Temperatures Plummet; Cantons Get The Ratings Treatment; No Billag Referendum On Sunday; Fasnacht Cleans Up Its Act

News For 27 February 2018

In case you haven't been outside this week, its COLD!  Sweeping easterly winds from Siberia have brought -10C daytime temperatures to Basel and the rest of Switzerland, which can feel like -20 when you factor in the wind chill.  Ironically, the North Pole is having one of its warmest winters on record, with average temperatures hovering 25 degrees above average for this time of year.  Lucikly, MeteoNews, the Swiss Federal Weather Service, reports that the cold snap will end by tomorrow, with temperatures slowly rising into the weekend.  

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Basel’s two half cantons did not do well in this year’s Weltwoche canton ranking. Weltwoche used official statistics, including ones from the Bundesamt für Statistik, Switzerland’s Federal Statistical Office. According to Weltwoche, Basler are statistically 6 times more criminal than Uri residents, and Baselland is the ugliest canton for overnight stays.  Basel-Stadt is also the “unhealthiest” canton with health care costs of 6888 CHF per person, and the third-dumbest, with a high school finishing rate of 85.2%. The cantons have reacted differently: Baselland gave a humorous response, while Basel-Stadt defended itself. Representative Marco Greiner said that since Basel is a city, it should not be directly compared to rural cantons.

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This Sunday, March 4 will be the day Swiss voters head to the polls to decide on the fate of the Billag, a compulsory radio and television license paid by all Swiss households.  Most of the revenues raised by the tax are funneled into Switzerland's public television and radio stations.  But opponents of the tax, who are the sponsors of the initiative, say its unfair and the money saved by taxpayers would goose consumption if the Billag were eliminated.  Those against the initiative, say the subsidy ensures a level playing field in the media for political agendas and for promoting programming that would otherwise not exist - a media desert, representing only the interests of the most economically powerful interests in Switzerland.  

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2018’s “drey scheenschte Dääg” have come to an end once again, and the city and the Fasnachtscomité have taken stock of this year’s event. On Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday mornings starting at 4 am, the Stadtreinigung sent 250 cleaners with 120 vehicles out to clean up the remnants of the Fasnachts shenanigans of the Cortège and the nightly Gässle. This year, the Stadtreinigung cleaned up around 240 tons of Räppli and other litter, which constitutes only half of last year’s amount. In another positive turn, the police and paramedics had less to do than in previous years, making this year’s Fasnacht a very successful one.