LA breaks tourism record with 43.4 M visitors in 2014
LOS ANGELES – For the fourth consecutive year, the city hit record-breaking tourism with 43.4 million visitors in 2014. “LA is serious about being the destination for people who are…
Category: Southern California
Covering the week’s most noteworthy news stories impacting the lives of the Filipino-American community in Southern California.
Read More
OneWest Bank to offer Filipinos financial assistance
The National Asian American Coalition (NAAC) has teamed up with OneWest Bank to offer financial education services to Filipinos. On Tuesday, Dec. 23, representatives from OneWest Bank visited Island Pacific…
Thousands of undocumented immigrants apply for driver’s licenses in Calif.
LOS ANGELES – Undocumented immigrants in California can now obtain driver’s licenses under Assembly Bill 60, also known as the Safe and Responsible Drivers’ Act, which went into effect on…
Plastic manufacturers push to kill California ban on grocery bag
AN effort to end California’s exclusive state ban on single-use plastic grocery bags advanced this week after manufacturers spent millions on a campaign to gather signatures for a proposed ballot…
New strict gun laws for California
WITH the New Year comes new laws, and in 2015 tougher gun laws will change the kinds of guns that can be purchased in California. In July 2014, Governor Jerry…
Executive actions on immigration could affect agriculture industry
IN California, a leading producer of fruits, vegetables and nuts, many farmers are already fearing a major labor shortage that could be caused by President Obama’s executive actions on immigration…
OneWest Bank to offer Filipinos financial assistance
The National Asian American Coalition (NAAC) has teamed up with OneWest Bank to offer financial education services to Filipinos. On Tuesday, Dec. 23, representatives from OneWest Bank visited Island Pacific…
LA Christmas Day fire rips through motel
ON Christmas evening, six people, including two who were severely burned, were hospitalized after a sudden fire ripped through a three-story residential motel in the Westlake area of Los Angeles,…
Driverless cars are perplexing for California
THE California Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) will miss a Jan. 1, 2015 deadline for regulations regarding future cars, as regulators are still determining how safe driverless units are. Until…
California receives $5 million for earthquake alert system
THE $1.1 trillion spending bill approved by Congress included an allocation of $5 million toward an earthquake warning system in California that would begin next year. Scientists have attempted to…
LA fire cause determined
FEDERAL investigators have concluded the massive fire that engulfed an entire apartment complex under construction in downtown Los Angeles was deliberately set. Investigators digging through the rubble and damage left…
AAPI community drives forward with AB60 implementation for California
LOS ANGELES – There are 416,000 undocumented Asian Americans in the state of California, according to a report. That means thousands of drivers on the road who cannot get a proper…
What executive actions on immigration mean for health care in California
On Wednesday, Dec. 17, New America Media and Asian Americans Advancing Justice – LA (AAAJ-LA) hosted a media briefing to discuss President Obama’s recent executive action on immigration and the…
Filipino ex-USC professor sentenced to 5 years in prison
A former professor who pleaded guilty to sexually assaulting underage boys while traveling to the Philippines was sentenced to five years in prison on Monday, Dec. 15. Walter Lee Williams,…
Two possible LA fire witnesses…
AUTHORITIES investigating a massive fire that engulfed an entire apartment building complex under construction in downtown Los Angeles are seeking two men captured on video near the scene around the…
Fil-Am named California Teacher of the Year
A FILIPINO-American was selected as one of the five California Teachers of the Year. Lovelyn Marquez-Prueher, an English teacher at Dodson Middle School in Rancho Palos Verdes, was also one…
Fil-Am attorney appointed to LA Superior Court
ROB Villeza was sworn in on Thursday, Dec. 11, as a judge of the Los Angeles Superior Court. Villeza, who has served as an Assistant United States Attorney in the…
Fil-Am councilman sworn into office in San Diego
A FILIPINO-American was sworn into the San Diego City Council on Wednesday, Dec. 10, becoming the first Asian to serve on the council in nearly five decades. Chris Cate will…
LA County Office Of Emergency Management Issues Thunderstorm And Lightning Safety Tips
The National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) National Weather Service (NWS) is forecasting heavy rainfall, thunderstorms with hail and gusty winds expected to arrive in Los Angeles County on Friday morning…
SCE Crews Ready for Another Southern California Rainstorm
The National Weather Service is predicting about an inch of rain during this latest storm. Added: December 11, 2014 | By Caroline Aoyagi-Stom @SCE_CarolineA Southern California may still be drying out…
SF, LA sue Uber for fraud
Prosecutors in Los Angeles and San Francisco announced Dec. 9 that they were filing a suit against Uber, the mobile app ride-sharing service based in SF, alleging false and misleading…
Mayor Garcetti announces earthquake safety plan for LA
ON Monday, Dec. 8, Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti proposed an ambitious earthquake plan calling for a retrofitting of thousands of at-risk buildings. The report released Monday afternoon detailed action…
Fire engulfs downtown Los Angeles apartment complex and block
A HUGE fire occurred the morning of Monday Dec. 8 in downtown Los Angeles and the nearby Westlake area, destroying an entire apartment complex under construction and temporarily shutting down…
Undocumented immigrants prepare for driver’s licenses
AB 60 takes effect on Jan. 1 STARTING Jan 1. 2015, undocumented immigrants in California will be able to apply for a state driver’s license under Assembly Bill 60 (AB…
Fil-Am arrested for alleged mortgage scam
A Filipino-American man from Anaheim was charged on Tuesday, Dec. 2, with six counts of grand theft and four counts of elder abuse after allegedly swindling $50,000 from six individuals in…
Filipino postal worker charged with mail theft
A FILIPINO postal service worker in Fremont, Calif. was charged with mail theft for allegedly stealing numerous cellphones meant to be delivered to customers. Romeo Moog Talag, 56, of Hayward…
Anonymous donation of $20 mil to renovate Orange County’s Crystal Cathedral
The Diocese of Orange received a $20 million donation to help revamp the famous glass-sided Crystal Cathedral in Garden Grove. Outside of land donations, it is the largest gift ever…
Taxpayers likely affected if UC tuition rises
IF the cost of tuition at the University of California rises, taxpayers may find themselves contributing more money toward students’ education. On Thursday, Nov. 20, the UC Board of Regents…
Drug smuggling up in California county jails
MANY California county jails are experiencing a rise in drug smuggling cases, and officials say it is partly because parolees want to bring drugs into prisons. Part of the the…
FAA rejects request to limit late-night eastbound departures from LAX
THE Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) struck down request to limit eastbound flights departing from Los Angeles International Airport between midnight to 6:30 am. Community groups state that such departures cause…