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Other states are similar, but in Virginia, car owners can order and use their own license plates. However, there are also license plates that are not allowed. This is the case if it is already allocated for another use. Among them, we see license plates with only low-numbered numbers. This is none other than the vehicles of Virginia state legislators.

Virginia has 100 state representatives and 40 state senators. Not all of them must use their own license plates. But at least all the members of Congress I know are using it. State Representatives’ plates are numbered 1 through 100 with the words “House of Delegates” across the top. In the case of senators, the word senator is written below the license plate and the numbers range from 1 to 40.

However, since the numbers are issued in the order in which they are elected, the member who has served the longest naturally gets number 1. So, by looking at the number plates, you can guess who has the better line. Interestingly, there are members who sometimes stop their legislative activities, run for office again, are elected, and return to parliament. In the case of such members, they are again considered as first-time members when it comes to issuing license plates.

However, this time, both the owner of the senator’s license plate number 1 and the congressman’s license plate number 1 announced their retirement. In other words, he will not run in the elections this fall. So next year, the owners of the two license plates will change. Both are Democrats and have their districts in Fairfax County. And they are veterans in their 80s.

Senator Richard Saslaw is retiring from the Senate, ending 48 years of congressional service, including four years in the State House of Representatives. He has long wielded great influence as the Senate Democratic leader. However, despite being a member of the Democratic Party, he often agreed with Republican lawmakers on his issues, and he also bought complaints from progressive Democratic supporters. He is 83 years old this year, so he started his parliamentary activities in his mid-30s.

My relationship with Senator Sasler goes back to 1995, when I first ran for the Board of Education. There was a big age difference between me and me, but I remember the first meeting when I had to be quite nervous when I went to the office to ask for help. We met in the trailer he was using as a temporary office behind the gas station he was operating at the time. For Senator Sasler, it may have been embarrassing to have a young Asian immigrant he didn’t even know come and ask for support. Since I didn’t seem to know much about education issues, I introduced a person who was knowledgeable about education administration and laws in Virginia and asked me to visit and learn. The person I was introduced to at that time is currently serving as a senator from Virginia.

Representative Kenneth Plum, who is retiring this time as the oldest member of the House of Representatives, finishes 44 years of legislative activity in the Reston area. Unlike state senators, who serve four-year terms, he is a member of the State House of Representatives, whose term is two years, so he is quite a 22-year-old member.

However, if you look at the history of his parliamentary activities, there are two years in the middle. In 1977, his first election, it was a mid-constituency system in which five members were elected from each constituency. A total of 10 candidates from both the Republican and Democratic parties ran, and Plum narrowly won the election in 5th place. Only 50 votes away from 6th place. Then, when he ran for re-election, he was defeated after coming in 7th place. After that, however, he was elected 21 times down. He is 81 years old this year.

It is natural for veterans in their 80s to retire. However, what is regrettable is that they cannot expect the powerful influence they wielded in the state legislature representing the interests of Northern Virginia, where I live, from their successors, first-time lawmakers.

It may take 30 years for first-time lawmakers’ license plate numbers to go up to number 1. However, it will not be possible to hold on to Senator Sasler and Representative Plum for 40 years of hard work. Thank you for their long hard work. And good luck to the successors who will be elected in November this year.

Snow fell all over California due to a winter storm that started last week, while heavy snowfall in the Sierra Nevada area caused road closures, vehicle congestion, and casualties one after another on the morning of the 1st.

According to CBS News, an overnight blizzard, with temperatures dropping below freezing and four feet of snow, icy roads and falling trees, disrupted I-80 traffic, a major commercial route between Northern California and Nevada. suspended indefinitely. I-80 eastbound at Apple Gate and westbound at the Nevada border are closed to vehicular traffic.

Caltran carried out work to reopen, such as snow removal, all night, but the road was still closed as of 6:00 am on the 1st. The news reported that several trucks had been stuck on the road since early morning, unable to come or go.

Lake Tahoe also closed the Palisade and Alpine Ski Resort on the 28th due to heavy snow. The resort said, “Very low visibility and the possibility of avalanches exist.”

A snowstorm warning was issued for the Sierra Nevada region until 4 a.m. on the 1st.

An 80-year-old man has died after a porch collapsed due to heavy snowfall in Forest Hill, Placer County. After the elderly man collapsed, neighbors pulled him out and was taken to the hospital, but it was later found that he died.

The area received between 3 and 4 feet of snow in 24 hours, and the porch roof appears to have collapsed under the weight of the snow.
Meanwhile, Yosemite National Park has been closed indefinitely due to poor road conditions due to heavy snowfall.
It was known that it would be closed from the 25th and reopened today (2nd), but as it continued to snow, like last weekend, it appeared to be closed indefinitely without the exact reopening date being known. The National Park Service has asked to check for updates via its website (https://www.nps.gov/yose/planyourvisit/conditions.htm).
Yosemite Valley received 40 inches of snow on the ground on the 28th, breaking the 1969 record of 36 inches.

As a winter storm in February began unexpectedly in the Bay Area, rain and snow accompanied by strong winds fell everywhere on the night of the 23rd, causing damage one after another.

There was rain, hail, and snow all over the Bay, and as it entered the late afternoon, there were rainstorms accompanied by strong winds in earnest, as well as thunder and lightning in some places. Mountains high above sea level were covered with white snow. The Korea Meteorological Administration called this winter’s storm ‘historic’.

North Bay and East Bay received 1 to 3 inches of snow not only in the highlands, but also in the lower lowlands.

The National Weather Service is counting snowfall in the Bay Area accurately as of 10 a.m. on the 24th from this winter storm, but the North Bay is 1 to 3 inches above 250 feet above sea level, 1 to 2 inches in the Tamalpais Mountains, and areas above 1,500 feet above sea level near Cloverdale. reported five to six inches of snow. In the case of the East Bay, Berkeley Hill, near the Diablo Mountains, said it recorded two to three inches of snowfall.

According to the tally so far, the snowiest area from this winter storm is the Santa Cruz Mountains, the National Weather Service explained. The Santa Cruz Mountains said 10 to 12 inches of snow were counted in areas above 2,500 feet, and 1 to 3 inches in areas above 700 feet. Residents of the Pelton area experienced two to three inches of snow covering their driveways, porches and cars.

Meteorologist Brook Bingaman said, “In the Santa Cruz Mountains and the Cloverdale region, there is very little snowfall every year, but this month’s snowfall is unusual.” It’s very rare,” he said.

Snow piled up overnight in North Bay, causing extreme congestion on the way to work on slippery roads on the morning of the 24th. The California Highway Patrol (CHP) closed Highway 17 in both directions from Scott Valley to Los Gatos. It was reported that 20 trees were downed on Highway 17 alone.

There were also accidents where vehicles got stuck in snow in the area near Cloverdale, which is more than 400 feet above sea level in Sonoma County.

Highway 152 was also closed to traffic on Fall Line Road, forcing motorists to divert to other roads.

In Napa County, some school districts, including Calistoga Joint, Pope Valley, and Howell Mountain, closed schools due to bad weather. Highway 29 between Calistoga Tops Lane and Bradford Road, near the Napa-Lake County border, was also blocked due to slippery roads causing vehicles to spin around.

The Korea Meteorological Administration said that the average temperature on the 23rd was 7 to 14 degrees lower than normal at the end of February, and that the highest temperature in downtown San Francisco was less than 50 degrees. In Santa Rosa, the temperature drops to 28 degrees, showing the lowest temperature recorded in 2022, 1955, and 1911 (February 23).

According to data released by the Tourism Authority (HTA) on February 8, Hawaii residents’ perception of the tourism industry has improved slightly.

The State Department of Tourism and Economic Development (DBEDT) conducted a survey of residents in the fall of 2022 with the question, “Do the benefits outweigh the problems caused by the tourism industry?”

Supervised by Omnitrak, a market research company, it was conducted over the phone and online from October 19th to December 3rd.

As a result, it was found that 57% of participating residents gave more than 6 points out of 10.

In the spring of 2022, the percentage of residents who gave 6 or more points to the same question was 54%, which is interpreted as a slight improvement in awareness in half a year.

In the fall of 2021, it was 49%. The peak is 80% in 2010.

In the fall 2022 survey, 58% of residents engaged in the tourism industry gave 6 points or more, and 55% of residents outside the tourism industry gave 6 points or more.

In an interview with Star Advertiser on February 8, HTA CEO John de Price pointed out that although there is still a long way to go, awareness is improving little by little and positive signs are showing, and he said that he is looking forward to what will happen to the tourism industry in the future.

Recalling the fact that 10.4 million tourists visited in 2019, a record high, De Price explained that residents were also tired from the unprecedented number of visitors.

He added that those feelings may have made him feel even more liberated during the 2020 pandemic.

HTA pointed out excessive tourism, environmental destruction, inflation, traffic congestion, and damage to traditional culture as reasons for having a negative perception of the tourism industry. Reasons for having a positive perception include job creation, support for local businesses, and commercial facilities for residents. magnification, etc.

On the other hand, 44% of residents gave 6 points or more in the survey tourist destination management item in the fall of 2022, showing a 3% increase from 41% in the spring of 2022.

When asked whether taxes should be used to manage tourist destinations, 67% of residents gave a score of 6 or higher, up 1% from 66% in spring 2022.

The proportion of residents who gave 6 points or higher in the familiarity evaluation of HTA’s tourist destination management planning was 21%, a decrease of 3% from 24% in the spring of 2022.

One person was killed, and four others injured in a Mass shooting at New Orleans’ annual Mardi Gras festival on the weekend.

According to the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) on the 20th, a shooting occurred near a masquerade event held in downtown New Orleans at 9:30 pm the previous day.

According to an eyewitness, when more than 10 bullets were fired at the time, there was a commotion, such as the spectators gathered above the costume procession dodging their bodies.

Five people who were shot at the scene, including one teenager, were taken to the hospital, but one man died.

The suspected shooter was arrested by police at the scene who are now investigating the circumstances of the shooting crime.

The shooting also stopped the costume procession.

There have been 82 mass shootings in the United States this year. In the United States, shootings that result in four or more victims are classified as mass shootings.

When it was announced on the 14th that inflation had slowed in January, President Joe Biden criticized the Republican Party while highlighting the achievements of economic policy again.

In a statement that day, President Biden said, “Today’s data confirms that annual inflation has fallen for 7 months in a row,” in relation to the Ministry of Labor’s announcement that the consumer price index (CPI) in January rose 6.4% from the same month last year.”

He continued, mentioning the decline in gasoline prices from the peak and the lowest unemployment rate since 1969, emphasizing that “there is more work to be done to transition to steady and stable growth.”

He highlighted the importance of enforcing the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), citing lowering the cost of living, rebuilding supply chains, and investing in the US as priorities.

“The Republicans have proposed repealing the IRA, which would increase the deficit, cost Big Pharma billions of dollars and exacerbate inflation,” he said.

Regarding the issue of raising the federal government debt ceiling, “some Republican lawmakers are threatening default on the credit and trust of the United States,” he criticized.

President Biden said, “Today’s statistics emphasize that we are making historic progress, that we are on the right track, and that we must finish the job now.”

President Biden’s remarks seem to be a justification for his re-election challenge based on his economic performance over the past two years.

In particular, the statement of ‘finish the job’, which was used several times in the State of the Union speech on the 7th, is in fact recognized as a slogan for President Biden’s re-election challenge in the 2024 presidential election.

The US CPI (6.4%) for January recorded the smallest increase in 15 months since October 2021.

However, it is evaluated that the slowdown is slowing down by only 0.1 percentage point from last December (6.5%).

In fact, the Republican Party focused on the weakening of the inflation slowdown and criticized it by calling it ‘Bidenflation’ again.

Representative Jody Arrington (Republican, Texas), chairman of the House Budget Committee, criticized that “the Biden economy is making it more difficult for the families of workers who are working hard to pay utility bills.”

At the same time, he said that the reason for the inflation is “because President Biden is changing his spending habits and refusing to negotiate a responsible debt ceiling with the Republican Party.”

Representative Jason Smith (Republican-Missouri), who is the chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, also called for government spending cuts, saying, “It is an opportunity to work with the Republican Party to find a commonsense solution to eradicate wasteful spending that fuels inflation.”

All the victims of the shooting that took place on the 13th at Michigan State University in Michigan were identified as students.
Chris Roseman, head of the Michigan State University campus police department, said at a briefing on the 14th that all three dead and five injured were confirmed to be students at the university.
The suspect, who took his own life during a confrontation with police the night before, was a black man named Anthony McRae, 43, who was not an employee or student at the university.
“We have no idea what (the suspect’s) motive was,” Roseman said at the briefing, and that the motive was still being investigated.
The shooting, which overturned the college campus during the evening hours, added to the shock as it took place during multiple shootings that continued into the New Year, including the California Lunar New Year shooting that killed all 11 people.
Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer said the shooting came on the eve of the fifth anniversary of the Parkland, Fla., high school shooting that killed 17 people the previous day.
Governor Whitmer added that he had spoken to President Joe Biden and had been promised federal support.
Meanwhile, President Biden issued a statement of condolence for the Michigan State University shooting and urged Congress to strengthen gun control, including background checks on all gun buyers and a ban on the sale of assault guns and large-capacity magazines.
“Congress must act and enact common-sense gun control laws,” he said.
He also stressed the importance of properly enforcing “red flag laws” that allow firearms to be confiscated from dangerous persons.
The Department of Justice announced today that it will provide $231 million to introduce gun violence prevention programs, including red flag laws, in 49 states and territories.

The Chinese government tried to escape defensively by strongly criticizing the US military’s shooting down of a Chinese unmanned airship, which the US defined as a ‘reconnaissance balloon’, entering US airspace.

At a regular briefing on the 6th, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Maoning reiterated the position that the balloon shot down by the US on the 4th was a Chinese civilian airship used for scientific research such as meteorological observation, and accidentally entered the US due to climate and other influences.

It was in response to criticism from the US side that China’s airspace entry was a violation of international law and a violation of its sovereignty.

“The US side intentionally exaggerated and even used an armed attack is an unacceptable and irresponsible act,” Mao said.

“China always views China-US relations according to the three principles of mutual respect, peaceful coexistence, cooperation and co-prosperity, and at the same time firmly intends to safeguard its sovereignty, security and development interests,” he said.

In addition, when asked whether the dismissal of the director of the Meteorological Bureau of Zhuang Guotai, one of the senior officials of the State Council announced on the 3rd, was related to the balloon incident, spokesman Maoning said, “The Ministry of Human Resources and Resources announced the news on its website.” I don’t have anything,” he replied.

On the 3rd, the Ministry of Human Resources and Resources of China announced the dismissal of the director of the Meteorological Bureau of Zhuangguotai, along with other dismissal personnel, on the same day that the issue of ‘reconnaissance balloons’ was raised by the US announcement.

However, some point out that the dismissal of the weather bureau is unlikely to be related to the balloon issue, given that Zhuang, the former director of the Meteorological Bureau, was already appointed as the chairman of the Gansu Provincial People’s Political Consultative Conference in the middle of last month, more than 15 days before this issue surfaced.

On the other hand, the regular briefing held at the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs on the 6th was attended by foreign reporters, including American media, to the extent that it was difficult to find vacancies, reflecting the international community’s keen interest in the ‘reconnaissance balloon’ conflict.

It is known that the U.S. government will impose “bomb tariffs” on Russian aluminum and enter into sanctions to effectively block imports.

Bloomberg News reported on the 6th, citing multiple sources, that the US is preparing to impose a 200% tariff on Russian aluminum that invaded Ukraine.

The sanctions are expected to be officially announced this week.

Sources said the U.S. government had been considering such measures for several months, saying that Russia hurt U.S.-related companies by selling its own aluminum to the U.S. market at a bargain price.

In the meantime, the United States has been reviewing a full-scale import ban on Russian aluminum, imposition of high tariffs that can have the effect of effectively banning imports, and sanctions against Russian aluminum producer Rusal.

“Such high tariffs would effectively cut off the U.S. from importing aluminum from Russia,” Bloomberg observed.

Russia is the world’s second largest producer of aluminum, and Rusal is the world’s second largest aluminum company after China Hongqiao.

Russian aluminum accounts for 10% of US aluminum imports.

Therefore, this measure is expected to affect the global aluminum market as well.

The Associated Press reported on the 29th that many Americans are devastated by the series of shootings that have occurred since the beginning of the year in the United States.

When defining a case where there are four or more deaths, excluding the perpetrator, as a “shooting massacre,” the first such incident occurred on January 23 last year, but this year six cases occurred during the same period and 39 people died, the AP reported.

On the 21st of this month, 13 people were killed in a shooting at a dance school in Monterey Park, California, and two days later, a farm worker near San Francisco shot and killed seven of his colleagues.

Earlier, a 14-year-old girl was shot dead along with her father and uncle from the beginning of the New Year, and a few days later, a 6-year-old first-year elementary school student fired a gun at a teacher and seriously injured her.

In addition to this, on the 28th, three people were shot dead and four were seriously injured in Beverly Crest, near Beverly Hills.

The AP reported that many Americans are showing a pessimistic and hopeless attitude toward gun crime as such high-loss incidents occur frequently.

Last year, a bill to tackle gun-related crime passed Congress with overwhelming support, but 78% of respondents in a subsequent Pew Research poll believed the situation would hardly change.

University of Southern California professor Pedro Noguera, a sociologist who has observed gun incidents for more than 20 years, pointed out that the situation in which the political world is reacting as if nothing happened despite the rapid increase in shooting deaths creates a sense of lethargy and despair among Americans.

“Unfortunately, we seem to be getting more and more immune,” said Mark Geyers, a professor of gun violence and public policy at Quinnipiac University.

However, the Associated Press reported that there are not a few people who are struggling to end the tragedy of constant shootings.

Fred Gutenberg, who lost his 14-year-old daughter in a Florida high school shooting in 2018, is working hard to ensure that the ‘Jamie Law’ is named after his daughter. This is a law that regulates the identification of people who buy firearms.

Parents of victims of a supermarket shooting in Buffalo, New York, last year, Geneta Everhurt, along with other victims’ families, testified before the U.S. Congress about the need for a gun safety law after the incident.

“I don’t think this country has become numb to it,” he said. “People are just desperate and tired.”

Meanwhile, the Associated Press pointed out that more than half of the approximately 45,000 gun deaths that occur each year in the United States are suicides, and that one or two deaths are not even counted in statistics.