August 13, 2013: Man Dies in Shooting, Urban Farmed Food Coming to Town, Man Caught with 25 Kg of Drugs

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On Saturday morning, a man was found seriously injured in the Florastrasse in Basel, having suffered gunshot wounds. He died shortly afterwards.

A Florastrasse resident heard a gunshot just after 9am and raced outside to investigate. She found the victim, an elderly man, lying in the street. Emergency medical services were unable to resuscitate him and he died at the scene of the crime. The police were notified and barricaded off the Florastrasse area for approximately 3 hours, in order to investigate.

Findings of the investigation have not yet been made public -but those who may have seen or heard anything related to the incident are asked to contact Basel police.

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We mentioned the concept of Urban farming in Basel some moths ago when the project was taking off, and as of mid-August, the Migros Supermarket at MParc, Dreispitz, will be selling fresh produce from Basel’s very own Urban Farm.

At the beginning of the year, the “LokDepot”, the first ever aquaponic commercial roof-top farm, located here in Basel on the roof of the Dreispitzareal, was launched. Aquaponics combines the hydroponic cultivation of plants without soil with aquaculture (or fish farming). It is a sustainable approach to catering to ever increasing urban populations, without using fossil-fuel-based fertilisers or chemical pesticides. Urban Farming transforms a roof-top into a green-house of more than 1000 square metres, capable of producing more than 20 000 kg of vegetables and 3400 kg of fish.

Up to now, the LokDepothas been providing fresh produce to restaurants around Basel. As of August 16, the produce will be available for purchase in Migros Dreispitz on Fridays and Saturdays for a three-month period. During this period, Migros will collect feedback from the clientele, in order to discern how successful a long-term partnership with the urban farm could be.

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A Somali man flew into the Basel-Mulhouse Airport Saturday evening. The Swiss customs controlled the 44-year old man and ascertained around 26.5 kg of a drug called Khat (pronounced cot). Khat is a stimulant drug derived from a shrub native to East Africa and southern Arabia. The man identified himself with a British travel document for Refugees, and was flying from London. In the UK the drug is legal; however it was announced by the British government, back in July, that the drug should be banned.       

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Uni Basel’s solar cells- even more environmentally friendly

Researchers at the Uni Basel have developed a new type of copper-based solar cell, or “dye-sensitized solar cell”, to transform light into electricity.

The copper-based solar cells developed by Biljana Bozic-Weber’s chemistry research group use a cobalt complex charge carrier. This replaces the iodine/iodide electrolyte most often used in DSCs. Cobalt, in its elemental state, is 50 times more common than iodine, and hence the solar cells developed by the Uni Basel have been deemed more sustainable.

In addition, cell stability is higher, as corrosion of the copper contained in the DSC by the electrolyte is reduced.  This alternative may be a cheaper alternative to the current options but Cobalt is a fairly toxic substance.

Work on maximizing the efficiency of the solar cells will continue by the group before commercialization is possible.

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The H2 between Pratteln and Liestal is expected to be completed under budget

The H2 is a 4.5-kilometer motorway connecting Pratteln and Leistal and 2.2 kilometers of which will be directed in a tunnel. The projects actual budget will not be completed until 2015, but the final costs are projected to be 84 million francs lower than the original budgeted amount of 470 million francs.

The Kantonsengineer, Oliver Jacobi said Monday, the lower costs are due to the tunnel construction work was done at a reasonable price point and the whole project has been built very inexpensively.

It is expected that the HPL will open 11. December 2013; as scheduled when the project was first underway in 2006, according to the Building Director Sabine Pegoraro.  

Three events that are planned with regard to the expected opening of the HPL: A concert for the Swiss musician population, a folk festival and the official opening ceremony.  492,000 francs were factored in the budget for these celebrations. Because the economy is still in a poor state many politicians are complaining about the costs for these three events. But according to Pegoraro the funds for this project were earmarked to the HPL and not taken from the Treasury. If Parliament were to decide a reduction of spending is in order, the beneficiaries of the reduction would not be schools or other institutions, but the motorists who were paying for the Fund for 10 years. 

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