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VOL 40 NO 22 MAY 29 – JUNE 4, 2021
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Dow Constantine A helping hand visits ID, vows to for India’s most continue support vulnerable
see CONSTANTINE on 11
see INDIA on 12
Photo by Tony Au
King County Executive Dow Constantine met with community leaders and spoke to their concerns about homelessness and
For the first time since April, graphs tracking Covid-19 cases in India are starting to dip. Figures reported on May 25 are still alarmingly high—26,948,874 Covid-19 cases and 307,231 deaths. If you have an Indian colleague, neighbor, or friend, chances are they have lost a loved one or had to helplessly wait for news as someone close battles the illness back home. And yet, theirs are the families with agency. Debadutta Dash, secretary
Dow Constantine met with community members and leaders in the Chinatown-International District on May 23.
By Mahlon Meyer NORTHWEST ASIAN WEEKLY During a visit to the ChinatownInternational District (ID) on May 21,
AAPI Heritage Month Local, state, and community leaders share their thoughts on the importance of celebrating AAPI Heritage Month, especially in this time of anti-Asian hate, bias, and violence.
“AAPI Heritage Month is an opportunity to celebrate our vibrant and diverse cultures and to educate our whole society about us. It is also an opportunity to stand together against hate crimes—they are a poison in our civil society by making whole communities feel unwelcome. Nobody who calls Washington home should live in fear because of who they are, how they are perceived, or what part of the world they or their families came from.” — State Sen. Manka Dhingra see API on 12
Feds: Interstate burglary ring targeted Asian homeowners NEWARK, N.J. (AP) — Federal prosecutors in New Jersey announced charges on May 25 against eight people who allegedly ran a coordinated, multi-state residential burglary ring that targeted people of Asian descent. The group gained information on potential victims by burglarizing their cars and, in some cases, placing makeshift tracking in the vehicles, according to the U.S. attorney’s office. Once targeted, the homes often were broken into through unsecured, second-floor windows. The burglaries occurred in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, New York, and Delaware. The group allegedly targeted business owners, typically
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of Asian family-owned restaurants. In one burglary, about $500,000 in cash was stolen, according to a criminal complaint. According to the complaint, authorities used a cellphone dropped by one of the burglars at a home in Newark, Delaware, and surveillance video of a Dodge Durango at a home in Eatontown, New Jersey, several months later to track some of the burglars to a home in Elizabeth, New Jersey. In March 2019, authorities followed three men from the see BURGLARY on 11
Photo provided by Debadutta Dash
By Janice Nesamani NORTHWEST ASIAN WEEKLY
Sukarya’s field team spreads Covid-19 awareness in the slums of Gurugram, India under its Urban Slum Health Action program.
Health department director Anthony Chen attacked
Dr. Anthony Chen
“Violence is a public health concern,” wrote Dr. Anthony Chen, director of health of Tacoma-Pierce County Health Department, see CHEN on 10
THE INSIDE STORY VOICES panel asks: What lies ahead for APIs on the screen? 6 Overcoming a history of racism and misogyny 7
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