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Reactor Decomissioned; Basel Buddha Bar Brawl; Construction Chaos At Central Station; Fair Housing Initiative Begins
News For 2 April 2019
Switzerland's oldest nuclear reactor, located at the University of Basel, may be formally shut down after its closure in 2013. The university has been granted the decommissioning application for its research reactor, called "AGN-211-P", by the federal government. Its department of physics had operated the experimental and practice reactor from 1959 until the end of 2013. However, experimental nuclear physics is no longer a focus of research in Basel, which means that the facility must give way to new buildings. The dismantling of the reactor has cost the Basel Stadt government 10 million Swiss francs and is expected to be completed in 2020. The uranium from the reactor has already been returned to its original site in the US in 2015, which is great news, because the the uranium used in this research reactor was capable of being utilized for nuclear weapons.
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In the early hours of the morning, a fight ensued at the Buddha Bar in Birsig car park. According t0 authorities, fights occur every other week, however this was the worst one to date. An eyewitness claims knives where drawn, but no one was seriously hurt. Basel Police have said that drugs and gang violence were a likely cause, most likely between ethnic gangs. Basel is the Swiss city with the most violence during the night hours, thanks largely to gang violence.
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Another Spring has arrived, and so has another massively disruptive public works projects. In case you haven't left your home since last Thursday, public transportation, including trams and busses are now redirected as a result of construction at the SBB. The work is meant to improve the tracks and stations similarly to what took place last summer between Barfusserplatz and Marktplatz. BVB the public transport operator and sponsor of the construction chose to use humor in explaining its abrupt announcement, going so far as to hand out "complaint forms" at the Centralbahnplatz that were clearly intended to be ignored. The construction is meant to be complete by May 12.
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Last summer, BaselStadt voted in a referendum to advance a universal right to housing in the canton's constitution. The goal of the initiative is to guarantee affordable housing, and housing financial support for those that can demonstrate need. Now, the cantonal government has begun the process of implementing the initiative by setting up an interdepartmental working group under the direction of the cantonal President. The group hopes to determine the best way to implement a public housing foundation as well as to promote private housing cooperatives.