Compiled by Ruth Bayang
NORTHWEST ASIAN WEEKLY

As 2024 comes to a close, the Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) community in the Seattle area has experienced both triumphs and challenges, making significant strides in some areas while facing adversity in others. Here are the top 10 local stories that have impacted or involved the AAPI community in 2024.

• • Frank Irigon, a prominent advocate for social justice and the AAPI community in Seattle, passed away in September at age 77 after a long battle with heart disease. Born in the Philippines, Irigon moved to the U.S. as a child and later earned degrees from the University of Washington, where he became involved in the social justice movements of the 1970s. As the first Filipino American on the UW student board and a co-founder of the Asian Family Affair newspaper, he made significant contributions to the AAPI community. 

• • In May, Assunta Ng, the founder and publisher of the Northwest Asian Weekly (NWAW), announced the sale of the publication to a group of four partners after decades of running it. The new ownership group, including  Grace Roh (who now serves as publisher), Dr. Jeffrey Roh, Sam Cho, and Tim Wang , promised to continue the publication’s mission of empowering the Asian American community. The NWAW had shifted to an online-only format after its final print edition in January 2023.

• • Tanya Woo was appointed in January to the Seattle City Council to fill the vacant Position 8, representing the entire city. She ran for re-election to keep that seat but lost to Alexis Mercedes Rinck in the November election.

• • Shawn Yim, a 59-year-old King County Metro bus driver, was fatally stabbed in December in Seattle’s University District, following a physical altercation with a male passenger. Despite suffering multiple stab wounds, Yim managed to walk a short distance before collapsing. 53-year-old Richard Sitzlack fled the scene and was later arrested after officers located him on a different Metro bus. 

• • The Sound Transit board revisited the idea of a 5th Avenue station in November, despite previously removing it from consideration in 2022 following strong community opposition in the Chinatown-International District (CID). At a meeting on Nov. 14, Sound Transit presented a study supporting the exploration of the 5th Avenue option, as well as other alternatives. On Nov. 21, several commenters opposed the 5th Avenue plan, citing concerns over business closures, displacement, and disruption to the CID community. 
    

• • Matt Chan, a prominent community activist in the CID, passed away on March 30 at 71 after a battle with kidney cancer. A former television professional, Chan created the reality show “Hoarders” and worked at KING 5 in Seattle and KPIX-TV in San Francisco. After retiring from television, he continued his passion for storytelling, creating political ads for candidates of color, including Tanya Woo and Girmay Zahilay. 

• • Despite a Facebook post announcing the permanent closure of China Harbor Restaurant at the end of September, the restaurant hosted a scheduled one-off banquet six days later. The closure announcement was made by the former owner, not the Suns, who had sold the business in 2018.
    The restaurant reopened on Dec. 22 as Seattle Harbor, under new ownership. Vincent Zhao, owner of Joyale Restaurant, took over with a revamped menu featuring dim sum, Cantonese-style food, Sichuan-style food, and seafood.
    

• • The Seattle Police Department fired Officer Burton Hill in May following an investigation by the Office of Police Accountability into his racist behavior and threats towards a Chinese American woman, Zhen Jin, in August 2022. The incident occurred when Hill, off-duty and intoxicated, aggressively confronted Jin at her home, using racial slurs and threatening her with jail. 

• • The Seattle City Council approved a controversial plan in October to install outdoor surveillance cameras in high-crime areas, including Aurora Avenue North, the 3rd Avenue corridor downtown, and the CID. Despite significant opposition from the public, who argued the cameras would be ineffective and disproportionately impact communities of color, the Council passed two ordinances to launch a pilot program for closed-circuit TV cameras and Real-Time Crime Center software. 

• • The Fred T. Korematsu Center for Law and Equality, which had been based at Seattle University Law School since its founding in 2009, relocated to the University of California Irvine School of Law in July. The center, named after the civil rights pioneer Fred Korematsu, played a crucial role in advocating for racial justice and equality, tackling issues such as racial disparities in the criminal justice system and opposing discriminatory policies like the Muslim travel ban. 

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