Tar balls wash up on Long Beach coastline
Raises health and environmental concerns A CLEANUP operation was underway on Wednesday, June 3, on a four-mile stretch of coastline in Long Beach, Calif. that was closed the day before…
Category: Dateline USA
Covering the week’s most noteworthy news stories impacting the lives of the Filipino-American community in the United States of America.
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13-year-old Fil-Am commits suicide after public shaming video
A 13-YEAR-old girl from Tacoma, Wash., committed suicide by jumping off an interstate bridge on Friday, May 29—days after her father filmed himself cutting her long hair as punishment for…
Obama signs bill limiting NSA’s access to Americans’ phone records
President Barack Obama on Tuesday, June 2, signed the USA Freedom Act into law, reforming the National Security Agency’s bulk collection of Americans’ phone records. The legislation still permits the…
Providers seek double-digit hikes on healthcare premiums through Obamacare
Health insurance providers under the Affordable Care Act are looking to boost premiums by double-digits in 2016, according to information released Monday, June 1, by the White House. Providers say…
Lawmakers push for medical marijuana measures
The House of Representatives voted on several pro-pot amendments on Wednesday, June 3, aimed at tackling the sticky issue of conflicts that arise when the Department of Justice interferes with…
House GOP moves to cut State Dept. budget over delayed Benghazi response
Following through on a threat, House Republicans on Tuesday, June 2 proposed cutting the State Department’s budget to protest its slow response in producing documents related to the investigation of…
NSA phone collection bill clears Senate hurdle
THE Senate sped toward passage on Tuesday, June 2 of legislation to end the National Security Agency’s collection of Americans’ calling records while preserving other surveillance authorities. However, leaders of…
Supreme Court throws out conviction for violent Facebook threats
The Supreme Court threw out the conviction of a man charged for making violent threats on Facebook on Monday, June 1, saying the government must “do more” than prove that…
Older Americans buried by household debt
OF all the financial threats facing Americans of retirement age—outliving savings, falling for scams, paying for long-term elderly care—housing isn’t supposed to be a major concern. However, following a home-price…
Poll: More Americans distrust Hillary Clinton
ALTHOUGH Hillary Clinton is the clear front-runner in the race for the 2016 Democratic presidential nomination, a growing number of American voters distrust and view her unfavorably, according to new…
Racial profiling bill passes legislative hurdle in California
THE recent deaths of unarmed citizens, often of minorities, at the hands of white police officers have broken hearts and sparked a national uprising about issues involving race, social justice,…
Garcetti approves 2015-16 budget for Los Angeles
LOS ANGELES Mayor Eric Garcetti on Wednesday, May 27, signed an $8.6-billion budget for 2015-16, following unanimous approval by the City Council on May 21. The budget boosts funding for…
More than 100,000 taxpayers affected in IRS breach
Cyber criminals gained access to information from more than 100,000 taxpayer accounts by hacking into an online service the Internal Revenue Service uses to grant Americans access to previous tax…
Obama urges Senate to renew phone records program
President Barack Obama called the Senate on Tuesday, May 26 to extend provisions of the key Patriot Act before they expire within the week, including the federal government’s ability to…
White House announces new rule limiting water pollution
The White House said that it had finalized a major clean water regulation on Wednesday, May 27 that would restore the federal government’s authority to limit pollution in the nation’s…
Twisters and flash floods rip through Texas and Oklahoma
TORNADOES, thunderstorms and flash floods struck the south-central region over the weekend in parts of Texas and Oklahoma, killing nine people and sending rescuers searching for 12 missing, including several…
‘One person, one vote’ principle to be considered by High Court
The Supreme Court agreed on Tuesday, May 26 to decide on whether state legislative districts must have roughly equal numbers of legal voters rather than overall populations. The challenge, brought…
Supreme Court to rule on 13 important cases
On the final month of its annual term, the United States Supreme Court has several landmark cases on its docket. Between now and late June, the Supreme Court will hand…
Takata expands airbag recall in US to 34 million vehicles
Japanese company Takata Corp. on Tuesday, May 19, expanded its recall of vehicles in the United States containing its defective airbags to nearly 34 million, following more than a decade…
$211-M settlement with rig owner in 2010 Gulf oil spill
Plaintiffs in the 2010 Gulf of Mexico oil spill have reached a $211 million settlement with Transocean, the rig owner involved in the environmental disaster. The Swiss-based oil drilling contractor…
Takata expands airbag recall in US to 34 million vehicles
Japanese company Takata Corp. on Tuesday, May 19, expanded its recall of vehicles in the United States containing its defective airbags to nearly 34 million, following more than a decade…
$211-M settlement with rig owner in 2010 Gulf oil spill
Plaintiffs in the 2010 Gulf of Mexico oil spill have reached a $211 million settlement with Transocean, the rig owner involved in the environmental disaster. The Swiss-based oil drilling contractor…
Disneyland theme park celebrates its 60th Diamond Anniversary
ON July 17, 1955, Disneyland theme park opened up its doors for the first time in Anaheim, California. The 160-acre park, formerly a field of orange groves, was so crowded…
Obama: climate change is a ‘top security issue’
PRESIDENT Barack Obama warned in a speech on Wednesday, May 21, that the threat from global warming poses a national risk rivaling that of terrorism, and should be seen as…
Asian groups file federal complaint against Harvard for racial bias
AN alliance of Asian American groups filed a federal complaint on Friday, May 15 against Harvard University, claiming that the school and other Ivy League institutions are using racial quotas…
2 Filipino nurses sentenced to a year for elder abuse
TWO Filipino male former registered nurses in San Diego were sentenced to jail last week on Tuesday, May 12, for reportedly engaging in lewd sexual acts in front of their…
Obama restricts military gear to local police
PRESIDENT Barack Obama is cutting back on shipments of military equipment to local police forces, nine months after multiple complaints about officers using riot gear and armored vehicles to confront…
White House Initiative hosts first-ever Asian American summit
OVER 2,000 Asian-American national leaders, advocates, artists and community organizers gathered in Washington, DC on Tuesday, May 12 for the first-ever White House Summit on AAPIs—the groundbreaking gathering for the…
House approves bill to end NSA bulk phone data collection
The U.S. House of Representatives on Wednesday, May 13, overwhelmingly advanced a bill that would cease the National Security Agency’s bulk collection of phone records. The USA Freedom Act, bipartisan…
FDA plans to ease ban on gay blood donors
The Food and Drug Administration is outlining its plan to end the nation’s lifetime ban of blood donations from gay and bisexual men, a policy in place for 32 years…