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Grim stories, but hope at fundraiser for domestic violence BY GABRIELLE NOMURA gnomura@bellevuereporter.com
Microsoft executives, and even one of the Rolling Stones, have been customers here, some people don’t come in to buy – they come to marvel at the artifacts from ancient periods and dynasties. While Ming’s has been in its Bellevue location for 25 years, its roots are deeper than that. Russell and his wife originally had a small shop in the mid-’70s inside of Seattle Union Station. The couple moved to Issaquah in 1980, where they still live, and set up shop on Front Street. Finally, the business was relocated to Bellevue’s Main Street in the late ‘80s. At first, the couple sold western antiquities before falling in love with Asian design and artifacts in visits
Attendees raised $113,000 to help domestic violence victims at Eastside Domestic Violence Program’s (EDVP) “Hope Starts Here Breakfast” Tuesday morning. Emceed by Jean Enerson of King 5 News, the event featured guest speakers including King County Prosecuting Attorney Dan Satterberg as well as Attorney General Rob McKenna and his wife, Marilyn. McKenna drew a connection between domestic violence and human trafficking – an issue he’s passionate about. “Until around 30 years ago, we didn’t understand what domestic violence meant,” McKenna said. “It was called a domestic disturbance between two consenting adults.” Society has come a long way in its understanding of the problem, now recognizing the oppressive relationship between an abuser and a victim. One woman, Penny Arneson-Sweet, said she was able to move from victim to survivor through help from EDVP and the King County Prosecutor’s Office. Arneson-Sweet’s story was disturbing. Sexually abused by her stepfather as a child and then not believed by her mother, Arneson-Sweet would later marry a man who beat her and her children, and raped her oldest daughter from a previous marriage. The abuser was sentenced to 26 years in prison. “I’m here to be a voice for people who cannot speak for themselves,” Arneson-Sweet said. Sadly, her story is not all that uncommon, as evidenced by the harrowing, unedited phone conversations Satterberg played in his keynote presentation, including an abuser manipulating a victim on the phone from jail and a woman who managed to call 911 while she was being dragged into the woods to be beaten by her fiancé. Many women don’t cooperate with the prosecutor because they face isolation from family and friends, threats or lack of financial resources by leaving their abuser. Satterberg said despite being “domestic” it’s a type of violence that’s worse than gang members killing one another on the street. “Because where there was once love and hope of a future
[ more MING’S page 21 ]
[ more DOMESTIC VIOLENCE page 21 ]
Jim Russell, owner of Ming’s Asian Gallery, stands in his Bellevue business, located on Old Main Street, Sept. 9. Ming’s will be consolidating at its Seattle location Oct. 15. GABRIELLE NOMURA, Bellevue Reporter
Ming’s, a Bellevue mainstay leaving Down economy forcing relocation to Seattle BY GABRIELLE NOMURA gnomura@bellevuereporter.com
Jim Russell will miss Bellevue. From his neighbors at Monsoon East to his regular costumers, it’ll be hard to leave behind his storefront on Main Street. Russell’s business, Ming’s Asian Gallery, has been a staple here for the last 25 years. Now, he’s consolidating his business at his other location in Seattle’s International District. He’ll close his doors in Bellevue for the last time Oct. 15. “My son thinks I need to kick back a bit and relax,” said Russell, who typically spends seven days a week run-
ning Ming’s Seattle and Bellevue locations. “We had one lady who came in crying, and a number of people come in and say how much they’re going to miss us.” But Ming’s won’t be moving far, less than 20 minutes away in the old Seattle Uwajimaya building. Russell hopes the Eastside corporations, institutions and private individuals that have come to rely on him for eclectic, Asian antiquities will follow his business to its new home. Walking through Ming’s two floors in Bellevue is like walking through a colorful, mini-museum filled with antiquities as old as 5,000 years: ancient Buddha statues, wood block paintings, Chinese snuff boxes and kimonos from the 1930s to name a few. And, while Seahawks stars,
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