June 12, 7:30 p.m., Queens Borough Elks Lodge 878 Flag Day Memorial Ceremony, 82-10 Queens Blvd., Elmhurst. For more information, call Jack Mahoney at (516) 221-4569. More...

By John Toscano More...

An essay on coping with loneliness which urged seniors to stay active and join organizations to meet their contemporaries, won a contest for a Queens Village senior who is donating the $200 prize to his senior center. More...

Some 619,000 residents of New York state are about to get a whopping present, compliments of Governor George Pataki. The governor, with federal Secretary of Health and Human Services Tommy Thompson at his side, last week announced the approval by the federal government of the implementation of the state's Family Health Plus program. Families numbered among the state's working poor who earn up to 150 percent above the federal poverty level and single adults who earn up to 100 percent above the poverty level will be provided with free health insurance, starting in September. Until now such individuals and families earned too much to qualify for Medicaid, the federal health insurance program begun during the administration of President Lyndon Johnson, but often did not get health insurance thorough their employers. More...