photo courtesy of Kelsey McNeal/ABC

By APRIL ELKJER
Nichi Bei Times

After trailing from the top slot for the last two weeks, Olympic gold figure skater Kristi Yamaguchi and partner Mark Ballas Jr. have outrun the pack (Jason Taylor and Cristi�n de la Fuente) on ABC's "Dancing With the Stars" (DWTS) and they have a shiny new mirror ball trophy to show for it.

BERKELEY (Bay City News Service) — Berkeley police spokesman Andrew Frankel said May 20 that foul play has been ruled out as the cause of the death of a University of California, Berkeley student who fell from a three-story apartment building Saturday morning.

Actor George Takei, best known as "Mr. Sulu" in the "Star Trek" TV series, has announced on his Website that in the wake of a landmark California Supreme Court decision validating same-sex marriages, he intends to marry longtime partner Brad Altman.

Nichi Bei Times Report

Jon Osaki, the executive director of the Japanese Community Youth Council (JCYC), received the Juvenile Justice Hero Award May 14 for his work supporting youth. He was presented the award by San Francisco Public Defender Jeff Adachi during the fifth annual Public Defender's Juvenile Justice Summit titled "Less Talk, More Action: Solutions for Safe Schools and Safe Streets" held in the Koret Auditorium in the San Francisco Main Library.

NAHA, Japan (Kyodo) — A U.S. Marine was sentenced to four years in prison on May 16 at a general court-martial for abusive sexual contact with a teenage girl in Okinawa Prefecture in February.

U.S. Marine Staff Sgt. Tyrone Hadnott, 38, who had been charged with five violations of the Uniform Code of Military Justice, will actually serve two years and nine months, however.

photo by Aya Oikawa

By AKITO YOSHIKANE
Nichi Bei Times

On May 16, the San Francisco Giants paid tribute to the first Japanese baseball player to play in majors, Masanori "Mashi" Murakami, as part of the Japanese Heritage Night at AT&T Park.

CLICK HERE TO VIEW PLAYER STATS AT MLB.COM

By ALEC YOSHIO MacDONALD
Nichi Bei Times

On Japanese Heritage Night at AT&T Park last Friday, the third Japan-born player in San Francisco Giants history was unable to take the field. But sitting out the game due to injury didn't prevent Dave Roberts from channeling the spirit of the occasion.

CLICK HERE TO VIEW FULL STATS AT WNBA.COM

PHOENIX, Ariz. (Kyodo) — Yuko Oga became only the second Japanese player to play in the WNBA women's professional basketball league when she made her debut in the Phoenix Mercury's season opener against the Los Angeles Sparks on May 17.

By The Kaeru Kid
Nichi Bei Times Columnist

Have you heard of Arcosanti? This is a project of the Arcosanti Foundation to build a futuristic urban community for 5,000 residents. The foundation's stated goals are to "minimize the use of energy, raw materials and land, reducing waste and environmental pollution; and allow interaction with the surrounding natural environment." This concept was termed arcology, architecture coherent with ecology. It is located on Interstate 17 about 65 miles north of Phoenix, AZ at the Cordes Junction turn off for Prescott.