Sunny Chanthanouvong

MINNEAPOLIS, MN (May 16, 2012) — Sunny Chanthanouvong is completing a year as a Policy Fellow at the University of Minnesota’s Humphrey School of Public Affairs. He was one of 35 individuals selected for the 2011-2012 program that will conclude next month.

Chanthanouvong and his family emigrated from Laos to Minneapolis in 1984. He is currently the executive director of the Lao Assistance Center of Minnesota, which responds to urgent resettlement needs of fellow Lao refugees in Minnesota and strives to enhance the quality of life of Minnesota’s Lao families.

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Stewart Ishimaru

WASHINGTON (April 30, 2012) — The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau announced that Stuart Ishimaru has been selected to head the newly established Office of Minority and Women Inclusion.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau established its Office of Minority and Women Inclusion in January 2012.  Mr. Ishimaru comes to the CFPB from the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.

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The first Hawai‘i Poet Laureate Steven KealohapauŒole Hong-Ming Wong presents his first official duty with a poem following Governor Neil Abercrombie’s proclamation. (Hawai‘i Governor’s Office photo)

HONOLULU ‹ Governor Neil Abercrombie on Thursday proclaimed award-winning slam poet Steven Kealohapau‘ole Hong-Ming Wong, better known by his pen name, “Kealoha” as Hawai‘i Poet Laureate.

Moments after being named the state’s official poet, Kealoha was asked by Governor Abercrombie to complete his first ceremonial duty under the new title by performing at the dedication of the Hawai‘i State Art Museum’s Sculpture Garden. Titled “Garden”, the spoken word performance complemented the occasion in both name and genre, as Kealoha has often chosen HiSAM as a venue.

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St. Paul, MN — Get Ready to Rummmmmbbbbbbllllllleeee. Hmong College Prep Academy will be hosting an evening of pro wrestling and family entertainment on Saturday, May 12^th.  The action will take place in the school’s gym and also feature live music and break dancing exhibitions.

HCPA Social Studies teacher Morgan McLaughlin is very excited about pro wrestling coming to HCPA.  “It’s going to be a great night of entertainment,” stated Mr. McLaughlin.  “We’re partnering with the American Wrestling Federation, a St. Paul-based group that is regularly seen on KSTC Channel 45 and puts on shows throughout the Midwest.  It should be a lot of fun.”

The event is being held as a fundraiser for a new HCPA study abroad program and the school’s Junior Committee. A silent auction featuring St. Paul Saints and Minnesota Lynx merchandise, autographed books and a number of area merchant gift certificates will take place. There will also be live music from HCPA junior Jasmine Xiong and a break dance exhibition from the school’s own Supermen Hip-Hop Dancers. Proceeds from the festivities will be used towards their senior class trip.

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St. Paul, MN—Hmong College Prep Academy will be hosting an evening of music and theater on May 11^th.

The school’s drama class, a mix of students in grades 9-12, will be presenting a set of 5 one-act plays—Duck, Dorothy & Alice, Post-it Notes, There Shall Be No Bottom (a bad play for worse actors…) and Words, Words, Words.  HCPA’s Middle School Choir is also on the entertainment docket and will be performing Guys and Dolls, Jr.—A Musical Review.  The Middle School Choir to also Perform.

By CARLOS GALLEGO
AAP staff writer 

MINNEAPOLIS (April 28, 2012) — A great value for the dollar was to be with a record-setting 20 bouts with Minnesota’s best MMA amateur and professional fighters give Japan their best in Extreme 33, a cage fighting night at the Target Center.

With 3,417 in attendance there was plenty to watch as regular fighters on the local fight scene mixed it up with new faces in both the amateur and professional ranks. In the end Japan came out ahead in international matches 2 to 1.

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BEIJING (May 3, 2012) — United States Ambassador to China Gary Locke spoke with media Thursday regarding the dissident Chen Guangcheng, who escaped custody to the U.S. Embassy and brokered a deal with the Chinese government to let he and his family apply for student status in New York where he would heal from torture but not make the United States home and never asked for asylum at the Embassy.

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WASHINGTON, D.C. — President Barack Obama on April 26, 2012 named the late Gordon Hirabayashi as one of 13 recipients of this year’s Presidential Medal of Freedom awards. It is the nation’s highest civilian honor presented to Hirabayashi, who passed away earlier this year on Jan. 2.

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Japan America Society of Minnesota presents its next Corporate Roundtable on Wednesday, May 16, from 8 a.m. at Gray Plant Mooty Mooty & Bennett, P.A., IDS Center, 80 S 8th St. Minneapolis, MN 55402.

Enhance your understanding of the Japanese market with the Japan America Society of Minnesota Corporate Roundtable, a program featuring speakers from the Board of Directors, corporate member companies and their colleagues from Japan.

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Chinary Ung

Cambodian-American composer Chinary Ung is set to highlight the Zeitgeist’s concert season with a special concert performances May 17-19, 7:30 p.m. and May 20, 2 p.m. at Studio Z, 275 E. 4th Street, Suite 200, St. Paul, MN 55101.

Ung will be present for the Zeitgeist world premiere of his major new chamber work Spiral XIV: “Nimitta”.

Ung’s music weaves together his Cambodian heritage, Western classical training and a powerful sense of purpose born of life’s challenges to create music that is profoundly moving and transformative. His singular approach to color, gesture, timbre and form results in a highly authentic music that sounds unlike anything else being created today.

Spiral XIV “Nimitta” incorporates vocalization, chant and Cambodian percussion instruments in addition to Zeitgeist’s unique instrumentation of two percussion, clarinet and piano.

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