Kara Chu Crowned 2026 Nisei Week Queen; Ai Kusayanagi Is First Princess
Representing the Orange County Nikkei Coordinating Council, Kara Kimiko Chu was named this year’s Nisei Week Queen. Ai Grace Kusayanagi (Japanese Restaurant Association of America) received the first princess title. Tapped for Nisei Week princess honors were Emily Kaori Gruhn (Pasadena Japanese Cultural Institute), Deena Maiko Umeda (Venice Japanese Community Center & Venice-West Los Angeles Japanese American Citizens League), Meagan Sueko Pham (San Fernando Valley Japanese American Community Center) and Kailah Julianne Tokushige (Gardena Evening Optimist Club), with Jacqueline Fujiko Naito (East San Gabriel Valley Japanese Community Center) winning Miss Tomodachi.
LTSC, 4th & Central Development Pact on Community Benefits Agreement
The Little Tokyo Service Center’s years-long opposition to the redevelopment by the owners of Los Angeles Cold Storage into the megadevelopment known as Fourth & Central that detractors asserted would have a negative impact on Little Tokyo appears to have paid off in the form of concessions. The Community Benefits Agreement would, according to an LTSC news release, provide more Extremely Low-Income (ELI) affordable housing than required under the DTLA 2040 Community Plan; create permanent space for community-serving businesses and organizations rooted in Little Tokyo and Skid Row; establish a dedicated community investment fund to support neighborhood priorities over the long term; and create new safeguards and public oversight for alcohol permits and protection of public health, including creation of an Alcohol Advisory Group. LTSC also said the developer agreed to limit the height and density of the buildings.
Declared Insane, Man Who Killed, Dismembered Mother Found Not Guilty
Facing a maximum term of life in confinement, David Hoetzlein, 25, of Camarillo, Calif., will be placed in a maximum-security state mental hospital for treatment after having been found not guilty by reason of insanity for the 2022 slaying and dismemberment of his mother, Tomoko Hoetzlein, 62, and then putting her remains in a dumpster. David Hoetzlein admitted to the killing while in court on Aug. 13.
Hawaii: Five Indicted on Charges Including Bribery, Obstruction of Justice
An Oahu grand jury on July 24 indicted Hawaii Lt. Gov. Sylvia Luke, former Human Services Director Ryan Yamane, former budget analyst for the Senate Committee on Ways and Means Ford Fuchigami, former PUC Chair and Luke campaign treasurer Leo Asuncion Jr. and businessman Toby Solidum on charges including “bribery, campaign finance violations, false statements and obstruction of justice.” The five are accused of having used campaign donations and other funds to obtain continued state funding for Solidum’s COVID-19 testing operations.
DoJ: Tax Preparer Gets 27-Month-Prison Term For Filing False Returns
U.S. District Judge Sherilyn Peace Garnett on Aug. 6 sentenced Ann Quach, 50, of Thousand Oaks, Calif., to 27 months in federal prison for filing more than 1,700 false tax returns, according to the U.S. Department of Justice. Quach, who on Feb. 18 pleaded guilty to one count of aiding in the preparation of false tax returns and one count of wire fraud, was also ordered by the judge to pay $6,481,731 in restitution. In other DoJ news, on Aug. 28, Chinese nationals Yang Song, 39, of Corona, Calif., and illegal immigrant Wenhui Huang, 41, of Chino Hills, Calif., were sentenced to federal prison for leading a large-scale scheme to defraud Apple Inc. through the fraudulent “returns” of thousands of counterfeit Apple devices totalling some $16.2 million in losses.
— P.C. Staff
