Month: March 27, 2020 6:15 am

You can find much more than you expect on just a page or two of a good local newspaper.

I had a hunch I could track down a particular story in the March 19, 1945, edition of The Kingston Whig-Standard. What I first noticed, however, was not what I went looking for. Instead a photograph of two Kingston men in uniform, at the top of page 2, caught my eye. One was Leading Aircraft­man G. D. Murray. The other was Leading Aircraftman A. F. Norris. A caption told me the latter was a “Regi” boy. The former went to KCVI, another high school in the city.

Now when I went to Regiopolis, the rival high school was Kingston Collegiate. Yet this photograph showed Murray and Norris as friends. Since they were previously members of the Princess of Wales’ Own Regiment they likely met at the Montreal Street Armory. I spent time there myself while in high school, with the 58th Squadron of the Royal Canadian Air Cadets.

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For most Canadians, the current debate in the United States over Medicare for all seems like a no-brainer. Medicare for all, or what we term Universal Health Care, has been in place across Canada since 1972 and even earlier in some provinces. (The administration of health care remains a provincial or territorial responsibility, although the federal government sets nationwide standards and provides approximately 50 percent of the cost through transfer payments to the provinces.)

Basic health care in Canada is free and universal, as it is totally funded through tax dollars. It covers approximately 70 percent of Canadians’ health-care needs, including all essential medical needs, doctors’ visits and hospital costs. The remaining 30 percent, which relates to services not covered through Medicare, such as prescription drugs, dentistry and optometry, is paid for through the private sector. However, approximately 65 to 75 percent of Canadians have some form of supplementary health insurance like Blue Cross.

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WARREN, Mich. – The Ukrainian Cultural Center of Detroit on February 23 held a full-capacity public event on the occasion of “Soyuzianka Day” (a Soyuzianka is a member of the Ukrainian National Women’s League of America [UNWLA]). This year the UNWLA Detroit Regional Council celebrates its 85th anniversary.

Emphasis this year was given to the celebration and presentation of several awards to a prominent public figure in the metropolitan Detroit area, Vera Andruskiw.

Ms. Andrushkiw – an educator and active member of the Ukrainian American community – led Detroit’s Committee in Defense of Human Rights in Ukraine in the years 1972-1976. In 1974-1979 and 1981-1888 she taught Ukrainian language, literature, culture and history at Immaculate Conception Ukrainian Catholic High School in Hamtramck, Mich., where she began the tradition of staging Ukrainian-language plays with her colleagues.

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Recent events in the United States have propelled Ukraine and Ukrainians to unimaginable levels of notoriety. The consequences of this notoriety can be considered, in the best of cases, a mixed blessing.  Be that as it may, this experience has underscored the importance of active participation in the political process. The upcoming November 2020 elections present opportunities and challenges for our community.

We present here data developed by the Center for Demographic and Socio-economic Research of Ukrainians in the U.S. (center for short) at the Shevchenko Scientific Society in New York (society for short) that may be useful during the primary process and the November elections.

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“East Bay Murders,” by Tanya Chalupa. Independently published, 2020. Paperback, 246 pp., ISBN: 9781710996470, $15.99.

In her third book and first work of fiction, Tanya Chalupa once again focuses on the San Francisco Bay Area and Sacramento County. “Because of the work I did in legislation and running federally funded programs, I know Northern California, almost like the back of my hand, although now I rotate between Washington, D.C. and Northern Virginia,” the author notes.

It was while she was working in Albany, Calif., Police Department with Lt. Bill “Elvis” Palmini, that DNA conclusively confirmed Charles Junior Jackson as the killer in the shocking Albany Vila murder case. Ms. Chalupa accompanied Lt. Palmini, who at the time was the investigating officer, to meet with Alameda County Senior Deputy D.A. Rock Harmon, regarding the case. During the course of her writing, Mr. Harmon provided Ms. Chalupa with guidance on the workings of the prosecutor’s office.

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“Trial of Kings” by Nicholas Paslawsky, Castorville, Texas: Black Rose Writing, 2019. Paperback: ISBN: 978-1684332731, 251pp,. $19.95. Kindle: ISBN: 1684332737, $6.99.

This fantasy novel by a young Ukrainian American follows the adventures of a company of teens who traverse the treacherous Old World and resist the nefarious legion while trying to reach the mythical Bright Harbor and discover themselves along the way.

It’s been five years since the ancient world of Primoria held the Trial of Kings. The consequence of the final battle shattered the spirits of the land, ushering in a time of great uncertainty.

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It is common knowledge more time is required to make it in the NHL as a defenseman than it is as a forward. Generally speaking an additional couple of years spent perfecting one’s skating, positional play, coaches’ strategies and developing chemistry with fellow rearguards and goaltenders is the norm. Then there is the organizational depth chart, the hope for an opening on the blueline, the rapport with the coaches and the club’s salary cap situation. An NHL prospect can control most of his personal development, but several outside factors also affect his gaining a full-time NHL spot. For some the process takes even longer. Ukrainian Greg Pateryn more than paid his dues before earning permanent status in the world’s best hockey league.

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KYIV – The most recent meeting of the Trilateral Contact Group on Peaceful Settlement of the Situation in the Donbas was held in Minsk, Belarus, without being publicly announced beforehand. Only after the media of militant groups in the occupied Donbas published news about the March 11 meeting did a news release appear on the website of the Presidential Office of Ukraine.

 The March 11 meeting was attended by the head of the Presidential Office of Ukraine, Andriy Yermak, and the deputy head of the Presidential Administration of the Russian Federation, Dmitry Kozak. The results of the meeting included an agreement on additional troop withdrawals, an exchange of prisoners and checkpoint openings. Public outcry was provoked by news about the establishment of an advisory council, a new body that could legitimize the occupational authorities of the uncontrolled areas of Donetsk and Luhansk regions (known by the Ukrainian-based acronym ORDLO).

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KYIV – Earlier this month, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy unexpectedly fired two-thirds of the Ukrainian government and the country’s prosecutor general.

Both domestic and foreign observers agree that the changes of senior officials were rash and mishandled from a PR point of view. But they remain divided on what was behind them. Do they reflect the impulsiveness and inexperience of a political newcomer determined to achieve prompt results? Or do they signify a capitulation to the forces from the past, a new Faustian deal with a reshuffled pack of hegemonic oligarchs?

Meanwhile, other critical questions have been re-opened alongside these concerning how the Zelenskyy administration is handling its approach towards Russia and the war in the Donbas.

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YONKERS, N.Y. – “Lemkivshchyna may have been destroyed as a geographic entity and others may have tried to stamp out the fire of the Lemkos, but what ended up happening was that sparks from that fire flew everywhere, so that Lemkos are now spread across the world and are stronger than ever,” said Mark Howansky after being elected unanimously to his third term as president of the Organization for the Defense of Lemkivshchyna (known by the Ukrainian-based acronym OOL) on March 7 at its 31st National Convention in Yonkers, N.Y.

During the plenary session of the day-long convention, which takes place every three years, Mr. Howansky summarized the organization’s cultural, educational and humanitarian work over the past term.

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In Russian-occupied Crimea, people are praying with Christian Orthodox priests for rain and snow because the last six months passed by with virtually no precipitation. Because of the dry winter, local reservoirs are now almost empty. Journalists forecast apocalyptic drought scenarios for the peninsula. And in the administrative capital of Symferopol, the authorities have gradually introduced rationing measures to conserve the limited water supply.

Since the 2014 annexation of Crimea, the Kremlin initiated unprecedented infrastructure projects that have had important geopolitical consequences for the region. Inter alia, Russia is presently completing three enormous projects: the Tavrida highway, the Kerch Strait Bridge and thermal power stations on the peninsula. As a result, Moscow has managed to develop Crimea’s energy self-sufficiency, a sophisticated system of communications and logistics (natural gas, electricity, railways, airports), and it restored the status of Crimea as a Russian military bastion in the Black Sea. Total Russian investments in Crimea from 2014 to 2022 approximate $15 billion.

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First coronavirus death in Ukraine

Ukraine on March 13 reported its first novel coronavirus death. Authorities said an elderly woman died after being hospitalized a day earlier in the western region of the country, prompting security officials to announce a border closure to foreigners within two days. Later, the chairman of the Verkhovna Rada said authorities would be shutting down all air traffic after March 16. Officials were also said to be shutting down most of Ukraine’s 200-plus border crossings, which could deal a blow to the 2 million or so Ukrainians who work as migrant labor elsewhere in Europe. Ukraine has announced three confirmed cases of infection by the new coronavirus. The 71-year-old woman who died of the resulting COVID-19 illness, a resident of the town of Radomyshl in the Zhytomyr region, had reportedly felt unwell after returning from Poland on March 1 but did not initially seek medical care.

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