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Local News Summary of May, 13th

  • No more concession fees for IWB customers
  • Indecent assault on female jogger at the Birs in Münchenstein
  • Frost saints bring thunder and hail storms to Basel instead of frost

No more concession fees for IWB customers

The energy supplier IWB had to pay a fee to the canton Basel-Stadt for using common ground for its pipes and supply network. However the legal grounds for this has been deemed "insufficient" by the Federal Court.

The IWB has therefore interrupted the billing. As soon as customers no longer have to pay for the concession fees, IWB will start the billing again.

A total of 55,000 bills are sent out by the IWB per month. As well as the energy and drinking water supply, which is billed together with the concession fees for the canton Basel-Stadt, the energy supplier renders services where the concession fees are not included. These services will be billed further like before.

Examination of possible refunds

The canton Basel-Stadt and the IWB together have started to work on the legal adjustments which meet the requirements in the judgement given by the Federal Court. In this context they are also looking into whether there should be refunds given - as demanded by some customers. As soon as there is clarity over this question, customers will be informed by the IWB.

 

Indecent assault on female jogger at the Birs in Münchenstein

A female jogger was indecently assaulted at the Birs in Münchenstein BL by a stranger on Wednesday afternoon. The stranger ran off when the 27-year-old women started screaming to defend herself. The police are looking for witnesses.

The woman was attacked from behind at around 2pm when she was jogging on a path along the river towards Basel, near the St. Jakob swimming pool. The man, allegedly in his twenties, grabbed her and tried to put his hands underneath her clothes, the police said on Friday.

She screamed and was able to escape. A passer-by heard the screams, and saw a man ran away from the scene. He was able to take a picture of the man from behind. The witness is so far unknown.

Description of the perpetrator:

The alleged attacker is described as being 170cm tall, between 20 to 30 years of age, of medium build, with a light brown skin colour. The man wore long trousers and stank strongly of sweat.

 

Frost saints bring thunder and hail storms to Basel instead of frost

Thunderstorms after the frost: Thunderstorms with local hail storms and heavy rain fell on Friday above Basel, Jura, and the Prealps.

First, thunderstorms occurred along the Jura on Wednesday, as SRFMeteo said. One outlet of this front hit the Basel area on early afternoon. Most of the rain fell in Pratteln BL (13.2 millimetres), but also in the Leimental there were 8 millimetres of rain within a short time. At many places there was also hail as well as the heavy rain.

Later in the afternoon, thunderstorms, heavy rain, and hail reached the Prealps. A first storm passed from the region of Thun towards the Napf area, said SRFMeteo. Somewhat later there were thunderstorms also around the Alpstein. Further thunder and lightning was expected during the evening hours.

Frost saints bring thunderstorms instead of frost

There are also thunderstorms expected at the weekend. Warm and humid air will reach Switzerland from the Southwest on Monday morning which might lead to thunderstorms in the second half of the day mostly along the Jura and the Prealps. But also in the Mittelland there is no guarantee for a dry weekend. The temperatures in the afternoon will climb to 20°C.

The thunderstorms do not match at all with the frost saints who would bring frosty nights in mid-May. Wednesday there was frost, but the frost saint St. Pancras brought hail and thunder on Friday instead of frost.

Until Monday, the day of Sophie, temperatures above 20°C are expected in the afternoon, even above summery 25°C in Ticino, according to SRFMeteo.