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

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

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www.<strong>the</strong>fl orentine.net<br />

TIES THAT BIND<br />

Most Tuscans say yes to<br />

common-law unions<br />

As one of <strong>the</strong> most ancient<br />

cruxes of li<strong>be</strong>ralist thought<br />

in Europe, not many can deny<br />

<strong>the</strong> fact that Tuscany is perhaps<br />

<strong>the</strong> most progressive of Italian<br />

regions. Well, Tuscan citizens<br />

have once again confi rmed <strong>the</strong>ir<br />

commitment to <strong>the</strong> socialist<br />

cause in support of <strong>the</strong> very controversial<br />

Pacs legislation, which,<br />

if passed by parliament, will give<br />

legal status to civil unions on <strong>the</strong><br />

national, regional and provincial<br />

level. Recent debates have fl ared<br />

<strong>be</strong>hind closed parliamentary<br />

doors as of late about whe<strong>the</strong>r or<br />

not to follow <strong>the</strong> general European<br />

trend toward <strong>the</strong> legal recognition<br />

of common-law couples.<br />

And all while, <strong>the</strong> majority of<br />

those <strong>Florentine</strong>s in favour of <strong>the</strong><br />

cause are probably not aware<br />

that, just over ten years ago, Pisa<br />

was <strong>the</strong> fi rst city in Italy to offi cially<br />

record <strong>the</strong> presence of commonlaw<br />

couples, registering over 40<br />

civil unions in <strong>the</strong> city and province,<br />

including fi ve gay couples.<br />

Soon after, <strong>Florence</strong>, Scandicci,<br />

Pistoia, Piombino and Empoli<br />

followed in Pisa’s footsteps by<br />

keeping offi cial accounts of <strong>the</strong><br />

num<strong>be</strong>r of unwed couples in <strong>the</strong>ir<br />

jurisdictions. <strong>Without</strong> a national<br />

law to address <strong>the</strong> issue, <strong>the</strong>se<br />

municipal efforts did not have<br />

much success, with very few couples<br />

declaring <strong>the</strong>ir common-law<br />

status in city halls.<br />

VISIT OUR BLOG<br />

http://<strong>the</strong>florentine.<br />

blog.dada.net/<br />

News<br />

Memory train<br />

remem<strong>be</strong>rs Holocaust<br />

Tuscan students embark on a journey to Auschwitz<br />

Last week, 500 Tuscan<br />

high school<br />

and university students,<br />

alongside teachers<br />

and municipal offi -<br />

cials, travelled on <strong>the</strong><br />

Treno della Memoria to<br />

Auschwitz in order to<br />

commemorate Europe’s<br />

Holocaust victims. In a<br />

moving display of solidarity,<br />

students participated<br />

in a memorial celebration<br />

in one of Auschwitz’s lagers,<br />

and were accompanied by regional<br />

councilor, Ugo Caffaz, where <strong>the</strong>y<br />

prayed and sang songs in Hebrew,<br />

Top spot for<br />

taxpayers<br />

Siena, Pisa and <strong>Florence</strong><br />

are country’s costliest<br />

Yes friends, <strong>the</strong> rumors are true:<br />

Tuscany is offi cially <strong>the</strong> most<br />

costly region in Italy. Cgia of Mestre,<br />

in <strong>the</strong> Veneto region, recently<br />

released a report which classifi es Italy’s<br />

most expensive cities on basis of<br />

<strong>the</strong> amount of money taxpayers hand<br />

over to municipalities each year. <strong>The</strong><br />

report revealed that <strong>Florence</strong> takes<br />

fi fth spot in <strong>the</strong> list of Italy’s most<br />

expensive cities. More precisely,<br />

each <strong>Florentine</strong> dishes out about<br />

1,150 euro a year in municipal tax in<br />

exchange for <strong>the</strong> goods and services<br />

<strong>the</strong> city provides. If this seems a lot,<br />

<strong>the</strong>n consider living in Siena, where<br />

taxpayers shell out almost 1,500 euro<br />

as well as in <strong>the</strong> Rom<br />

language. Caffaz remem<strong>be</strong>red<br />

<strong>the</strong> hundreds of<br />

Tuscans who, in <strong>the</strong><br />

wrong place at <strong>the</strong> wrong<br />

time, found <strong>the</strong>mselves<br />

on a freight train heading<br />

towards <strong>the</strong>ir horrifi c<br />

demise, ‘about 700 innocent<br />

Tuscans also shed<br />

<strong>the</strong>ir blood <strong>the</strong>re during<br />

<strong>the</strong> Holocaust, including<br />

<strong>the</strong> many civilians, politicians,<br />

workers and youth that were<br />

captured and shipped to evil places<br />

such as E<strong>be</strong>nsee, Mautahausen and<br />

Mar<strong>the</strong>im’.<br />

yearly, or in Pisa where residents<br />

must pay 1,180 euro each year to <strong>the</strong><br />

municipal administration.<br />

<strong>Florentine</strong> newspaper Il Firenze<br />

reports that <strong>the</strong> highest fees in <strong>Florence</strong><br />

are for Ici property and garbage<br />

disposal taxes. In light of <strong>the</strong>se fi ndings,<br />

city councilor Tea Albini, warns<br />

that ‘this classifi cation does not give<br />

a clear picture of <strong>the</strong> situation. Compared<br />

to o<strong>the</strong>r Italian cities, <strong>the</strong> vast<br />

array of services that <strong>the</strong> city offers<br />

its citizens, stand apart in terms of<br />

quality. Taxpayers do pay more in<br />

<strong>Florence</strong>, but <strong>the</strong> living standards<br />

are higher than in o<strong>the</strong>r Italian<br />

urban centres’.<br />

BETTER LIFE GONE BAD<br />

Foreigners reign in <strong>Florence</strong>’s Meucci Detention Centre<br />

Although <strong>the</strong>re are only 22 inmates in<br />

<strong>Florence</strong>’s Meucci Juvenile Detention<br />

Centre, located on Via degli Orti Oricellari,<br />

<strong>the</strong> vast majority of <strong>the</strong>m are immigrants,<br />

mostly coming from Romania and<br />

Morocco. <strong>The</strong>se youth have come to Italy<br />

in search of a <strong>be</strong>tter life and a more promising<br />

future yet have sadly ended up on<br />

<strong>the</strong> wrong path. <strong>The</strong> inmates range from<br />

14 to 21 years of age, and most are <strong>be</strong>ing<br />

detained for crimes related to drugs, rob<strong>be</strong>ry or <strong>the</strong>ft. In this correctional<br />

institute for minors, detainees are required to attend morning educational<br />

classes and afternoon artisan courses while serving <strong>the</strong>ir sentence, though<br />

director of <strong>the</strong> centre, Aldo Nesticò, argues that Meucci ‘lacks <strong>the</strong> necessary<br />

funds for things such as paper and pens, even toilet paper’. While such<br />

classes are designed to help <strong>the</strong> youth gain <strong>the</strong> essential knowledge, skills<br />

and experience needed upon release, <strong>the</strong> recidivism rate remains high.<br />

5<br />

Thursday 8 February 2007<br />

<strong>Florence</strong> NEWS<br />

EMERGENCY<br />

SUMMIT<br />

SAFEGUARDS<br />

COUNTRYSIDE<br />

Tuscan residents, urban planners,<br />

government offi cials and<br />

concerned citizens have <strong>be</strong>en<br />

unyielding in <strong>the</strong>ir fi ght against <strong>the</strong><br />

development of a large residential<br />

project in Montichiello, located<br />

in <strong>the</strong> characteristic Sienese Val<br />

d’Orchia.<br />

An emergency summit, held in<br />

Siena on January 22nd involved<br />

regional, provincial and local<br />

authorities, who opted to temporarily<br />

block <strong>the</strong> construction of a<br />

20-unit residential condominium<br />

in <strong>the</strong> heart of <strong>the</strong> Sienese Chianti,<br />

an area which has <strong>be</strong>en declared<br />

<strong>the</strong> patrimony of all of humanity by<br />

Unesco.<br />

Authorities have enforced<br />

Article 45 of <strong>the</strong> Urban Planning<br />

Code, which allows for ‘an indirect<br />

safeguarding procedure’ in<br />

order to uphold <strong>the</strong> architectural,<br />

cultural and ecological integrity of<br />

Tuscan cities and towns.<br />

As a result of such controversy,<br />

leftist federal minister,<br />

Francesco Rutelli, and president<br />

of <strong>the</strong> Tuscan Region, Claudio<br />

Martini, met in Rome a few weeks<br />

ago in order to draft an agreement<br />

<strong>be</strong>tween national and regional<br />

governments which <strong>would</strong> oversee<br />

<strong>the</strong> establishment of a provincial<br />

‘Urban Code’ specifi cally<br />

intended to safeguard and ensure<br />

<strong>the</strong> quality and distinctness of <strong>the</strong><br />

Tuscan countryside.<br />

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