Sun, Jun 13, 2010 page3

• Taiwan News Quick Take

  • STAFF WRITER, WITH AGENCIES
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  ■POLITICS

  Local elections held

  Seventeen cities and counties across the country held township representative and borough chief elections yesterday. According to the Central Election Commission, a total of 3,819 candidates vied for 2,322 township representative seats in yesterday’s election, while 8,291 hopefuls competed for 4,077 borough chief seats. Electoral results were not available as of press time. Similar local elections for wards in the five special municipalities — Taipei City, Sinbei City, Greater Taichung, Greater Tainan and Greater Kaohsiung — will be held on Nov. 27 as a part of three-in-one polls. Voters will also elect mayors and councilors in the five special municipalities, four of which will be formed through upgrades or mergers by the end of this year.

  ■SOCIETY

  Shaved ice shop reopens

  Long lines formed yesterday in front of a shaved ice shop on Yong Kang Street in Taipei City, as the once popular shop reopened its doors after closing them for five months. Now named Yongkang 15, the shop was remodeled by a new management team. In its original incarnation as Ice Monster, the shop became famous for its mango shaved ice desserts and was one of the top tourist attractions on the well-known street. Store owners also welcomed the reopening. “Business in the Yong Kang commercial area dropped by about 20 percent after Ice Monster closed. We hope the new shop will bring back visitors and business,” said Lee Ching-long (李慶隆), director-general of the Yong Kang Commercial and Cultural Promotion Association. Ice Monster closed unexpectedly in January because of an alimony dispute between the owner Lo Chun-hua (羅駿樺) and his ex-wife. She accused her ex-husband of closing the shop as a ruse to transfer property to a third party and avoid paying alimony.

  ■ENVIRONMENT

  Film Festival eyeballs fish

  Environmentalists spoke at the opening of a film festival in Taipei yesterday, urging people to catch, buy and eat marine resources more conscientiously or risk having no seafood to enjoy in the near future. “We really need to be cautious about the oceans and marine resources, otherwise there will be no fish left by 2048,” Society of Wilderness president Eddy Lin (林耀國) said. “World Oceans Day Film Festival” will include more than 55 screenings of three documentaries nationwide. The featured films are: The End of the Line, ­Sharkwater and the Oscar-winning The Cove. Lin called on the public to stop buying seafood that is endangered or captured in ways that damage oceans’ ecosystems. The film festival is part of activities to promote the UN’s World Oceans Day, which was on June 8.

  ■HEALTH

  Boy paid over H1N1 vaccine

  A 12-year-old boy who developed encephalitis following an influenza A(H1N1) vaccination last December will receive NT$250,000 in compensation, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) said yesterday. The decision was made by the Vaccine Injury Compensation Program (VICP) after “failing to rule out” the connection between the infection and the vaccine, CDC Deputy Director-General Lin Ting (林頂) said. The sixth-grader, who received the shot on Dec. 8, was hospitalized on Dec. 17 with headache, convulsions and loss of consciousness. He was later diagnosed with acute encephalitis and tests found no indications of the influenza A(H1N1) virus, the official said.
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