Integration secretariat sets discussion on emigration

Andris Straumanis | 

Why Latvian citizens are emigrating and how to encourage their return to Latvia will be the topic of a discussion scheduled April 4 by the Secretariat of the Special Assignments Minister for Social Integration in Rīga.

The meeting is part of the efforts of a work group studying the emigration issue. The work group, formed by the secretariat, is scheduled to report to the government by June 20 and to offer a specific plan for encouraging people to return to Latvia.

In recent years, some 40,000 to 50,000 Latvian residents have left Latvia in search of work, according to the Central Statistical Bureau of Latvia. Many have headed to Ireland.

The meeting is schedued at 16:00 hours in the secretariat, Elizabetes ielā 20, Rīga. Refreshments will be available after the discussion, when it will also be possible to meet with Minister Oskars Kastēns.

Persons interested in participating in the discussion are asked to e-mail the secretariat at pr@integracija.gov.lv.

Andris Straumanis is a special correspondent for and a co-founder of Latvians Online. From 2000–2012 he was editor of the website.

UCLA offers scholarships for 2007 BALSSI program

Andris Straumanis | 

A limited number of partial scholarships for this year’s Baltic Studies Summer Institute intensive study of Estonian, Latvian and Lithuanian have been made available, the program director at the University of California, Los Angeles, has announced.

Anyone age 12 and older may participate in the eight-week summer session and may apply for a scholarship, Johanna Domokos, director of BALSSI 2007, announced in an e-mail.

BALSSI, which began in 1994, this year and next is hosted by the Center for World Languages at UCLA. The 2007 institute runs from June 25-Aug. 17.

The scholarships are being made available through contributions from the University of California Consortium for Language Learning and Teaching and UCLA Summer Sessions. Information about and application materials for the scholarship are available from the summer session Web site.

For more information about the Baltic studies program, visit the BALSSI Web site.

Andris Straumanis is a special correspondent for and a co-founder of Latvians Online. From 2000–2012 he was editor of the website.

Kīns and Mednis to perform on Latvijas Radio 2

Andris Straumanis | 

The song getting the most airplay last year on Latvijas Radio 2 was “Putni” by Ēriks Kīns and Edmunds Mednis, a couple of Latvian singer-songwriters based in Chicago and Milwaukee. The pair will perform a live concert on LR2 from 17:00-18:00 hours Latvian time (15:00-16:00 GMT) March 19.

Kīns is well-known among Chicago area Latvians as a member of the now-defunct Minnow Buckets and as one of four members of the Latvian-American band Adam Zahl. Mednis also is a member of Adam Zahl, but before moving to Milwaukee was known in Latvia as a member of the schlager bands Kaimiņi (now known as the country band Sestā Jūdze) and Bumerangs.

More information about the Kīns and Mednis partnership may be found on draugiem.lv, where several of their songs may be heard. Their biography also mentions they have worked on some songs with Artūrs Rūsis of Los Angeles.

Andris Straumanis is a special correspondent for and a co-founder of Latvians Online. From 2000–2012 he was editor of the website.