Fog Stokes Fire Fear; Basel Breakfast Bonanaza; Uber Spat Continues; Stucki Makeover Stars Soon

News For 17 October 2017

Apparently, one of the architectural features of the new Roche tower is that clouds and fog can linger around it long after they have melted away in the surrounding environs.  Last Friday, weather conditions caused an unusually extreme version of this phenomenon.  Late into the morning, a persistent fog clung onto the shady side of the tower, appearing to many as though the building were in fact, on fire.  Although the fire brigade did not report any emergency calls, photos of the fog convinced many passers by that something was wrong.  While new to Basel, the phenomenon is common in cities with a long history of skyscraper sized buildings.

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Eating breakfast in restaurants seems to be achieving more and more popularity in Basel. Manora, Manor’s restaurant, welcomes 20% of its customers in the morning. Manora offers a large breakfast buffet with everything from fried eggs to cereal. One of the reasons that Baslers like to eat out in the mornings is health-related. For example, washing, peeling, and cutting fresh fruit every morning is time consuming. Another big reason is the growing number of single households, who neither have the time nor resources at hand to make a healthy, filling breakfast every day.

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The conflict between Basel and drivers working for the car sharing service Uber continues.  The public prosecutor has brought a civil case against a 40 year old driver, claiming he drove over 13,000 kilometers between February and October 2016 while getting paid by the service.  Although the law is not clear as to what infraction the driver has committed, the police nonetheless have been actively trying to disrupt the service.  It is also not clear how the authorities have come to be so precise in their assessment of how the driver managed to work for Uber for so long.  The prosecutor's office is mum on this point, however their goal seems to be to get the courts to finally hand down a ruling on Uber.  If the prosecutors succeed in convicting the man, under the current law he will be liable for a 500 franc fine and approximately 4000 francs in unpaid social services taxes. 

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Shopping center Stücki, one of Basel’s only real malls, is about to go through some changes. In order to build a new “megaplex” cinema, electronics store Media Markt is moving out in August 2018 to find a new location in Basel. The gastronomy section of the mall is also set to be expanded. The planners are even thinking of opening bars to cater to movie guests, as the theaters will be open in the evenings as well.