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(L) Dr. Marguerite Ro (R) Assembyman Mark Leno
photo by Akito Yoshikane/NIchi Bei times

By AKITO YOSHIKANE
Nichi Bei Times

California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger announced last week that the state's budget deficit could increase to as much as $20 billion, the largest state debt in the country for fiscal year 2009 and higher than the original $15 billion debt projected in January.

(Bay City News Service) — The San Francisco medical examiner's office identified 32-year-old Oakland resident Ajason Black as the victim of a fatal shooting the night of Saturday, May 3 near San Francisco Japantown's Japan Center.

Initial reports indicated Black was shot at Geary Boulevard and Buchanan Street at about 10:15 p.m. before he ran across the street and collapsed, police said.

He was pronounced dead at the scene.

By KENJI G. TAGUMA
Nichi Bei Times

Beverly Hills-based 3D Investments, which in 2006 bought most of San Francisco Japantown's economic hub and followed that with the purchase of major Little Tokyo properties last year, is currently seeking to purchase the property owned by Union Bank of California adjacent to their own Japantown holdings, the bank disclosed.

The family of an elderly former Marine who died from injuries after being run over by a MUNI bus near Japantown last year wants to help prevent the same tragedy from happening to other pedestrians, especially senior citizens.

The family of Kenji Suzuki, a resident of Japantown, recently settled a wrongful death case against the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Authority.

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photo by Elisabeth Fall/UCSF

The Japanese Bilingual Bicultural Program at Rosa Parks Elementary School, affectionately known simply as "JBBP," is currently enrolling students from kindergarten to fifth grade. JBBP recently celebrated its 35th anniversary as a unique language program within the San Francisco public school system.