By Irfan Shariff Northwest Asian Weekly The King County Department of Assessment (Assessor’s Office) has started mailing real estate valuations that will help set what taxes you pay on your property in 2015. It will continue to mail to the 86 different residential areas through October. Last year, 76 areas saw an increase in valuation, […]
Beer jazzes up the koto
By Irfan Shariff Northwest Asian Weekly Chris Kenji Beer does not play the koto. He does, however, know the sound of the 13-stringed national instrument of Japan. The koto is a zither, or a musical instrument with strings stretched across a flat, wooden body. It can measure almost six feet in length and is played […]
Diane Sugimura: 35 years of planning for Seattle
By Irfan Shariff Northwest Asian Weekly One could consider Diane Sugimura as the woman behind Seattle’s skyline. She is the city’s director of planning and development and leads the 300-plus employees of the city’s department. Last year, she celebrated over 35 years of service to the city.
Burn List: Jazz band with a different beat
By Irfan Shariff Northwest Asian Weekly Chris Icasiano has been playing the drums since he was 8 years old. He would practice for hours each day, playing along to the classics and favorites of his parents, such as the Beatles, Bing Crosby, and Chicago.
“Impenetrable” dissects beauty
By Irfan Shariff Northwest Asian Weekly In SIS Productions’ West Coast premiere of Chicago playwright Mia McCullough’s “Impenetrable,” we are forced to examine the notion of feminine beauty. We come to the conclusion that society is obsessed with beauty, whether “big is beautiful,” “beauty is relative,” or that “beauty is burdensome.” We all have our […]
Restaurateur shares how he survived Killing Fields in memoir
By Irfan Shariff Northwest Asian Weekly Sam (Seng) Ung and Thomas McElroy have known each other for 15 years. They were neighbors in the same South Seattle neighborhood. Ung introduced himself to McElroy’s dog in Chinese. McElroy knew then, as his dog listened patiently to Ung, that this would be a long-lasting friendship.
EDI helps minorities climb to the top of the ladder
“Take a look at the workforce of the future. In 2012, 75 percent of the workforce will be people of color and women,” said Starr Macdonald
Activist Vera Ing tackles new challenge, a memoir
Some people may remember Vera Ing from the 1980s when she wrote a weekly column, “Dim Sum: Bits of the Asian American Dream,” for Northwest Asian Weekly.
Funny action-man Jackie Chan ably dives headfirst into gritty gangster drama
By Irfan Shariff NORTHWEST ASIAN WEEKLY International action film star Jackie Chan wants to prove that he can do more than just stunts. With the release of “Shinjuku Incident,” Jackie Chan proves he has a dark side. From acclaimed Hong Kong director Derek Yee, “Shinjuku Incident” takes Chan’s character, Nick (a.k.a. Steelhead), and smuggles him […]
Skateboard kid becomes a techie, helps design trucks
The Lakota Middle School student, of Filipino and Nigerian ancestry, has been skateboarding for eight years. As he became more skilled, he noticed that most skateboards don’t offer the proper resistance in performing intense feats that he and his friends are capable of.