PRSRT STD U.S. Postage Paid Permit No. 746 Seattle, WA
VOL 41 NO 41 OCTOBER 8 – OCTOBER 14, 2022
FREE 40 YEARS YOUR VOICE
Remembering
Tommy Quan
Tai Tung patriarch 1933-2022
Court denies new trial in death of Wangsheng Leng
see QUAN on 12
see LENG on 15
Tommy Quan cooked at Tai Tung’s kitchen
By Assunta Ng NORTHWEST ASIAN WEEKLY Tommy Quan, owner of Tai Tung Restaurant, died before his 89th birthday on Sept. 23. The cause of his death
Homeless shelter expansion slowed By Mahlon Meyer NORTHWEST ASIAN WEEKLY
Photo provided by Mahlon Meyer
There is no privacy inside ward F. The stalls are wide open with no doors or screens. Even the tiny dressers are made of transparent plastic. So as we pass, we see not only cots and blankets, but the actual belongings inside the drawers—coffee creamer in plastic bottles, for instance. This vision of the future of homelessness, to the uninitiated, can seem frightening. Granted, compared to almost any other shelter, the converted hospital ward is luxurious. On a tour of the homeless shelter at the edge of the Chinatown-International District (CID) this week, reporters saw a vast, echoing cavern see EXPANSION on 14 The county will provide about 50 pallet homes like these for the unhoused.
THE INSIDE STORY
■
AT THE MOVIES ‘Bros’: Finally, a romcom with an LGBTQ+ lens 8
AT THE MOVIES “Don’t Worry Darling” is a surprise 9
ON THE SHELF Possession gone wrong 10
A photo of Wangshen Leng taken in downtown Issaquah.
Expanded homeless shelter said to violate law By Mahlon Meyer NORTHWEST ASIAN WEEKLY The expanded homeless shelter near the Chinatown-Inter national District (CID) has not been through a State Environmental Policy Act (SEPA) review, making it illegal, according to three people with knowledge of the site and the required process. SEPA mandates an evaluation of community impacts, necessary mitigations, and provides opportunities for the public to potentially overturn the project. Two of the people spoke to the Northwest Asian Weekly on the condition of anonymity to protect themselves from retaliation as whistleblowers. The third is a member of the CID Public Safety Council. According to all three, although the site is primarily a county project, it
Photo provided by LIHI
Photo provided by Lillian Woo
was “old age,” said his brother, Harry Chan. A popular host and flamboyant character, Quan knew how to entertain his
A federal court denied the motion for a new trial on behalf of the estate of a 66-year-old Issaquah man that suffered a broken neck at the hands of Issaquah Police Department (IPD) when they responded to an alleged domestic dispute call at his home in 2018. In a civil trial in June 2022, a jury decided that officers Michael Lucht and Kylen Whittom did not use excessive force on Wangsheng Leng. “Obviously, we disagree and are heartbroken by the jury’s verdict in the case; it is a miscarriage of justice,” stated David B. Owens, one of the attorneys for the family. “No words can adequately describe the pain that the death of Wangsheng Leng has caused this family, now even more painful by the result of this trial. The family appreciates privacy in these difficult times.”
Photo courtesy of Loevy & Loevy Attorneys at Law
By Jason Cruz NORTHWEST ASIAN WEEKLY
Diagram of location of shelters in one mile radius around CID
receives funding from the City of Seattle for operations while the City’s Department of Construction and Inspections (SDCI) has oversight over its permitting, meaning that there are countless ways the City could stop it from opening. In an email, the director of media relations and permit coordination for the SDCI, Bryan Stevens, confirmed that the City
had oversight over the site. “Since this property is within the Seattle city limits, any new proposal will be subject to Seattle’s local regulations and permitting requirements,” he wrote. Stevens also acknowledged that a SEPA review had not been completed. see VIOLATE LAW on 11
412 Maynard Ave. S., Seattle, WA 98104 • t. 206.223.5559 • f. 206.223.0626 • editor@nwasianweekly.com • ads@nwasianweekly.com • www.nwasianweekly.com