The News

Senate sets new immigration deadline; Secret Asian man scores

Provocative Secret Asian Man comic gets national syndication.

Senate Leaders Agree to Revive Immigration Bill. What will more time help?
In a joint statement, Mr. Reid and Mr. McConnell said: “We met this evening with several of the senators involved in the immigration bill negotiations. Based on that discussion, the immigration bill will return to the Senate floor after completion of the energy bill.” The immigration bill, ardently sought by President Bush, would make the biggest changes in immigration law and policy in more than 20 years. —NYTimes

Requirements raise rebuilding costs for New Orleans homeowners; gov’t help is scarce. Ward 9 takes another hit.
Hewitt’s home in the Lower 9th Ward is among 16,000 properties in 13 neighborhoods that must be rebuilt according to strict standards established by the New Orleans Historic Districts Landmarks Commission. The commission’s costly requirements have raised questions about whether the rules hurt lower-income property owners.—AP

Cultural Isolation A Health Threat to Punjabi Farm Workers Not your typical immigrant story.
Farm labor rights activists say that there is a pressing need to establish communication with this isolated community. The majority of Punjabi farm laborers work for the 300-plus Indian American growers in Sutter and Yuba counties, where they have built a fruit, nut and berry-growing industry that brings nearly $200 million a year in revenues.—New America Media

Compassion and Racial Justice, or Criminalization? It’s in Gov. Rell’s Hands. This could change things.
But the law would do something else, too: it would protect patients of color in urban areas who are often the target of racial profiling and marijuana arrests. Research shows that Blacks and Hispanics are arrested for marijuana possession at higher rates than whites, despite the fact that whites use marijuana at higher rates.—HuffPost

American Billionaire Tackles Global Poverty. Catching Bono/Gates fever!
Sheila Johnson, co-founder of Black Entertainment Television and president of WNBA’s Washington Mystics, is taking action in the fight against global poverty.—NPR

Five top places to soak up local Latino history. Nice.
The Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Library is a joint venture of San Jose State University and the San Jose public library system. It is my favorite public building in San Jose, and it has an impressive collection of Latino literature.—San Jose Mercury

New York Hosts First-Ever Asian American Theater Festival. M. Butterfly, free?
The festival will feature 25 Asian American arts companies, as well as soloists, who will take up temporary residence at a number of theatre companies around the city – troupes who had advocated for such an event, like Pan Asian rep, the east west players, and the Ma-Yi theatre. —NY1

Not so Secret Asian Man: comic gets syndication. . Word!
According to United Features, Secret Asian Man will be the first nationally syndicated comic strip featuring an Asian American main character. United Features will begin distributing it July 16 to newspapers and at www.comics.com. —Hyphen Magazine blog

Posted at 7:22 AM, Jun 15, 2007 in News | Permalink | View Comments