Without the Arno, Florence would be like Romolo - The Florentine

4
Thursday 8 February 2007 News
Florence NEWS
News in BRIEF
News in BRIEF
‘Giovanni’ from the block
Want to be on a fi rst name
basis ■ with the city of Florence?
Call Nine out lives the for name two-wheelers ‘Andrea’ and
3,201 The Florentine men and boys municipal will answer. police
According will be sending to a recent 96 abandoned city-wide
name and unreclaimed search, ‘Andrea’ bikes takes to fi the rst
place underprivileged as the most people common of Okolo fi rst
name in the African throughout Congo, the as Munici- part of
pality a project of Florence. called Una Marco bici slides per il
into Congo. second Upon place city councilor with more Gra-
than ziano 3,000. Cioni’s Third motion place to donate goes
to these Alessandro two-wheeled at 2,700. wonders And for to
women? one of Africa’s Try Francesca—at most poverty- least
2,012 stricken Florentine areas, the Florentine girls go city by
that administration name. There has are once also 1,794 again
donne confi rmed who its answer dedication to ‘Laura’ and
and long-standing 1,542 called commitment ‘Silvia.’ to aiding
the disadvantaged in Africa.
Tales from the nose
that ■ grows
A Vandal centuries-old slashes giant oak featured
Tournabuoni’s in Carlo treasure Collodi’s The
Adventures Last week, of owners Pinocchio of the is Floailing,rentine tree art experts gallery said Tournabuoni
on Monday.
Experts Arte, Roberto from all over Casamonti Tuscany and are
being Anna called Ostellari, to protect were astonished the 600year-old
to fi nd one oak of that their is most included valuable on
UNESCO’s pieces on display World Heritage at Bologna’s List.
It Arte inspired Fiera slashed Collodi, to who bits wrote by an
a unknown fi nal episode vandal. The in work which of the art,
wooden entitled Psico-foil puppet was by the suspended 83-year-
from old Sicilian the giant artist oak Carla and Accardi, left to
die. was Collodi valued at originally over 300 wrote thousand Pinocchio
euro. Casamonti in a serialised and form Ostellari for a
weekly are baffl children’s ed by the magazine. vandalous The act,
grisly stating ending ‘we horrifi can’t ed believe the story’s why
young someone readers would and want the protests to com-
prompted mit such an the act author when to there resume were
writing. other more Collodi valuable penned pieces a further left in
19 our episodes, kiosk, including wrapping a few up pieces with
a by classic Fontana fairy-tale and a happy Picasso’. ending The
in police which are the currently wooden investigating Pinocchio
fi this nally peculiar becomes act a of real vandalism. boy.
■
Hop to the rescue
For over a month now, the World
Wildlife Fund of Florence has
been fresh on the heels of frogs
and their other long-legged family
members in an effort to rescue
them from being unknowingly fl attened
by passing cars. The WWF
has been recruiting several volunteers
as part of an initiative called
Operazione Salvarospi which is
aimed at curbing the bloodshed
of frogs, toads and other amphibians
living in and around the
WWF Focognano Oasis on the
outskirts of Florence. Director of
the oasis, Carlo Scoccianti, has
stated that amphibians in the area
are most at risk at this time of year
because they are waking from
hibernation and are in search of
wet and humid environments. As
a result, WWF volunteers will be
patrolling the high-risk streets surrounding
the Focognano Oasis,
as well as high-humidity areas
in and around Florence, such as
Osmannoro and Figline Valdarno.
Those interested in giving a helping
hand can call 055477876.
Big Brother gets bigger
20 additional anti-rape surveillance cameras around centre
In addition to the 96 surveillance
cameras in Florence,
the city’s Safety Committee
has announced that another 20
cameras will be installed throughout
city streets in order to curb
the ever-increasing incidences of
sexual assaults in the central core.
This decision was taken in light of
recent statistics revealing that the
number of sexual assaults in the
city is up 10.9 percent from last
year, and up 5.6 percent in the rest
of the province. Several weeks ago,
Florence’s Prefect, Andrea De Martino,
released the city’s 2006 Public
Safety Report, which reported
a signifi cant rise in the number of
Hard day’s night
Report exposes shaky employment stats
The employment rate in Tuscany
rose in 2006 to almost
65 percent, though statistics
revealed that most workers were
at an increased risk of fi nding
contract, or precarious employment,
thus following the general
trend in the rest of Italy toward an
increased use of unstable employment
contracts offered by both the
public and private sectors. In fact,
the regional newspaper La Nazione
recently reported that as many as
500 people at Florence’s city hall
are contract, or precarious, workers.
The 2006 Istat report, released
a few weeks ago, reveals that there
is work to be found in the Tuscan
region, but the pay stub still leaves
much to be desired. In fact, the
report illustrated that an average
sexual aggressions and violence
toward women in 2006, as well as
an increased number of robberies
and thefts in the centre. De Martino
asserted that the statistics revealing
a higher incidence of sexual assaults
are essentially due to ‘an increased
number of rape victims who are
now going to the police and reporting
sex crimes’.
Public Order offi cials have also
cited that most victims of rape in the
past year tended to be younger foreign
women who have come to Florence
on holiday or to study. Moreover,
alcohol consumption seems to
have played a considerable role in
several sexual assaults reported in
2006. Other crime statistics released
by the Prefect have shown a general
increase in the number of commercial
and residential thefts in the rest
of the province, more so than in the
city. As well, drug-related crimes and
homicides seem to have dropped
slightly, while crimes related to
prostitution and pornography have
risen. Although the statistics show
a general decrease in crime in the
central core, De Martino asserts ‘the
citizens of Florence feel less safe and
their sense of safety has signifi cantly
decreased in this past year’.
salary in Tuscany in 2006 was just
around 1,000 euro net—yes, that is
right—making it just over the poverty
line.
This sorry state of affairs refl ects
the dynamics of the new labour market
in Tuscany, making the number
of stable, regular employment work
contracts a thing of the past. This
tendency follows the same shift evidenced
in the national labour market,
albeit the skies seem clearer
over the former Grand Duchy territory
than in the rest of the country.
More precisely, Istat reported a 4.7
percent decrease in unemployment
from 2006, and on a happier note,
the number of female employees in
the Tuscan workforce are almost
equal in number to their male counterparts.
www.thefl orentine.net
COAST
IS CLEAR
Expert calms fears
about Tuscany’s
disappearing coastline
According to the University of
Florence’s leading physical
geography professor, Enzo Pranzini,
there is no need to fret about
Tuscan’s disappearing coastline
due to erosion, which in the last
120 years has worn away hundreds
of metres of beach, nor to
the threat of rising sea levels.
In the wake of the alarming data
and previsions that have continued
to bombard the world regarding
the acute climate change in
course and the extent to which
the greenhouse effect has, and
will, negatively effect our environment,
Pranzini contends that the
Tuscan Maremma is pretty much
safe and sound, so to speak.
Although he denies a looming
environmental catastrophe
on the horizon, he does not disallow
the possibility that there will
probably be signifi cant changes
to the already marshy land near
the coast. In fact, he admits that
the wettest areas, such as Lake
Massaciuccoli, as well as the wet
plains surrounding Pisa, San Rossore,
Follonica and Castiglione,
will eventually fl ood, becoming
marshland.
Apparently, the Tuscan coastline
gets a good bill of health,
because through human intervention
it is still possible to save
disappearing beaches, especially
if one looks at the areas surrounding
Marina di Massa and Ronchi,
where sand and rock barriers
were installed about 300 metres
from the coastline in 2000 by
the Tuscan Region. Since then,
the coastline in these areas has
ceased to erode. As a result, in
2003 the Tuscan Region fi nanced
similar interventions throughout
the region.