By Assunta Ng
Northwest Asian Weekly

Our table at Little Sheep, which included seafood, meat, and vegetables with a double broth (spicy and herbal) (Photos by John Chan)

Is there such a thing as a “real little sheep” (versus “fake little sheep”)? Read the full story

From left: President and CEO of Ricoh Corporation Jeff Hicking, Frank Fukui, and vice president of the dealer division of Ricoh Corporation Kiyo Shimizu

Ricoh Corporation presented its 2011 Outstanding Major Markets Sales Performance Award to Frank Fukui, president of Woodburn Company, in Orlando, Fla., during its Annual Convergence Exhibition.

This is the second award of its kind Fukui has received in recent years. ♦

By Assunta Ng

When the Republicans, the White House, and Democrats tried to broker a deal last weekend, lots of Chinese food was ordered during the meetings, according to the New York Times. Read the full story

Angelica Soriano Casimiro

At the 62nd Annual Miss Seafair Scholarship Program For Women Coronation, Veronica Quintero, from the Hispanic Seafair organization, was crowned Miss Seafair.

The first runner up was Angelica Soriano Casimiro, from the Filipino community of Seattle.

Second runner up was Veronica Pupava, from West Seattle Hi-Yu.

Seafair awarded more than $20,000 in scholarships as part of the program. ♦

From left: Debadutta Dash (from WASITRAC), Narayan Gurung, Shankar Sharma, Luis Narvarro (from Port of Seattle’s Office of Social Responsibility), and Habib Habib (from WASITRAC)

The Washington State India Trade Relations Action Committee (WASITRAC) honored Port of Seattle CEO Tay Yoshitani and legendary Taekwondo Olympian Narayan Gurung at its second annual Building Bridges Across the Nations awards ceremony at the Northgate Community Center in Seattle. Read the full story

Hundreds of people came Oliver’s Lounge’s 35th anniversary party. Shown are General Manager Paul Ishii (left) and emcee Pat Cashman.

In honor of its 35th anniversary, Oliver’s Lounge at the Mayflower Park Hotel in Seattle celebrated with a party that included live music and free crabcakes and martinis. Read the full story

By Andrew Dampf
The Associated Press

Sun Yang

SHANGHAI (AP) — The swimming world championships ended with a bang Sunday, July 31, when emerging Chinese standout Sun Yang broke the oldest world record in the sport — Australian great Grant Hackett’s 10-year-old mark in the 1,500 meters.

Sun was just over two seconds off Hackett’s 2001 pace with four laps to go, but accelerated on the final two laps to finish in 14 minutes, 34.14 seconds, improving on Hackett’s mark of 14:34.56 set at Fukuoka, Japan.

“I was not obsessed with the world record before the final, because I wanted to focus on my plan,” Sun said. “My goal is to win the gold. I’m so grateful to the whole Chinese team, including my coach and my parents as well, and I think the world record belongs to all of them.” Read the full story

By Jean H. Lee
The Associated Press

Editor’s note: Jean H. Lee, The Associated Press bureau chief in Seoul, and David Guttenfelder, AP’s chief Asia photographer, have made numerous reporting trips to North Korea in recent years. They were granted unprecedented access on their latest journey to Pyongyang and areas outside the nation’s showcase capital.

PYONGYANG, North Korea (AP) — A little boy skips along grasping a classmate’s hand, his cheeks flushed and a badge of the Great Leader’s smiling face pinned to his Winnie the Pooh sweatshirt. Men in military green share a joke over beers at a German-style pub next door to the Juche tower. Schoolgirls wearing the red scarves of the Young Pioneers sway in unison as they sing a classic Korean tune I, too, learned as a child. Read the full story

By Louise Watt
The Associated Press

BEIJING (AP) — Chinese authorities have rescued 89 trafficked minors as young as 10 days and the oldest 4 years and arrested 369 suspects after uncovering two child trafficking gangs, authorities said Wednesday, July 27. Read the full story

By Assunta Ng

Well, Beijing has some of the best Chinese food. I was there three years ago and was fortunate enough to taste incredible Shanghaiese, Shandong, Beijing, and other ethnic foods. Read the full story

By Terence Chea
The Associated Press

In this photo taken Saturday, June 11, Tyler Thompson rehearses with the Great Wall Youth Orchestra in Oakland, Calif. (Photo by Noah Berger/AP)

OAKLAND, Calif. — Tyler Thompson is an unlikely star in the world of Chinese opera.
The Black teenager from Oakland has captivated audiences in the United States and China with his ability to sing pitch-perfect Mandarin and perform the ancient Chinese art form. Read the full story

By Assunta Ng

Darshan Rauniyar (left) and Steve Hobbs

Now that Congressman Jay Inslee has announced his run for governor in 2012, two Asian Americans have declared their candidacy for Inslee’s seat.

A few years ago, the Asian community had to persuade folks to run for open seats. Now, we are automatically dreaming big and thinking ahead. Read the full story

By Dickie Lau
For Northwest Asian Weekly

Kamiak Honor Society President Laurena Lau as the guest Speaker at the Harbour Pointe Middle School Honor Society Recognition Banquet (Photo provided by Dickie Lau)

As a graduate, you must be looking forward to college life and beyond. But if you stop a while, look back to your past, you will have an unexpected discovery.

Harbour Pointe Middle School (HPMS) National Junior Honor Society hosted its Recognition Banquet in June.

The HPMS recognition banquet was organized by co-advisers Ann-Patrice Riccardo and Amy DeKlyen, and was hosted by President Cherie Ruan and Vice President Annabella Falloria. The event was to recognize the contribution of the society members and to serve as a farewell to the graduating eighth grade members. Read the full story

Compiled by Keishi Matsuda
Northwest Asian Weekly

For the upcoming primary elections on Aug. 16, there are many Asian candidates who are aiming to represent the different communities in the Greater Seattle area. Listed below are some of the Asian American candidates that you may want to keep an eye on. Read the full story

It’s with more than a tinge of sadness that we bid farewell to University of Washington (UW) Provost Phyllis Wise. It was announced on Wednesday, Aug. 3, that Wise is leaving the UW for a top position at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (UIUC). Read the full story

By Assunta Ng

U.S. Ambassador to China Gary Locke with his kids (from left) Madeline, Dylan, Emily, his wife, Mona, and U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton (Photo from Judd Lee)

Gary Locke’s political career for the last 30 years has offered nothing but excitement and historical milestones. Although he wasn’t the first Asian American legislator when he ran in 1982, he did beat an incumbent who had been in office for 12 became the first Asian American to run for and win the office of King County Executive, managing 39 cities in our state. After serving only two and a half years, he ran for governor. He won with 54 percent of the vote to become not only the first person of color as governor of Washington state, but the first Chinese American governor in the whole country and the first Asian American governor on the mainland. Read the full story