Category: ESTA News

Recently, in the United States, the number of Generation Z young people who go to bed at 9 p.m. instead of drinking or playing until late at night is increasing. The Wall Street Journal (WSJ), a daily newspaper on the 1st, recently reported that young people aged 18 to 35 are choosing to go to bed early rather than staying up late for health reasons, and that the entertainment industry is also experiencing changes due to this influence.

Young people, realizing the connection between health and sleep time, are increasingly going to bed earlier and refusing late dinners. According to a survey by Rent Cafe, an American real estate information provider, the average daily sleep time of young people in their 20s in the United States in 2022 was 9 hours and 28 minutes. This is an 8% increase from the average sleep time of people in their 20s in 2010, which was 8 hours and 47 minutes.

During the same period, the average daily sleep time of people in their 30s and 40s increased less than that of people in their 20s. Bedtime is also being brought forward. According to a survey of 2 million customers by American bed manufacturer Sleep Number, customers aged 18 to 34 went to bed at 10:06 pm on average last month. This is 12 minutes earlier than 10:18 p.m. in January last year.

“Nothing good happens to me after 9 p.m.,” said Emma Craft, 19, a student at the University of California, Berkeley. She said she tries to fall asleep before 9:30 p.m. every night. Madeline Sugg, 25, of Tulsa, Oklahoma, says she has adapted to going to bed at 9 p.m. She says she used to drink until the wee hours of the morning on weekends, but now she watches jazz shows or drinks at 5 or 6 p.m. on weekdays. He said that by going to bed early, he was able to save hundreds of dollars on late-night snacks and drinks. This trend change is also occurring in the restaurant and entertainment industries.

On Yelp, a restaurant rating site, the proportion of restaurant reservations made between 4 and 6 p.m. is currently 31%, up from 19% in 2017. On the other hand, the proportion of reservations between 6 PM and midnight decreased. In New York City, they experimented with holding dance parties early in the day for people who wanted to eat during the day.

‘Joyface’, a bar in New York’s East Village, held ‘matinee’ (performances held during the day on weekdays) four times last year, starting at 5 p.m. At the matinee held on December 31 last year, participants counted down to the New Year at 8 PM instead of midnight, and the event was so successful that there were only 200 people waiting. John Winkleman, a sleep disorder specialist at Massachusetts General Hospital, says he’s glad to see people taking sleep seriously these days, but he also points out that some people take it too seriously. “I think people have become a little hypersensitive about sleep,” he said, noting that there is no inherent benefit to going to bed early unless you must wake up before 3 a.m.

However, he emphasized that there are advantages to maintaining a consistent bedtime and sleeping 7 to 9 hours a day.

There was a series of car thefts in the Sun Valley area this morning, with car owners fighting off thieves with baseball bats and handguns. Early this morning in Sun Valley, a man was caught on surveillance camera confronting a thief who was stealing thousands of dollars’ worth of equipment from his van with a baseball bat.

At 12:30 this morning, a thief broke the window of a utility van parked on the street and stole $5,000 worth of equipment from the van on Saticoy Street, Beck Avenue. According to surveillance camera footage, the van owner ran out of the house with a baseball bat and confronted the thief. He chased after the thief who was running away and smashed the rear window of the thief’s vehicle with the bat.

A car theft was also reported early today (29th) at Van Avenue and Elk Wood Street in Sun Valley, and the victim armed himself with a pistol and confronted the thieves. When the car alarm went off, the victim’s car owner ran out of the house with his gun, but the thief had already fled after smashing his car window.

Recently, car thefts have been rampant in this area.

The outlook for real estate in the Washington area is bright this year. Real estate officials believe that the biggest reason is that the Federal Reserve is expected to lower interest rates several times this year following its recent freeze on interest rates. Moon Mi-ae, CEO of Mega Real Estate, said, “Last year, there were not many real estate transactions as interest rates continued to rise, but this year, with talk of the Federal Reserve lowering interest rates, the real estate outlook is bright,” adding, “The real estate market in the Washington area will heat up starting from mid-February.” “It’s the same,” he predicted.

Representative Moon said, “Currently, there are no homes in the McLean area that are less than $1 million, even if they are 60 or 70 years old and have a residential area of 1,600 square meters.” “There is a shortage of inventory,” he said. Even if you tried to sell your house last year, there was a shortage of properties for sale because the mortgage interest rate was too high, and you could not buy another house after selling your house.

However, this year, the mortgage interest rate is also scheduled to go down, so the issue of properties for sale is expected to be resolved to some extent. CEO Moon said that last year, the mortgage interest rate once rose to 7.875%, but these days, as the mortgage interest rate goes from 6.5% to 6.75%, housing prices are expected to rise by about 3-4%. Bae Jun-won, vice president of Greenway Loan, said, “In order to solve the housing problem, interest rates must first drop so that people can sell and buy their homes.

However, in the current market, if someone with a 2% mortgage sells their home, they must pay a 6-7% mortgage. “But what is clear is that interest rates will fall somewhat this year and a lot next year, so the number of people making transactions this year will increase, and the real estate market is likely to improve compared to last year,” he predicted.

Yeo Yeo-gi, a real estate agent at NBI Real Estate, said, “Interest rates are trending down, so there are a lot of offers these days when listings come out. In the case of a townhouse in South Riding, Virginia, we recently received 12 offers.” Agent Yugi Yeo said, “I recently put in an offer with a listing price of $1 million or $1.05 million, but the bid was successful at $1.07 million.” He added, “The current real estate market is a seller’s market where the seller takes the lead, and it takes 7 days to be successful. “It is necessary to add more than %, and the Northern Virginia region as a whole is popular with Koreans,” he said.

Agent Yeo said, “Last year, house prices in Northern Virginia increased by about 2-3%, and it is hard to say anything since it is the beginning of the year, but if the current trend continues, it is expected to rise by 5%.” Gye-sil Hwang, CEO of Gye-sil Hwang Real Estate, said, “The real estate market is not good right now, but they say interest rates will go down this year, so the outlook is bright.” He added, “New homes in the Tysons area are selling well these days.”

After controversy, the residents’ association of a wealthy neighborhood near Chicago, Illinois, rejected a proposal for McDonald’s, a popular fast-food chain in the United States, to open a store.

According to Chicago media on the 11th, the operating committee of Wilmette, a northern suburban city of Chicago, decided the previous day not to approve the plan to open the ‘first Wilmette store’ that giant McDonald’s was planning to build on the site of an empty stand-alone building at the intersection of the main road.

Regarding the refusal to enter the store, the Wilmette Management Committee said, “This decision was made after carefully reviewing residents’ opinions and McDonald’s plans.” The location has remained vacant since Bakers Square, a casual restaurant chain that has been around since the 1990s, closed in April 2019. The Chicago Tribune reported that the north, east, and west are surrounded by residential areas, and only the south borders the commercial district.

McDonald’s planned to open a store here with a ‘drive-thru’ facility where people could buy food while in their car, but residents protested and started a petition to oppose the store’s opening.

Residents say that drive-through McDonald’s stores not only worsen the residential environment by increasing traffic, noise, and exhaust gases, but also attract low-income people from other areas, raising safety concerns. “McDonald’s is installing a special facility called a drive-through.”

“It does not even meet the standards for ‘permission for change of use’ required,” he claimed. They said, “As a result of the survey, McDonald’s makes an average of 1,000 sales a day, of which 700 to 800 are drive-through,” and “Based on business hours from 5:30 a.m. to 10 p.m., one vehicle per minute. “It’s like carrying this out,” he added.

In addition, Wilmette Village emphasized that, through an ordinance enacted in 2021, it has limited the opening of retail businesses that help residents in their daily lives in the area. Some have argued that McDonald’s is not a facility for Wilmette residents and could harm the neighborhood atmosphere.

Wilmette, a Lake Michigan town with a population of 28,000 located about 30km north of downtown Chicago, is one of Illinois’ wealthy residences, with a median income of $180,000 and a median home price of 780,000. It costs 7,000 dollars and 80.9% of the population is white.

McDonald’s, headquartered in Chicago, operates about 13,500 stores in the United States, with 645 stores in Illinois, or 1 for every 19,650 people.

Alaska Airlines Flight 1282 just took off from Portland International Airport in Oregon on the 5th. It was evening time and the lights had been turned off for take-off, so there was a sudden popping noise in the dark cabin, followed by a loud bang-like noise.

A hole opened in the side of the plane, which was flying at 16,000 feet (4,876 m), and air escaped through it with a hissing sound. Not only air, but also cell phones, large teddy bears, and passengers’ shirts were sucked into the hole. On the 6th, the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reported the tense situation on board Alaska Airlines Flight 1282, a Boeing 737 Max 9 passenger plane that had part of its fuselage fall off during flight the previous day, before making an emergency landing.

The plane, which had taken off from Portland International Airport the previous day and was heading to Ontario, California, with 171 passengers and 6 crew members on board, made an emergency landing immediately after take-off. According to the Alaska Airlines union and passengers on board, a part of the aircraft fell off next to the 26th row seat about 15 to 20 minutes after take-off. The cabin pressure dropped rapidly, and as the oxygen mask came down, gasping sounds of shock were heard throughout the plane.

Air was running low, and some passengers struggled to breathe until they had to put on oxygen masks. The cabin lights flashed, and some passengers stood up to see what was happening. Then the flight attendants instructed them to fasten their seat belts and remain seated.

The flight attendant said through the in-flight announcement, “We need to make sure it is safe to move,” and told us to keep wearing the oxygen mask. Then, one passenger shouted, “There’s a hole in the side of the plane!” and the passengers started to riot. The captain told air traffic control that it was an emergency and that the plane had lost pressure and had to return to Portland.

The passengers trembled with fear. Passenger Srey Soo-an, who was sitting in row 27, just behind the punctured area, held his son’s hand and prayed for a safe landing. They were both wearing oxygen masks, so they couldn’t talk. “I thought I was going to die,” he told WSJ.

Earn’s son, Joshua McCall, said he dropped his cell phone and later saw it fall through a hole in the fuselage along with a teddy bear he had received as a gift from his grandmother. Passenger Christopher Hickman, who was sitting in the eighth row, said he heard someone scream, “My son’s shirt is torn.”

Hickman said most passengers wore oxygen masks because they couldn’t see what was happening, so they relayed the news to each other that the ‘window’ had fallen off. When the female passenger sitting next to him asked, “Can I hold your hand?” Hickman said he did and held tightly the hands of the passenger and his mother who was sitting next to him. “At that time, we tried to support each other,” he said.

Some terrified passengers even sent messages to their families on their cell phones.

Emma Bu, who was sitting in seat 18B, sent a text message to her parents saying, “I’m so scared right now,” and posted a TikTok video saying, “Please pray for me. I don’t want to die.” As the minutes passed and the plane descended for landing, the passengers became strangely quiet.

The plane successfully landed 27 minutes after take-off and returned to the gate three minutes later. After the flight attendants went through various procedures, including checking the number of people, the passengers were finally able to get off the plane. Emergency responders checked the condition of the passengers, some of whom said their fingers felt numb, and a man sitting in a wheelchair receiving treatment for his leg.

Although the passengers, who experienced hell for about 10 minutes from the time a hole was made in the fuselage until the successful landing, were safe, they are still unable to escape the shock of the accident. Hickman, who rushed to Ontario on another flight, said he couldn’t sleep at night thinking about the accident. “It was a traumatic experience,” he said.

Last year was a trying year for President Joe Biden, who is about to run for re-election. President Biden, who had to deal with his poor approval rating and the division of his support base after the war between Israel and Hamas, is in a situation where he must run the presidential election this year on a base that is virtually the worst for an active president.

This is clearly reflected in the public opinion landscape, where she is losing in a one-on-one match against not only former President Donald Trump, who is a strong return match in recent opinion polls, but also former UN Ambassador Nikki Haley, another Republican primary candidate. As a result of the average of 510 national opinion polls by political media outlet The Hill on the 2nd, it was calculated that in a hypothetical confrontation between President Biden and former President Trump, former President Trump would maintain a 2.2 percentage point lead with approval ratings of 44.9% and 42.7%, respectively. In the case of a hypothetical matchup between President Biden (38.8%) and former Ambassador Haley (42.5%), the gap further widens to 3.8 percentage points.

CNN reported, however, that there is a prevailing mood within the Biden camp that an opportunity for a reversal can be created in the first quarter, when the Republican presidential race officially begins. This is in the ‘expectation’ that the extreme right-wing remarks, including racial discrimination, that former President Trump has been making without hesitation at various campaign rallies will block the moderates. In fact, the Biden camp has focused on blatant attacks targeting former President Trump’s remarks, including his comment that “immigrants are polluting the blood of America” and comparing political opponents to pests, by calling them reminiscent of Nazi dictator Adolf Hitler.

As the race for the Republican presidential nomination heats up and former President Trump begins to open his mouth in earnest, far-right MAGA (Make America Great Again) slogans are bound to come out one after another, and it is at this point that voters It is predicted that this will be a turning point for people to calmly reflect on who they will support. In particular, the Biden camp’s analysis is that as the incumbent president, President Biden has had to continue the fight against himself, in a sense, without an opponent, and that the division of his internal support base due to the aging controversy and the Middle East issue is a direct result of such an unfavorable fight.

A Biden camp official said, “Trump will have no choice but to continue the extremist ‘Mark’ line in the first quarter to rally supporters, and this is our opportunity.” He added, “Trump’s efforts themselves may be successful, but we must do our job properly.” “If we do that, we can prove that Trump’s every word is extreme and unpopular,” he said. However, internal criticism is being raised that it is urgent to present immediately what the second Biden administration’s agenda is for taking office. CNN reported that many large-scale donors, including politicians, are pressuring him to come up with a new agenda as soon as possible, pointing out the lack of vision for the ‘second term in office’. In the State of the Union address scheduled for early next month, weight is being placed on the possibility that he will present key agendas for his second term in office, including the expansion of Obama Care, the national health insurance law, student loan forgiveness, and taxation of billionaires.

President Biden’s official presidential campaign is scheduled to begin only after the Democratic Party’s presidential candidate is confirmed, but a tight schedule has already been planned to promote his achievements by traveling to battleground states from the beginning of the year. The January 6 storming of the National Assembly, which marks its third anniversary this year, is also expected to be a good opportunity to remind us of the ‘irreparable wound’ left on American democracy by former President Trump and his followers.

However, according to a public opinion poll conducted by the Washington Post (WP) on this day, when asked whether former President Trump was responsible for the Capitol riot, only 53% of respondents responded yes, which is considerably diluted compared to 60% two years ago.

President Biden will visit Philadelphia on the 6th to attend the commemorative ceremony.

A bill is being promoted to expand the New Jersey vehicle registration period from annual renewal to every two years.

On the 14th, the State Senate Transportation Committee announced that New Jersey drivers must register their passenger vehicles every two years. A bill extending the period for renewal was approved and sent to the State Senate Appropriations Committee.

Currently, in New Jersey, vehicles must be registered every year, except for the purchase or lease of a new vehicle. Only in the case of a new car purchase or lease, the registration period can last up to 4 years. In relation to this, a bill is being promoted to extend the renewal period to every two years on the grounds that renewing vehicle registration every year causes significant inconvenience to drivers.

The bill was originally proposed to allow the passenger vehicle registration period to be selected from 1 to 10 years. However, during deliberation by the State Senate Transportation Committee, the registration period was changed to allow up to two years. State Senator Declan O’Scanlon (Republican), who proposed the bill, said, “Vehicle registration is It must be convenient and provide drivers with the flexibility to renew on a multi-year basis. “Renewal every year is a wasteful system,” he said.

Congressman Osca O’Scanlon then said, “There are situations where expensive fines are imposed or even vehicles are towed by the police because vehicle registration has not been renewed.

He added, “Expanding the ability to renew registration every two years will increase convenience for drivers and help ease the burden on the State Motor Vehicle Administration (MVC).”

This bill will be passed by the State Senate.

Prohibiting the use of charcoal in food trucks, New York City Councilwoman Sandra Hwang (Democrat, Flushing) proposed the second ordinance on the 6th to create a safer and more comfortable sidewalk.

First, the ordinance ‘Int. 1272′ contains information that approval must be obtained from the New York City Department of Transportation (DOT) when renewing or applying for a new stall license, which is required to install a stall on the sidewalk in front of a business.

Transportation Bureau employees visit businesses in person to determine whether stalls installed on sidewalks will interfere with pedestrians. If the stall impedes the flow of pedestrians by more than 10 feet, the stall will be considered an obstacle and approval will be denied.

Rep. Hwang said, “This is an ordinance to keep sidewalks clean and ensure that all pedestrians can move safely and smoothly,” and added, “In commercial districts with a large floating population, such as downtown Flushing (around Main Street), stalls legally installed on the sidewalk in front of businesses are required.” Even so, it can cause congestion. “Sidewalks must allow pedestrians to pass safely and smoothly,” he emphasized.

Another ordinance (Int. 1271) prohibits the use of charcoal grills in food trucks. When a food truck parks on the street and uses charcoal to grill meat, a significant amount of air pollutants are emitted along with smoke, causing unwanted harm to many citizens walking on the sidewalk. The fine for the first offense is $400, and for subsequent offenses, the fine is $400. A fine of $1,600 is imposed.

In case of repeated violations three or more times, the charcoal stove will be confiscated, or if the charcoal stove is permanently installed in the vehicle, the vehicle will be confiscated. Assemblyman Hwang’s office said, “We are receiving numerous complaints that the smoke and air pollutants emitted from charcoal grilling in food trucks are causing damage not only to the streets, but also to businesses and homes.” It can cause respiratory problems and other health problems. “It can be especially fatal to vulnerable groups such as children and the elderly,” he emphasized.

Illinois, the first state among the 50 states to completely abolish the cash bail system and establish the principle of trial without detention, has decided to issue new identification cards to criminals who are arrested and detained on criminal charges in the Chicago metropolitan area and then released.

According to Chicago media on the 11th, the Illinois Secretary of State announced a new ID issuance program for prison inmates in Cook County, which governs Chicago, the state’s largest city, saying, “To support the successful return to society of ex-offenders. “He explained. Democratic Secretary of State Alexi Giulios and Cook County Sheriff’s Chief Tom Dart held a conference and announced, “We will provide free state-issued identification cards to inmates leaving the Cook County Jail.” Minister Giulios said, “Those who enter prison have limited access to housing, jobs, and medical services due to social barriers. Providing them with ‘essential tools’ such as valid ID cards will help them find housing and jobs.” “It will help them enrol in social welfare programs,” he said. He said, “This is the first such program in the entire United States,” and hoped that this program would be expanded throughout Illinois and spread to other states.

The Illinois General Services Administration and the Cook County Sheriff’s Office began a pilot operation on the 11th and began issuing free ID cards to some inmates leaving prison wearing electronic ankle bracelets (electronic location tracking devices). The Chicago Sun-Times reported, “About 2,300 defendants awaiting trial in Cook County can apply for ID cards in the first round,” adding, “1,800 people have already been released wearing electronic ankle bracelets and 500 are scheduled to be released.” Cook County said that once the program is established, it will be able to issue ID cards to 10,000 ex-offenders each year.

“Our goal is to issue new identification cards to all defendants facing trial while they are incarcerated, so they have a better opportunity when they return to the community,” said Sheriff Dart. “There is an ID reissue program for those who have expired from federal prison or state prison, but it does not apply to pre-trial defendants,” he said. “Identification cards are also a very important resource for defendants who are incarcerated or arrested and released and awaiting trial,” he said.

“The majority of people who are arrested on suspicion of a crime and come to prison do not have ID cards to begin with, and some have them confiscated during the investigation,” he said. “Through the new program, authorities will check the addresses, dates of birth, and Social Security numbers of inmates and provide them with ID cards.” “We can issue it,” he added.

Illinois has completely abolished the cash bail system and implemented judicial reforms that require defendants arrested and indicted on criminal charges to be tried without detention rather than being detained according to the ‘principle of presumption of innocence’ until the results of the trial are announced. This highly controversial bill was originally scheduled to take effect on January 1 of this year, but its implementation was put on hold due to court restrictions, and then took effect with the state Supreme Court ruling last September.

In its August issue, the monthly ‘Chicago Magazine’ published by the leading daily newspaper ‘Chicago Tribune’ listed the policies enacted by Illinois Governor JB Pritzker (58, Democratic Party) since he took office and said, “Illinois is the most radical state in the United States.” He commented, “It has been transformed into a state.”

Walmart, the largest retailer, will also stop advertising on social media X (formerly Twitter).

According to the Associated Press and Bloomberg News on the 1st, Walmart said in a statement that day, “We no longer advertise on X,” and “We have found a better platform to reach consumers. “Regarding this, Joe Benaroque, X’s head of business operations, said, “Walmart has not advertised on “I do it,” he said.

Walmart’s announcement to suspend advertising came as major U.S. companies continued to suspend advertising.

Prior to Walmart, Walt Disney, IBM, NBCUniversal and parent company Comcast decided to stop advertising for X.

Musk recently posted an article supporting anti-Semitic conspiracy claims, the loss of advertisers began in earnest.

Early last month, a report by media watchdog Media Matters came out, saying that companies’ advertisements were placed next to Nazi-praising content posted on X. In response, there were also Musk’s efforts to overcome the crisis.

On the 27th of last month, Musk visited Israel in person and confronted Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who emphasized the “annihilation of Hamas,” by saying, “There is no choice,” and visited a kibbutz (collective farm) that was attacked by Hamas.

However, on the 28th of last month, in a public conversation at NYT’s ‘Deal Book Summit’, he again became the centre of controversy by shouting “Go away” along with profanity including a word starting with ‘f’, saying that the suspension of advertising by companies was related to intimidation.

CEO Yacarino is concerned that the brand image may be damaged as hate and harmful expressions increase due to Musk’s relaxation of regulations on content, AP reported.

AP reported, “There are no signs of improvement in the relationship between X and advertisers.”