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Novocheboksarsk Merges Into Cheboksary After Near-Unanimous Vote

NOVOCHEBOKSARSK DISTRICT, CHEBOKSARY - With a 69% voter turnout, yesterday's referendum on city amalgamation between the Chuvash capital of Cheboksary and its daughter city of Novocheboksarsk could be called a large success in the realm of municipal voting process.

But this fact takes the back seat to the fact that 98.92% of Novocheboksarsk voters voted in favour of the amalgamation, meaning that even if those eligible voters, that did not vote, had voted, and against the move, it would still have passed quite comfortably.

This may mean a further drive for Novocheboksarsky petitioners to get to City Hall, but the benefits - a larger municipal "slush fund," integrated police and fire departments, and an equal voice in Cheboksary affairs, among other things - far outweighed this according to many of the majority voters.

Final City Charter Approval List Given

SYKTYVKAR - The final list of cities that were approved for 1 January transition, rejected (with reasoning) and that withdrew was released yesterday:

ACCEPTED

Kamensk - 200,000

Sarapul - 109,000

Novouralsk - 95,500

Kirovo-Chepetsk - 89,000

Asbest - 77,000

Severomorsk - 75,500

Lysva - 72,000

Polevskoy - 70,000

Apatity - 64,000

Revda - 63,000

Punaturjin - 62,000

Kogalym - 58,000

Nyagan - 54,000

Lesnoy - 53,500

Montsa - 52,500

Verkhnaya Salda - 52,000

Megion - 51,500

Kanash - 51,000

Chusovoi - 51,000

Orozai - 50,000

Novodvinsk - 49,000

Nyaidem - 46,000 - provisionally accepted; Uralican State College campus under construction.

Kachkanar - 45,000

Usinsk - 45,000 - provisionally accepted; highway access plan handed in, connector to UH-1 to be finished at the end of December

Alapayevsk - 44,000

Krasnoufimsk - 43,500 - provisionally accepted; Uralican State College campus under construction.

Irbit - 43,500

Ulator - 43,000

Pyt-Yakh - 42,000

Langepas - 41,000

Käddluhtt - 40,500

Viche Alan - 40,000

Salyakharad - 37,000

Sukhoy Log - 36,500 - joint Uralican State College campus with Bogdanovich

Chernushka - 36,000 - provisionally accepted; Uralican State College campus under construction. (Almost complete)

Yugorsk - 35,000 - provisionally accepted; Uralican State College campus under construction.

Kondopohju - 34,500

Kushva - 34,000

Segezha - 34,000

Slobodskoy - 33,500 - joint Uralican State College campus with Vaahruše

Kudymkar - 33,000

Severouralsk - 33,000

Bogdanovich - 32,500 - joint Uralican State College campus with Sukhoy Log

Karpinsk - 31,000 - joint Uralican State College campus with Punaturjin

Krasnouralsk - 29,000

Lapyt-Nank - 27,000

Nevyansk - 26,500 - joint Uralican State College campus with Kirovgrad

Omutninsk - 26,000

Kirovgrad - 23,000 - joint Uralican State College campus with Nevyansk

Tsykmä - 22,500

REJECTED

Verkhnaya Pyshma - 58,000 - insufficient commercial district, within UA

Beryozovski - 47,000 - no campus of Uralican State College, within UA

Raduzhny - 46,500 - insufficient infrastructure, no campus of Uralican State College

Tavda - 40,000 - no campus of Uralican State College, insufficient commercial district, not enough music schools

Rezh - 40,000 - no campus of Uralican State College

Urai - 39,000 - no campus of Uralican State College, requires Highway Access Plan

Shumerlya - 36,000 - no campus of Uralican State College

Muravlenko - 36,000 - no campus of Uralican State College, insufficient commercial district

Dobryanka - 36,000 - no campus of Uralican State College

Artyomovsky - 35,000 - no campus of Uralican State College, insufficient commercial district, hospitals too small

Hiipinä - 31,000 - insufficient infrastructure, schools crowded, no campus of Uralican State College

Kostomuksha - 30,000 - insufficient infrastructure, no campus of Uralican State College

Gubakha - 30,000 - road system STILL insufficient

Kamyshlov - 29,000 - insufficient road system, no campus of Uralican State College

Käkshär - 28,000 - no campus of Uralican State College

Zarechnyy - 28,000 - not enough music schools, hospitals too small, no campus of Uralican State College

Olenegorsk - 25,000 - no campus of Uralican State College

Nizhnaya Tura - 24,000 - insufficient commercial area

Kizel - 24,000 - insufficient commercial area

WITHDRAWN

Novocheboksarsk - 129,000 - due to merger with Cheboksary

Sports

Uralican Handball League Expands

YEKATERINBURG - In a press conference held in Yekaterinburg two days ago, it was determined that the Uralican Handball League would expand from one 16-team division to two 20-team divisions, given Uralica's recent growth.

Olympic Handball (also called Team Handball) is Uralica's most popular year-round sport and third-most-popular sport overall after football (soccer) and ice hockey, so it is only natural that the league should expand with Uralica's growth - the UIHL is also expected to expand.

The UHBL is expected to unveil its new roster for 31 January 2010.

Four New Pro Sports Leagues For Uralica, Plus Three Professional Tennis Events

SYKTYVKAR - Uralican sports fans can rejoice and be glad, for 2010 will be the Year Of Sports Expansion.

Sufficient government and corporate support has led to the foundation of four brand-new sports leagues to begin play in 2010. Basketball, bandy (a sport like a cross between soccer and ice-hockey), Rugby sevens, and cross-country skiing will begin league operation on 1 February 2010.

The fact that Uralica has the most cross-country skiing tracks per capita out of any country in the world has lent itself to the idea of a domestic championship in all cross-country doctrines, including biathlon, in which nation ruler Jarkko Salomäki is an avid participant. The more northerly locations will be raced during the fall and the spring, while the more southerly locations will be raced in wintertime.

List of cross-country tracks in Uralica:

- Parchezhsky (in Syktyvkar's northernmost district, Parcheg - close to the proposed site of Syktyvkar International Airport)

- Tagil (in Verkhny Tagil)

- Cherepovets

- Murmansk (the track is actually located in nearby Kuálõk)

- Berezniki-Solikamsk

- Ob River (in Surgut)

- Ukhta Park

- Nizhnevartovsk

- Vorkuta

- Inta

- Nenetsia (Naryan-Mar)

- Irtysh Sportsplex (Yugrakar)

- Juganvar

- Pechora

- Veliski

- Alator

- Hiipinä (the only cross-country facility that also has ski-jumping)

- Khanto

- Narodnaya (near Lapyt-Nank, ski-jumping only)

- Chaykovsky

The basketball league's structure will be hammered out over the course of the next month. It will have no more than 24 teams to begin with. The same can be said for the bandy league.

The rugby sevens league will be more confined to the southern areas of Uralica, where it is played more frequently, and will have sixteen teams.

Another big announcement for Uralica is the implementation of three new tournaments into the Robertian Tennis Association Tour. Uralikan Tennisklubi, an outdoor hard court, will be the location of the Uralican Tennis Championships. The Permyak Hardstyle Tennis Club, which was completed six weeks ahead of schedule (last week, in other words), will be the location of the Christian Sport Cup, sponsored by Christian Sport, Incorporated. Finally, there will be a clay-court tournament held at Yekaterinburg, called the MI-Kubok, sponsored by Magyar Independent, a mining company. The earliest of these is the Christian Sport Cup, which is scheduled for early March.