William Penn Life, 2000 (35. évfolyam, 1-12. szám)
2000-05-01 / 5. szám
Hungarians along Tisza River endure second catastrophe in four months from wire service reports Just months after a cyanide spill killed millions of fish and threatened their own lives, residents along the Tisza River in Hungary recently had to battle the worst flooding in decades. Spring rains and melting winter snow have caused the Tisza to rise as high as 34 feet, more than twice its normal level. According to Hungary's Interior Ministry, such water levels normally occur only once in 500 years. The government ordered the total or partial evacuation of more than 22,000 people in some 70 towns and villages along 1,296 miles of embankments, but few of the residents have complied. Most have decided to stay home and fight the rising waters. They were being aided in their efforts by 2,600 soldiers. More than 8 million sandbags have been stacked up against the river. The flooding began in early April and eventually put more than half a million acres of land under water. The flood alert in central and eastern Hungary was expected to remain in effect until the end of April. Prime Minister Viktor Orbán declared a state of emergency for the entire length of the Tisza. He also said the government had set aside $137 million for flood prevention, but would raise more funds if necessary. Work to prevent more damage from the floods was costing some $3 million a day, he said. New Brunswick to host annual festival NEW BRUNSWICK, NJ - The city is inviting you to take a trip to Hungary without leaving the country. New Brunswick will play host to its 25th Annual Hungarian Festival on Saturday, June 3, from 11:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. All activities will take place along Somerset Street between Division and Bethany Streets. The days events will include performances of traditional folk dances, exhibitions of Hungarian arts, crafts and artifacts and the sale of a wide array of homemade Hungarian food and pastries. The Museum of the American Hungarian Foundation will also be open for visitation. Admission to the festival is free. At 6:00 p.m., the Hungarian Heritage Center will present it's annual Twilight Concert featuring the first U.S. performance of "Uszturu," a folk music emsemble from Transylvania. They will be joined on the bill by the Cantabile Chamber Chorale and tenor László Fogéi. Admission to the concert is a $5 donation. For more information about the festival and the concert, call (732) 846- 5777. Nun’s book recounts life of war-torn family from The Daily News McKeesport, PA - It's hard to imagine Sister Edith Nemeth, who calmly teaches and creates art in the tranquility of Elizabeth Twp., as a child seeking refuge from World War II-afflicted Hungary, awaiting the next bomb to fall, lacking food, dodging strafings from allied aircraft. Those horrifying days that ended peacefully in McKeesport, and ultimately at Divine Redeemer Motherhouse, are recounted in her autobiography, "My Days in Spinach Green: Life of a War-Tom Family, The Nemeths." The nicely crafted volume is both the story of one family who overcame and a caution that struggles for power on a grand scale often overflow into uninvolved regions, changing lives forever. "Spinach Green" is a combination diary/family tree/poetic recounting of happy and tough times. It is peppered with photos and writings that somehow weren't lost during the family's odyssey to the new world. The book also delves into a close, loving family of parents who do without and children who worked hard. You do what you have to do to eat and find shelter. Sister Nemeth says she wrote the book "so the next generation will know what we went through." "My Life in Spinach Green" is available for $20 at the Penn View Art Center in Elizabeth Twp., phone (412) 751-7821. Williai Pen Lit«. May 2000 11 Hungary’s economy continues growth from wire service reports For the third consecutive year, Hungary's gross domestic product (GDP) maintained a record growth of more than 4 percent. The GDP rose 4.45 for 1999, according to the Central Bureau of Statistics. The overall rate for the year was bolstered by a record growth of 5.9 percent in the last quarter. This comes on the heels of GDP growth of 4.6 percent in 1997 and 5.1 percent in 1998. It also marked the fifth straight year of steady increases in the GDP. Economics Minister Matolcsy György said the country's economy is now back at the level of 1989, the year when Hungary and other Eastern European nations rejected communism in favor of democracy. Financial experts said the growth in the GDP reflected increases in industrial output, exports and domestic demand and consumption.
