Nuclear Out, Renewables In; Busy Referendum Sunday Results; Kuppel to Return in 2020; MUBA Show Popularity Upticks

News For 23 May 2017

Over 58% of voters in Switzerland voted in favor phasing out the country's nuclear power generators in favor of renewable alternatives.  Currently, the country gets almost 1/3 of its energy from five aging power plants, which the plans call to replace with Solar, Hydro, Wind and Biomass energy sources starting next January.  The goal is to decommission the nuclear power sources entirely by 2050.

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In addition to the nationwide vote that affirmed the energy strategy for the next 30 years, the residents of Basel-Land and Basel-Stadt also voted on a total of 6 Cantonal initiatives and government decisions last Sunday. In Basel-Land, members of the local parliament will continue to have term limits, the Bruderholz hospital will not offer extended primary medical services, secondary school teachers in training will not have to go to university to complete their education, and the Gemeinden have obtained more autonomy from the cantons. In Basel-Stadt youth centers will be permitted to serve alcohol to guests of age, and the bicycle ring road will not be built in the city.

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Fans of the Klein Basel nightclub and concert venue Kuppel will have to wait until 2020 for it to return.  Demolished in 2016 as part of general renovations and construction in the neighborhood, the owners and promoters had hoped to find a temporary venue elsewhere.  In a press release today however, the foundation responsible for the Kuppel said they will wait until the original site of the venue is ready before reopening.  Along with a concert space and night club, the new venue has plans for a full gastronomy operation.

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After years of dwindling visitor numbers, the MUBA Consumer Expo attracted 12'000 more visitors than those attending in 2016. That is a total of 144'000 people over a span of 10 days. The organizers had hoped to attract more visitors by inviting live acts from the music and comedy scene, which seems to have worked. The central topics of this year’s MUBA were mobility and energy. In total, 632 companies were present, 70 of which were startups.