Hello, everyone!  

The kirpan is a religious article in the Sikh faith, but it got one student in trouble around two months ago when UNC arrested them for carrying the ceremonial dagger on their persons. UNC’s policy update will allow for Sikh students to carry the kirpan as long as the blade length is under three inches and “worn close to the body in a sheath at all times.”  
 

A statement signed by UNC Chancellor Sharon L. Gaber and Chief Diversity Officer Brandon L. Wolfe said, “Over the past several weeks, we have engaged in dialogue with representatives from the local and global Sikh communities about how we could modify University policies to honor the tenets of religious freedom while protecting the safety of our campus.”

• Sheng Thao is Oakland’s first Hmong mayor. Thao is the daughter of refugees who fled genocide in Laos. She grew up as one of ten children in public housing and was later homeless for a period of time while raising her son. She would eventually go to UC Berkeley and later represent Oakland Hills as a council member in 2018.  

• State Street Club: Santa Barbara’s State Street is ever evolving, but The Filipino Community Association of Santa Barbara has remained an anchor and gathering space for the Filipino community since the 1950s. The community space is known as “The Club” and has been owned and operated by a board of local Filipinos, some who have held their positions for decades. 

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• Viva la Lee: Patricia Lee has become the first Black and Asian American woman to serve on the Nevada Supreme Court. Lee was born in Korea to a Korean mother and Black military father. She earned a dual degree in psychology and communications from the University of Southern California and later earned her law degree from George Washington University Law School.

• Welding Workshop Woes: Sparks from what is believed to be a welding incident has caused a fire that killed 38 people in China’s Henan province. The incident occurred at Kaixinda, an industrial chemical company. More than 250 firefighters were deployed and it took them over three hours to extinguish the fire.     

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• Fugitive Free No More: Voni Chen, a fugitive from federal authorities for two decades, appeared in court in Oakland for the first time following extradition from Singapore. Chen, now 57, was initially indicted in 2000 over mail fraud charges.  

• Weaving an artful narrative: Artist Bhen Alan’s exhibit “In Hidden and Hiding (Tago ng Tago)” at the 808 Gallery at Boston University is an exploration of the Filipino immigrant experience. He creates large woven textiles from material like coconut leaves, bamboo, flowers, coins and more. His work is flamboyant and colorful, with every element representing moments in his life or an aspect of his Filipino culture.  

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• Bruce Lee cause of death?: A new study from kidney specialists in Spain suggests that the cause of Bruce Lee’s death may have been his “kidney’s inability to excrete excess water.” The paper concludes, “We hypothesize that Bruce Lee died from a specific form of kidney dysfunction: the inability to excrete enough water to maintain water homeostasis. This may lead to hyponatremia, cerebral oedema and death within hours if excess water intake is not matched by water excretion in urine.”

• Two native Hawaiian men were found guilty of a federal hate crime for beating up a white man eight years ago.  
   
• Sean Turnell, a former adviser to deposed Myanmar leader Aung San Suu Kyi, recounts his days in Myanmar prison. For 650 days, he ate out of a bucket. 
   
• A Japanese cop threatened to shoot a wild boar if it came closer to him. The boar listened and turned away. 
   
• Korea says China has partially lifted a ban on their films with the showing of “Hotel by the River.” 
   
• A study has found new information about the food habits of civilizations from 5,500 years ago in Mesopotamia in modern-day Iraq.