are being recognized for their efforts. they are being awarded the gold medal of valor. [applause]

>> captain paul chignell, along with officers tastings ahastingd lopez. >> good evening to you all. my pleasure to introduce richard hastings and that lopez. -- matt lopez. saturday, july 16, 2011, officer richard hastings and asked matt lopez were on duty and in uniform. their primary assignment was to be on a fixed post detail on the

imminence of a railway platform on third street between oakdale avenue and plu avenue. this platform and the surrounding areas are notorious for high incidence of robberies, aggravated assaults, indiscriminate shootings, gang activity, illegal firearm possession, as well as a multitude of quality of life cripes. the bayview station has dedicated a high-level police resources to this area, particularly to a recent rash of robberies on and adjacent to the platform. well on the platform, officers tastings and lopez contacted the subject later identified as kenneth harding jr.. he was on the railway vehicle. the officers determined the suspect was riding without benefit obtained. the officers escorted the subject off of the vehicle without incident and requested he sit down on one of the

benches nearby. mr. harding complied with that request well officer lopez conducted a standard warrant record check. as he heard officers radio transmission, he suddenly leapt to his feet and started to run east across third street into the crowded plaza with officers and foot pursuit. suddenly, and from a distance of 10 feet from the pursuing officers, harding a ride of the northern part of the plaza and reached his right hand under his left arm and then fired several rounds from his handgun at both of the officers. the officers immediately engaged in a firefight with the suspect. he then it fell to the ground, suffering a gunshot wounds. officers approached the suspect to taken into custody and render medical aid. numerous responding officers arrived on the scene and

observed the officers surrounded by a mob, many of whom were screaming and provoking hostility towards officers. as they attempted to secure the time seen -- crime scene, the mom became increasingly provocative with the threats directed towards officers. ultimately officers from four police stations and the tactical unit arrived to clear the plaza of the mall. in the aftermath of the shooting, it was determine the suspect was of recidivist criminal who was wanted in seattle, washington, for the murder of young, pregnant woman just one week before. this inference is the police department delayed -- delineates the criteria that must be met for an officer of the san francisco police department to be awarded the medal of valor. that includes outstanding bravery beyond that expected in a line of duty, or failure to take such action would not

justify censure. with the rest of life actually existed and officer had time to evaluate the risk, and where the objective is of the sufficient importance to the risk, and lastly and most importantly, where the officer accomplish the objective. on july 16, 2011, officer richard hastings and matthew lopez the kill each and every requested criteria for the medal of valor. they exemplified bravery of the highest level. in doing their duty and deterred by the fact that their lives were in imminent peril. they engaged in a gunbattle with a career criminal who was engaged with the ones in respect for public life and wanted to escape to not be held accountable for a vicious murder. san francisco police officers know at any time and anywhere they need to put their lives on the line to do their duty to stop a criminal.

july 16, 2011, officer richard hastings and mathew lopez put their lives on the line and did their duty. for that, they're being awarded the most prestigious award, the gold medal of valor. [applause]

>> those were the last of the nominees and recipients. the chief amount to the closing. -- will now do the closing. many of the people on the stage and an audience were present. as amazing as the stories were, you had to see it to believe it. some of the actions these officers took. we recognize the tennis solomon a moment ago, but i want to recognize something. many of officers recognize are not first generation san francisco police officers. four of the six are not first generation san francisco police

officers. can i get the other generation of police officers that gave us these police officers to stand up and be recognized. [applause] >> talk about raising your kids right. another recognition i want to make is we are going to experience in the next 30 days of record exit of police officers, especially commissioned officers due to the sun setting of the retirement program. many of the people that are going out red nominations tonight. if i could, all officers that will be retiring and leaving us, they we think you for your service by getting you to stand. [applause]

that is going to close our program. know that all of these officers when they get back to work, they will go out again looking for trouble and probably find it. i trust they will demonstrate again what these officers do every day, and that is keep this city safe. the command staff and commission will be available for pictures. family and kids for sure. if you can get your metal back from this little guy. thank you very much. hopefully we will see you all again soon. keep the officers in your thoughts and prayers. keep them safe. [applause]

>> welcome to "culturewire." today we are at recology. they are celebrate 20 years of one of the most incredibly unique artist residency programs. we are here to learn more from one of the resident artists. welcome to the show, deborah. tell us how this program began 20 years ago. >> the program began 20 years ago. our founder was an environmentalist and an activist and an artist in the 1970's. she started these street sweeping campaigns in the city. she started with kids. they had an exhibition at city hall. city officials heard about her

efforts and they invited her to this facility. we thought it would coincide with our efforts to get folks to recycle, it is a great educational tool. since then, we have had 95 professional artists come through. >> how has the program changed over the years? how has the program -- what can the public has an artist engage with? >> for the most part, we worked with metal and wood, what you would expect from a program like ours. over the years, we tried to include artists and all types of mediums. conceptual artists, at installation, photographers, videographers. >> that has really expanded the program out. it is becoming so dynamic right now with your vision of interesting artists in gauging here. why would an artist when to come here? >> mainly, access to the

materials. we also give them a lot of support. when they start, it is an empty studio. they go out to the public area and -- we call it the big store. they go out shopping, take the materials that, and get to work. it is kind of like a reprieve, so they can really focus on their body of work. >> when you are talking about recology, do you have the only sculpture garden at the top? >> it is based on work that was done many years ago in new york. it is the only kind of structured, artist program. weit is beautiful. a lot of the plants you see were pulled out of the garbage, and we use our compost to transplant them. the pathway is lined with rubble from the earthquake from the

freeways we tour about 5000 people a year to our facility, adults and children. we talk about recycling and conservation. they can meet the artists. >> fantastic. let's go meet some of your current artists. here we are with lauren. can you tell us how long have been here so far and what you're working on? >> we started our residency on june 1, so we came into the studio then and spent most of the first couple weeks just digging around in the trash. i am continuing my body of work, kind of making these hand- embroidered objects from our day-to-day life. >> can you describe some of the things you have been making here? this is amazing. >> i think i started a lot of my work about the qualities of light is in the weight. i have been thinking a lot about

things floating through the air. it is also very windy down here. there is a piece of sheet music up there that i have embroidered third. there is a pamphlet about hearing dea -- nearing death. this is a dead rabbit. this is what i am working on now. this is a greeting card that i found, making it embroidered. it is for a very special friend. >> while we were looking at this, i glanced down and this is amazing, and it is on top of a book, it is ridiculous and amazing. >> i am interested in the serendipity of these still life compositions. when he got to the garbage and to see the arrangement of objects that is completely spontaneous. it is probably one of the least thought of compositions. people are getting rid of this stuff. it holds no real value to them,

because they're disposing of it. >> we're here in another recology studio with abel. what attracted you to apply for this special program? >> who would not want to come to the dump? but is the first question. for me, being in a situation that you're not comfortable in has always been the best. >> what materials were you immediately attracted to when you started and so what was available here? >> there are a lot of books. that is one of the thing that hits me the most. books are good for understanding, language, and art in general. also being a graphic designer, going straight to the magazines and seeing all this printed material being discarded has also been part of my work. of course, always wood or any kind of plastic form or anything like that. >> job mr. some of the pieces you have made while you have been here.

-- taught me through some of the pieces you have made while you have been here. >> the first thing that attracted me to this was the printed surface. it was actually a poster. it was a silk screen watercolor, about 8 feet long. in terms of the flatwork, i work with a lot of cloddish. so being able to cut into it come at into it, removed parts, it is part of the process of negotiating the final form. >> how do you jump from the two dimensional work that you create to the three-dimensional? maybe going back from the 3f to 2d. >> everything is in the process of becoming. things are never said or settled. the sculptures are being made while i am doing the collages, and vice versa. it becomes a part of something else. there's always this figuring out of where things belong or where

they could parapets something else. at the end goal is to possibly see one of these collage plans be built out and create a structure that reflects back into the flat work. >> thank you so much for allowing "culturewire" to visit this amazing facility and to learn more about the artists in residence program. is there anything you like our viewers to know? >> we have art exhibitions every four months, and a win by the public to come out. everybody is welcome to come out. we have food. sometimes we have gains and bands. it is great time. from june to september, we accept applications from bay area artists. we encouraged artists from all mediums to apply. we want as many artists from the bay area out here so they can have the same experience. >> how many artists to do your host here? >> 6 artist a year, and we receive about 108 applications.

very competitive. >> but everyone should be encouraged to apply. thank you again for hosting us. >> thank you for including us in "culturewire." ♪

>> i am the founder and chair of the heritage committee. today is may 1. [applause] many of us have said every month of the year should be asian- american month. we're very happy to have legislation so the entire country can celebrate the contributions and history of pacific asian americans in this country. we would not be here today or have this celebration without having a major that has always made time for us -- without having the mayor that has always made time for us and been so supportive everything we do. without further delay, and like to invite our mayor to help launch the celebration this year, mayor edwin lee.

[applause] >> thank you, claudine, for your wonderful work. it is my pleasure to join the board president chu, jane kim, eric marrs. have i missed anybody? school board members, yes. norman yee, everybody. [applause] [laughter] you know, i am getting up there. 60. it goes downhill afterwards. it is great to join everybody to kick off. we could be elsewhere. we could be protesting today on something. but we're here celebrating our asian pacific heritage month. it is a month-long celebration and recognition of things we have been doing to promote heritage. this year's theme is advancing education.

it is sorely needed by everyone. is something we naturally do. i want to welcome everything here from japantown, the southeast asian community, the philippine committee, the samoan community, all of our asian populations working together to promote this month and be able to tell more stories about who we are. it is a wonderful country. i just came back from seattle, my home town. i have my own homegrown seattle jokes i could tell you. they will ruin your day. it is great to link up roots. i went back to my high school in beacon hill where i grew up. i rethought the steps of how i got to san francisco. i met with housing groups that resonated with our international hotel struggle.

a lot of community groups that were part of my own personal history but have become part of our whole west coast history that we celebrate because it is really the same thing. every city whether new york, chicago, or san francisco, the asian populations have grown and matured beyond the immediate immigrant groups, but they still have strong ties. i am reminded of this constantly. we have an inner. population that wants to be involved in everything we do and the side. they know with the leadership we have at the board now and with our other elected officials, there is much more than just being part of an immigrant group. more and more, we are part of the american foundation of freedom and life.

it is up to us to take our position. in everything we do, whether we are heading up a non-profit, a department head, it is our responsibility to represent everyone. that is the greatest story for asian-americans. everybody now looks to us to be part of everyone else's leadership and community building, building bridges with business, building community safety, all of the cultural connections. we can readily understand other groups that struggle easily because we come from the history of struggle. that is why i wanted to mention the international hotel. that unites us. it is something we want to build on. whether we are heading up the greatest museums, it is world

renowned. we get to represent our culture in so many ways. i want to thank you for doing your part in joining the rest of the city by celebrating this. we will have a month long. i think it takes a whole month to recognize all of the different subgroups part of the asian-american experience. i am excited to do that. i am excited to be part of this great city. welcome to everyone. it is a great opportunity for everyone to participate. i am looking forward to ted's street celebration. all of you will have your own individual connections to the asia-pacific american experience. i will try to get to as many as i can. it will be celebratory and educational at the same time. most importantly, i think we have to make sure that we speak to all of our youth. they are now responsible for carrying on these traditions we

have. i love it every time i see more of our youth embrace that culture. they can help to create the immigrant experience, growing up in our immigrant communities and then celebrating that as they take up more responsibility in bed -- business, education, community leadership. it would be wonderful to carry that on for all asian american groups in our great city. that is why we're working hard with our school district to make sure the cultural connections are always going to be there. if you understand where you came from, you will note where we're going ahead. you know how we can create more connections for people to come together. thank you for celebrating ata month. this is just the beginning. i look forward to going to every

neighborhood and celebrating with you. a [applause] >> thank you. we look forward to seeing you at our proclamation signing ceremony. i would like to ask our elected officials to come forward as a group so that we can be efficient with our time. the school board members, sandra, i would also like to acknowledge the 2012 celebration co-chairs because they have been doing a lot. tobin/[applause] everything else we need to do, we call rose chung. [applause] i would like to invite our board president david chu forward

followed by the various other supervisors. david? >> good morning. look behind me. just a couple of years ago when i ran for office the first time, there was only one asian official that have an office on the second floor. now we have so many. eric marr and i get confused all the time. carmen and jane get confused all the time. we're here because of view, because of all the work done across all the sectors, because of all of the diversity of communities we have represented. i will not even go through the list. we represent the world diaspore, the world immigration story for the country of asian-americans.

i want to say welcome on behalf of the board of supervisors. we look forward to a month of celebrations. next week in addition to the ceremonies across the street, at the board of supervisors next tuesday, we will be acknowledging each district supervisor, the asian american heroes in our midst. thank you for being part of this committee. we look forward to continuing here in the year of the dragon. [applause] >> thank you. it is not just those of us standing up. it is your leadership that makes the asian pacific americans so strong it was such a strong voice. i wanted to say the theme of advancing education has been really important. a lot of us who have served on the school board serve part time. many of us are here. asian pacific heritage month allows me to think about how it

was 30 years ago on june 19 when someone was killed and the movement grew among many grass- roots organizations. i was a student at uc-davis. it transformed my life. it made me find a purpose to use my legal education and training and work i had done, to put into leadership and helping with grass-roots organizing to make sure there are new generations of people who keep coming. it is made day today. -- it is made day today. 30 years ago on may 1, we found it an organization honoring philip veravruz and many others in our country and those in our country. may day