Image provided by: University of Oregon Libraries; Eugene, OR
About The Asian reporter. (Portland, Or.) 1991-current | View Entire Issue (Nov. 18, 2019)
November 18, 2019 U.S.A. THE ASIAN REPORTER n Page 7 ABC’s “Fresh Off the Boat” series finale set for February By Lynn Elber AP Television Writer OS ANGELES — ABC’s “Fresh Off the Boat,” the first network TV comedy in two decades to focus on an Asian-American family, is coming to an end after six seasons. The network said the sitcom starring Randall Park and Constance Wu will wrap with an hour-long finale on February 21, making this a truncated last season. The show about a couple and their three children in 1990s Florida is based on chef Eddie Huang’s memoir of the same name. In a statement, ABC Entertainment president Karey Burke lauded the show as “game-changing” with its focus on an Asian- American family. L HIRONO’S HISTORY. Senator Mazie Hirono (D-Hawai‘i) is seen on Capitol Hill in Washington, in this September 25, 2018 file photo. Hirono, the senate’s first Asian-American woman and only current immigrant, is working on a memoir. Viking announced that the book, currently untitled, will be released in 2021. Hirono, age 72, will write about emigrating at age eight to the United States after her mother fled an abusive marriage in Japan. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite, File) Senator Mazie Hirono of Hawai‘i is writing memoir, due in 2021 NEW YORK (AP) — Senator Mazie Hirono of Hawai‘i, the senate’s first Asian- American woman and only current immigrant, is working on a memoir. Viking announced that the book, cur- rently untitled, will be released in 2021. Hirono, age 72, will write about emigrating at age eight to the United States after her mother fled an abusive marriage in Japan. In a statement issued through Viking, Hirono said the book was a tribute to her mother’s spirit. “My deep emotional connection to my mother, a remarkable woman who made a hard choice to save her children, and who valiantly struggled to care for us as a single parent, is the current that has driven my entire life,” Hirono said in a statement. “Now, because she can no longer bear witness for herself, I am choosing to bear witness on her behalf by telling the story of the daughter she inspired to live boldly and to fight for the promises of this country.” Hirono, a Democrat, is currently serving her second term in the senate. She made news last year as a leading critic of Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh, who faced allegations of sexual harassment and attempted assault. Kavanaugh, who was narrowly confirmed, denied the allegations. SERIES FINALE. ABC’s “Fresh Off the Boat,” the first network TV comedy in two decades to focus on an Asian-American family, is coming to an end after six seasons. In the photo, the cast of “Fresh Off the Boat” celebrates its 100th episode. (Photo courtesy of ABC) While the TV industry focus on an Indian family has gradually embraced whose daughter is one of diversity, it’s been slow to Eddie’s (Hudson Yang) include characters of Asian classmates. descent in the mix. Wu, who starred in Comedian Margaret Cho’s Crazy Rich Asians, apolo- “All-American Girl” ended gized earlier this year for a in 1995 after one season. Twitter outburst lament- A possible spinoff with ing the show’s renewal this characters to be introduced season. on “Fresh Off the Boat” is She said it was an being considered. It would Continued on page 13 Women, minorities dominate Boston’s once-white city council BOSTON (AP) — Boston’s city council is getting a new look: its first female majority and a more racially diverse lineup than ever before. Voters elected the council’s first Latina. They also voted in a slate of female candidates. Starting in January, the 13-member council will have eight women. Seven councillors will be minorities, the council’s most ever. Asian-American city councillor Michelle Wu says it’s the “new face” of Boston politics. Voters also rejected a ballot question to change the name of Dudley Square in historically black Roxbury to Nubian Square. And a candidate has requested a recount in one of the council races. The council was a white male bastion for decades, but Boston is now a “majority minority” city where whites comprise roughly 47% of the population. Pacific bird refuge struggles as ocean garbage patch grows By Caleb Jones The Associated Press M IDWAY ATOLL, Northwestern Hawaiian Islands — Flying into the uninhabited Northwestern Hawaiian Islands, Midway Atoll appears out of the vast blue Pacific as a tiny oasis of coral-fringed land with pristine white sand beaches that are teeming with life. But on the ground, there’s a different scene: plastic, pollution, and death. With virtually no predators, Midway is a haven for many species of seabirds and is home to the largest colony of albatross in the world. But Midway is also at the center of the Great Pacific Garbage Patch, a vast area of floating plastic collected by circulating oceanic currents. The Hawaiian Islands act like a comb that gathers debris as it floats across the Pacific. A recent analysis found that the patch is accumulating debris at a faster rate than scientists previously thought. Midway is littered with bird skeletons that have brightly colored plastic protruding from their decomposing bellies. Bottle caps, toothbrushes, and cigarette lighters sit in the centers of their feathery carcasses. “There isn’t a bird that doesn’t have some (plastic),” said Athline Clark, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s superintendent for Papahanaumokuakea Marine National Monument, which Midway is part of. They “fill their bellies up with plastics instead of food and eventually either choke or just don’t have enough room for actual nourishment and perish.” Papahanaumokuakea, which quadrupled in size under President Barack Obama in 2016, is the world’s largest marine conservation area and was inscribed in 2010 as a UNESCO mixed World Heritage site. “Papahanaumokuakea is both a PERILOUS PLASTIC. Dead seabirds lie on a pier with plastic debris on Midway Atoll in the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands. Midway is littered with countless bird skeletons that have brightly colored plastic protruding from their now decomposing intestines. Bottle caps, toothbrushes, and cigarette lighters sit in the centers of their feathery carcasses. In the right photo, ocean garbage patches are seen on a map of the area. (AP Photo/Caleb Jones) biologically rich and culturally sacred their chicks,” Goodale said. Albatross spend much of their lives at place,” Clark said. “The Hawaiians call it a sea feeding and flying thousands of miles place of abundance, or aina momona.” But circulating currents now bring an across the oceans before returning to abundance of plastic and other trash from Midway each year to lay eggs and raise all around the Pacific Rim to Hawai‘i’s their young. “So we estimate about 5 tons (4.5 metric beaches. The debris ranges from tiny microplastics that nearly every animal in tons) of plastic being brought to Midway this marine ecosystem ingests to huge every year just by adult albatross feeding fishing nets that gather plants, animals, it to their chicks,” Goodale said. The albatross tend to seek out squid eggs and other debris while bulldozing across that attach themselves to floating pieces of fragile coral reefs. “The estimates are that there’s about plastic, which is why so many birds are 57,000 pounds of marine debris that eating the material, Clark said. And it’s not just the seabirds that are washes ashore within this part of the harmed by ocean plastic. Endangered archipelago annually,” Clark said. U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service biologist Hawaiian monk seals and green sea Kelly Goodale lives and works on Midway, turtles can die while entangled in plastic the site of a decisive World War II battle, nets. Sharks and other apex predators eat and said the plastic that washes ashore smaller fish that feed on microplastic. Whales drag fishing line and buoys behind there each year is just part of the problem. “Not only are our beaches getting it, but them during their long migrations across also our albatross will bring it and feed it to the world’s oceans. It’s important to understand the relationship between the oceans, marine life, and humans, Clark said. She shared a Native Hawaiian proverb: Ma o ke kai pili ai kakou. It means, “The ocean connects us all.” q $400K+ in opioids shipped from India to New Jersey HAMILTON, N.J. (AP) — Authorities say they have seized more than $400,000 in opioids and painkillers that were shipped from India to a home in New Jersey. Mercer County prosecutor Angelo Onofri said his office received information about the shipment from U.S. Homeland Security. Members of the county’s narcotics task force were waiting when the package arrived at a home in Hamilton Township on November 1. Authorities found 12,000 Tramadol pills, 2,000 Tapentadol pills, 530 Oxycodone pills, and 20 bags of heroin. The woman who took delivery of the shipment was charged with possession of a controlled dangerous substance and possession with intent to distribute it.