Volume 1, Issue 9, September 2007 Journalism as never before  

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Around Town

General Election Fever
Rethymnon Coffee Morning Bugle - Building the Community Centre
New hospital wing?
Rethymnon Coffee Morning Bugle - Building the Community Centre
New cultural centre?

Greece holds a general election on 16th September. Unfortunately, the mud-slinging in the final lead-up is likely to be particularly unpleasant this time round. When the election was called—six months early, Costas Karamalis’ New Democracy Party (‘Conservatives’) had a comfortable lead in the opinion polls over PASOK (‘New Labour’) headed by George Papandreou, and it seemed likely that New Democracy would be returned with a comfortable majority. As we were going to press, New Democracy’s lead had slipped to one percent. Opposition parties have accused the government of gross incompetence in tackling the fire crisis in August, and of fabricating terror conspiracy theories in order to deflect blame. As Kathemerini pointed out in one of its leaders — any politician who exploits this tragedy for political gain is likely to pay deeply. Some of us here predict an increase in protest votes for the Communist parties KKE and Sinaspismos.

At a local level, the impact of the elections is difficult to gauge. Eagle-eyed Bugle reporters have noticed that there seems to be a sudden flurry of activity on certain municipal construction projects around town, which may not be entirely coincidental. Some people seem totally uninterested, claiming that decisions made in Athens have precious little to do with what happens here on Crete (and after all this island is in many ways a country in its own right). But for many, national politics are very close to the heart — so be prepared to witness some ‘free and frank’ exchanges of views in Rethymnon’s cafés and bars!

Parking Paradoxes and Graffiti Gripes

No parking No parking?! It’s a shame
Politics being high on the agenda right now, it seems timely to raise a couple of those niggles that impact on quality of life here. To be fair, since the new Mayor has come into office there have been noticeable efforts to reduce parking chaos. There is still a mountain to climb, though! Unfortunately, we’ve seen very little by way of trying to combat the graffiti scourge which blights many of the otherwise beautiful streets of the Old Town. It is something that visitors comment on as being off-putting, so, take note!

Sporting Highlights: Moving on Up!

As we reported in June, last season our local football team, Asteras, won promotion from ‘Δ’ division to ‘Γ’. This was a great achievement, not least because it represented a move up from amateur league football to professional status. Asteras had their first taste of participating in the Greek Cup on 1st September. This was short lived as they lost 0-2 at home to Messiniakos. It was a tough call for our boys, as Messiniakos were only relegated from ‘Β’ to ‘Γ’ at the end of last season, and at least half of the Rethymnon players have no experience of playing professional football whatsoever. League games start at September 23rd and the first game at home will be against Messiniakos again. Very early days yet, so let’s not get disheartened. We will post full details of the playing schedule on the Rethymnon.biz website as they become available.
The position regarding the status of AGOR, our local basketball team has now been clarified. As you may recall, AGOR apparently narrowly missed out on promotion last season, finishing in third place in the A2 Division. However, the A2 champions ’Sporting’ came under new management and are no longer able to fulfil the financial requirements of playing at A1 level. This means that AGOR will be playing in A1 Division after all. This is great news for local basketball fans. We now have the opportunity to watch AGOR playing against giants of the sport such as Panathinaikos and Olympiakos in our very own Melina Mercouri stadium. On Friday 6th September at 6pm there will be the customary new season ‘blessing of the team’. This will be followed by an open training session where the public can familiarize themselves with the many new faces that have been brought in during the summer. The team list has not been finalised yet, pre-season preparations for A1 are obviously very different than those for A2. AGOR as a team was created in 1986 and started at the very bottom of the pile. Many congratulations for reaching these dizzy heights on your 21st anniversary!

Ferry Timetable Changes

The NEL high speed ferry runs a reduced service between the 10th September and the end of the month. It then ceases to operate until next year. According to the schedule we currently have, it will leave Rethymnon on Tuesdays, Thursdays, Saturdays and Sundays at 18.30, arriving in Pireus at 23.45. As far as we know the ‘standard’ ferry will continue to maintain its current timetable throughout the winter: leaving Rethymnon on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Sundays at 20.00, arriving in Pireus the next morning. But, if past experience is anything to go by, schedules can change, and ferries may sometimes be cancelled if the weather is bad, so check before you go. Please note, no ferries will operate on Sunday, 16th September—this is due to the elections.

  Peripatetic Pundits