Basel Contemplates Austerity Budget; Scammers Prey on Pensioners; Basel Music Venue Reacts to Strong Franc; Victim Drowns in Rhein; UniBasel hosts high school model UN

Basel's corporate tax reforms of the last few years left local businesses and corporations cheering, but the government is now dealing with the financial hangover.  The structural shortfall of tax revenue versus cantonal expenditures expected over the period 2015-2017 would have left an annual budget deficit of 70 million Swiss Francs.  Such deficits are not easily tolerated in Swiss cantons so the government has been busy planning for budget cuts, and announced on Monday an austerity package it plans to implement in the budget year 2017.  Directly affected will be 49 canton employees who will lose their jobs, yielding a savings of 14.6 million francs.  Other departments from which cost savings will be extracted are the police, education and the zoo.  

==================================================   A pair of pensioners fell victim to financials scammers last week.  In response Basel's Prosecutor's office has issued a warning for elderly people being offered unsolicited prizes and medicines to be wary.  The perpetrators of the scam are a male and female duo approximately 45-55 years old.  They approach their victim with the claim that they've won a lottery worth 25,000 francs and must pay a deposit of 8000 francs to receive the final payout.  As collateral for their supposed downpayment on their winnings the victims are also promised high value vitamins and medicines, which are also, of course, fake.  Once the victims were enticed to joining the scammers in their van they were taken to a cafe in Germany where they were given a high pressure sales pitch for the medicinal products after which money was demanded and the prize was promised.  After the thieves were given money, they simply vanished leaving their victim stranded over the borders.  Other victims are encouraged to come forward and report their experience to the Basel Police and Prosecutor's office.   ======================================   The body of an elderly woman was found and pulled from the Rhein river on Monday.  In a press release, Basel-Stadt police reports that emergency services were dispatched when reports of a body seen floating in the river near the Wettsteinbrucke came in.  Attempts were made to resuscitate the victim unsuccessfully.  So far the woman remains unidentified and the cause of death has yet to be determined by the medical examiner's office.  In the meantime, the police are treating the incident as the subject of a criminal investigation.  

===================================

 

One of the English Show's favorite music venues in the Basel area has taken drastic measures to deal with the change in the Swiss Franc and its impact on their fans.  Zed Sieben (Z7) has cut the prices of all the tickets to shows at its venue henceforth by 8 to 10 percent.  CEO Norbert Mandel said "Z7 is not catering only to a Swiss audience, but serves fans from neighboring France and Germany who would have found the cost of tickets prohibitive after the Swiss National Bank abandoned its cap on the price of francs versus Euros."  The club organizes approximately 150 shows per year and ticket prices mostly cover the production costs of the show and appearance fees of the artists.  Since the franc's appreciation also reduced these costs of production, the club has decided its another good reason to pass the savings on to music fans.  

 

=====================================================

 

This week marked the 5th annual model UN conference hosted by the university of Basel and attended by 240 high-school aged students.  the learning event is designed to simulate the real-life workings of the United Nations in new york, complete with Food and Agriculture committees, global human rights and desease committees and panel discussions in which students discuss real life, current international issues.  In addition, students are provided with the opportunity to learn about the basic structures of the UN organization, and are assigned to represent the interest of a specific country.  Marlene Schultz, president of the Model UN Basel program reported that the program has been met by enthusiastic participation of the students and has grown to its current 240 participants from last year's 180.  In addition, Ms. Schultz said the students walk away with new perspectives on politics and international relations.  The project has also had the benefit of  real world politicians and executives of global private enterprises as guest speakers .