Jay Inslee with Kelly Wieker (front left), Unjin Lee (front center), and Joby Shimoura (right) (Photo by Jaime Smith)

Though Gov. Jay Inslee has yet to make an appointment to his Cabinet, Asian and Pacific Americans will already have a part in his administration. Joby Shimomura, Kelly Wicker, Kirstan Arestad, and Stacey Tichenor all currently hold positions working for the governor. Shimomura, Inslee’s former campaign manager and congressional office staff member, has been brought on as a Senior Adviser, with a salary of $140,650. Kelly Wicker, who was Inslee’s deputy campaign manager and also worked in the office of former Governors  Chris Gregoire and Gary Locke, will be Director of Internal Affairs, with a salary of $126,070. Arestad, who has worked in the capital with the Department of Transportation and Office of Fiscal Management, is Inslee’s new Deputy Director of Legislative Affairs and Policy, with a salary of $100,880. Unjin Lee, who is the Progam Director of the Institute for a Democratic Future, will be the Executive Aide to the Director of Internal Affairs with a salary of $50,000. Stacey Tichenor will be the Governor’s Executive Scheduler with a salary of $67,296. (end)

Eng with family and friends at the celebration

Tuck Eng celebrated his 79th birthday on Oct. 7, 2012 at the Maple Greens Golf Club with over 130 relatives, close friends, and associates attending.   Read the full story

The Seattle chapter of the Asian American Journalist Association appointed Mai Hoang as Chapter President and Tiffany Wan as Vice President of events. This action follows a 60-day nomination period and fills two vacancies on the five-person board. Read the full story

Paull Shin (left) and Linh Thai

King County appointed a Vietnamese-speaking representative to its Citizens’ Elections Oversight Committee last week, selecting Linh Thai, Community Liaison of Congressman Adam Smith’s office, to fill the role. A naturalized citizen, Thai will be serving on the committee until December 2017. Read the full story

By Tran Van Minh
The Associated Press

HANOI, Vietnam (AP) — Japan’s prime minister promised closer security and economic ties with Vietnam on Wednesday, bolstering an alliance that shares concerns over rising Chinese territorial assertiveness in regional waters. Read the full story

By Eric Talmadge
The Associated Press

TOKYO, Japan (AP) — Japan says it may fire warning shots to keep foreign aircraft from violating its airspace in the latest verbal blast between Tokyo and Beijing that raises concerns that a dispute over hotly contested islands could spin out of control. Read the full story

By Josh Lederman
The Associated Press

WASHINGTON, D.C. (AP) — Deflecting criticism about a perceived lack of diversity in his second-term Cabinet, President Barack Obama on Monday, Jan. 14 urged Americans not to rush to judgment about who he will appoint to replace departing members of his team. Read the full story

By Jonathan J. Cooper
THE Associated Press

SALEM, Ore. (AP) — Oregon will issue driver’s licenses to illegal immigrants accepted into a new federal program that delays deportation for some young people brought illegally to the United States as children, officials said Wednesday, Jan. 16. Read the full story

By Jason Cruz
Northwest Asian Weekly

Happy New Year! Welcome to another edition of The Layup Drill. While we are going to look at a wide spectrum of sports this month, one late-breaking story required that I rewrite the column. Thank you, Manti Te’o. Read the full story

Son Clifford Eng holding his father’s picture.

Seattle paid its respects to community leader Wai Chow Eng last Saturday, Jan. 19, at a service that turned out to be a Chinatown affair. Over 300 people attended to say goodbye to the man who brought Chinese barbecue to Seattle, helped revitalize Chinatown, and loved and cared for his family his entire life. Read the full story

The hours of the International District–Chinatown branch of the Seattle Public Library have been extended in 2013. The library will now be open Mondays and Tuesdays from 1 p.m.–8 p.m.; Wednesdays, Thursdays, and Fridays from 11 a.m.–6 p.m.; and Sundays from 1 p.m.–5 p.m. Read the full story

Applications are now open for the Women’s Sports Foundation’s 2013 Rusty Kanokogi Fund for the Advancement of U.S. Judo. Read the full story

By Assunta Ng

The newly sworn-in elected officials (Photo by George Liu/NWAW)

What inspired me to go to Gov. Jay Inslee’s inauguration ball on Jan. 16, even though I was sick? Gratitude. Read the full story

By Charles Lam
Northwest Asian Weekly

Image by Han Bui/NWAW

A lawsuit has been brought against the Korean-language tour bus group, bus driver, and company president involved in the tour bus accident in Oregon last December that left nine dead and 29 injured. Read the full story

By Charles Lam
Northwest Asian Weekly

The newly-printed Beacon logo (Photo by Charles Lam/NWAW)

Two years ago, the space at 664 South King Street was a vacant room on the ground floor of the Milwaukee Hotel, Read the full story

By Nirmala George
Associated Press

The Delhi case provoked a flurry of protests across India. (Photo by Nilanjana Roy)

NEW DELHI, India (AP) — Legal proceedings in the fatal gang-rape attack on a student in India’s capital began Monday, Jan. 21, in a fast-track court for crimes against women that has stirred debate over how best to deliver justice to rape victims. Read the full story