■ WEATHER
Record high set in Taipei
Temperatures in Taipei and Keelung reached above 37oC yesterday afternoon, the highest reported this summer, the Central Weather Bureau said. The bureau said high temperatures would continue throughout the weekend, as the weather will be affected by both a high pressure system in the Pacific Ocean and wind from the southwest. The bureau said the temperature in Taipei reached 37.3oC by 1pm. By 2:08pm, the temperature had climbed to 37.7oC. Keelung reached 37.3oC around noon. On average, temperatures yesterday were between 33oC and 34oC nationwide.
■ HEALTH
Hospital helps addicts
National Cheng Kung University Hospital in Tainan City said yesterday that it has opened a round-the-clock emergency room exclusively for recently released inmates who might be facing problems kicking their drug habits. Lu Ju-ping (陸汝斌), director of the hospital's mental disease and psychiatry department, urged addicted former inmates to come to the emergency room whenever they found it difficult to fight their addictions. The hospital decided to open the exclusive emergency room after nearly 10 former inmates died from drug overdoses following their release on Monday under an amnesty program. Lu said that about 90 percent of drug-addicted inmates reoffend soon after being released but that medications to help addicts kick their habits are not covered by National Health Insurance, even though most of released prisoners cannot afford the medications.
■ CRIME
Yangmingshan home raided
Coast Guard Administration officers raided a private home in Yangmingshan National Park yesterday after being tipped off that the house was being used as a drug refinery and point of sale, a spokesman said. Coast guard officers and police launched the raid while the people living in the house were absent, seizing laboratory equipment for producing amphetamine, 1kg of amphetamine and 3kg of semi-finished drugs and raw materials. The coast guard team had spent several months preparing for the mission, the spokesman said. The main suspect in the case, identified as Chung Tai-nung (鍾台農), was arrested on an expressway on Thursday. He was suspected of extracting, purifying and selling amphetamine along with his girlfriend, surnamed Chiu, from the suburban Taipei villa. The coast guard said Chung has a record for drug offenses and was wanted on other charges.
■ ENVIRONMENT
Landfill becomes resting site
The Taipei City Government is promoting environment-friendly internments by offering free services to deceased residents and their families in a memorial park in Muzha. The city government has transformed the Futekeng landfill site into a 1.5 hectare tree and flower landscaped park. The park will eventually expand to cover 4 hectares. Officials said the park will be divided into several areas with different trees where people may choose to scatter or bury the cremated remains of their loved ones. Funeral service industry statistics say 630 Taipei residents have signed contracts to place remains in the park. The figures show that there were 429 such internments nationwide in 2005, including 390 in Taipei and nine in Taipei County. Officials said the city government was considering opening the park to people from other parts of the country who are willing to pay a NT$5,000 management fee.
■ TRANSPORTATION
Maokong visitor injured
A visitor to the Maokong cable car suffered from a minor head injury yesterday after being hit by a digital video camera dropped from above by another visitor. The incident marked the first accidental injury after the system opened earlier this month. The accident happened at the Chih-nan Temple (指南宮) Station yesterday afternoon when a female visitor was hit in the head by a digital video camera, which fell from another visitor's bag from the fourth floor of the station, the Taipei Rapid Transit Corporation said. The injured visitor was then rushed to the nearby Wan Fang Hospital and got five stitches on the back of her head, the hospital said. The visitor, along with many others that crowded the station yesterday, were taking the cable car to attend Hong Kong pop star Andy Lau's (劉德華) mini concert at 2pm. Lau later called on his fans to be more careful while enjoying the concert.
■ TRANPORTATION
`Disabled' stamp canceled
Highway authorities and public transport operators promised yesterday that they will change a practice
that is deemed as discriminatory against disabled passengers.
They made the promise after Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Lesgislator Chiang Lien-fu (江連福) told a press conference that he had received petitions from disabled constituents. People who are disabled are entitled to a 50 percent discount when buying bus, railway or air tickets, but the tickets are marked with a Chinese character that means "handicapped" or "disabled" -- a hurtful practice they would like to see brought to an end, they said. Chiang said the practice of the Taiwan High Speed Rail Corp (THSRC) on the other hand, is commendable as its half-price tickets for the disabled bear a heart-shaped symbol of love. He suggested that the other public transport operators follow the THSRC's example.
A first shipment of five tons of Taiwan tilapia was sent from Tainan to Singapore on Wednesday, following an order valued at NT$600,000 (US$20,500) placed with a company in the city. The products, including frozen whole fish and pre- cooked fish belly, were dispatched from Jiangjun Fishing Harbor, where a new aquatic processing and logistics center is under construction. At the launch, Tainan Mayor Huang Wei-che (黃偉哲) called the move a “breakthrough,” marking Taiwan’s expansion into the Singaporean tilapia market. Taiwan’s tilapia exports have traditionally focused on the United States, Canada, and the Middle East, Huang said, adding that the new foothold in
An electric bus charging facility at Taipei Metro’s Beitou Depot officially opened yesterday with 22 charging bays to serve the city’s 886 electric buses. Taipei Mayor Chiang Wan-an (蔣萬安) told a ceremony to mark the opening of the facility that the city aims to fully electrify its bus fleet by 2030. The number of electric buses has grown from about 650 last year to 886 this year and is expected to surpass 1,000 by the end of the year, Chiang said. Setting up the charging station in a metro depot optimizes land and energy use, as the metro uses power mainly during the
An exhibition demonstrating the rejuvenation of the indigenous Kuskus Village in Pingtung County’s Mudan Township (牡丹) opened at the Forestry and Nature Conservation Agency’s conservation station in Taipei on Thursday. Agency Director-General Lin Hwa-ching (林華慶) said they have been promoting the use and development of forestry resources to local indigenous residents for eight years to drive regional revitalization. While modern conservation approaches mostly stem from western scientific research, eco-friendly knowledge and skills passed down through generations of indigenous people, who have lived in Taiwan for centuries, could be more suitable for the environment, he said. The agency’s Pingtung branch Director-General Yang Jui-fen (楊瑞芬)
Traffic controls are to be in place in Taipei starting tonight, police said, as rallies supporting recall efforts targeting the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) lawmakers as well as a rally organized by the KMT opposing the recall campaigns are to take place tomorrow. Traffic controls are to be in place on City Hall Road starting from 10pm tonight and on Jinan Road Section 1 starting from 8am tomorrow, police said. Recall campaign groups in Taipei and New Taipei advocating for the recall of KMT legislators, along with the Safeguard Taiwan, Anti-Communist Alliance (反共護台聯盟), have previously announced plans for motorcycle parades and public
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