For the 2013 model, two new Beetle special editions were introduced. The first was the Beetle Fender Edition. A marriage of icons from the worlds of music and the automobile, the Fender Edition stands out with unique interior and exterior styling. Its distinctively painted dashboard features the quintessential sunburst color of Fender guitars, and the vehicle’s interior is accented with …

By Jewel Edwards Phase 1 of the much anticipated Silver Line on the D.C. metro system is on schedule to be completed in Sept. 2013. Construction began on the Silver Line in March 2009. The first phase of the 23-mile extension of the existing Metrorail system will extend from East Falls Church to Wiehle Ave. in Reston, Va. and will …

Washington, DC – This year’s JACL (Japanese American Citizens League) Convention celebrated the 25th anniversary of the Civil Liberties Act of 1988 which formally apologized to Japanese Americans who were interned during World War II. The Civil Liberties Act also provided $20,000 in reparations for Japanese American families. A highlight of the conference was a reception at the National Archives …

By Jenny Chen Falls Church, Va. – The sun is setting over the Temple Rodef Shalom in Falls Church, Va. Inside, over a hundred Muslims and Jews from the Northern Virginia community are seated around round tables, listening to the Muslim call to prayer, led by high schooler Mohammed Aarif Abdul Kareem. It is Iftar, the breaking of the fast …

From July 18-21, OCA – Asian Pacific American Advocates hosted their national convention at the Omni Shoreham hotel in Washington, D.C. The convention included a preliminary screening of the documentary film “Linsanity”, workshops on activism, a politics plenary session, and a star studded gala, which closed the event. — Were you at the OCA conference? Share your photos with us …

By Jennie L. Ilustre Washington, D.C.–House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Ed Royce (CA) and Majority Leader Eric Cantor led fellow legislators at a Republican Meetup with Korean Americans, celebrating the strong 60-year alliance of the United States and South Korea. They joined other Republican Members of Congress in emphasizing that the two nations and peoples share the same values of …

By Mary Tablante Watches for the Blind BOSTON—MIT graduate student and Korean American Hyungsoo Kim designed a watch that doesn’t require vision or sound; the watch allows people to check time without having to look at a watch or cellphone. Kim calls the watch a “timepiece,” not a watch, because “you don’t have to watch this to know the time.” …

Asian American LEAD’s (AALEAD) DC Elementary School Summer Program *This poem is a piece from AALEAD’s DC Elementary School Summer Program “I Am ME” workshop which focuses on helping youth explore identity through creative writing and visual arts. “I am…” By: Joline, rising 3rd grader I am Responsible and Respectful I wonder how dinosaurs died I hear people talking I see …

Several Asian American and Pacific Islander undocumented youths, members of Congress, and National AAPI leaders convened on July 31 on the steps of the U.S. Capitol Building to raise awareness for immigration reform. The youths, recently approved under DACA, the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, demonstrated at the House Triangle today as part of their nine-city tour, “DREAM Riders: Road …