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The San Mateo County coroner has identified six of the seven people who were killed in the shooting incident that took place on Monday in Half Moon Bay.

Their names are as follows: Zhishen Liu, 73, of San Francisco; Marciano Martinez Jimenez, 50, of Moss Beach; Qizhong Cheng, 66, of Half Moon Bay; Aixiang Zhang, 74, of San Francisco; Jingzhi Lu, 64, of Half Moon Bay; and Yetao Bing, 43, whose residence was not known. The seventh victim has been tentatively identified, but the authorities are yet to release the name pending positive identification and next of kin notification.

While the coroner's office is working closely with other organizations, including the Chinese and Mexican consulates as well as the FBI, in order to make positive identifications and notify the next of kin of the victims, identification has proven to be a unique challenge as some of the lives lost were members of the migrant community.  

At a press conference held on Tuesday, San Mateo County Sheriff Christina Corpus said that the shooting incident is believed to be an act of workplace violence, and that there seems to be no other connection between the victims and the suspect. The suspect, Chunli Zhao, is scheduled to appear in court on Wednesday afternoon at the Hall of Justice in Redwood City. He has been charged with several felonies, including seven counts of murder.

• Asma Naeem, the chief curator of the Baltimore Museum of Art (BMA) since 2018 and interim co-director, will become the museum's director effective February 1, making her the first person of color to lead the institution which was founded in 1914 and has a collection of more than 97,000 objects and an annual operating budget of $23 million. Naeem, who was born in Karachi, Pakistan and raised in Baltimore, practiced law for almost 15 years before switching careers and finishing her Ph.D. in American art. Naeem had a central role in shaping and implementing the BMA's strategic plan, adopted in 2018, that placed social equity alongside artistic excellence as a core principle guiding the museum's mission, and has been at the forefront of efforts to acquire and exhibit work by underrepresented artists and to diversify its staff, board and audiences.

• AAPI history education expands in NYC: New York City announced on Tuesday that all public school students across the city will learn about Asian American history with the launch of a new curriculum. The new curriculum, called Hidden Voices: Asian American & Pacific Islanders (AAPI) and was previously a pilot program in 12 schools, will be available to all schools and grades by the end of the academic year. The AAPI history curriculum is part of the wider Hidden Voices effort which provides culturally responsible materials that allow educators to have their lessons reflect the diversity in their classroom and their city. The curriculum will be available to all schools by June and the city will invest in culturally responsive professional development training for educators and school leaders before using materials in class.

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• A new school holiday?: Assemblymember Phil Ting and City College of San Francisco Board of Trustees President Alan Wong announced a bill Tuesday morning that would give community colleges the option to make Lunar New Year a state holiday. The bill, AB 264, would give students the opportunity to celebrate Lunar New Year without missing class. Community colleges could come up with solutions like combining Lincoln’s and Washington’s birthdays into one holiday and adding Lunar New Year as another holiday. The bill has been introduced to the legislature and is waiting to be referred to committee. It has until September to pass through all the necessary processes in the Assembly and the Senate before it can be signed into law by the Governor.

• Chinese spy arrested: Ji Chaoqun, a Chinese national who came to the U.S. to study electrical engineering at the Illinois Institute of Technology in 2013 and later enlisted in the U.S. Army Reserves, was sentenced to eight years in prison on Wednesday for spying for the Chinese government by gathering information on engineers and scientists in the United States. He was arrested in 2018 and convicted last September of acting illegally as an agent of China’s Ministry of State Security and of making a material false statement to the U.S. Army. Ji was tasked with providing an intelligence officer with biographical information on individuals for potential recruitment as Chinese spies, the individuals included Chinese nationals who were working as engineers and scientists in the U.S., some of whom worked for American defense contractors. Ji's spying was part of an effort by Chinese intelligence to obtain access to advanced aerospace and satellite technologies being developed by U.S. companies.

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• India’s architectural icon: Balkrishna Doshi, one of India’s most celebrated architects, died on Tuesday at the age of 95. Doshi was India’s only recipient of the Pritzker Prize, a Nobel Peace Prize equivalent in the architecture industry. He was a champion for modernism, public architecture and low-cost housing for his country. He has hundreds of projects to his name, but The Aranya Low Cost Housing development in Indore is a standout. It offered 65,000 affordable residences to over 80,000 people. In a statement from the Pritzker Prize, they said, “Doshi was instrumental in shaping the discourse of architecture throughout India and internationally since the 1950s. Influenced by 20th-century masters, Le Corbusier and Louis Kahn, he explored the relationships between fundamental needs of human life, connectivity to self and culture, and social traditions. Through his ethical and personal approach to the built environment, he touched humanity in every socio-economic class of his native country."     

• “Kiff” and Kimiko: Disney Branded Television has announced the premiere date for “Kiff,” a new animated buddy-comedy series starring Kimiko Glenn in the titular role. Glenn, best known for her role as Brook Soso in Netflix’s “Orange Is the New Black,” will voice Kiff, an optimistic squirrel. The upcoming series follows Kiff and her bunny best friend Barry, voiced by H Michael Croner, as they navigate school, relationships and their strange community in Table Town, a world where animals and magical eccentricities coexist. Some notable Asian American actors round out the “Kiff” cast as recurring characters: “Steven Universe” alum Deedee Magno Hall voices Kiff’s teacher, Miss Deer Teacher; “Loki” star Eugene Cordero pulls double duty as Kiff’s neighbor, The Pone, and the school secretary, Secretary Prince; “Looney Tunes” actor Eric Bauza voices both TV producer Roy Fox and Kiff’s classmate Reggie; and “Superstore” star Nichole Sakura will voice Barry’s sister, Terri Buns. “Kiff” will premiere on Mar. 10 on Disney Channel at 8:00 p.m. EST/PST and on Mar. 15 on Disney Plus.

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• “Top Chef” goes global: Reality competition TV series “Top Chef” has dropped its first trailer and revealed its cast for its special 20th season. The Emmy-winning Bravo series is going international, taking place entirely in Europe for the first time ever. The upcoming season will bring together 16 all-star chefs from across the original U.S. series and its multiple international versions, including France, Canada, Italy and Brazil. Several chefs of Asian descent will compete in the upcoming season including Chinese Canadian Nicole Gomes, Asian Australian Buddha Lo, and Thai chef May Phattanant Thongthong, among others.    

• The Pechanga Band of Indians has donated $100,000 to the Monterey Park Lunar New Year Victims Fund.
   
• BLACKPINK’s Lisa has now set three New Guinness World Records.  
   
• Japan is now dishing out whale sashimi from vending machines. 
   
• A Filipino bride has gone viral for walking down the aisle with a bouquet of onions. 
   
• Simon Kim of Michelin-starred Korean steakhouse Cote in New York is expanding with a three-story restaurant concept.   

GoFundMe: Asian Americans Advancing Justice Southern California (AJSOCAL), in partnership with The Asian American Foundation (TAAF), Asian Pacific Community Fund (APCF), Stop AAPI Hate, Gold House, Stand with Asian Americans and Chinatown Service Center, has organized a GoFundMe page for the benefit of the victims. As of this writing, the campaign has raised over $359,000.

Mymy Nhan’s GoFundMe: Individual page for Mymy Nhan’s funeral funds. 

Xiujuan Yu’s GoFundMe: Individual page for Xiujuan Yu’s funeral funds.  

Ming Wei Ma’s GoFundMe: Individual page for Ming Wei Ma’s funeral funds. 

Memorial and resource center: A memorial honoring the lives lost and survivors has been established at Monterey Park City Hall located on 320 W. Newmark Avenue. A resource center is open at the Langley Senior Citizen Center in Monterey Park.  

Asian Mental Health Collective: A list of mental health and other great resources. 

Yellow Chair Collective Therapy Sessions: Yellow Chair Collective are offering six free trauma-informed therapy sessions available in English, Mandarin Chinese and Korean. 

Grief circle: Hate Is A Virus will host an online AAPI community grief circle on Thursday, Jan. 26 at 6:00 p.m. PT. Registration link is here.