Ferry, Housing and More Expensive Driving

Municipal services in Strömsund take over the Ströms river valley when Strömsundsbron is closed to motor vehicle traffic. At the same time, Östersund Municipality wants to plan for 4,000 housing units, and a 17-year-old from Östersund is one of six nominees for the Lilla August Prize.

The home care service in Strömsund takes the ferry across Ströms river valley

Several times a day, home care staff in Strömsund take the ferry across Ströms river valley because Strömsund Bridge is closed to motor vehicles. Home care is municipal assistance at home for the elderly and sick. According to Farhad Damani, the work goes smoothly thanks to the ferry, which has priority over everything except emergency vehicles.

To make the trips work, the home care service’s planning has built in a larger margin in the schedule for those who are out along the roads: instead of a 5-minute time margin, they now have 10. SVT Nyheter Jämtland

More expensive to drive when the tax cut ends

When the final temporary tax cut on petrol and diesel ends, driving a petrol car will cost an average of 2 000 kronor more per year in Östersund Municipality. In Bräcke Municipality, the same increase will be 2 400 kronor.

To counteract the price increase following the war in Iran, the government decided in the spring to cut fuel taxes in two stages to the EU minimum level. On 1 May, the energy tax was reduced, and on 1 July, the carbon dioxide tax was reduced. Both reductions were temporary. Länstidningen Östersund

Östersund Municipality wants to plan for 4,000 homes

Östersund Municipality wants to plan for 4,000 homes, and retail areas may shrink when politicians decide on the plans for Torvalla, Odensala and parts of Odenskog. The issue is how the municipality wants to develop the southern parts of Östersund through 2050. A municipality is the local authority responsible, among other things, for schools, elder care and housing planning. Länstidningen Östersund

ÖIK's record in six-on-five games: 9 goals in 8 matches

Östersunds IK have scored 9 goals in 8 matches in six-on-five play, that is, with the goaltender pulled. It is the club's record after 17 rounds of HockeyAllsvenskan, and against Karlskoga they earned a draw once again after pulling their goaltender. “It must be some kind of record,” says the coach.

The match against Karlskoga nevertheless ended in a 4–5 defeat after overtime. Before that, ÖIK had defeated Oskarshamn on Friday. ÖIK have dropped points in only 6 matches during the first half of HockeyAllsvenskan. Östersunds-Posten Östersunds-Posten

17-year-old from Östersund nominated for Lilla Augustpriset

A 17-year-old from Östersund has been nominated for Lilla Augustpriset for the short story ”Sensommarsorg”. The story was written during the summer when she was helping with calf branding in Frostviken in Strömsunds kommun, and it depicts two older Sami brothers setting out on their final joint journey to their homeland.

This year, around 350 entries were submitted to the competition, six of which were selected for nomination. The news came by email a few weeks ago, when she was at school. ”It is truly a great honour,” she says. SVT Nyheter Jämtland

Man in his 20s arrested for rape in Östersund

A man in his 20s has been arrested on suspicion of raping a woman he is acquainted with. Being arrested means that the prosecutor – the lawyer who leads the criminal investigation – has decided to detain the person while the investigation continues. The crime is alleged to have occurred indoors and in the recent past.

The police do not want to say exactly when it is alleged to have happened, but hours after the police learned of the crime, during the night leading up to Sunday, the man is alleged to have been arrested in Östersund. After questioning, the prosecutor has detained the man. SVT Nyheter Jämtland

In brief

• The ice rink in Östersund offered free trial skating for five hours every day during the autumn school break, and Östersund's board club had around 30 young people there every day. SVT Nyheter Jämtland
• Left Party in Krokoms municipality proposes 30 hours of preschool for all children – currently, unemployed people or parents on parental leave are entitled to 15 hours per week, but the party wants the issue to be thoroughly investigated. Östersunds-Posten
• Trafikverket continues to operate the ferry service in Strömsund with only one ferry for over another week, and describes the work following the bridge incident as an unusually large and complex operation seven days a week. Östersunds-Posten Östersunds-Posten
• An extraordinary council meeting will be held in Ragunda on Thursday after the dates for the mandate period were accidentally omitted; the proposal was to extend the term of the current municipal executive board until 31 December. Östersunds-Posten
• The handicrafts association in Ljungdalen, which was created as a way out of unemployment, is in full swing 50 years later – particularly during craft week in the autumn school break. Länstidningen Östersund
• An 8-year-old boy affected by the bone cancer osteosarcoma has undergone chemotherapy and been forced to have his left arm amputated, and his classmates' fundraising has become a bright spot for him and his family. Östersunds-Posten