Switzerland is the highest producer of plastic waste in Europe with 127 kilos being produced per person per year. Every year 14 000 micro and macro plastic particles land in our lakes and the soil. A 2017 study showed that no body of water is free of micro or macro plastics. The waste is produced mainly by car tyre wear followed by littering waste.
Our lifestyle is very much the reason why we produce so much waste. Packaging, building materials and consumer goods are the main culprits collectively producing 80% of the waste. You can read the report about this topic in English here.
A man has been sentenced to 10 years in jail, after he stabbed a taxi driver 16 times in order to steal his evening takings (CHF 400.-). The murderer was a drug addict who along with two colleagues planned to attack the driver, but then claims to have panicked and stabbed him wildly as the driver tried to fight back. The driver, who was 51, died on the spot and leaves behind a wife and four children.
The FC Lucerne football team saga continues. In the General Meeting on December 21st, the current board stripped Mr Alspstaeg of 25% of his shares, claiming that they were bought under false pretences. Now Mr Alpstaeg has said that this is false and that he wants his shares back or he will not continue to financially support the football team (he currently owns 27% of the shares).
A Luzerner politician has been accused of making racists statements when he said in an interview, that Ukrainian refugees were driving around in SUVs and getting Botox injections all the while receiving social monetary aid. He has been called out on his statement by a member of the Green party, and asked to provide numbers as to how many refugees actually own SUVs and how many have had botox injections since they moved to Lucerne.
A shortage of doctors is leading to hospitals having to drastically reduce their services. Lucerne Hospital is down to 70% of its services and now the hospital in Martigny is having to close its ER service during the night.
As of February voters will no longer have to put a stamp on their voting enveloppe. This will now be paid for by the local government.
If you go for a walk in the woods, the odds are you will see some bikers going down self created trails. As of autumn biketrails will have been built up in the Bireggwald to the tune of CHF 350 000.- half of which will be paid for by Horw and Luzern and the other half by the Lucerne Mountainbike Association.
