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Organizers Of Lewiston's Refugee Celebration Postpone Event

The organizers of the Lewiston-Auburn World Refugee Day celebration say they've decided to postpone the celebration, after two recent deaths in the community.

One of those deaths was the result of a brawl near the city's Kennedy Park that's been connected to perceived racial tensions. Many of the city's black residents are refugees or come from refugee families.

Fatuma Hussein is exectuive director of the Immigrant Resource Center of Maine, and is part of the planning committee for the celebration. She says this just isn't the right time for a celebration.

"We've got people to bury - Friday is the funeral for Donald Giusti, the funeral for Rayan Issa was Wednesday - it was just too much for us," she says.

Rayan Issa, a Lewiston middle school student, drowned last week during a field trip; Donald Giusti died after being badly hurt in the Kennedy Park fight.

No new date has been set for the celebration.

Nora is originally from the Boston area but has lived in Chicago, Michigan, New York City and at the northern tip of New York state. Nora began working in public radio at Michigan Radio in Ann Arbor and has been an on-air host, a reporter, a digital editor, a producer, and, when they let her, played records.