Crackdown on Littering; Can FC Basel Make Hay With Porto Injury?; Affordable housing Initiative Rejected; Fatal Fish Fungus Found

Voters in BaselLand affirmed a referendum plan to authorize a 1,000-franc fine for anyone who litters in a public space, according to the results of a vote this past Sunday.  The initiative was backed by no less than 3/4 of the voters.  According to the ATS news agency, this follows a trend of similar initiatives already taken in other cantons and by the Swiss Federal parliamentary representatives that wish to see penalties for littering.  The amount of the fines to be levied for scofflaws will be subject to a period of consultation lasting until June 8th of this year, and the current proposal calls for fines from 100 to 300 francs.  The law makes a distinction for littering minors under the age of 15, who would be mandated to "education" if caught littering instead of having to pay a fine.  It is envisioned that police would be able to issue fines on-the-spot when they observe litterers in their jurisdictions.  In addition, the law specifically attempts to address those that illegally dump commercial or industrial quantities of waste, where fines of up to 20,000 francs can be assessed.  This of course is in reaction to the rising cost of proper waste disposal, and increasing population of Switzerland and BaselLand in particular.  Swiss municipalities now estimate their cost of litter cleanup at 200 million francs per year according to the sponsors of the federal initiative to curb littering.  Swiss municipalities and cantons have also been asking federal authorities to levy a tax on PET bottles, cans and cigarettes that would be passed on to the sanitation departments responsible for cleanups.   ****************************************

In case you've been following the progress of the FC Basel football team, you'd know they are playing FC Porto tonight in the 2nd game of the round of 16 at Porto's home stadium.  After a come-back tie in Basel, Porto will seek to dispatch the Basel team from the tournament.  However, both teams face substantial obstacles, perhaps none more than the loss by Porto of their star scorer and team captain Jackson Martinez to injury.  The columbian star has contributed 17 goals to the team's season in the Portuguese league, and six goals in the team's Champion's League tournament appearances this year.  If porto beats Basel they'd advance to the quarterfinals for the first time since 2009.  There'll be no shortage of drama, as Basel side's coach Paulo Sousa was once a player in the Portuguese league and played against the FC Porto team.  He'll be hoping to lead Basel into the Champion's League Elite Eight for only the second time, the last time being 1974, when the team lost 6-5 aggregate points to team Celtic.  Basel will also have a challenge on their hands as defender Marek Suchy will be out for penalties, having collected his third yellow card of the tourney at the last basel/porto game at St. Jakobs last month.

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An affordable housing initiative was rejected this past weekend with 58 percent of votes cast against.  The initiative was the brainchild of the SP and Young Socialist party and sought to address the difficulty of finding affordable housing in Basel.  Vacant housing in the canton is estimated at 0.2% and has been decreasing steadily for a long time.  It was hoped that with the initiative passed, a foundation would be established that used government funds to appropriate land and develop it for residential use, presumably with rent caps on the available flats.  Prior to the vote, the government had attempted a compromise proposal establishing 20 million CHF for an endowment to fund housing, but that was also rejected by a right-wing majority in the parliament.  Although disappointed with the effort, SP GrossCouncillor Sarah Wyss said the housing issue will not go away as it affects everyone, and additional efforts and initiatives will be proposed to motivate landlords and landowners to develop and offer affordable housing.  

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The fungus Saprolegnia has been detected in the Birs river inside the Canton of Basel.  The deadly spore also known as "cotton mould" primarily attacks a fish's body through wounds in the skin and grows across the surface of the infected organism as a characteristic white film, eventually killing the host.  The pathogen was detected in a brook trout pulled from the river in Munchenstein.  Daniel Zopfi of the Office of Forests Basel urged fisherman and sports enthusiasts to disinfect their angling gear, including boots, and watercraft, after each use.  The fungus has been responsible for environmentally devastating fish kills in the past, affecting Trout and Salmon populations throughout western Europe in the 1970's and 1980's and more recently in 2011 in the Sorne river in the Canton of Jura.  The Swiss Federal Office for the Environment published a statement saying human contact with the spore is not dangerous and that fish can be consumed safely provided proper cooking techniques have been used.