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Los Angeles Times •

Can a play solve the mystery of the Monterey Park mass shooter? Survivors aren’t sure

The search for answers played out in a Rowland Heights home, in a room the owners use for karaoke. On this day, it was the stage for reenacting the worst mass shooting in modern Los Angeles County history.

Full-length mirrors covered a wall. Chinese lanterns hung from the ceiling. A disco ball reflected light on the tile floor below. And a middle-aged Asian man, head in hands, dispelled the mystery that hangs over Monterey Park to this day: why a 72-year-old would shoot 11 people to death, turn
Los Angeles Times •

Post-affirmative action, Asian American families are more stressed than ever about college admissions

El Segundo High School senior Sam Srikanth has applied to elite East Coast schools like Cornell and Duke and feels anxious about the intense competition.

The admissions consultant described what it takes to get into an elite college: Take 10 to 20 Advanced Placement courses. Create a “showstopper project.”

Asian American students need to be extremely strategic in how they present themselves, “to avoid anti-Asian discrimination,” the consultant, Sasha Chada of Ivy Scholars, said at the October
Los Angeles Times •

A night at the club where queer Asian Americans no longer feel like 'black sheep'

Andrew Ahn’s father once told him that there were “no gay people in Korea.”

Ahn was so afraid of his parents’ reaction if he came out to them that he had a backpack and a friend on standby in case he needed to leave.

In a culturally conservative community, where going to church and building a family were heavily emphasized, Ahn felt his gay identity kept him “from being able to participate in Korean culture.”

Then, he started frequenting GAMeBoi, a weekly Asian American gay party at West Holl
Los Angeles Times •

K-Pop isn’t the only hot ticket in Koreatown — how 'trot' is captivating immigrants

With other members of a fan club, she has spent six straight hours discussing her favorite singer — his latest appearance on a Korean variety show, the dolls of him they are purchasing from South Korea.

Last month, Kim was among the thousands of Korean Americans in matching turquoise blue sweatshirts at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood swooning over Lim, a superstar of “trot,” a genre of Korean pop music that hearkens to the Japanese colonial era and has a Sinatra-like crooner feel.

Lim, 31, loo
Los Angeles Times •

As a gang member, he killed a man. Now, he faces deportation to South Korea

After getting out of prison, Justin Chung told his story on podcasts and TikTok.

He knew he would face tough questions — that sharing about a graduation or family Thanksgiving would be punctuated by reminders of his horrible mistake.

“You took a life and the 14 years does not give the victim’s family any justice,” a TikTok user wrote.

Chung was brutally honest, admitting that it took him years to feel remorse. He wanted to share his complicated journey. And he was rallying support for another
Los Angeles Times •

Authorities identify 72-year-old man as suspected gunman in Lunar New Year mass shooting

Authorities have identified the man responsible for a deadly shooting inside a Monterey Park dance studio as Hemet resident Huu Can Tran, 72.

Tran died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound in a strip mall parking lot near Sepulveda and Hawthorne boulevards in Torrance, law enforcement sources said.

“We still are not clear on the motive,” Los Angeles County Sheriff Robert Luna said.

Two law enforcement sources said the suspect recently showed up to the Hemet police station saying his family was t
Los Angeles Times •

A battle over who is the true progressive defines L.A. congressional race

As the recording of a racist conversation between Los Angeles labor and political leaders plunged the city into a political crisis unlike any other, David Kim and Jimmy Gomez took different paths.

Gomez, an incumbent congressman, and former Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa in a room at Los Angeles Trade-Technical College, calling for unity.

Kim, an immigration and child dependency attorney running against Gomez, stood in a crowd of protesters in front of City Hall. With profanity, he decried how spe
Los Angeles Times •

How college football helped this 'parachute kid' understand America

Nine months after arriving in the U.S. from South Korea, I watched my first college football game.

I was 12 and living in a suburban house with a host family I barely knew.

On a small TV in my bedroom, I watched Rutgers upset Louisville. Coach Greg Schiano got drenched in Gatorade. Thousands stormed onto the field, dressed in scarlet and white.

The joy I witnessed that night was like nothing I had ever seen. From that moment, I was hooked.

As I navigated a new country without my parents, as
Los Angeles Times •

Churchgoers tackled, hogtied gunman after deadly Laguna Woods church shooting

A gunman attacked a lunch banquet at a Taiwanese church in Laguna Woods, killing one person and wounding five others Sunday before congregants tackled him, hogtied him with an extension cord and grabbed his two weapons, authorities said.

“That group of churchgoers displayed what we believe is exceptional heroism and bravery,” Undersheriff Jeff Hallock said, later adding, “It’s safe to say that had they not intervened this situation could have been much worse.”

The violence left the south Orang
Los Angeles Times •

A tale of two Koreatowns: Hip spots thriving while older businesses struggle amid Omicron

On a recent Friday night, people clustered outside Quarters Korean BBQ, checking their phones or chatting as they braved the hourlong wait.

The restaurant, which occupies a stylish, modern space on 6th Street in Koreatown and serves fusion dishes such as Korean nachos as well as traditional Korean barbecue, is so popular that it has stopped accepting reservations.

An outdoor dining area is a nod to the COVID-19 pandemic. But even the Omicron surge has not diminished the crowds waiting to get i
Sacramento Bee •

Update: Leader of California’s largest union resigns amid tax fraud, embezzlement charges

The executive director of California’s largest labor union resigned after the state Attorney General’s Office this month charged her and her husband with multiple counts of tax fraud, embezzlement, perjury and failure to pay unemployment insurance taxes.

The office filed its charges against SEIU California Executive Director Alma Hernández and her husband, Jose Moscoso, on Oct. 4 in Sacramento Superior Court.
Sacramento Bee •

California is trying a $15 minimum wage. Is it time for $20 – or $0?

Conservatives call it a job killer. Liberals call it an anti-poverty measure.

However you describe it, a $15-an-hour minimum wage is coming to California. It will become a reality for the state’s bigger employers by next year.

California set out in 2016 to become the first state on a path to a $15-an-hour minimum wage, capping a major victory for unions and low-wage workers who began pushing for the law in 2012. The state’s minimum wage now stands at $13 or $14 an hour, depending on the size of the business.
Orange County Register •

How Kobe Bryant helped connect Asian Americans with both Asia and America

With limited English, 10-year-old James Kim broke the ice at lunch with his new classmates talking about Kobe Bryant and Shaquille O’Neal, and how they took the Los Angeles Lakers to the championships in 2001.

Now living in Long Beach, cheering for Bryant was how Anne Milo Shanahan’s family still connected with cousins back home in the Philippines.

And, watching the basketball legend run the court on television with her 90-year-old grandmother are special memories for Yvette Tung.
Orange County Register •

Ahmad Zahra, likely the country’s first openly LGBTQ Muslim city councilman, set to take office in Fullerton

Ahmad Zahra is not here to make history.

But he — a gay Muslim immigrant film producer from Syria — knows what his election to the Fullerton City Council means.

“It’s a pleasant surprise,” he said. “We’re maturing as a county.”

Election results still need to be finalized and certified, but if Zahra, 50, holds on to his substantial lead, it is believed he will be the country’s first ever openly LGBTQ Muslim city councilman, according to the political action committee LGBTQ Victory Fund. The gr
Journal & Courier •

Are stories like Lafayette's Ichiban common?

LAFAYETTE — It's easy to think Ichiban is just another example of ethnic restaurants having trouble with the health code.

Chinese restaurant Harbor City closed in 2016 after cockroaches and maggots were found on the floor. Another Chinese restaurant, Tasty Buffet, faced a hearing a few months ago because it had repeatedly stored food inappropriately.

A woman sued Agave Azul Authentic Mexican Restaurant in October because she believes its food had poisoned her and her daughter and eventually ki
Orange County Register •

Are Asian-American churches in Orange County slowly shifting their stance on LGBTQ relationships?

Just a single street separates Epic Church and InChrist Community Church, both in the same Fullerton neighborhood and both led by Asian-American ministers.

But when it comes to their stance on same-sex relationships, the two churches feel miles apart. One welcomes the LGBTQ community, the other views homosexuality as an affront.

The difference isn’t trivial. In a newsletter written earlier this year, the leader of InChrist Community Church urged his congregation to aggressively fight homosexua