In the week of Drenthe we will take you through the news of the past week.
This week, attention is paid to the new Miss Ganzenhoedster, a small nuclear power plant in Drenthe and a shortage of volunteers at the Drentse Fiets 4 Daagse.
12-year-old Lexi Dost was crowned the new Miss Goose Keeper on Monday at the Ganzenmarkt in Coevorden. The brand new Miss succeeds Jill Zwaneveld. Niek Huisma (11) and Sara Kosse (8) were respectively appointed mini-mister Ganzenhoeder and mini-miss Ganzenhoedster for next year.
A total of 35 children had registered for the 61st edition of the event. Despite the rain, the market square was full again this year, so the children had no complaints about encouragement.
For 11 assaults and 2 rapes of women, 55-year-old former physiotherapist Bennie Z. from Emmer-Compascuum was sentenced to 3.5 years in prison on Tuesday. Six months of the sentence is conditional. He was also banned from working for eight years.
Z. groped the women lewdly when they lay naked on his treatment table. He had previously been sentenced to prison for six years. In three cases the court found that sexual assault had not been proven. Z. was acquitted of this, which is why the prison sentence is lower.
If it were up to police chief of the Northern Netherlands Martin Sitalsing and chief public prosecutor of the Northern Netherlands Diederik Greive, politicians should intervene in Nieuw-Weerdinge and Ter Apel. According to the pair, the villages suffer too much from nuisance or criminal asylum seekers. “I notice that my police officers in the Northern Netherlands are left with the pieces of policy and are allowed to clean up the mess,” Sitalsing said in EenVandaag.
Sitalsing calls for measures, but according to him the solution is not necessarily to deploy more police. “Other solutions must also be sought.”
The province of Drenthe wants to investigate whether a small nuclear power plant is possible in Drenthe. That is the outcome of the debate about the energy agenda in the Provincial Council. This concerns a new type of nuclear power plant, the small modular reactor (SMR). Energy deputy Henk Jumelet (CDA) and the Provincial Executive say that if Drenthe wants to get rid of fossil fuels and achieve the climate goals, “other forms of clean energy may be needed”.
A large nuclear power plant such as the one in Borssele or across the German border in Lingen is not possible in Drenthe. This requires more cooling water, such as water from the sea or a river.
Residents of Assen and Emmen who want to participate in the Drentse Fiets4Daagse will have to pedal a little further. Both starting places have been canceled due to a shortage of volunteers. The remaining starting places for the event are Dalen, Diever, Meppel and Westerbork.
Enthusiasts of the Fiets4Daagse were already living between hope and fear. Recently, seven volunteers from the starting point of Assen said goodbye. “That is a quarter of the total number of volunteers,” said Hindrik Aalders, chairman of Assen starting points. “We simply have a shortage of volunteers.”