Gas prices are going down but this will not mean that our utilities bills will be any cheaper next year. This is because next year’s gas was bought this summer when prices were at their highest. There was a 4% drop on electricity consumption this past October but with the cold it is expected to go up again this month.
Parisienne cigarettes have been produced in Boncourt since 1887, sold to the British American Tobacco company in 1999, the factory looks set to close and the brand will most probably also disappear. This is because smoking is on the out. The sale of cigarettes in Switzerland went from 14 billion to 9 billion in 20 years. The banning of adverts and e-cigarettes seem to make smoking less popular in the country.
The number of companies going bust this year seems to be growing by 35% this year. This means that over 6000 companies are expected to close by year end. This is, generally, because the companies are financially overextended. Zug (+63.1%) and Lucerne (+ 47.3%) are the cantons with the greatest numbers of bankruptcies.
To date only 6% of the population have had the second Covid booster. The booster is recommended for people over 65 or with weak immune systems,w hich accounts for 20% of the population. The speculation is that people have either had contact with the disease so do not see the need for the booster or are just plain tired of having to be vaccinated again.
Watch out for Mickey Mouse! The police are warning visitors at the Basel Autumn fair to stay away from people dressed as Mickey Mouse. The individuals are beggars who are using agressive tactics to get people to give them money. The advice is to not interact with them and just walk away.
The gastronomy guide Gault-Millau released its 2023 book yesterday. The top restaurants in the area remain Focus and Sens in Vitznau (18 points) and newcomer Oscar de Matos at the Maihofli and Sascha Behrendt at the Sauvage both received (17 points), along with La Pistache in Meggen and Regina Montium in Rigi Kaltbad.
