as a precautionary measure.

Police are using helicopters and police dogs to search for the suspect and are asking the public to come forward with information.

Starting in September, New York City will lower the vehicle speed limit for 250 road sections, including around Open Street, from 25 mph to under 20 mph.

According to the New York City Transit Authority, as part of the preparation of enforcement regulations for ‘Sammy’s Law’, which was included in the New York State budget for fiscal year 2025 and has been signed by the governor, a regulation to lower speed limits in some areas starting in September after a 60-day public hearing period.

The plan is to operate until the end of 2025. “Areas where the speed limit will be lowered to 20 mph include open streets, shared streets, and areas around schools,” said Idanis Rodriguez, director of transportation. “We also plan to implement Regional Slow Zones in certain sections of each borough where the speed limit will be reduced to 10 mph.”

According to the implementation plan sections announced by the City of Queens, the sections in Queens where the new rules will be implemented are 112th Street (34th-37th Avenues), 47th Avenue (108th-111th Streets), 155th Street (108th-109th Avenues), 167th Street (108th Road-109th Avenue), Union Hall Street (109th-110th Avenues), 144th Street (88th Avenue-88th Road), 143rd Street (Linden Boulevard-115th Avenue), 105th Street (35th-37th Avenues), and 31st Avenue (60th-61st Streets).

Regarding this, the New York City government said, “The passage of the Sammy Act was the first step toward creating safer roads, and now that it is about to be fully implemented, we expect that it will create an environment where pedestrians can walk more safely.”

Bloomberg News reported on the 23rd that yogurt sales in the U.S. have increased as products such as WeGobee and Ozempic have gained popularity as obesity treatments. According to reports, Danone, a global food company headquartered in France, said that demand for high-protein, low-calorie yogurt has recently been increasing in the United States, and that this is partly due to the craze for obesity treatment drugs such as Wegobee and Zebbound. Jürgen Esser, Danone’s vice president of finance, said, “We have a wide range of protein yogurt products, which are selling like hot cakes recently.” “It is popular with all consumers who want to manage their health,” he said. GLP-1 is a hormone secreted from the intestines when food is consumed and helps suppress appetite by promoting insulin secretion, which is important in controlling blood sugar levels. It is evaluated as a ‘game changer’ in the obesity treatment market because it allows you to feel full for a long time even with a small meal. Bloomberg reported that this change in sales occurred even though Danone did not engage in special marketing targeting consumers receiving obesity treatment. Nestle, a multinational food company, is also developing and releasing customized products targeting obesity treatment consumers. Nestlé announced last month that it was launching a new food line called ‘Vital Pursuit’, rich in fiber and protein, for consumers taking Ozempic or WeGobee. It is estimated that approximately 30 million Americans are currently taking GLP-1. Experts predict that the consumption patterns of many consumers will change, such as reducing food intake and changing their diets, which will have an impact on various industries, including the retail and restaurant industries.

While America’s flagship newspaper, the Washington Post (WP), suffered internal strife, including a loss of about $70 million last year and the sudden resignation of its female editor-in-chief for unclear reasons, an ‘illegal reporting’ scandal surrounding the publisher and editor-in-chief-designate emerged. According to the New York Times (NYT) on the 15th, Peter Koenig, a former colleague of WP publisher and CEO William Lewis, revealed that publisher Lewis had previously used fraudulently obtained phone records to write articles.

Before coming to the Washington Post, Lewis worked as a business editor at the Sunday Times, the Sunday edition of the British daily The Times, in 2004. At that time, he was given hacked phone records and instructed him to write an article. At the time, the article covered the possible sale of British retailer Marks & Spencer, which announced that its phone records had been hacked after reports containing details of the CEO’s phone calls were published. He criticized Lewis, saying that although he was a capable editor, he changed over time and that “his ambition outstripped his ethics.”

Koenig claimed that Robert Winnett, deputy editor-in-chief of the British daily Telegraph, who was appointed as the next editor-in-chief of WP, also obtained information illegally when he broke a scoop in the Sunday Times in 2002. Winnet revealed a list of prominent British figures who ordered the Maybach, a luxury sedan from German Mercedes-Benz that was called the ‘Nazi’s favorite limousine’ but did not disclose how the list was obtained in the article. But John Ford, a private investigator with a long history with the Sunday Times, said in a 2018 interview that he regretted his work on the article. He confessed that he impersonated an employee of a German electronic key manufacturer and called a Mercedes-Benz employee to obtain a list of buyers.

The NYT also pointed out that publisher Lewis’ decision to pay 120,000 pounds (about 210 million won) to buy information from a reporter in 2009 when he was editor-in-chief of the British daily Telegraph was also problematic. In the United States, most news organizations have adopted a code of ethics that prohibits paying for information. The NYT pointed out that journalists inside and outside the WP have questioned whether the new leader shares this ethical foundation. The reporting company used deception, hacking, fraud, wiretapping, etc. to uncover scoops, and it was a widespread tactic led by British tabloids. However, this practice was abandoned in 2010 when the News of the World, a tabloid Sunday newspaper owned by media tycoon Rupert Murdoch, was found to have been writing articles by illegally eavesdropping on the phone calls of celebrities.

However, the NYT reported that as criticism of the media at the time was mainly focused on tabloids, the controversy surrounding Lewis and Winnet, who were affiliated with the Sunday Times, which was classified as a political paper, did not receive attention. Publisher Lewis did not comment on the phone hacking scandal for several years, but when the issue was brought up again during the recent reorganization of the WP organization, he told fellow reporters that he had spent money to protect reporters, saying, “I don’t have money in escrow.” “I agreed to it,” he said. However, the person who dealt with the Telegraph at the time said that there was no escrow account and that he received the money from the media company and distributed it to informants.

The NYT reported that the Winnet editor-in-chief did not respond to press inquiries. The NYT previously reported that, in relation to the sudden resignation of Sally Buzbee, the first female editor-in-chief of WP, earlier this month, publisher Lewis had reprimanded Buzbee for having her cover the progress of a phone hacking lawsuit in the UK related to her.

The Associated Press reported on the 9th that former President Donald Trump, who was found guilty in connection with paying ‘hush money for sexual misconduct’ and is about to be sentenced (July 11), will have an online meeting with New York State probation officers on the 10th.

Former President Trump will not appear in court and will use a video conferencing system to answer questions from probation officers. Usually, a lawyer is not present during this procedure, but the AP introduced that Judge Juan Mercan of the Manhattan District Court in charge of this case decided to allow former President Trump’s lawyer to participate.

The probation officer interview is a procedure to prepare and deliver a report containing information related to the defendant to the judge ahead of sentencing. Typically, the report includes the defendant’s personal history, criminal history, employment situation, family support obligations, the probation officer’s opinion regarding sentencing, and the defendant’s reasons for needing leniency.

The judge may refer to the report, when necessary, when deciding the sentence.

Previously, the jury in the criminal trial in the case of former President Trump’s alleged payment of hush money related to a sexual scandal found former President Trump guilty on all 34 charges filed on the 30th of last month.

As the jury, which has the power to determine guilt or innocence, decided on guilt, Judge Merchan, the judge in charge of the trial, decided to hand down the sentence on July 11.

A Lubbock University opinion poll released on the 29th showed that the approval ratings of Democratic President Joe Biden and Republican former President Donald Trump were tied in Virginia.

This is considered a dramatic reversal compared to the 2020 presidential election, when the Democratic Party won by a 10-percentage point margin. In the match between Biden and Trump, they were tied at 42% each, and when other candidates were included, President Biden was ahead by 2 percentage points with 40% for Biden and 38% for Trump.

However, it is analysed that it is virtually a tie as it does not even fall within the margin of error (4.24%). This opinion poll is good news for former President Trump as the sexual harassment trial is ongoing and compared to the poll conducted at the beginning of the year, it recorded the best score.

A Lubbock University poll released just before Super Tuesday recorded 47% for Biden and 43% for Trump, and it was a time when Republican candidate Nikki Haley strongly attacked former President Trump. Meanwhile, in the 2020 presidential election, there was a large gap in vote percentage, with Biden at 54% and Trump at 44%.

In this survey, only 2% said they could not decide which candidate to support, and 14% said they would vote for a third candidate other than the Democratic or Republican party. When other candidates are included, the number of voters who would vote for a third candidate increased to 20%.

Third-place candidates include Robert F. Kennedy Jr. (8%), Jill Stein (3%), and Cornel West (1%). Meanwhile, in the question evaluating government ability, 44% said the Trump era was good and 33% said it was bad, while 25% said the Biden era was good and 47% said it was bad. This is a warning sign to President Biden ahead of the presidential election, and while 87% of Republicans support Trump, only 50% of Democrats support Biden.

The poll was conducted May 12-21 among 711 Virginia voters. Virginia, which has considered ‘checks and balances’ important, was classified as a ‘swing state’ that is not biased to one side but has maintained its blue (Democratic Party) colour ever since the election of Democratic President Barack Obama in 2008.

Then, with the election of Republican Governor Glenn Youngkin in 2021, it turned red (Republican), but is struggling as it lost the state legislature to the Democratic Party in the last Virginia general election. And this year, the competition between blue and red to take over Virginia is fierce again.