Poland News Blog

Amsterdam honors miners: Unveils marker, bench in memory of 15 killed in 1910

Sun, 22 Apr 2007 05:26:28 +0000

AMSTERDAM A crowd of approximately 150 people stood with heads bowed Saturday as church bells tolled and the flags of Austria, Poland, Italy, England and Scotland blew in a gentle spring breeze while Sandy Day, Public Library of Steubenville and Jefferson County historian, read the names of 15 men who went into Amsterdams Y & O No. 1 mine 97 years before and never came back out again alive.

The solemn service in Amsterdam Cemetery honored those men, who were killed in a mine gas explosion on April 21, 1910. It was the worst mining disaster of its time. Of the 15 men who were killed, 12 were buried in a mass grave, which was unmarked until Saturdays ceremony.

This day has been long in coming, but I think that the miners would have been pleased that we are gathered here, said Jean Scarlott, genealogist and co-organizer. Rest in peace.

Another byproduct? Food inflation

Sun, 22 Apr 2007 05:26:28 +0000

Soaring prices for farm goods, driven in part by demand for crop-based fuels, are

pushing up the price of food world-wide and unleashing a new source of inflationary

The rise in food prices already is causing distress among consumers in some parts of

Bellottie comes up big in Elyria sweep

Sun, 22 Apr 2007 05:26:28 +0000

LaGRANGE -- Even though she is one of the smallest Pioneers, junior Jessica Bellottie came through big time.

Standing at an even 5-foot, Bellottie had an RBI double in the fifth inning to help the Pioneers defeat the Division I defending state champions and top-ranked North Canton Hoover, 2-1, in a rematch of last year's state championship game.

Bellottie was not done there, either.

Sunshine advances in Odyssey of the Mind

Sun, 22 Apr 2007 05:26:28 +0000

A team from Sunshine Elementary Schools Odyssey of the Mind squad has made it to world competition.

The team recently placed first at their grade levels in the Large and Small of It challenge at the state-level contest in Orlando.

The squad consists of seven fourth- and fifth-graders. Team members got medallions for first place, and their school got an Odyssey of the Mind trophy.

Talking to Prague about radar

Sun, 22 Apr 2007 05:26:28 +0000

Last week, Czech Foreign Minister Karel Schwarzenberg visited Washington. During the trip, he was expected to repeat his request, made in Germany two weeks ago, for a U.S. security agreement in return for hosting anti-ballistic missile radar sites (intended to counter future rocket attacks from Iran) on Czech soil. Critics claim the proposed agreement would undermine NATO and further antagonize Moscow, which has threatened to target its former satellites if they cooperate in the planned U.S. missile defense system.

On both counts however, a renewed U.S. pledge to NATO's smallest and most exposed eastern members -- if properly framed -- has the potential to do more good than harm, regardless of what becomes of missile defense.

First, U.S. officials need not worry about undermining NATO. As one Czech official put it, "We have full confidence in NATO guarantees under Article Five. At the same time, common sense tells us that increased cooperation with the United States in different fields could be helpful, and in those fields not covered by NATO, maybe even necessary." In contrast to recent Polish requests for a full-scale bilateral defense treaty, the Czechs appear to be looking for an enhanced ...

Three-peat: Baylor women win tennis crown

Sun, 22 Apr 2007 05:26:28 +0000

Through a season filled with injury, illness and defection, Zuzana Zemenova never doubted this moment would come.

When it did, Baylor’s junior all-American was ready, dispatching Jill Palen in 42 minutes to lead the Bears to a 7-0 win over Iowa State on Saturday that clinched their third straight Big 12 women’s tennis title.

Her teammates were almost as efficient, losing only five games in a match that lasted barely two hours at the Baylor Tennis Center.

Polish soldier killed in Iraq, four injured

Sat, 21 Apr 2007 14:44:23 +0000

WARSAW, Poland The Polish Defense Ministry says one of its soldiers has been killed in Iraq.A statement says the 25-year-old soldier died last night when his convoy was hit by a roadside bomb in the city of Diwaniyah (dee-wah-NEE'-yah) in central Iraq. Four other Polish soldiers were wounded.Poland took part in the U-S-led invasion in 2003 and now leads an international force south of Baghdad that includes about 900 Polish troops.The latest death brings the number of Polish soldiers killed in the war to 20.

Premeditated and preventable

Sat, 21 Apr 2007 14:44:23 +0000

The most frequent motive was revenge, the Secret Service concluded in a 2002 study of 37 school shootings. As part of the Safe Schools Initiative it undertook with the Education Department after the 1999 Columbine killings, agents reviewed cases and interviewed 10 school shooters. They found that school assassins send clear warnings and that (i)nformation about these attackers intent and planning was potentially knowable before the incident.

None of this suggests that assassins deserve public sympathy or that all mentally ill people are dangerous. But many such tragedies are preventable — assuming

An enchanting 'Sueno' dreams up lots of laughs

Sat, 21 Apr 2007 14:44:23 +0000

Jose Rivera may be the most prominent American theatrical voice working

within the genre of magical realism, but his cultural roots stretch back to

17th Century Spain and the fanciful dramatic allegories of priest and

Atlanta News and Weather, CBS46.com, WGCL | Polish soldier killed in Iraq, four injured

Sat, 21 Apr 2007 14:44:23 +0000

Bay: An ABM for Europe?

Sat, 21 Apr 2007 14:44:23 +0000

Who wants to protect Europe from Iranian missiles?The Czech Republic's Prime Minister Mirek Topolanek supports an anti-ballistic missile (ABM) shield. Russian President Vladimir Putin, however, disdains it -- or, at least, that was his government's diplomatic stance a few news cycles ago.The current bout of "Euro-ABM" diplomacy vaguely echoes the 1990s' diplomacy of NATO expansion. In the 1990s, former Soviet satellites like Hungary, Poland and the Czech Republic demanded immediate entrance into...

Polish soldier killed in Iraq, 4 wounded