It’s time for another survey of the week’s news in Luxembourg. As usual, we owe the good folks at ARA City Radio in Luxembourg for the news reports, which we hear in the dulcet voice of Mark Weedon almost every morning during Phoebe Winter’s breakfast show.
Filed under “Overkill”
HELICOPTER NAILS SHOPLIFTER
The police helicopter was in action in Ingeldorf on Saturday afternoon. It was hunting down a man who’d stolen a shell suit from a local shop. He had run off after staff noticed him trying to smuggle the stolen gear out of the shop in a black bag. He was eventually tracked down hiding behind a hedge in a barnyard, and is facing charges of shoplifting.
The follow-up story, filed under “CYA”
WE WILL NEVER KNOW
The Police say their helicopter was not called to track down a man who stole a shell suit in Ingeldorf at the week-end. Reports in the media caused uproar at the cost of using a helicopter for such a small theft. According to the police, the helicopter was in the area anyway on other business so they deployed it at only a marginal cost. The police did not however reveal why they had the helicopter out in the area in the first place.
And, in other news:
PECHERTEN SUPPORT NEW LEGISLATIVE PROPOSALS
The trade union representing traffic wardens, or Pecherten as they are known here, says its members could play a vital broader role in policing. The government has wanted to extend their powers to cover minor criminality such as vandalism for some time. But the council of state recently rejected the government’s proposals. Pecherten representatives from the FGFC public sector workers union yesterday urged the government to continue to push the legislation through. They pointed to the success of legislation extending the powers of traffic wardens in Switzerland, freeing up the police to deal with more serious crime.
FIRE IN THE PALACE
The was a fire in the Royal Palace yesterday afternoon [2 February]. Part of the building had to be evacuated while the fire brigade tackled the blaze. The cause of it was a broken washing machine in the basement of the building. The fire caused little damage but heavy clouds of smoke meant the fire brigade had to use breathing apparatus to get into the cellar.
FARM FIRE AT CHRISTNACH
A huge fire at a farm in Christnach has destroyed a barn full of hay and several surrounding buildings. Over 40 firemen and women were needed to get it under control. [Bugle: Outside Luxembourg-Ville, Luxembourgish firefighters are volunteers.] No one was hurt in the blaze. The fire started early yesterday afternoon, and the cause of it is as yet not known.
WHEN COWS ATTACK…..
And in a bad week for farmers, a woman had to be treated for injuries to her chest and shoulder caused by one of her cows. The 600kg beast panicked and ran over the top of her as she was trying to back it into a stall. The cow took leave of its senses at around midnight on Wednesday in Eshdorf.