■ TRANSPORTATION
Use of public transport rising
Ridership on Taipei’s public transportation systems, including the MRT and city buses, will reach 1.2 billion by the end of this year, up from 1.1 billion last year, Taipei Department of Transportation Commissioner Luo Shiaw-shyan (羅孝賢) said yesterday. As oil prices increase and the economy remains in a recession, more people are choosing to take buses or the subway instead of driving, he said. The percentage of car drivers in the city this year dropped to 16 percent, compared with 20 percent last year, he said. The percentage of motorscooter riders rose to 34 percent, from 29 percent last year, Luo said, adding that more people were likely driving scooters because they were cheaper to drive than automobiles. But the number of people riding scooters could drop because of difficulties in finding parking space, he said.
■ SOCIETY
Store elevator traps 15
An elevator malfunction in the Far Eastern Department Store in Banciao (板橋), Taipei County, trapped 15 customers for an hour yesterday before they were rescued. The elevator stopped between floors at 3:50pm as it was rising from the B2 level to B1. The trapped passengers pressed the emergency button and waited for rescue. The fire department said it planned to break down the doors to free the customers, but fearing there might have been more people in the elevator than maximum capacity allowed, elevator mechanics had to secure the car’s position first. The mechanics were able to pry open a narrow opening after 20 minutes and remove two children. After the car’s position was secured, firefighters were able to force open the doors and free the remaining 13 people. Each trapped customer was given a NT$500 gift certificate by the store as an apology. The store said the elevator underwent routine maintenance, and the cause of the malfunction was under investigation.
■ SPORTS
Kaohsiung backs baseball
Kaohsiung City’s Education Bureau has drawn up a plan to boost baseball in the city, bureau Director-General Tsai Ching-hwa (蔡清華) said yesterday. The bureau had reached a consensus with the National University of Kaohsiung last month to establish a college of sports at the school and the university had agreed to organize a team to take part in the Major League of College Baseball, she said. Other plans included establishment of a kids’ baseball team in each of the city’s 11 districts, renovation of the Lite Baseball Field and providing stipends for 20 coaches, the bureau said. Kaohsiung has about four to five youth baseball teams and two junior baseball teams, but the city government wants teams at all school levels. The plan will cost NT$36 million (US$1 million) annually, the bureau said.
■ CRIME
Cannabis farm raided
Police found a cannabis farm in a mountain area in Hsinyi Township (信義), Nantou County, on Saturday. The 2,425m² farm was believed to be the largest of its kind ever found in Taiwan, with 1,500 plants, police said. Six hundred plants had already been dried into marijuana. With a market price of NT$200,000 per kilogram, the plants had a market value of more than NT$30 million, police said. Police received a tip about the farm a couple of days ago. Ten officers raided the farm on Saturday morning, and nabbed four people as they slept in a tool shed. The cannabis plants were 2.5m tall on average, rather than the normal 1m, the police said.
‘DENIAL DEFENSE’: The US would increase its military presence with uncrewed ships, and submarines, while boosting defense in the Indo-Pacific, a Pete Hegseth memo said The US is reorienting its military strategy to focus primarily on deterring a potential Chinese invasion of Taiwan, a memo signed by US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth showed. The memo also called on Taiwan to increase its defense spending. The document, known as the “Interim National Defense Strategic Guidance,” was distributed this month and detailed the national defense plans of US President Donald Trump’s administration, an article in the Washington Post said on Saturday. It outlines how the US can prepare for a potential war with China and defend itself from threats in the “near abroad,” including Greenland and the Panama
The High Prosecutors’ Office yesterday withdrew an appeal against the acquittal of a former bank manager 22 years after his death, marking Taiwan’s first instance of prosecutors rendering posthumous justice to a wrongfully convicted defendant. Chu Ching-en (諸慶恩) — formerly a manager at the Taipei branch of BNP Paribas — was in 1999 accused by Weng Mao-chung (翁茂鍾), then-president of Chia Her Industrial Co, of forging a request for a fixed deposit of US$10 million by I-Hwa Industrial Co, a subsidiary of Chia Her, which was used as collateral. Chu was ruled not guilty in the first trial, but was found guilty
DEADLOCK: As the commission is unable to forum a quorum to review license renewal applications, the channel operators are not at fault and can air past their license date The National Communications Commission (NCC) yesterday said that the Public Television Service (PTS) and 36 other television and radio broadcasters could continue airing, despite the commission’s inability to meet a quorum to review their license renewal applications. The licenses of PTS and the other channels are set to expire between this month and June. The National Communications Commission Organization Act (國家通訊傳播委員會組織法) stipulates that the commission must meet the mandated quorum of four to hold a valid meeting. The seven-member commission currently has only three commissioners. “We have informed the channel operators of the progress we have made in reviewing their license renewal applications, and
A wild live dugong was found in Taiwan for the first time in 88 years, after it was accidentally caught by a fisher’s net on Tuesday in Yilan County’s Fenniaolin (粉鳥林). This is the first sighting of the species in Taiwan since 1937, having already been considered “extinct” in the country and considered as “vulnerable” by the International Union for Conservation of Nature. A fisher surnamed Chen (陳) went to Fenniaolin to collect the fish in his netting, but instead caught a 3m long, 500kg dugong. The fisher released the animal back into the wild, not realizing it was an endangered species at
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