Nation
»Baltimore County Police Department welcomes first female Asian American officer
Baltimore, MD – Korean American Rosa Park recently became Baltimore County Police Department’s first female Asian American police officer.
Park, 27, graduated from the Baltimore County Police Academy in June and started training four days later. She became interested in becoming an officer when she witnessed her parents’ corner store being robbed as a teenager, and the subsequent lack of assistance by authorities in pursuing the perpetrator.
“I see the rift between Asians and police officers … and I’ve seen how they interacted with my parents and it’s not very nice,” Park said. “I just know there’s a lot of mistrust between Asians and police officers, and I just want to break that barrier and be there for the community.”
Bay
»Filipino advocacy group to hold summit
San Francisco – The National Alliance for Filipino Concerns (NAFCON) along with its member organizations in Northern California—San Francisco State University’s League of Filipino Students (LFS), Filipino Community Support (FOCUS) of Silicon Valley, Filipino Community Center (FCC), Liwanag Kultural Center (LKC), and the San Francisco Committee for Human Rights in the Philippines (SF CHRP)—are hosting the NAFCON Northern California Regional Summit on August 28 at the Local 2 Hiring Hall in San Francisco. The day-long event will bring together various Filipino advocacy groups to network with each other and engage in dialogue about issues impacting the Filipino Community.
The summit will also feature a book release and signing of Ating Kalagayan (“Our Situation’), the most comprehensive demographic data of Filipino Americans by author Peter Chua.
Arts
»Lao documentary wins Primetime Emmy
Filmmakers Thavisouk Phrasavath, Steven Sebring, and Ellen Kuras have recently won the Primetime Emmy Award for their film The Betrayal – Nerakhoon, in the category for Exceptional Merit in Nonfiction Filmmaking.
Filmed over 23 years, Betrayal documents a Lao refugee living in New York, and his difficulty in assimilating into American life. Once New York, he encounters many other perils such as gang warfare.
The film was shown at the 2008 Sundance Film Festival and premiered on PBS’s documentary series POV in June 2009.
The rest of the Primetime Emmy Awards will be given out at the 62nd Primetime Emmy Awards, airing August 29 at 8 pm/7 Central on NBC. The awards will take place at the Nokia Theatre in Hollywood with Jimmy Fallon as host.
Global
»India sends first representative to Miss Fitness competition
Reno, NV – Guinness World Record holder Dinaz Vervatwala recently became the first Indian to represent the country at 
Miss Fitness World and Miss Fitness Universe, which took place on August 21-22 in Reno, Nevada.
Vervatwala founded Dinaz’s Fitness Studio Pvt. Ltd. in 1993 as a means of promoting aerobic fitness in South India. The Studio now has four centers spread across the country and has helped thousands of clients to stay fit and healthy. She has regularly appeared in Indian media promoting a healthy lifestyle. Her credentials include certifications from ACE (American Council of Exercise), AFAA (Aerobics and Fitness Association of America) and NASM (National Academy of Sports Medicine).
This year, Miss Fitness Universe hosted over 25 competitors from over 30 countries. The contestants were judged on muscle tone, strength, endurance, public speaking skills, overall grooming and cosmetic appeal.
For more information on Miss Fitness Universe and results, please visit www.fitnessuniverse.com.
»Beijing traffic jam stretches into ninth day
Beijing – A 100 km traffic jam in the PRC capital of Beijing has now stretched into its ninth day.
The jam started on August 14 when the Beijing-Tibet expressway received a spike in traffic due to an influx of cargo-bearing heavy trucks traversing to the city. This was compounded with road maintenance work that started five days earlier.
Locals have attempted to capitalize on stranded drivers by selling them food and water at exorbitant prices.
This highlights an already growing traffic problem in Beijing as similar incidents were reported during June and July. The congestion on the expressway is expected to last until mid-September when road work is scheduled to be completed.
Rosa Park is a Baltimore COUNTY Officer if the picture above is her. The City and county departments are 2 separate agencies and governments with dramatically different amounts of crime.
The article about Officier Park is not 100% correct she may be the first Korean American on the force, but the county has had a female Asian Officer for 15 years now on the force,