The Robert Chinn Foundation announced on Nov. 19 their appointment of Maki Hsieh as its first Chief Executive Officer. Hsieh will oversee all aspects of the foundation’s operations and community support, and direct the Asian Hall of Fame program. Selected from a local and national search of over 100 candidates, Hsieh was the first Asian […]
Microsoft’s Harry Shum is leaving
Microsoft said on Nov. 13 that Harry Shum, the executive vice president in charge of its artificial intelligence and research group, is leaving the company in early 2020. Kevin Scott, the company’s Chief Technology Officer and formerly a LinkedIn executive, is taking on Shum’s responsibilities in addition to his own. It’s not clear what Shum […]
TAPSgiving
Members of Taiwanese American Professionals – Seattle (TAP-SEA) held their annual TAPSgiving on Nov. 10 — a pre-Thanksgiving celebration. Approximately 50 attendees enjoyed turkey, chicken, pasta, and other delicious foods at the Bellevue Towers.
Zhao Shuzen Oscar buzz
Chinese star Zhao Shuzhen is earning Oscar buzz for her work as the matriarch Nai Nai in “The Farewell” — she plays a grandmother with a terminal cancer diagnosis of which she is unaware, and her family members try to keep her from learning about it. “I didn’t know it was such a phenomenon!” the […]
Portland elects first Asian City Councilmember
Voters in Portland, Maine elected the first Asian American to serve on the City Council. Tae Chong, 50, emigrated in 1976 from South Korea with his two older brothers and his parents. “My parents never thought the third son would run for City Council and be elected. And so my father—I’ve only seen my father […]
California governor pardons three in bid to block deportations
By DON THOMPSON Associated Press SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — California Gov. Gavin Newsom announced on Nov. 15 that he is pardoning three men who separately committed crimes when they were each 19 years old and now are attempting to avoid being deported to Cambodia or Vietnam. It’s the latest in a series of similar actions […]
Real estate heiress Li acquitted of murder
By JANIE HAR Associated Press SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — A San Francisco Bay Area real estate heiress who was under house arrest on $35 million bail for more than two years plans to reconnect with her children and visit family in China after a jury acquitted her of killing the father of her kids, her […]
Deadly mass shooting leaves California Hmong community in shock
By TERENCE CHEA and OLGA R. RODRIGUEZ The Associated Press FRESNO — A close-knit Hmong community was in shock after gunmen burst into a California backyard gathering and shot 10 men, killing four. “We are right now just trying to figure out what to do, what are the next steps. How do we heal, how […]
ABC cancels ‘Fresh Off the Boat,’ sets finale for February
By LYNN ELBER AP Television Writer LOS ANGELES (AP) — ABC’s “Fresh Off the Boat,’’ the first network TV comedy in two decades to focus on an Asian American family, is coming to an end after six seasons. The network said on Nov. 8 that the sitcom starring Randall Park and Constance Wu will wrap […]
Sen. Mazie Hirono of Hawaii is writing memoir, due in 2021
NEW YORK (AP) — Sen. Mazie Hirono of Hawaii, the Senate’s first Asian American woman and only current immigrant, is working on a memoir. Viking announced on Nov. 12 that the book, currently untitled, will come out in 2021. Hirono, 72, will write about emigrating at age 8 to the United States after her mother […]