26 November, 2013: Basel Pubs Arm for Football Fan Onslaught; Voters say no to national proposals, but yes to a New High-rise in Claramatt; And as far as Novartis is concerned, the sky’s the limit; And if you hadn’t noticed it yet - winter’s setting in

In preparation for tonight's Champion's League game at St. Jakob's Stadium where FC Basel will host Chelsea, Bar owners around town are preparing for throngs of supporters. Having won the previous round against the Chelsea team, the home-town stadium of 36,000 is sold out as eager fans snapped up tickets to attend the match. The owners and operators of Pickwicks and Jerry's Bar in the Heuwaage area of Basel are looking forward to a huge rush of local and English supporters. Fans that don't have tickets, and fans that will attend the pre- and post- match parties, are expected to consume 6 times as much beer by the bar owners that anticipate hosting them.

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Even if you’re not Swiss, the elevated emotions preceding last Sunday’s referendum elections could hardly have escaped anyone. The three biggies on the national scale were decisions on whether to cap individual salaries to a maximum of 12 times that of anyone else in the same organisation – that was from the Young Socialists. Second, whether to increase the annual price of driving on the country’s motorways by a whopping 150 percent, all to pay for new road systems. And lastly, whether parents should be given the same tax breaks for caring for their children at home as they already do if the little darlings go to a playgroup. Well, just in case you hadn’t heard, all three votes were soundly defeated at the national level, with no-voters often making up 60 percent of the vote, and both Basel cantons reflecting the national trend.

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As regards local issues, however, just under 53 percent of Basel Stadt voters said yes to the new, 96 meter high-rise Claraturm where the old Warteckhäuser building currently stands. Housing Policy Planning Director Hans Peter Wessels was pleased with the result, seeing the voter turnout of 55% as confirmation of popular support for the current policies. However, Andreas Bernauer who launched the referendum against the construction sees it differently in that only roughly half eligible voters turned out and of those that did, just over half again voted for the new project. Claiming he will not give up under any circumstances, he intends to procure historical landmark protection for the Warteckhäuser building, and also claims that his war chest to fund the initiative is far from depleted by the referendum effort.

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Basel’s Upper House of parliament has just been handed a dossier containing plans for a series of skyscraper building to go up on the Novartis Campus in the north-west part of town.

The drawings form part of a second phase of work originally proposed in 2001. By the time the buildings are all up, the investment will top two and a half billion francs. For that kind of money you get no less than 59 buildings, with office space for more than 13 thousand workers. Although normally buildings aren’t allowed to be higher than 40 metres in regular industrial zones, by the time the Novartis work is finished in 2020, the company will have structures reaching as high as 120 metres, even though they signed an agreement with the City in 2005 for future planning to be more sympathetic to its surrounding urban development.

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It’s no secret that church membership has been in decline for a number of decades now. The latest reaction to the social trend comes from Basel-Stadt where the local Roman Catholic Church has decided to find new uses for some of their half-empty churches. And the urgency of the decision isn’t just because of dwindling numbers. It’s been revealed that repairs and other work to bring their church properties back up to meet building regulations, an investment of up to 23 million francs.

And so they’ve come up with a novel solution to re-purpose the buildings so that they can earn more money.

The plan has already proved it can work, with an income of nearly 2 million francs already coming in from 20 of the properties. And in the planning stages is building of new living accommodation on land currently occupied by a church house in KleinBasel.

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OK, the cold weather’s finally arrived. No more Indian summers, and if you hadn’t noticed that winter is upon us, pity the poor citizens of seven villages in far-flung parts of Basel land who had their first electricity blackout of the year this morning – from half past 5 to nearly 8 O’clock - about the time we’re all making coffee and taking a shower. The reason for the blackout was a tree that toppled under the weight of so much snow and came crashing down onto a power line.

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