By Gayle Gupit Mayor NORTHWEST ASIAN WEEKLY Waiting anxiously at the hospital lobby of Swedish Issaquah, Beija Flor clutches a yellow sign with the handwritten words “BEST DAD EVER!” Michael Flor finally emerges after a record-breaking 62 days in the hospital fighting COVID-19. He reunites with his wife, Elisa Del Rosario, and daughter Beija as […]
Seattle Chamber of Commerce wields influence for small businesses
By Mahlon Meyer Northwest Asian Weekly The Seattle Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce scored a big win for local small businesses during a time of crisis. Its biggest victory was engaging with the Washington state Congressional delegation to ensure that the need for extending the Payroll Protection Program (PPP) was fully understood. As part of its […]
Recipe for survival: What businesses are doing during the pandemic
By Ruth Bayang Northwest Asian Weekly Only one in five restaurant owners say they are confident that they will be able to keep their businesses running until normal operations resume. That’s according to the results of a recent James Beard Foundation (JBF) survey. Independent operators, on average, have laid off 91% of their hourly workforce […]
First Sikh woman to graduate from West Point
Second Lt. Anmol Narang made history on June 14—becoming the first Sikh woman to graduate from the United States Military Academy at West Point. “I am humbled that in reaching this goal, I am showing other Sikh Americans that any career path is possible for anyone willing to rise to the challenge,” Narang said in […]
Apolo Ohno thanks parents, teachers at PTA virtual meeting
Olympic medalist and Hall of Famer Apolo Ohno surprised a group of Parent Teacher Association (PTA) members in the Northshore School District at their end-of-year virtual meeting on May 19. Ohno expressed his heartfelt thanks to parents, teachers, staff, students, and community members for their teamwork during the closures. Drawing on his experiences as an […]
$25K raised for Suginoko Preschool
A GoFundMe campaign has reached its goal of raising $25,000 to help Suginoko Preschool in Bellevue. The school, a nonprofit organization that provides early childhood education to Japanese-speaking children, was closed in March due to the pandemic. Like so many other early education programs, the preschool has struggled during the pandemic to cover its bills. […]
Seattle Japanese Garden celebrates 60 years
June 5 marked the 60th anniversary of the opening of the Seattle Japanese Garden. In Japan, the 60th year of life is called “kanreki” and a particularly meaningful part of the kanreki season is the launch of a partnership with the Green Legacy Hiroshima (GLH) Initiative. The GLH is a nonprofit from Hiroshima that propagates […]
Central District Community Preservation Development Authority
Gov. Jay Inslee signed a bill last month to form a Central District Community Preservation Development Authority (CD-CPDA). Rep. Sharon Tomiko Santos was the prime sponsor of HB 1918. The purpose of the CD-CPDA is to promote self-sufficiency of African descendants of the U.S. enslaved and other disenfranchised people, through the development of economic pathways […]
Chinatown-International District restaurants reopen for dine-in service
King County was approved to move to a modified Phase 1 and will now allow restaurants to begin opening indoor seating at 25% of normal capacity. Restaurant owners in the Chinatown-International District tell us it has been a challenge to stay open every day, since they have had to cut down on staff. Also, most […]
IN MEMORY OF …: S. Kenneth Pai (1935-2020)
On Monday, May 25, 2020, S. Kenneth Pai, loving husband, father, and grandfather, passed away—one week before his 85th birthday. Ken married Julie Li in 1968, and raised two children, Ayesha and Derek. He received his Master’s in Urban Planning from Virginia Tech in 1964, and retired in 2001 as Director of International Marketing for […]