Two trains collided near Bolderaja Station on the Riga Freeport access railway on Feb. 5, cutting power to several local businesses. When the trains, one owned by Eurorails and the other by Latvia's Railways, crashed two cars loaded with uncut lumber derailed, spilling the logs and destroying a set of cables which brought power to companies located along the Daugava River. When The Baltic Times went to press, numerous companies were still without power and authorities were unsure when they would be able to get the system back online.
Yet another British national was arrested for urinating on the Freedom Monument in the early hours of Feb. 3. The 20-year-old man was charged with petty hooliganism and forced to pay a fine of 50 lats (71.14 euros). Police said the man was "slightly drunk." This is not the first time that a British citizen has been caught peeing on the Freedom Monument, an act which has caused a significant amount of controversy due to its growing regularity. The problem grew so bad that last year the British Embassy initiated a responsible tourism campaign to attempt to stymie further incidents.
A Ventspils woman put one of the city's port terminals on sale for $2 million on the online auction site eBay. Anna Marchak, acting on behalf of an anonymous company, said that she did not think her feedback rating 's which is still at zero 's would be an obstacle in selling the terminal. The 5,500 square meter plot includes a berth 112.8 meters long by seven meters deep, "administrative buildings, workshops, garage and warehouse." Suggested uses for the plot include a fishing base, water tourism centre, hotel (sauna and indoor pool are included) or yacht club.
Statistics from the Central Statistics office revealed that Latvia's demographics crisis exacerbated last year, with the number of Latvian residents dropping by 7,260 between January and October. The statistics showed that 17,480 babies were born during the survey period - significantly less than the 24,740 deaths. The highest mortality rate was registered in Riga, followed by Cesis, Jekabpils and Daugavpils. The highest birth rate was also registered in Riga, followed by Ogre and Valmiera. The total population of Latvia fell from 2,281,305 to 2,272,595 over the survey period.
The 10th annual Ice Sculpture Festival officially started in the central town of Jelgava on Feb. 4. The festival will feature ice art from 13 teams hailing from 11 countries. Each team will produce one large sculpture for the main competition and a number of smaller sculptures made from pressed snow. Artists have until Feb. 8 to complete their sculptures, and on Feb. 9 there will be an exhibition/festival. Artists from Russia, Latvia, the Netherlands, Belgium, Italy, Canada, Finland, Turkey, Belarus and the U.K. will participate in the festival. Festival organizers ordered 20 large blocks of ice from Finland for the event.
