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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SAN FRANCISCO (April 25, 2012) — The Center for Lao Studies has received a three-year grant of $200,000 from the Henry Luce Foundation for core program development and sustainability support for the years 2012-2014.

Founded in 2006, CLS is a San Francisco-based nonprofit with the mission to advance knowledge and engagement in the field of Lao Studies through research, education, and information sharing.

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SAN FRANCISCO — Laotian Americans from across the country will converge and celebrate the year 2555, year of the Naga or Dragon at the 4th Annual International Lao New Year Festival with a one day-long event on Saturday April 28.

The event will be held from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. at the United Nations Plaza and an evening gala dinner, and entertainment from 7 p.m. to 1 a.m. at One Ferry Plaza in San Francisco. Hosted by the Center for Lao Studies and the Laotian American National Alliance, the ILNYF is considered as one of the largest Southeast Asian cultural festivals and is expected to draw over 15,000 people worldwide.

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By CARLOS GALLEGO
AAP staff writer

Nikki Orlay and Tonni Phimmyvong are the enthusiastic new owners of Vientiane, a Laotian and Thai cuisine hot spot for the past ten years. Nikki is Cambodian and Chinese and Tonni is Lao. As they enter their third month, they have adjusted menu based on customer comments as well as the specialties of their chefs. Shortly they will offer weekend specials in addition to their luncheon menu. Their weekend specials will include fried fish with special sauce, Bun Chau, Special rice soup and Salmon laab.

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AAP staff report

Approaching 40 years in the US, there are many Lao Americans who love science fiction, fantasy, horror, myths and legends.

Now several Lao American writers are looking your stories and art for the very first full-length anthology of Lao American speculative art and literature. Their goal is to publish it later this year.

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By Sarah Page

Santa Ana Calif, (Dec. 30) — Officials this week forced Christians in a Lao village to give up their faith in order to bury a family member in the village graveyard, according to advocacy group Human Rights Watch for Lao Religious Freedom.

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U.S. Ambassador to Laos Karen B. Stewart is surrounded by happy children after donating books to a primary school in Vientiane.

Vientiane (Nov. 15, 2011) — U.S. Ambassador to Laos Karen B. Stewart and special guest Anita Botti, Deputy Director of the State Department’s Office of Global Women’s Issues, visited Thongkhankham Primary School in Vientiane on November 8 to read stories to Lao children and donate books to the school library.

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Former Chair of Joint Chiefs of Staff Robert Vessey with Khao Insixiengmay, Lao Advancement Organization of America and Royal Lao Veterans of America

By J. Lee
The State of Minnesota commemorated Veterans Day “Honoring All Who Served” Defending Liberty and Freedom on what some believe as a “lucky day” because of the numbers “11.11.11”.

Eric Shinseki, U.S. Secretary of Veterans Affairs and Chairman of the Veterans Day National Committee designated the Veterans Memorial Community Center in Inver Grove Heights as a Regional Site for Veterans Day 2011.  Ceremonies opened with Minnesota VFW Commander Ray Trebus and MN Dept. of Veterans Affairs Commissioner-General Larry Shellito who also received Governor Mark Dayton’s Proclamation Honoring Veterans.

All speakers thanked the veterans, service members and families for their service and sacrifices.

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Austin Outhavong

By BRYAN THAO WORRA
AAP staff writer

Austin Outhavong is a Lao-American writer who was born and raised in Dallas, Texas. He is the author of 50% Falang: 50 Stories from a Half-Breed Abroad in Southeast Asia, which is his first book. His previous published writings were limited to lines of code in medical software subroutines, footnotes in academic urban planning articles, edits to Wikipedia, and revisions to cable television scripts.

Outhavong holds a B.S. in mathematics from Pepperdine University and an M.S. in urban planning from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. He and his wife currently reside in Memphis, Tennessee.

Asian American Press had an opportunity to discuss his first book with him.

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Lao American writer Bryan Thao Worra has issued a new free e-book, ”Between Souls.” The e-book can be downloaded for free at http://bit.ly/betweensouls11 and is part of the writer’s ongoing efforts to broaden and diversify audiences for Lao American poetry.

This was made possible in part by an Artist Initiative grant provided by the Minnesota State Arts Board, through an appropriation by the Minnesota State Legislature from the Minnesota arts and cultural heritage fund with money from the vote of the people of Minnesota on Nov. 4, 2008. Bryan Thao Worra is the first Lao American to hold a prestigious Fellowship in Literature from the National Endowment for the Arts.

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