VOL 33 NO 8 | FEBRUARY 15 – FEBRUARY 21, 2014

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PRSRT STD U.S. Postage Paid Permit No. 746 Seattle, WA

VOL 33 NO 8

FEBRUARY 15 – FEBRUARY 21, 2014

Port of Seattle CEO Yoshitani will take care of unfinished business

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32 YEARS YOUR VOICE

OLYMPICS Updates on API athletes in Sochi » P. 9

Kaori Nakamura:

retiring dancer was truly a ‘dream come true’ By Marino Saito Northwest Asian Weekly

{see YOSHITANI cont’d on page 12}

{see NAKAMURA cont’d on page 15}

Photo courtesy of Pacific Northwest Ballet

Between competing ports, the Panama Canal, a minimum wage lawsuit, and a looming sports arena, Tay Yoshitani has a lot to deal with in his final months as CEO of the Port of Seattle. After replacing former CEO Mic Dinsmore in January 2007, Yoshitani, the only Asian American CEO of a major port city in the country, confirmed last month that he would retire from the sixth largest port in the United States in June, when his contract expires. Until then, Yoshitani, 67, will be keeping very busy in what he described as “one of the most interesting port jobs in the country.” Last September in Orlando, Yoshitani became the 2013-14 American Association of Port Authorities (AAPA) chairman of the board. He still serves on the board of the National Center for Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation and various local organizations. At AAPA’s seventh annual Shifting International Trade Routes conference in Tampa last month, Yoshitani spoke about how global trade patterns have continued to shift over the years. “I used the example, back in 1914, when the Panama Canal first opened. It obliterated the business down in the Port of Valparaiso in Chile,” he said. “That’s one of the things that port directors have to keep in mind — what is changing and then anticipate what those changes are, and what you have to do to prepare for them.” The Panama Canal is responsible for 5 to 6 percent of international

Highly acclaimed dancer Kaori Nakamura will retire as principal dancer at Pacific Northwest Ballet this year.

Korean businesses Dropouts flood booted from the second-chance iGrad school in Kent Exchange Building

Photo by Alia Marsha

By James Tabafunda Northwest Asian Weekly

Photo by Mike Siegel/The Seattle Times

Tay Yoshitani

Graceful, light, strong, and fierce — that’s how Pacific Northwest Ballet principal dancer Kaori Nakamura is described by fellow dancer Jonathan Porretta. After a 17-year career with the company, Nakamura will retire from performing at the end of PNB’s 20132014 season. Originally from Gumma, Japan, Nakamura started learning ballet at the Reiko Yamamoto Ballet Company when she was 7 years old. “I had some friends learning ballet at that time, and they made me think that I wanted to learn ballet,” she said. “Also, I wanted to dance wearing a cute tutu.” “To try to sum up the extraordinary talents of Kaori Nakamura is like asking to capture all the beautiful butterflies in the world with one swoop of a net… impossible,” said Porretta, who has partnered Nakamura

Marlon Harris talks with Connie Moriarty, an instructional classroom support technician, left, and GED teacher Karna Cristina, who both worked closely with Harris and helped him earn his GED last year.

Un “Missy” Bang, left, waits on a customer during their final days of operation.

Editor’s note: This is a condensed version of a story published Jan. 13, 2014, in The Seattle Times as part of a yearlong project called The Education Lab. Through a series of stories and a blog, Times reporters are finding and spotlighting promising approaches to problems that have long bedeviled our public school system. The project is produced in partnership with the New York-based Solutions Journalism Network

By Alia Marsha Northwest Asian Weekly

{see iGRAD cont’d on page 12}

The line at The Original Deli in downtown Seattle is usually full of businessmen and women grabbing whatever lunch they can within the short break

they have. The mom-and-pop delicatessen, tucked on the first floor of the Exchange Building on Marion St. between First Avenue and Second Avenue, has been a favorite to many over the {see ORIGINAL DELI cont’d on page 13}

The Inside Story NAMES Honors, celebrations, and more » P. 2

WORLD China & Taiwan are speaking talking » P. 5

MUSIC Local Cambodian American singer » P. 8

WORLD Kenneth Bae: Will he ever be free? » P. 10

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