The Year of Sheltering Dangerously

By Ben Fong-Torres

Well, hasn’t THIS been a fun 365?

As we approached the anniversary of the shelter-in-place orders for the San Francisco Bay Area, on March 16, I thought of some of the changes we’ve been through. 

In February, our calendar was packed with restaurant dinners and a large, loud gathering at Harbor Villa, saluting our friend, the civil rights attorney Dale Minami.

And there was my 24th time as co-anchor of the Chinese New Year Parade, on KTVU. The Year of the  Rat. Indeed. 

Early in March, we had more restaurant get-togethers, including dinner at the House of Prime Rib (almost as hard to get into as Hamilton) and a family luncheon for Chinese New Year at the stellar dim sum restaurant, Yank Sing. One evening, I went to the dive bar, El Rio, for the monthly jam staged by Los Train Wreck, and did my usual, a parody of a Dylan classic, “Rainy Day Women 12+35,” with lyrics I ripped from the headlines:

They’ll stone you when you come to see the band

And make mistakes, like shaking people’s hands

Los Train Wreck’s easy going, and all they ask: 

Is when you’re talking with them, use a mask

And you will not feel so all alone 

Everybody must get stoned!

On March 13th, I went to the Record Plant, the fabled studio in Sausalito, to be interviewed for a documentary about the Plant.  

Just three days later, on the eve of St. Patrick’s Day, this most festive of towns was...

Yonkers

March 20, 2013

Cops arrested four teens for an attack in Yonkers that sent a News12 reporter to the hospital. CeFann Kim, 31, a former sergeant in the U.S. Army Reserve said he fought off the assailants, who ran away after bystanders pulled thier cars over to help. 

Kim was attacked on Odell Avenue near the Greystone train station shortly before 9 a.m., authorities said. The teens hit him about 30 times before fleeing. Kim suffered a fractured nose and injuries to his head.  Click here for the full story.

Update: Memorial services are being held on Wednesday January 10, 2018 to celebrate Honorable March Fong Eu's life at 10AM (PST) at Chapel of the Chimes, at 4488 Piedmont Avenue, Oakland, California.

March 29, 2013

Happy Birthday to March Fong Eu, a truly great lady. Today, March 29, the former U.S. Ambassador to Micronesia and Secretary of State of California turns 91. 

Happy Birthday March! (LtoR) Suyin Fong Stein, March Fong Eu, Suzanne Joe Kai Photo by May Hsu March 23, 2013   

Last Saturday, her daughter Suyin and I celebrated her birthday early. Dr. Eu is in good heatlh, and maintains her natural sense of humor. (Click on the blue headline above to the full story)

As a successful Asian American in the public eye for decades as well as being a female in the male dominated world of politics, Dr. Eu has been one of the most popular political figures in California history.

She has inspired generations of people from all walks of life and backgrounds. She has always had a strong connection to serve the 'common man.' For decades, her official government office staff whisked her from event to event by limousine and plane, yet she's equally comfortable just getting on a public bus. 

Senator Edward Kennedy with Honorable March Fong EuDr. Eu was elected Secretary of State of California in 1974, becoming the first Asian American woman ever elected to a state constitutional office in the United States. 

Dr. Eu was elected Secretary of State...

April 14, 2012

New York

Yankees 3, Orioles 0

Photo: New York Yankees pitcher Hiroki Kuroda 

It's baseball season and it couldn't be sweeter with 38 year old Hiroki Kuroda's five-hit shutout. Kuroda is a New York Yankees pitcher. 

The New York Daily News reports that was just part of tonight's story.

27 year old Wei-Yin Chen from Taiwan, a left-handed pitcher for the Major League Baseball's Baltimore Orioles matched Kuroda zero for zero over the first four innings tonight.

Read more here.  

Go catch a screening of "42" the new movie about baseball great Jackie Robinson which took top box office honors this weekend. Just released in theaters nationwide the movie stars Chadwick Boseman as Jackie Robinson, and Harrison Ford as the Brooklyn Dodgers GM Branch Rickey. 

Photo: Baltimore Orioles Pitcher Wei-Yin Chen

For the full story about the New York Yankees vs the Baltimore Orioles game tonight click here.

Photo Credit: Tuna Canyon Detention Station Facebook Page Photo credited to David Scott, the Scott Family, and Little Landers Historical Society. David Scott is the grandson of Merrill Scott who was the superintendent of TCDS. Photo circa 1941-1943. The structures were removed, but the oak and sycamore trees dating back to World War II still live on this site. 

June 25, 2013 UPDATE:

Los Angeles

The Los Angeles City Council voted unanimously to support an amending motion by Council member Richard Alarcon to declare an approximate one acre live oak and sycamore grove as a historical-cultural monument at the former Tuna Canyon Detention Station in Tujunga in Southern California.

The site was the U.S. Department of Justice internment camp for Japanese, German and Italian Americans during World War II. 

The live oak and sycamore trees date back to World War II when the internment camp was in operation.

The Los Angeles Cultural Heritage Commission had recommended against monument status because the original internment camp structures were removed years ago to make way for the Verdugo Hills golf course. The site is now being planned by a developer for a housing development. 

Council mmember Richard Alarcon argued that Los Angeles has designated many monuments at sites where the original structures are gone, and he pointed out that trees have also been designated as historic. 

For the full story:

Rafu.com

Tuna Canyon Detention Station Facebook...