Sunny News For Basel; Chilly Covid Classrooms; City Raffles Old Street Signs

News For 1 December 2020

In spite of all the bad news leading up to the last month of 2020, not all things are glum.  Despite recent stretches of cloudy weather, it turns out it has been a record year for sunshine in our fair city.  With almost 30 (short) days to go, 2020 experienced 120,833 sunny minutes as of late last week, almost 10 hours more than the previous record set in 2003.  The statistics were released by Meteonews based on their weather station readings in Binningen.

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Due to the increase in COVID-19 cases in Basel-Land and Basel-Stadt, ventilation of indoor spaces is now a top priority when it comes to keeping the virus out of classrooms, and keeping schools open. However, with the winter months setting in, students are now complaining that having windows open every 15 minutes is making classrooms too cold. One school's unique approach has been to order Swiss Military Blankets for use in the classroom.  The Leonhard Grammar School gets their blankets from the Basel Armory.

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Once again, as part of Advent celebrations, the Basel-Stadt Building and Transport department is raffling off old decommissioned street signs.  120 street signs are up for grabs, and so far, over 1400 people have expressed interest on the organization's Facebook page, host to the raffle.  People can enter the raffle by simply leaving a comment on the page or post announcing the raffle.  The giveaway, which has been running annually since 2017, is part of the department's renewal program for street signs which have been in service for over 50 years.