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It was confirmed that the suspect in the murder case at a campsite in Burke Lake Park on the 30th of last month was arrested in New Jersey on the 2nd.

Mr. Said is charged with second-degree murder for killing Kara Abruscato, a 40-year-old woman who lived in Fairfax, on the 30th of last month. Ms. Abruscato was shocked when she was found dead with injuries to her upper body in her tent at her camping site around 3:09 p.m., in broad daylight on the 30th of last month.

Ms. Said stole Ms. Abruscato’s car and drove to New Jersey, where she was arrested by the police. After confirming that the victim’s vehicle was missing, Fairfax County police entered the license plate number into the National Stolen Vehicle System, and New Jersey police arrested the suspect when the stolen vehicle entered their jurisdiction.

It is reported that the suspect and the victim met about a week to 10 days before the incident.

As the Federal Food and Drug Administration (FDA), which had banned blood donations from gays (male homosexuals) for the past 40 years, completely lifted the related regulations, blood donation organizations in Washington state also began accepting blood donations from these people.

As AIDS spread rapidly in the 1980s, the FDA ordered blood donation organizations to ban the collection of blood from gay people in 1983 to prevent the HIV pathogen that causes AIDS from infiltrating blood banks.

This regulation was gradually relaxed over the years, but was completely lifted in May, even though it was medically proven that the risk of AIDS infection among gays is no higher than that of normal sexual partners.

As the gay rights movement has spread over the past decade, the FDA in 2015 allowed blood donation only to gays who have not had anal sex for at least a year, and in 2020, the period was shortened to three months.

Before that, if a gay person who came to a blood donation center admitted that he had sex with another man on the questionnaire prior to having his blood drawn, a red line would be placed on his ID card, and he would be banned from donating blood for the rest of his life.

Although the FDA repealed this rule, mechanisms to check gay blood donations remain. The FDA excludes people from having blood drawn if they admit to having had anal sex with a new partner in the past three months.

This survey is administered to all men and women who wish to donate blood, regardless of whether they are gay or not. Officials explained that this rule is intended to block people potentially infected with HIV that has not yet been detected by testing.

Jennifer Hawkins, head of the northwestern branch of Vitalant, a blood donation organization, said the reason the FDA completely abolished the ban on gay blood donation with unexpected ease was probably because the number of blood donors has decreased significantly in recent years and blood banks are in crisis.

Hawkins said the number of blood donors in Vitalant’s northwestern branch has decreased by about 80,000 since 2010, while demand for blood at local hospitals has increased by 10 percent. She added that as of 2023, there are only about 20,000 regular blood donors in the Northwestern branch of Vitalant.

Hawkins said he counted about 30,000 blood donors just before the COVID-19 pandemic began, but as all schools switched to online classes due to the pandemic, he had no opportunity to contact high school students who had shown a high participation rate in donating blood. explained.

A famous music journalist who serves as a board member of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame has been kicked out for making comments that disrespected the abilities of women and black singers.

The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reported on the 17th that the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame had expelled Jan Wenner, founder of American music magazine Rolling Stone, from its board of directors the day before.

The reason Wenner, who had considerable influence in the rock music industry and participated in the establishment of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, was expelled was due to an interview he gave with the New York Times prior to the publication of an interview book titled ‘The Masters’.

NYT asked Wenner why the book only included interviews with white male singers, including Bob Dylan, John Lennon, Mick Jagger, Bruce Springsteen, and Bono. When asked why he did not speak out with female singers, Wenner said, “The singers I interviewed in this book are people who have a philosophy about rock.” He then mentioned Canadian singer-songwriter Joni Mitchell and replied, “Isn’t she the philosopher of rock and roll?”

He also mentioned the names of legendary female singers such as Janis Joplin and Grace Slick and said, “If you want, try having a deep conversation with them.” The intention was that an in-depth interview was impossible.

Wenner also showed discriminatory attitudes toward black singers, although it was not as clear as for female singers. He said that the interview book he wrote, as the title suggests, is a conversation with ‘rock and roll greats’ and that there are no black singers who meet the standard.

Wenner explained, “It would have been possible to interview Marvin Gaye or Curtis Mayfield, but their classification is not clear enough (to the level of rock and roll greats).” Marvin Gaye is Motown’s legendary soul singer-songwriter, and Curtis Mayfield is a musician who was active as a singer-songwriter and guitarist while crossing soul, rhythm, and blues (R&B), and funk.

When Wenner’s interview was published in the NYT, criticism spread online. Although Wenner belatedly issued an apology, saying, “This collection of interviews was about rock music that personally influenced me and not about the variety of rock music in general,” he was unable to avoid the disgrace of being expelled from the Hall of Fame.

He founded Rolling Stone in 1967 and served as its editor-in-chief.

The New York City Council passed an ordinance mandating free swimming education for second-grade public school students.

On the 14th, the City Council passed an ordinance mandating basic swimming methods and swimming safety rules for second graders in New York City public schools.

“It is important for students to learn how to swim on their own, so they know the importance of being able to safely swim and get out of the water without assistance,” said New York City Council member Julie Menin, the sponsor of the ordinance.

To this end, the city council began an investigation into whether to install outdoor swimming pools on New York City government-owned land targeting low-income areas in New York City, and also drafted an ordinance requiring the New York City Parks Department to submit a report on the status and training of outdoor swimming pool safety personnel to the city every year.

It has been raised that Hollywood broadcast and film writers, who have been on strike for five months, may soon reach an agreement with the production company group.

CNN broadcast, citing sources, reported on the 24th that negotiations between the Writers Guild of America (WGA), which has about 11,000 Hollywood writers, and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP) could be concluded as early as this week.

AMPTP is an organization representing large corporate studios such as Netflix, Disney, and Discovery-Warner.

American entertainment media Variety also reported that the WGA and AMPTP have unofficially set the deadline for this strike to be Yom Kippur, the Jewish holiday. Yom Kippur, which means ‘Day of Atonement’, is a day when Jews repent of their sins and practice forgiveness and reconciliation through fasting. This year, it falls on September 24th and 25th.

To this end, the WGA and AMPTP have been engaged in marathon negotiations for several days. It is said that the producers made their ‘last and best offer’ to the Writers Guild.

The strike, which started on May 2, will be the second longest strike in history, following 1988, which lasted 154 days.

Even if a tentative agreement is reached soon, the WGA still has to obtain consent from more than 11,000 writers. In addition, even if negotiations are concluded, the Hollywood Actors and Broadcasters’ Union (SAG-AFTRA), which represents about 160,000 actors, is also on strike, so it is unclear whether writers will return to work immediately.

This is because the Writers Guild went on strike first, and the Actors Guild also went on strike two months later, so the two organizations virtually kept pace with the strike. However, CNN observed that the conclusion of negotiations between the Writers Guild and the producers could put pressure on the actors to reach an agreement as well.

The Writers’ Guild began a strike on May 2, calling for transparent disclosure and distribution of profits from the streaming business and guaranteeing writers’ rights in relation to the introduction of artificial intelligence (AI). The Actors’ Guild has also joined the strike since July 14th, demanding wage increases, and production companies are unable to release even completed films.

Experts estimate that the strike will cause economic losses of up to $5 billion.

The Washington Post (WP) reported on the 26th that the number of murders that occurred in Washington DC until October of this year exceeded 200 for the first time in 26 years, raising concerns among residents.

According to reports, the number of murder cases that have occurred in Washington DC so far this year is estimated to reach 209, which is the highest in 26 years since 1997 as of October.

Acting Washington, D.C., police chief Pamela Smith said in a recent review of all homicides in the district, she said eight additional homicides were discovered that were not included in the police tally, which could bring the total number of homicides to 209.

Most of the incidents that occurred were targeted attacks on the victim. In particular, the number of murders increased rapidly this summer, with 10 people killed as of the 5th in July and a total of 16 people as of the 6th in August.

Some of this year’s murders remain unsolved, with only 44% of murder cases closed as of mid-month. This is the lowest figure in 16 years. The 200th murder of the year occurred in Washington DC on August 12, 1997, 26 years ago.

In 1997, there were 303 murders in just one year. However, the number of murders has been decreasing since then, recording less than 200 cases per year from 2004 to 2020, and reaching a low of 88 in 2012. In 2021, the total number increased again to 221, and last year, it recorded 203 cases.

The number of murders differed greatly between low-income areas where many black people live and wealthy areas. As of the middle of this month, at least 75 murders occurred in District 8 of southeastern Washington, D.C., which has suffered from poverty for decades, but District 3, which includes Chevy Chase, Cleveland Park, and Foxhall, where many of the wealthy live, had no murders during the same period.

WP reported that it did not occur.

Many criminal justice experts cite the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic as the reason for the surge in murders in large U.S. cities, including Washington, D.C. This is because public security defences have been ruptured during the pandemic, including delays in judicial proceedings and a decrease in the number of inmates in prisons. However, except for Washington, D.C., murder cases showed a decline again after the pandemic.

As murders in Washington, D.C., soared, residents and members of the U.S. Congress urged the city to come up with a solution, which resulted in the city taking stronger measures, the WP reported. This summer, the Washington, D.C. City Council passed emergency legislation to make it easier for judges to hold pretrial detention for some adults and youth accused of violent crimes.

Matthew Graves, the U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia, said after the City Council passed the bill, he instructed prosecutors to strongly consider charging 16- and 17-year-olds like adults in certain cases when legally permitted. However, some argue that this measure is a reversal of a series of progressive policies that have followed the George Floyd incident in 2020, the WP reported.

Virginia’s budget bill has finally been passed by the state legislature, breaking a six-month long deadlock. On the 6th, the state legislature reached a compromise on policy proposals on which the ruling and opposition parties had been at odds, including tax cuts and refunds, and expansion of support for public education and mental health care.

The budget bill contains about $1 billion in tax cuts, including corporate taxes, which state House Republicans have been advocating for, and under this, single individuals will receive a one-time refund of $200 and married couples will receive a one-time refund of $400 when filing taxes.

In addition, when calculating taxes, the standard deduction limit will be increased from $8,000 to $8,500 for single filers, from $16,000 to $17,000 for married couples filing jointly, and the age limit for tax benefits for military retirees will be abolished. It also includes information such as reinstating the sales tax exemption for school supplies for the start of school.

The sales tax exemption for school supplies has usually been implemented around August, but due to the delay in passing this bill, it is scheduled to be implemented around the end of October this year. The public school (K-12) budget will receive an additional $650 million, and support will also be provided for cognitive behavioural therapy promoted by Governor Glenn Youngkin.

Wages for state civil servants will increase by an additional 2% starting in December, and the salaries of local public servants and teachers supported by the state government will also increase by 2%. In addition, $200 million will be allocated for land purchase and development funds to revitalize the economy, $62.5 million will be allocated to college tuition assistance, and $12.3 million will be allocated to the Virginia Employment Commission for administrative support for the unemployed.

The state government is currently recording a fiscal surplus of several billion dollars, so even if expenditures increase due to tax cuts and public employee wage increases, there is no problem in budget management. This budget bill is the latest amendment to the biennial government spending bill and, if signed by the governor, will be implemented until June 30 of next year. It is still unclear whether Governor Youngkin will request amendments to the passed budget bill but given that he has stated that he welcomes the passage of the bill, it appears that he is willing to accept the bill in the larger scheme of things.

Meanwhile, the state legislature held a special session to quickly process the bill to come up with this compromise, and as a result, it is evaluated that the budget bill was finalized earlier than expected. After only a few hours of debate in the Legislature, the ruling and opposition parties adopted the budget bill with overwhelming support, 86 to 4 in the Republican-dominated state House of Representatives and 38 to 0 in the Democratic-dominated state Senate.

The state legislature ended its regular session on February 25th of this year without being able to reach an agreement on the original budget bill, and it is said that the subsequent closed-room negotiations comprised of a small group of lawmakers from the ruling and opposition parties contributed significantly to reaching an agreement.

With New York City’s ability to accept refugees reaching its limit, the New York State Legislature is pushing for a plan to ban counties in the state from refusing to accept refugees.

New York State Assemblywoman Jenifer Rajkumar proposed a bill with these contents on the 7th and began the full legislative process. This bill also includes a ban on temporary residence of refugees in lodging facilities within the county.

“As New York City faces the greatest humanitarian crisis in history, New York State needs to work together to address refugee issues at the state level,” said Rep. Rajkumar.

Representative Rajkumar also proposed a bill to hire a dedicated coordinator to support refugee applicants’ refugee applications and various services.

Meanwhile, Governor Cathy Hochul recently announced the allocation of $20 million in the budget, pointing out the urgent need for the prompt issuance of work permits and job search support for refugees in relation to the problem of immigrants applying for refugee status.

South America’s Lake Titicaca, the world’s highest navigable lake and home to 3 million people, is experiencing a decline in water levels due to climate change and people’s indiscriminate use of water. According to the Bolivian daily newspaper El DeVere, the Peruvian daily El Comercio, and the U.S. CNN broadcast on the 3rd (local time), the water level of Lake Titicaca, located at 3,310 meters above sea level in the Altiplano Plateau of the Andes Mountains in South America, has been steadily decreasing in recent years.

Sixto Flores, head of the Puno region at the Peruvian Meteorological and Hydrological Institute, told CNN, “From August of last year to March of last year, precipitation in this region was 49% lower than average,” adding that this period includes a rainy season when water levels usually recover.

At the same time, a study examining satellite images from 1992 to 2020 showed that Lake Titicaca was losing about 120 million tons of water per year. Bolivia’s Meteorological and Hydrological Agency recently announced that Lake Titicaca’s water level is 25 cm higher than in 1996, when it was the lowest on record. Bolivia claims that mining activities in the Puno region are destroying lakes, in addition to the global crisis of drought caused by climate change. This means that water from the lake is being used indiscriminately during the mineral washing process, thereby encouraging a decline in water levels.

Edson Ramirez, an expert in the field, said in an interview with Bolivian media that “not only global warming but also man-made problems are worsening this situation. ”

In particular, he said, the Puno River, which flows into Lake Titicaca, contains large amounts of potentially harmful substances such as arsenic, lead, iron, manganese, and sodium. According to data analysed by the Bolivian government, 3 million people, mainly indigenous people including Aymara and Quechua, live around Lake Titicaca.

Native people rely on the lake and mainly engage in fishing, farming, and tourism. This means that a drop in lake water levels could also have a direct hit on the local economy. In fact, in the case of the Uros indigenous people who live on an island made of woven ‘Torora’ reeds, the reeds available have recently decreased and they are urging the authorities to take measures.

Locally, it is believed that water evaporation may have increased due to the record-breaking heatwave this winter, with temperatures exceeding 30 degrees at one point.

The New York Times (NYT) reported on the 3rd that corporate farms in the United States are overusing groundwater for irrigation, accelerating water resource depletion and worsening drought damage in nearby areas.

Based on the results of analysing water level data from more than 80,000 wells across the country from 1940 to 2022, the NYT diagnosed the state of groundwater depletion and environmental impact in the United States caused by corporate farms.

A representative example is what happened during the severe drought that hit Minnesota in 2021. Minnesota is known as a region rich in water resources due to its many lakes, but in 2021, it experienced a severe drought that caused trees to dry out.

At a time when most people were just hoping for rain, large corporate farms had another option: groundwater for irrigation.

In 2021, at least 6.1 billion gallons (23 billion Liters) of groundwater was used more than the state’s permitted amount, and one-third of the excess use occurred on a farm owned by a company called RD Offutt.

The NYT reported that RD Offutt was able to produce potatoes for McDonald’s French fries without any problems even during a severe drought thanks to pumped groundwater.

This use of groundwater by corporate farms has also been applied to growing other crops such as corn, soybeans, and sugarcane.

The company explained that it had no choice but to use excess groundwater to prevent crop damage due to severe drought in 2021.

The problem is that excessive use of groundwater during drought years has further worsened drought damage for Minnesota residents.

In 2021, Minnesota’s intensive use of groundwater lowered water levels in aquifers, according to a NYT analysis. An aquifer refers to a stratum that contains groundwater.

The NYT pointed out that the lowered aquifer water level reduced the supply of cold groundwater to nearby rivers, raising river water temperatures, which ultimately posed a threat to fish ecosystems such as trout.

In addition, in some areas of Minnesota, backyard wells are drying up, making it difficult to use water at home.

The NYT warned, “What happened in Minnesota should be a wake-up call across the United States,” and added, “Even in areas where water is normally abundant, overuse of groundwater in some areas can have dire consequences.”

“We are expanding groundwater use into little-known aquifers,” said Ellen Considine, an adviser to the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources. “We may not be leaving enough groundwater for future generations.”