Hello, everyone! 

The Washington State senate unanimously passed a bill on Wednesday marking January as Americans of Chinese Descent History Month.

The bill encourages school districts to celebrate the month and participate in appropriate activities to mark the occasion. It does not impact changes in school curriculum and aims to honor “the lives, history, achievements, and contributions of Americans of Chinese descent.” The bill will move to referral to a House committee and be subject to a public hearing. It successfully moved through the Senate last year, but the House of Representatives ran out of time to vote on it.  

January was chosen for its close proximity to Lunar New Year. Linda Yang with Washington Asians for Equity said about the bill, “It is long overdue to establish Americans of Chinese Descent History Month. The designated month must be meaningful to Chinese Americans so that the community will embrace it every year. No other month fits better than January.”

• Wife and husband duo Melissa Wang and Leming Lin operate three restaurants on State Street in Utah. Wang, who moved to the U.S. from China, was homesick. Lin immigrated to Utah from China and worked in his family’s restaurant Ichiban Sushi & Asian Grill. The couple now owns Ichiban, Royal Hot Pot and Melissa’s Crepes and Coffee House. Wang says, “This has become a passion for me. I love seeing the customers happy and enjoying the food. It is harder work than I thought, but I like sharing our culture.”

• Seattle caste discrimination: District 3 Seattle city council member Kshama Sawant is proposing a ban on caste-based discrimination in Seattle workplaces. Currently, the city’s anti-discrimination law does not protect those who face harassment or mistreatment based on their caste while it does protect those facing discrimination based on gender, race, or age. Over 150,000 South Asians live in Washington, and the city’s only Indian American council member says the proposed policy will protect those of South Asian descent from discrimination by those who follow the caste system. If the ordinance is adopted in Seattle, it would be the first city in the U.S. to prohibit caste-based discrimination.

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• Texas AAPI caucus: State Representatives Gene Wu, Salman Bhojani, and Suleman Lalani have announced plans to create the Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) Legislative Caucus. The caucus will be co-chaired by Wu (D-Houston) and Angie Chen Button (R-Richardson) and include Bhojani (D-Euless), Lalani (D-Sugar Land), Hubert Vo (D-Houston), and Jacey Jetton (R-Katy). The caucus is expected to register with the Texas Ethics Commission soon. Public education and access to healthcare are among the top priorities identified by the caucus.

• Sushi etiquette: Japan's popular revolving sushi chain, Sushiro, is facing a police investigation after customers posted video clips of themselves interfering with food and playing pranks at its restaurants. The incidents, which have been dubbed as "sushi terrorism," caused shares to drop nearly 5% in the company and prompted operators to rethink their serving methods. Sushiro has replaced all of the soy sauce bottles at the restaurant and stopped placing condiments and utensils on each table. Two other chains, Hama Sushi and Kura Sushi, plan to take legal action and install cameras to monitor customers.

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• Chinese balloon: The U.S. military is monitoring a Chinese high-altitude surveillance balloon that entered U.S. airspace, according to defense officials. A senior defense official stated that the balloon has been seen over the northern U.S. in the past few days and is traveling at a high altitude, with no physical or military threat to people on the ground. The official stated that the military has advised President Biden not to shoot it down due to fear of debris impacting people on the ground. However, the U.S. is taking steps to protect against foreign intelligence collection of sensitive information.

• Netflix’s new Korean thriller: Netflix has released the first trailer and a release date for “Kill Boksoon,” which stars South Korean actor Jeon Do-yeon. Jeon plays Gil, a professional assassin and single mother trying to balance her life as a killer while raising her teenage daughter. The film is directed by Byung Sung-hyun, who is known for previous works such as 2017’s “The Merciless” and 2022’s “Kingmaker.” It will have its world premiere later this month during the Berlin International Film Festival (Berlinale) Special section. “Kill Boksoon” will be available for international viewing on Netflix on Mar. 31.

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• 8TURN debut: K-pop boy band 8TURN made its debut on Monday with the release of its first EP "8Turnrise" and the lead single "TIC TAC." The eight members of the group, Jaeyun, Kyungmin, Myungho, Minho, Yoonsung, Haemin, Yungyu, and Seungheon, performed the music video and stage performance for the single and the B-side track "WE" at the Ilchi Art Hall in Gangnam District in Seoul. The band was formed as the first male act of MNH Entertainment and is being produced by the company's chief, Lee Ju-seop. The EP also includes the songs “We,” “Wonder,” “Say My Name” and “Heartache.”

• Taiwan is the freest country in Asia, according to the 2022 Human Freedom Index (HFI).
   
• Fox drama series “The Cleaning Lady” has been renewed for a third season.
   
• Competitive Pokémon player Wolfe Glick has taken Pokémon fandom to a whole new level by creating a real-life Pokémon gym in New York City.
   
• A trailer for the upcoming film “Sailor Moon Cosmos” – which is being billed as the “final chapter of Sailor Moon” – has recently been released.
   
• Vanessa Hudgens is engaged to pro baseball player Cole Tucker.

GoFundMe Monterey Park: 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 $904,000. 

GoFundMe Half Moon Bay: The GoFundMe for the victims and surviving families of the Half Moon Bay Mass shooting. The funds are organized by several Bay Area organizations and others including Stop AAPI Hate, The Asian American Foundation, Hate Is A Virus, and Stand with Asian Americans. It has over $16,000 raised at the time of writing.  

GoFundMe for Tyre Nichols Memorial Fund: The memorial funds for Tyre Nichols. It has raised over 1 million at the time of writing. 

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.  

Asian Americans Advancing Justice Southern California hotline: Confidential hotline available in seven Asian languages.