West
Billion dollar Powerball winner highlights little-known lu Mein community in West Coast
Cheng “Charlie” Saephan wore a broad smile and a bright blue sash emblazoned with the words “Iu-Mien USA” as he hoisted an oversized check for $1.3 billion above his head.
The 46-year-old immigrant’s luck in winning an enormous Powerball jackpot in Oregon earlier this month — a lump sum payment of $422 million after taxes, which he and his wife will split with a friend — has changed his life. It also raised awareness about Iu Mien people, a southeast Asian ethnic group with origins in China, many of whose members fled from Laos to Thailand and then settled in the U.S. following the Vietnam War.
“I am born in Laos, but I am not Laotian,” Saephan told a news conference Monday at Oregon Lottery headquarters, where his identity as one of the jackpot’s winners was revealed. “I am Iu Mien.”
WINNER OF $1.3B POWERBALL JACKPOT IDENTIFIED AS LAOS IMMIGRANT WHO IS BATTLING CANCER
During the Vietnam War, the CIA and U.S. military recruited Iu Mien in neighboring Laos, many of them subsistence farmers, to engage in guerrilla warfare and to provide intelligence and surveillance to disrupt the Ho Chi Minh Trail that the North Vietnamese used to send troops and weapons through Laos and Cambodia into South Vietnam.
Cheng “Charlie” Saephan won the $1.3 billion Powerball jackpot and this victory has brought attention to a little-known Asian culture, lu Mien, in the U.S. (AP Photo/Jenny Kane)
After the conflict as well as the Laotian civil war, when the U.S.-backed government of Laos fell in 1975, they fled by the thousands to avoid reprisals from the new Communist government, escaping by foot through the jungle and then across the Mekong River into Thailand, according to a history posted on the website of Iu Mien Community Services in Sacramento, California. More than 70% of the Iu Mien population in Laos left and many wound up in refugee camps in Thailand.
Thousands of the refugees were allowed to come to the U.S., with the first waves arriving in the late 1970s and most settling along the West Coast. The culture had rich traditions of storytelling, basketry, embroidery and jewelry-making, but many initially had difficulty adjusting to Western life due to cultural and language differences as well as a lack of formal education.
There are now tens of thousands of Iu Mien — pronounced “yoo MEE’-en” — in the U.S., with many attending universities or starting businesses. Many have converted to Christianity from traditional animist religions. There is a sizeable Iu Mien community in Portland and its suburbs, with a Buddhist temple and Baptist church, active social organization, and businesses and restaurants.
Cayle Tern, president of the Iu Mien Association of Oregon, arrived in Portland with his family in 1980, when he was 3 years old. He is now running for City Council. Saephan’s Powerball win is significant for other Iu Mien, he said.
“It means so much because all of us came with so little,” Tern said. “I take pride in seeing our members of the community advance and flourish, and I just feel so good for him.”
Saephan, 46, said he was born in Laos and moved to Thailand in 1987, before immigrating to the U.S. in 1994. He graduated from high school in 1996 and has lived in Portland for 30 years. He worked as a machinist for an aerospace company.
He said Monday that he has had cancer for eight years and had his latest chemotherapy treatment last week.
OREGON AUTHORITIES TO REVEAL WINNER OF $1.3B POWERBALL JACKPOT
“I will be able to provide for my family and my health,” he said, adding that he’d “find a good doctor for myself.”
Saephan, who has two young children, said that as a cancer patient, he wondered, “How am I going to have time to spend all of this money? How long will I live?”
He said he and his 37-year-old wife, Duanpen, are taking half the money, and the rest is going to a friend, Laiza Chao, 55, of the Portland suburb of Milwaukie. Chao had chipped in $100 to buy a batch of tickets with them.
Chao, was on her way to work when Saephan called her with the news: “You don’t have to go anymore,” he said.
In the weeks leading up to the drawing, he wrote out numbers for the game on a piece of paper and slept with it under his pillow, he said. He prayed that he would win, saying, “I need some help — I don’t want to die yet unless I have done something for my family first.”
The winning Powerball ticket was sold in early April at a Plaid Pantry convenience store in Portland, ending a winless streak that had stretched more than three months. The Oregon Lottery said it had to go through a security and vetting process before announcing the identity of the person who came forward to claim the prize.
Under Oregon law, with few exceptions, lottery players cannot remain anonymous. Winners have a year to claim the top prize.
The jackpot had a cash value of $621 million before taxes if the winner chose to take a lump sum rather than an annuity paid over 30 years, with an immediate payout followed by 29 annual installments. The prize is subject to federal taxes and state taxes in Oregon.
The $1.3 billion prize is the fourth largest Powerball jackpot in history, and the eighth largest among U.S. jackpot games, according to the Oregon Lottery.
The biggest U.S. lottery jackpot won was $2.04 billion in California in 2022.
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SAN FRANCISCO (KRON) — The San Francisco Police Department is warning the public to be aware of recent jewelry robbery schemes targeting senior citizens around the city.
The perpetrators often operate as part of a larger criminal enterprise that targets victims who wear visible jewelry.
Thieves approach unsuspecting victims, engage them in conversation, and sometimes offer a “gift,” investigators said.
SFPD wrote, “If a stranger approaches you and attempts to make physical contact or offer a gift, step away and alert them that you are calling the police.”
One incident occurred on March 20, when officers were conducting an undercover robbery abatement operation.
“A plainclothes officer observed the occupants of a white BMW SUV approaching multiple individuals wearing jewelry, attempting to engage in conversation. Officers believed the occupants were casing for potential victims,” the police department wrote. “They observed the vehicle approach a victim near the corner of 17th Avenue and Cabrillo Street. The suspects engaged the victim in conversation and during the interaction, the suspect passenger appeared to place a necklace on the victim and then forcibly steal the victim’s jewelry.”
The BMW fled from officers until officers “disabled the vehicle” on Frederick Street, SFPD wrote. Officers arrested 37-year-old Ludovic-Iustinian Ceausu and 41- year-old Claudia Voinescu on suspicion of robbery, grand theft, elder abuse, conspiracy, and possession of stolen property.
Anyone who suspects they have been targeted in the jewelry scheme should contact police. “All victims are urged to contact the SFPD as quickly as possible if they become a victim. The SFPD will diligently investigate these cases,” the police department wrote.
DENVER (KDVR) — A recruit has died after participating in physical training at the Denver Sheriff Department Training Academy, officials report.
According to the Denver Sheriff Department, following physical training on Tuesday at the academy, Recruit Dorbor Mulbah “expressed discomfort and became unwell.”
DSD said staff members at the academy began life-saving medical measures on Mulbah.
Upon arrival, the Denver Fire Department and Denver Paramedics continued to provide critical medical attention before Mulbah was taken to the hospital, where he was pronounced dead on Wednesday morning.
DSD provided the following statement in part:
“As a matter of protocol, we have asked the Administrative Investigative Unit to open an inquiry into the matter. We have deployed wellness and mental health resources for the Academy cadre, to include the Recruits.
We ask that the family’s privacy be honored during this difficult time. Thank you for keeping Recruit Mulbah’s family and our Department in your thoughts and prayers.”
DSD said Mulbah was set to graduate from the academy in May.
SEATTLE — As Seattle heads into the warmer months, growing safety concerns are surfacing along one of the city’s most popular destinations.
Neighbors around Alki Beach said they’re already seeing an increase in loud, late-night parties that in the past have been followed by crime, reckless driving, and even gun violence. They also question why enhanced safety measures seen in other parts of the city have yet to make their way to West Seattle.
PREVIOUS COVERAGE | Alki residents push for beach patrols to curb violent crime as summer season approaches
Members of Harbor-Alki-Neighbors said many people who live along Alki Avenue SW and Harbor Avenue SW simply don’t feel safe. They point to incidents involving bullets hitting homes and cars, businesses being broken into multiple times, and hit-and-run crashes that can involve impaired drivers.
Street racing is also a major concern, as some drivers use the waterfront roads as a high-speed circuit.
With the Southwest Precinct already facing staffing shortages, residents said police response times aren’t where they need to be, especially with summer crowds on the way.
Residents are also at a loss over city priorities. They point to new efforts at Golden Gardens, where private security will patrol overnight this summer, as well as Magnuson Park, where three officers will be permanently assigned.
Neighbors along Alki said similar or worse problems exist in their neighborhood, but there is no comparable security presence.
City leaders have taken some steps, such as installing additional lighting along Alki Avenue after a series of business break-ins. In the past, both the beach and Don Armeni boat ramp have been closed and cleared an hour early to help deter trouble. Still, after two shootings in the area this year, many said it’s not enough.
Neighbors are now calling for a stronger, long-term safety plan before the busiest months of summer arrive.
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