Italy's favourite son, finally moving out - The Florentine

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Thursday 7 September 2006 News
Florence NEWS
www.theflorentine.net
News in BRIEF
Florentine architects create
energy with every turn
A skyscraper that’s 59 fl oors
and 250 meters high is an architectural
feat in and of itself. But
more can be said about the project
recently designed and presented
by Florentine architects
at the Fortezza da Basso’s X
World Congress of Renewable
Energy, organized by the University
of Florence. According to its
ecologically magnifi cent building
plan, each fl oor of the ‘Florentine’
sky-scraper will continually
rotate slowly—as to not disturb its
inhabitants—and use the strength
of the wind to produce electrical
energy. The tower will be built in
Dubai over the next 30 months,
and will produce, thanks to its
built-in ‘wind-mill’ style building
structure, up to 190 million kilowatts
(7 million euro’s worth) of
energy annually.
The grass is always greener
The turf at Fiorentina’s Artemio
Franchi stadium has been
painted green to look good in
time for the team’s game to take
place in October. Stadium staff
coated the ground with a green
varnish to combat the effects of
a disease that has ravaged the
turf over the summer.
Seniors with sticks
and stones
A 92-year-old man was handcuffed
and arrested by police
after attacking an 80-year-old
female neighbour and her daughter.
The two women were taken
to the hospital after their elderly
neighbour assaulted them with
a fl ick knife and a stick. The
trio had argued after a blackout
on their apartment block in
Pontassieve, a town infamous
for its vicious verbal arguments
between neighbours.
Driver’s Mis-ed
New survey showcases the
behind-the-wheel know-how of
1,100 Italian drivers. According
to a questionnaire sponsored by
Directline Insurance, numerous
Florentines confessed confusion
about basic rules of the road.
More than 50 percent admitted
ignorance about speed laws and
point-based driving licenses.
Only 70 percent of those surveyed
knew how many points
they were initially assigned—even
fewer knew how many they held
at the moment. Florentines worry
about their licence status less
than the other 8 Italian provinces
interviewed, in which 82 percent
of the drivers keep licenses in
constant check.
City wants to attack violence
Woman’s safety emerges as critical concern
Graziano Cioni
Episodes of violence against
woman throughout Italy have
multiplied considerably during
the summer months. From north
to south, Bergamo to Agrigento,
reported rape cases have risen in
the past few weeks, and Florence
has proved no exception. The recent
rape of an American university student
in the centre of Florence—the
second rape case reported in a twoweek
period—has prompted both citizens
and city officials to finally start
asking serious questions regarding
the safety of women along the banks
of the Arno.
In a recent interview, Florentine
Safety Councillor Graziano Cioni
affirmed, ‘Even if there are already
100 surveillance cameras operating
within the city, women continue to
be unsafe. We need to act urgently. I
have requested a new plan to guarantee
better lighting in the city’s
streets.’ Politicians from both sides of
the political spectrum have started to
draw up much-needed public safety
proposals, which include tax-breaks
Fires box in
city quarter
Investigators search
for arson’s pattern
for shops that keep their windows
lit after hours and for businesses
that postpone closing time to 11pm.
Many city representatives argue in
favour of a stronger circuit of surveillance
cameras that communicate
directly with police stations and the
installation of an electronic alarm
system at traffic lights. Other ideas
include facilitating night-time transport
for women by making ATAF
buses available for on-call service.
Taxi drivers operating in Florence
are already obliged to provide a discount
to women travelling alone at
night, although said discounts are
not always applied.
According to recent official data
supplied by the Italian statistics
agency Istat and the association Telefono
Rosa, rape ranks high in the topten
of Italian crimes. Reported cases
tripled in 2005, and this trend shows
signs of continuing in 2006. Over
the past 12 months, more than 2,500
cases of sexual assault were reported
in Italy. Even more worrisome is that
three out of four rape cases occur
within the domestic sphere. Ninetyone
percent of victims do not report
rape to the police. Only 18 percent of
rape cases reported nation-wide happen
with a stranger, while 27 percent
happen on the street.
Associazione Artemisia – Centro
donne contro la violenza, is a local
volunteer association providing services
to women and children who
have been victims of sexual violence
and physical or psychological mistreatment.
Located in Via Mezzetta 1/int.,
Associazione Artemisia has Englishspeaking
volunteers and is open Monday-Friday
from 10 am to 6 pm. For
more information call 055 602311.
For over a month now, sudden flames have ravaged Florentine
summer nights. During August, no less than four abandoned
buildings fell prey to intentionally-set fires. The first occurred
Aug. 6, destroying an old railway deposit located on the edge of the
Campo di Marte train station. The end of the month, saw the destruction
of several rooms of Lungarno Colombo’s ex-villa, Kasar. Converted
into a discothèque for the Florentine ‘in-crowd’ of the 1990’s,
the abandoned building had become home to many of the city’s homeless
immigrant community. In both cases, no one was hurt. In late
August, another fire-related emergency destroyed the asphalt corridor
that splits the characteristic antiques market Mercato dei Ciompi
in half, causing controversy among merchants, locals and politicians
regarding the safety of public structures. The last episode took place at
the ASL office in Via del Salviatino, damaging an abandoned building
that had become a homeless shelter. These four sites form an almost
perfect square when seen on a city map; three out of four occurred in
Florence’s Quartiere 2 neighbourhood. Police and official investigators
discard the possibility that these episodes are unrelated.
MAFIA’S LOSS
REDEEMED
BY YOUTH
Confi scated land
hosts activism
an old view of Canicattì
U
nder the banner Liberaci
dale spine, or ‘Free us from
thorns,’ more than eighty Tuscan
volunteers between the ages of
18 and 30 left for Sicily between
Aug. 21 and Sept. 3 to complete
their second week of agricultural
work on ex-Mafi a lands near Canicatti,
Nomreale and Corteleone, all
recently confi scated by the Italian
government.
The project, organized by various
volunteer organizations and
government offi ces in Florence,
Palermo and Agrigento, had volunteers
working to uproot old vineyards
and prepare soil for re-planting.
They also gathered tomatoes
for the production of tomato paste
and started reaping in the harvest
of wheat. But in addition to a bit
of healthy manual labour, these
volunteers also had the chance to
participate in various seminars and
workshops on topics ranging from
‘Anti-mafi a Initiatives’ to ‘Crime and
Legality.’ They were introduced to
several famous anti-Mafi a spokespeople,
including Rita Boresellino,
widow of magistrate Paolo Borsellino,
who was assassinated by the
Mafi a in the early 1990’s. Visits to
various localities marked by Mafi a
violence such as the house in
which young Di Matteo was murdered
in San Giuseppe Jato, were
part of the project.
Several local political fi gures,
including Province President Matteo
Renzi, Pontassieve’s mayor
Marco Mairaghi, Calenzano’s
mayor Beppe Carovani and
Certaldo’s mayor Andrea Campionti,
visited the six southern Italian
work-camps. ‘We are convinced,’
said Province President Renzi,
‘that the presence of these young
people on confi scated lands and
their efforts to offer their labour as
a permanent social stance against
the Mafi a will become a cultural
investment for their communities.
They will be powerful examples of
social commitment.’