News For 5 July 2015
Baselland is exploring the possibility of extending voting rights to foreign residents and those over 16 years of age. The two voting initiatives were started in early 2015 by the canton's Young Green Alliance party, and has now gathered the requisite 1500 signatures which send the initiative to a referendum by voters in the canton. At stake is whether those foreigners with permanent residency status, and those over 16 will have active voting rights, including the right to stand for public office. Currently, only Swiss citizens and those over the age of 18 can participate in Baselland.
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Basel's professional hockey team, the EHC Sharks went bankrupt in July 2014, leaving only the junior and amateur hockey teams playing under the club's banner. Last week however, the team took fresh steps to bring back the professional team. The 101 governing members of the club met last Wednesday and elected a new board. The board hopes to address the key issues which plagued the team's finances last time namely, drying up of sponsor support and lack of ticket sales to fans. EHC also intends to change the recruitment policies of the new team, drawing only from local talent in order to create a closer bond between the community and the team. No word yet on when an official season might begin.
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If you happened to be sitting or walking along the promenade on the Kleinbasel Side of the Rhein river last Sunday you might have seen a mysterious naked man also out for a stroll. It seems the break in the rain, and the sudden rise in temperature also brought out a sun worshipper that felt clothing was optional. Police received several reports of the naked man, perhaps a regular visitor to the river banks where nudists frequently congregate, lost on his way home. Police spokesman Andreas Knuchel issued a statement saying there is no prohibition against public nakedness in Basel, and that such incidents can be expected.
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One of the most popular Facebook groups with expat living in Basel is the Basel Buy & Sell group. Like classifieds in the newspapers, the social media network based group allows listing of items for sale or sought. Because of its popularity however, it has also attracted the unwanted attention and participation of those seeking to defraud the group's members. According to police, a recent spate of listings in the group offered part-time work available. When users responded to the listing, they were prompted to furnish their names, addresses and other personal information as part of a job application process. Subsequently, people that responded to the information request found their identities stolen and used to purchase goods on-line. The listings have been removed by the group's administrator and Swiss Federal Police were notified.
Did you know that Switzerland has around 65'000 kilometres of hiking trails? That's about 1.5 times the circumference of the earth! A huge number of municipalities and volunteer organisations maintain the hiking trails and offer hikes in all the cantons.