AUBURN, Maine — On a heat spring afternoon, Halyna and Petro Terzi stepped into their new condominium in Auburn, Maine, for the primary time. A small group of fellow Ukrainians was there to greet them.
Carrying blue and yellow balloons and a bouquet of flowers wrapped in plastic, the couple walked into their sunny bed room overlooking the again yard. They will be sharing this condominium with one other Ukrainian household who arrived a number of weeks in the past.
With a tired-looking smile on his face, Petro lowered himself right into a comfortable armchair subsequent to the mattress and set free a deep sigh. His daughter, Alina Terzi, who’s lived in Maine for a number of years, set down a few of her mother and father’ baggage.
“They’re so completely happy they’re like ‘Reward the Lord we’re — we have arrived,’ ” she mentioned, translating her father’s feedback in Russian.
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The Terzis are from Odessa. They fled their dwelling in late February, a number of days into the Russian invasion. They went first to Moldova, then to Poland. There, volunteers with the Seventh Day Adventist church related them with a household in Warsaw, who hosted them whereas the couple waited for the U.S. embassy to course of their visa purposes.
/ Esta Pratt-Kielley/Maine Public
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Esta Pratt-Kielley/Maine Public
Halyna Terzi, from left, along with her husband Petro and their daughter Alina, consuming lunch shortly after Halyna and Petro arrived in Maine.
The Terzis ultimately secured vacationer visas, which permit them to remain in the USA for six months. However they plan on attempting to remain longer — whether or not by making use of for asylum or by searching for household reunification with daughter Alina.
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The official refugee resettlement program in the USA is overseen by the federal authorities and entails a prolonged software course of that features referral from the United Nations and interviews with American immigration officers. The entire course of can take as much as two years.
However hundreds of Ukrainians have already arrived in the USA, on vacationer visas, by means of the Biden Administration’s new expedited sponsorship program, or by presenting themselves to immigration officers on the U.S.-Mexico border.
Arriving with out the assistance of a refugee-resettlement company means many Ukrainians depend on relations or volunteers to safe primary wants — together with housing.
That is the case for the Terzis. They got here on vacationer visas and moved right into a nondescript two-unit rental property in Auburn that is change into an unlikely hub of a DIY resettlement operation.
/ Esta Pratt-Kielley/Maine Public
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Esta Pratt-Kielley/Maine Public
Oleg Opalnyk climbs into his work van after checking in on the Ukrainian households dwelling on the condominium constructing he owns in Auburn, Maine. Opalnyk says supporting the households can really feel overwhelming at instances, however that he is grateful to have the ability to assist.
Oleg Opalnyk is the particular person holding this operation collectively.
Opalnyk can also be from Ukraine, and has lived in Maine since 2001. He runs a development enterprise and invests in rental properties.
Opalnyk mentioned that after seeing the destruction the Russian military was inflicting on his dwelling nation, he needed to return.
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“When the conflict began I needed to go to struggle,” he mentioned.
However he talked himself out of that concept.
“And I made this resolution that I’d in all probability assist extra folks to guard and provides them a head begin right here in [the] U.S. slightly than going and preventing,” Opalnyk mentioned.
In mid-April he gave that head begin to a household of 5 who already had a relative dwelling in Maine. He paid for his or her airfare and is housing them totally free.
Quickly after, he welcomed a second household — Olha and Yurii Kutniak, together with their 11-year-old-son. They’re now sharing their condominium with Halyna and Petro Terzi.
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Esta Pratt-Kielley/Maine Public
Halyna Terzi within the bed room of her new condominium in Auburn, Maine. Terzi arrived in Maine along with her husband Petro on Could 16.
After fleeing Ukraine, the Kutniaks initially deliberate on going to Missouri, the place that they had a connection by means of their church neighborhood. However after they arrived in the USA after crossing the southern border, these plans modified.
Talking in Russian, Kutniak mentioned on the border they met a Ukrainian volunteer from a neighborhood Seventh Day Adventist church, who additionally occurred to be a good friend of Opalnyk’s. The volunteer instructed they think about Maine as an alternative, and advised them to name Opalnyk.
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Kutniak mentioned the cellphone name went so nicely that they modified their plans on the spot. They arrived in Maine on April 21.
Their 11-year-old son is beginning faculty, and his mother and father are targeted on getting their work permits, with steerage from Opalnyk.
With assist from his household and his Seventh Day Adventist church, Opalnyk has additionally helped the households with every thing from furnishing the flats to enrolling the youngsters at school. He mentioned it is a full-time job — however a job he is completely happy to be doing.
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Halyna Terzi, left, and her husband Petro climb the steps into their new condominium in Auburn, Maine, on Could 16. The couple had been dwelling in Poland after fleeing Ukraine within the early days of the conflict.
“It is overwhelming, you recognize, every now and then, however on the identical time, you recognize, it is — I am very grateful that I’ve this potential to assist,” he mentioned.
Together with the Terzis, Opalnyk is now supporting 11 Ukrainian evacuees. And he is already making ready to welcome two extra households.
Opalnyk says he’ll allow them to keep so long as they want hire free, however is hoping that after they get their work permits they’re going to be capable of begin contributing to the price.
Copyright 2022 NPR. To see extra, go to https://www.npr.org.
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Anna Kellar is the executive director of the League of Women Voters of Maine.
This past November, my 98-year-old grandmother was determined that she wasn’t going to miss out on voting for president. She was worried that her ballot wouldn’t arrive in the mail in time. Fortunately, her daughter — my aunt — was able to pick up a ballot for her, bring it to her to fill out, and then return it to the municipal office.
Thousands of Maine people, including elderly and disabled people like my grandmother, rely on third-party ballot delivery to be able to vote. What they don’t know is that a referendum heading to voters this year wants to take away that ability and install other barriers to our constitutional right to vote.
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The “Voter ID for Maine” citizen’s initiative campaign delivered their signatures to the Secretary of State this week, solidifying the prospect of a November referendum. The League of Women Voters of Maine (LWVME) opposes this ballot initiative. We know it is a form of voter suppression.
The voter ID requirement proposed by this campaign would be one of the most restrictive anywhere in the county. It would require photo ID to vote and to vote absentee, and it would exclude a number of currently accepted IDs.
But that’s not all. The legislation behind the referendum is also an attack on absentee voting. It will repeal ongoing absentee voting, where a voter can sign up to have an absentee ballot mailed to them automatically for each election cycle, and it limits the use and number of absentee ballot dropboxes to the point where some towns may find it impractical to offer them. It makes it impossible for voters to request an absentee ballot over the phone. It prevents an authorized third party from delivering an absentee ballot, a service that many elderly and disabled Mainers rely on.
Absentee voting is safe and secure and a popular way to vote for many Mainers. We should be looking for ways to make it more convenient for Maine voters to cast their ballots, not putting obstacles in their way.
Make no mistake: This campaign is a broad attack on voting rights that, if implemented, would disenfranchise many Maine people. It’s disappointing to see Mainers try to impose these barriers on their fellow Mainers’ right to vote when this state is justly proud of its high voter participation rates. These restrictions can and will harm every type of voter, with senior and rural voters experiencing the worst of the disenfranchisement. It will be costly, too. Taxpayers will be on the hook to pay for a new system that is unnecessary, expensive, and harmful to Maine voters.
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All of the evidence suggests that voter IDs don’t prevent voter fraud. Maine has safeguards in place to prevent fraud, cyber attacks, and other kinds of foul play that would attempt to subvert our elections. This proposal is being imported to Maine from an out-of-state playbook (see the latest Ohio voter suppression law) that just doesn’t fit Maine. The “Voter ID for Maine” campaign will likely mislead Mainers into thinking that requiring an ID isn’t a big deal, but it will have immediate impacts on eligible voters. Unfortunately, that may be the whole point, and that’s what the proponents of this measure will likely refuse to admit.
This is not a well-intentioned nonpartisan effort. And we should call this campaign what it is: a broad attack on voting rights in order to suppress voters.
Maine has strong voting rights. We are a leader in the nation. Our small, rural, working-class state has one of the highest voter turnout rates in the country. That’s something to be proud of. We rank this high because of our secure elections, same-day voter registration, no-excuse absentee ballots, and no photo ID laws required to vote. Let’s keep it this way and oppose this voter suppression initiative.
The chair of the Maine Democratic Party announced Thursday she won’t seek reelection when members select leaders later this month.
Bev Uhlenhake, a former city councilor and mayor in Brewer and former chair of the Penobscot County Democrats, has served as chair of the state party since January 2023. She is also a previous vice chair of the party.
In a written statement, Uhlenhake noted some of the recent successes and challenges facing Democrats, including the reelection of Democratic majorities in both the Maine House and Senate last November, though by narrower margins, and winning three of Maine’s four electoral votes for Vice President Kamala Harris.
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“While we have laid a solid foundation from which Maine Democrats can build toward even greater success in 2026 and beyond, I have decided to step away from Maine Democratic Party leadership for personal and professional reasons, and will not seek reelection,” Uhlenhake said.
Party Vice Chair Julian Rogers, who was also elected to his post in 2023, announced he also won’t seek reelection to leadership, but will resume a previous role he held as vice chair of the party’s committee on Diversity, Equity, Inclusion & Belonging.
Democratic State Committee members will vote for the party’s next leaders in elections to be held on Sunday, Jan. 26.
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AUGUSTA, Maine — Secretary of State Shenna Bellows was sworn into office for her third term Wednesday. Governor Janet Mills conducted the formal swearing-in of all the constitutional officers, which includes Bellows, State Treasurer Joseph Perry, Attorney General Aaron Frey and State Auditor Matthew Dunlap. In her remarks following the swearing-in, Bellows shared a message of transparency and accessibility in continuing to serve the people of Maine. “It is incumbent upon us as elected officials to make government work for the people of Maine,” Bellows said. “We must reduce bureaucracy, improve efficiency, modernize our systems, and above all, bring people together in community to make life better for the people of Maine.”
The Department of the Secretary of State includes three bureaus: The Maine State Archives, the Bureau of Motor Vehicles and the Bureau of Corporations, Elections and Commissions.
Million-dollar homes: York, Kennebunkport lead York County’s top home sales of 2024
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Bellows emphasized her commitment to ensuring free, safe, and secure elections, modernizing government services, and preserving Maine’s history through the State Archives. She highlighted the importance of standing up for the rule of law and democracy, referring to the legacy of Civil War General Joshua Chamberlain and referencing the events at the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021. “This is our Chamberlain moment. We must stand up for the rule of law and do the right thing even when it is hard. As your Secretary of State, I pledge to always ensure that we have free, safe and secure elections and that we adhere to the Constitution and the rule of law in every aspect of everything that we do,” said Bellows. Bellows, Maine’s 50th Secretary of State, previously served two terms in the Maine Senate from 2016-2020 and was the executive director of the Holocaust and Human Rights Center of Maine before her election in 2021.
