Is someone to blame? Longyearbyen ignores two decades of warnings before devastating avalanche
Icepeople |
January 20, 2016
Icepeople
Icepeople is the world's northernmost alternative newspaper. Icepeople is published weekly (or thereabouts) on Tuesdays (or thereabouts), with printed copies available free on a limited basis in Longyearbyen. Additional printed copies are available locally and by mail upon request. Charges...
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More by Mark Sabbatini
Stinky on stage: Year in revue follows Longyearbyen's tragicomic shift from a sooty town to a smelly onenew
Given all the fishy business in Longyearbyen during the past year, locals are ready to shake the coal dust from their boots and put their faith in cod. Local chums did a whale of a job baiting their fellow townsfolk during the annual revue showing just how flaky the past year was.
Icepeople |
Mark Sabbatini |
03-10-2016 |
Performance
Leaping year: One-day delay results in dazzling "return of the sun" celebrationnew
The year 2016 will be remembered as the perfect time to be bissextile. Several hundred people experienced one of Longyearbyen’s most spectacular “return of the sun” celebrations ever, thanks to leap year delaying the ceremony from a cloudy Monday to a cloudless Tuesday.
Trump Changenew
Americans are pondering fleeing their homeland in record numbers if Donald Trump’s hairpiece ends up hanging in the White House master bedroom after November’s election and word is getting out Svalbard may be the easiest to emigrate to and provide a Definitely Not Donald lifestyle.
More by Icepeople
'You may want to go home' – for the last time evernew
I’m throwing clothing, books, electronics and everything else wildly about in my apartment, not caring where any of it lands except for what I most treasure. Minutes ago the building was declared uninhabitable due to climate change damage and we have two hours to evacuate.
Frenemy alert: Svalbard still a hot target for foreign spiesnew
Russian troops all around us, Chinese hackers trolling our climate-monitoring satellite equipment, foreigners from dozens of other countries living here under lax residency laws. The frigid Svalbard archipelago is once again a hot spots for spies and other troublemakers in Norway's annual threat assessment report.
Icepeople |
Mark Sabbatini |
02-18-2016 |
Policy Issues
Tags: svalbard
High price of failure: another government bailout for coal mining in Svalbardnew
The price of keeping Store Norske barely alive keeps increasing, with the government now asking Parliament for 749 million kroner during the next four years to support operations at Mine 7 and maintenance of two larger mines in the hope coal prices recover.
Icepeople |
Mark Sabbatini |
02-05-2016 |
Business & Labor
Large-scale rehearsal planned for 'inevitable' oil spil in Svalbardnew
Lots of folks are eager to send ships and oil rigs toward Svalbard’s warming waters, but few are prepared to deal with what happens when mishaps result in fuel and oil spills in the still-harsh Arctic environment.
Icepeople |
Mark Sabbatini |
02-03-2016 |
Environment
Tourists Flocking to Avalanche Wreckage Leaves Some Residents Coldnew
Espen Rotevatn is grateful he can still go to his undamaged home, just below 11 others destroyed by last month’s avalanche, at the end of the day. He just wishes visitors weren’t there with cameras expecting him to play the role of tour guide.
