SEVERAL options exist for a U.S. citizen to bring his/her foreign-national fiancé(e) to the United States. One popular option is to marry the fiancé(e) in the country in which he/she resides, and file an I-130 immigrant petition, with the fiancé(e) to undergo consular processing for an immigrant visa when the I-130 petition is approved. However,…
PAMELA Ruben-Knudsen and Marnine Casillas were employed as Client Service Managers by Arthur J. Gallagher and Co., a brokerage firm. Client service managers are salaried and considered exempt from overtime. However, their primary task is to coordinate between producers, clients and insurers to process insurance applications and renewals. Pamela and Marnine do not manage or…
Bitcoin and other cryptocurrency has become popular lately as a new store of value. It is decentralized and not subject to regulation in any jurisdiction. It can be stored in a digital wallet or hard drive. Due to its lack of regulation, it is easy for one to assume that it is not necessary to…
Filipino American breakout stars Bretman Rock and Bella Poarch joined community members at the first annual Historic Filipinotown Holiday Festival and Toy Distribution ahead of the Christmas holiday. Both Bretman and Bella handed out toys from Funko — a toymaker known for pop culture figurines — and mingled with local families as a diverse lineup for Fil-Am artists and talents entertained the crowd….
WRITING this Christmas column is neither easy nor difficult. However, it required deeper thinking after almost two years of coronavirus-induced changes in our lives. There is a myriad of unexpected topics and occurrences on the world stage brought by this devastating pandemic for almost two years now that can be written. However, after watching several…
A warm Christmas greeting to you and your families! I hope you’re enjoying the Christmas season and keeping yourselves in good health. This Sunday’s Feast of the Holy Family falls immediately the day after Christmas. And so it may serve us best to see the importance of faith-filled and loving families like that of Jesus,…
SAN Diego Mayor Todd Gloria and local health officials are urging San Diegans to get vaccinated and boosted to protect against the new dominant COVID-19 variant, omicron. “My message to San Diegans is simple: get vaccinated. Do not wait. It’s up to each one of us to protect each other and support stability in our health…
AHEAD of the holiday season, the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health released new data on COVID-19. As of Thursday, December 23, there were 8,633 new COVID-19 cases and 24 new deaths. The county has recorded 1,585,313 positive cases to date and 27,512 deaths since the start of the pandemic. Currently, 770 people are…
Filipino Catholics from throughout Southern California celebrated the beginning of Simbang Gabi, one of the oldest Filipino Christmas traditions, with a special Mass at the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels on Wednesday, December 15. Archbishop José H. Gomez presided at the liturgy, presented by the Filipino Ministry of the Archdiocese of Los Angeles. The mass…
IF the long list of Christmas trends and traditions was any indication, Filipinos love celebrating the yuletide season. Be it decorating the house with lanterns and ornaments as early as the Ber months begin, going Christmas caroling, or completing Simbang Gabi, Filipinos are known to never run out of ways to signify the festivities. However, nothing…
THE Los Angeles Police Department will have its first Filipino American deputy chief in its 152-year history. Commander Donald Graham becomes the first person of Filipino descent to hold such a position, following an announcement from Chief Michel Moore made public on December 17. The announcement did not specify when the promotion takes effect. A…
“Mon’s performance at Catalina was the alarm clock [that] my jazz spirit needed to wake from its catatonic dormancy throughout the pandemic! It was a great jolt of jazz as Mon covered standards, new materials, and Tagalog songs (with his children Carlo and Nicole along for the ride!) The great Hoagy Carmichael (who wrote my…
Philippine Airlines, Inc. (PAL) announced that the U.S. Bankruptcy Court of the Southern District of New York has approved its Plan of Reorganization (the “Plan”). PAL filed a voluntary petition on September 3, 2021 for a prearranged restructuring under the U.S. Chapter 11 process, and has received overwhelming creditor support throughout the process. “Today’s court…
LOS Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti recently signed Executive Directive 32, which seeks to improve access to city information and services for English language learners. “Los Angeles is a place of belonging where everyone can, and should, feel comfortable engaging in our civic process,” said Garcetti in a statement. “This new directive will help to ensure…
NURSES and health care workers across the country are finding strength in numbers and with labor actions not seen in years. In California, which has a strong union tradition, Kaiser Permanente management misjudged workplace tensions during the covid-19 crisis and risked a walkout of thousands when union nurses balked at signing a four-year contract that…
California is once again emerging as a leader in the fight against Big Tobacco with the California Smokers’ Helpline, renamed Kick It California — the state’s official effort to help people stop smoking. Through Kick It California, anyone who wants to quit tobacco use – whether it’s cigarette smoking, vaping, chewing or anything else –…
Asia’s King of Talk, Boy Abunda, and leading U.S. immigration attorney, Michael J. Gurfinkel, lead the discussion in the first virtual forum where Atty. Gurfinkel provides answers and relevant information to viewers’ immigration questions. Elaine, from Fairfield, California, wants to know if her sister’s family can be interviewed on an expedited basis. She is worried…
By Governor Gavin Newsom Since the early days of the pandemic, California has led the nation’s fight against COVID-19 through robust vaccination efforts rooted in science and data. This has helped slow the spread of the virus and save countless lives, especially in our most vulnerable communities – someone’s parent and friend, and each of…
AS we come to the close of 2021, the data shows that the Southern California housing market has continued to appreciate for the past three years since 2019. As of date, here are the average sales prices for single-family homes in Southern California in comparison to years 2020 and 2019. Los Angeles County’s average sales…
Each month, the Visa Office of the State Department publishes, in the Visa Bulletin, the priority dates for that particular month, for the various family and employment-based categories. A priority date is a person’s “place in line” for a visa, meaning immigrant visas (or green cards) would be available for persons whose priority date is…
October 6, 1946 – December 19, 2021 RICARDO Lim Roco passed away gracefully in his sleep on December 19, 2021 after a very rare, fast-paced progressive neuro-degenerative disorder. He was a beloved Home Depot Sales Associate with a legendary smile and quick wit, expert at re-keying and problem solving. He was an inventor and patented…
THE kids are back in school, businesses have reopened, and while COVID continues to be a threat, life is busier than ever. The days are getting shorter and the holidays are quickly approaching, giving us less time to complete many small but important tasks, such as registering your car or renewing your license. Fortunately, the…
OMICRON is super-contagious and skyrocketing across the nation, while the virus continues to replicate and mutate mostly in the bodies of those more than 50 million unvaccinated people in the U.S. who are “carriers/transmitters” causing the current massive surges (almost a million last week) in COVID-19 infections, 70,000 hospitalizations, and about 1,300 deaths daily. Indeed,…
YEAR after year without fail at around this time, December days and nights seem to slip from our grasp like fine grains of sand. The hours seem to hurtle through the day as we complete a year’s cycle and move on to the next. Many of us try in earnest to mesh the unusually heavy…
