This week is bittersweet for Northwest Asian Weekly. Ellen Abellera, executive director of Washington state’s Commission on Asian Pacific American Affairs (CAPAA), recently retired from the organization …

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By James Tabafunda Northwest Asian Weekly Acclaimed movie actor and host of the Food Network’s “Iron Chef America” Mark Dacascos was the host at the Wing Luke Asian Museum’s Year of New Beginnings Dinner and Auction. The event took place on April 4 at the Bell Harbor International Conference Center. It featured local chefs Gerold [...]

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By Ryan Pangilinan NORTHWEST ASIAN WEEKLY To many people, Vern Yip is best known as the former designer on the long-running television show, “Trading Spaces,” on The Learning Channel. Others identify Yip as the current host and creator of “Deserving Design” on Home and Garden Television. However, if someone were to ask Yip if he [...]

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By Andrew Hamlin Northwest Asian Weekly “Please set your volume high,” urges Japanese director Go Shibata in his introduction for the DVD release of his second feature film, “Late Bloomer.”

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Teresa “Terri” Elizabeth Romero Jamero, 74, a second generation Filipino and Northern California native, died April 2 after a lengthy illness in a Modesto hospital near her home in Atwater, Calif. Many who knew Terri Jamero considered her to be the conscience of the Filipino American National Historical Society (FANHS). She served in the organization’s [...]

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On March 29, Northwest Vietnamese and Vietnamese American singers participated in a national singing contest called Giong Ca Vang (Golden Voice). Most contestants sang in Vietnamese. The semifinals were held at the Emerald Queen Casino. The event was helmed by Saigon Broadcasting Television Network and sponsored by Comcast.

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Tu Nhat Ma, an eighth-grader at McClure Middle School, was awarded the Assistance League Scholarship for 2009. Ma will use her scholarship at the UW Summer Youth Program to study writing.

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Bellevue Community College students Paula Kosasih and Clairine (Claire) Runtung, international students from Indonesia currently living in Bellevue, have been named to the 2009 All-Washington Academic Team.

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On April 4, the Wing Luke Asian Museum presented A Year of New Beginnings, a dinner and auction that featured local chefs who made appetizers inspired by art.

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By Donna Gordon Blankinship The Associated Press SEATTLE (AP) — The director of the agriculture program at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation has been nominated by President Obama to be an undersecretary in the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

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The National Asian Pacific Center on Aging (NAPCA) board put its CEO, Clayton Fong, on paid leave on April 13 after unspecified allegations against him surfaced. Christine Takada is the interim CEO.

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By Bharatha Mallawarachi The Associated Press COLOMBO, Sri Lanka (AP) — A thick line comprising thousands of Sri Lankan civilians — with only a handful of backpacks for belongings among them — streamed out of the last sliver of land held by rebels on Monday, April 20. Video footage provided by the air force showed [...]

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By Christopher Bodeen The Associated Press BEIJING (AP) — A new English-language paper published by China’s Communist Party hit newsstands on Monday, April 20; it’s part of Beijing’s efforts to raise its profile on the global stage and find an international audience for the party line. The inaugural English edition of the Global Times led [...]

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By Eric Talmadge The Associated Press TOKYO (AP) — Under a big red flag, the headquarters of the Communist Party of Japan are at the center of the most vibrant grassroots movement in the country. The party’s ranks are swelling. It has 24,000 branch offices, and more than a million people read its newspaper. As [...]

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By Rebecca Ip Seattle Chinese Post The Asia Pacific Culture Foundation (APCF), a nonprofit, will hold its first summer study program in China for U.S. students with Seattle Central Community College. This summer, high school students over the age 15 will have a chance to be immersed in Chinese culture and study the language. After [...]

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By Rebecca Ip Seattle Chinese Post The depressed economy seems to have affected the security and safety of the Chinatown/International District and its neighboring communities. In recent months, more robberies in the streets and in residents’ homes — located in the International District, Beacon Hill, and Rainier Valley neighborhoods — have been reported than before.

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