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White House invites 23 guests to Obama’s final State of the Union (Video)

WASHINGTON — More than 20 people have been invited to sit with Michelle Obama as guests to the president’s final State of the Union address Tuesday. A seat will also be left empty for victims of gun violence, White House officials say.

Watch as several of the 23 guests receive phone calls inviting them to sit in the First Lady’s box.

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Click here to meet the guests, including a mother and opioid reform advocate, Syrian refugee, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella, Seattle Police Chief Kathleen O’Toole, an Affordable Care Act navigator and more. President Obama delivers his State of the Union speech at 9 p.m. Click here to listen live on WTOP.com when it begins.

School bus emergency? Fairfax County students have a plan to handle it

This story is part of WTOP’s 2026 Back to School coverage. The wheels on the bus will soon be going round and round again in Fairfax County, Virginia, and some of its young riders are learning what to do if there’s an emergency on the way to school. The annual Safety Patrol Training Camp, hosted by Fairfax County Public Schools' Office of Transportation Services, combined hands-on exercises with classroom lessons to teach students how to keep calm during emergencies on buses. The training can feel remarkably realistic, with overturned school buses on their side or completely upside down in the middle of the county bus depot. Other buses, right side up, fill with smoke that is water-based but mimics the intensity of a bus overheating.
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