CRIME
Woman sentenced over fire
A Kaohsiung woman has been sentenced to 30 days in prison, commutable to a fine, for offenses against public safety stemming from a kitchen fire after her pet cat turned on an induction stove. The 24-year-old defendant, surnamed Chen (陳), and her 27-year-old roommate, surnamed Hung (洪), traveled to northern Taiwan on Jan. 6 last year, leaving their four cats in their apartment, the Kaohsiung District Court said. The verdict can be appealed. On Jan. 8 last year, a fire started in the apartment, burning an area around the stove before triggering the building’s sprinkler system, which extinguished the blaze, it said. The Kaohsiung Fire Department said in a report that one of the cats had started the fire, likely by pushing an iron wire mesh from the counter onto the range, and then touching the stove’s power button, turning it on. The wire, heated by the stove, ignited other items on the counter, it said. The court said that Chen’s negligence had made it possible for the fire to start, endangering other residents of the building. If it had not been for the sprinklers, there could have been extensive damage, and even injuries or deaths, it said. Hung, who was also indicted, is being tried separately.
WEATHER
Reservoirs get rain boost
The catchment area of Zengwen Reservoir (曾文水庫) in Chiayi County’s Dapu Township (大埔) yesterday had the greatest single day of rainfall in 260 days, easing concerns of a water shortage. As of noon, 125mm of rain had fallen upstream of the reservoir, the Water Resources Agency’s southern branch said. The last time the area saw more than 100mm of rain in a single day was on Sept. 10 last year, it said. Wushantou Reservoir (烏山頭水庫) in Tainan’s Guantian District (官田) and Nanhua Reservoir (南化水庫) in the city’s Nanhua District had 72mm and 125mm respectively fall in their catchment areas, it said. Water levels in the Zengwen-Wushantou system had reached 34.93 percent, while the Nanhua Reservoir had reached 28.89 percent, rising slightly from the day before, it added. Meanwhile, the Central Weather Administration said that Typhoon Ewiniar, the first typhoon of the western Pacific typhoon season this year, was 640km southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost point, at 2am yesterday. The storm was moving northeast and was expected to pass east of the Ryukyu Islands and head toward waters southeast of Japan, it said. While it should not directly affect Taiwan’s weather, there is a chance of swells along the Keelung coast, the east coast, Hengchun Peninsula, Green Island (綠島) and Orchid Island (Lanyu, 蘭嶼) today, it said.
SOCIETY
Taichung distillery honored
A Taichung distillery was given Double Gold and Gold awards for its products at the San Francisco World Spirits Competition, the Taichung City Government said in a statement yesterday. ABAS Distillery Story Hall won Double Gold for its ABAS Original Aged Liquor and a gold for its ABAS 53 percent Aged Liquor, the statement said. The distillery, which was in the competition for the first time, was up against more than 5,500 entries, it said. The distillery was founded in 2003, rebranded as ABAS in 2020 and established its “Distillery Story Hall” in 2022. Double Gold is awarded to entries that receive unanimous gold ratings from the judging panel. Gold is awarded to “exceptional spirits that are near the pinnacle of achievement,” the competition’s Web site says.
TRAGEDY: An expert said that the incident was uncommon as the chance of a ground crew member being sucked into an IDF engine was ‘minuscule’ A master sergeant yesterday morning died after she was sucked into an engine during a routine inspection of a fighter jet at an air base in Taichung, the Air Force Command Headquarters said. The officer, surnamed Hu (胡), was conducting final landing checks at Ching Chuan Kang (清泉崗) Air Base when she was pulled into the jet’s engine for unknown reasons, the air force said in a news release. She was transported to a hospital for emergency treatment, but could not be revived, it said. The air force expressed its deepest sympathies over the incident, and vowed to work with authorities as they
A tourist who was struck and injured by a train in a scenic area of New Taipei City’s Pingsi District (平溪) on Monday might be fined for trespassing on the tracks, the Railway Police Bureau said yesterday. The New Taipei City Fire Department said it received a call at 4:37pm on Monday about an incident in Shifen (十分), a tourist destination on the Pingsi Railway Line. After arriving on the scene, paramedics treated a woman in her 30s for a 3cm to 5cm laceration on her head, the department said. She was taken to a hospital in Keelung, it said. Surveillance footage from a
BITTERLY COLD: The inauguration ceremony for US president-elect Donald Trump has been moved indoors due to cold weather, with the new venue lacking capacity A delegation of cross-party lawmakers from Taiwan, led by Legislative Speaker Han Kuo-yu (韓國瑜), for the inauguration of US president-elect Donald Trump, would not be able to attend the ceremony, as it is being moved indoors due to forecasts of intense cold weather in Washington tomorrow. The inauguration ceremony for Trump and US vice president-elect JD Vance is to be held inside the Capitol Rotunda, which has a capacity of about 2,000 people. A person familiar with the issue yesterday said although the outdoor inauguration ceremony has been relocated, Taiwan’s legislative delegation has decided to head off to Washington as scheduled. The delegation
Another wave of cold air would affect Taiwan starting from Friday and could evolve into a continental cold mass, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. Temperatures could drop below 10°C across Taiwan on Monday and Tuesday next week, CWA forecaster Chang Chun-yao (張竣堯) said. Seasonal northeasterly winds could bring rain, he said. Meanwhile, due to the continental cold mass and radiative cooling, it would be cold in northern and northeastern Taiwan today and tomorrow, according to the CWA. From last night to this morning, temperatures could drop below 10°C in northern Taiwan, it said. A thin coat of snow
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