It has certainly been a turbulent week weather wise, but unfortunately this does not guarantee us a white Christmas!
The bad weather in the night from Thursday to Friday not only reached hurricane strength winds but also caused 7000 homes in the Entlebuch area to be without power. The storm also caused a fatality in the Basel region when a woman who was overnighting in a yurte in the forest was killed when a tree crashed onto her. Her husband was able to be pulled out alive of the rubbles.
The ongoing battle between the city and the Hotel Schweizerhof continues (it has now been going for over 3 years). The city objects to the colourful lights the hotel displays every night in their windows, citing light pollution rules and the implementation of “Plan Lumiere” which states that building can only give out white light. But the canton tribunal ruled that because the lights are coming from within the hotel and are not being projected onto the walls the colourful lights to not fall under the “Plan Lumiere” rules. We now have to see whether the city wants to go on with this dispute or let lights shine in many colours in the “city of lights”.
After a thorough investigation into the cause of the crash and damage to the MS Diamant it has been established that the accident was caused by human error. The ship unfortunately will be out of service for several months whilst it gets repaired.
After the “Salle Modulable” debacle the fact remains that the city’s theatre is in dire need of repair work. The town has approved a research phase into how a new theatre could look. It would be situated in the same place, would be slightly bigger than the current theatre and the building should be able to last for the next 200 years! The findings of this first research phase will be published in autumn 2018.
If you are planning to go to a Christmas market in the coming days beware that there are active groups of thieves making their way around the markets in Luzern. The police advise that you only carry as much money with you as you need and in no circumstances leave your purse unattended. Should you suspect a thief is in the area, warn the people around and then contact the police 117.
We wish you a pleasant week in the run up to Christmas.
