Hesse sends helpers to earthquake region

Good evening,

Earthquake helpers from Hesse have meanwhile arrived in Turkey, the postal workers want more wages and the immigration authorities in Darmstadt have completely reorganized themselves after massive criticism.

Hessian helpers: There are pictures from Turkey that make you sad and leave you with a feeling of powerlessness. When nature demonstrates its violence, man becomes very small. Numerous helpers from Hesse, such as members of the Technical Relief Agency, have now arrived in the crisis region to provide on-site support. With their specialized equipment and so-called search-and-rescue units, they are mainly supposed to free people who have been trapped in the collapsed houses. The state of Hesse has also pledged its support. According to the Ministry of the Interior, tents, camp beds, sleeping bags, diesel-powered heaters and tent lighting are already ready. However, they are still waiting for an official request for help from the European Union, which will coordinate the help at member state level. “The nature of the help changes with every hour and every day.”

Yawning emptiness in the mailbox: Let’s be honest: The fact that the outstanding fine notice is still a day away is really not a broken leg. And the fact that grandma’s postcard isn’t on the fridge yet shouldn’t be a reason for a moderate crisis of meaning. In Hesse, many mailboxes remained empty at the beginning of the week. Deutsche Post workers walked out on Tuesday and joined nationwide warning strikes. According to the police, more than 1,500 postal workers had gathered at the Römer. The Verdi union is demanding 15 percent more money for the 160,000 employees. The Post rejects the request. Collective bargaining will enter the third round on Wednesday and Thursday. Our author Johanna Schwanitz spoke to the strikers.

Immigration authorities reorganized: Many will still hear the complaints about the immigration authorities in Frankfurt. Employees, it was said, could hardly be reached. Difficult to get appointments. All of this can have a serious impact on the lives of people whose residence or work permits, for example, have to be renewed again and again. The authority in Darmstadt had to struggle with similar problems and reports in the past. The complaints were used as an opportunity to subject the authority to a fundamental reorganization. It remains to be seen whether things are actually going better. 13 employees were hired and the teams reorganized. The applications are now assigned to case groups. For example, one team takes care of topics such as “education and employment”, another “special residence rights”. We have also succeeded in being able to offer the employees better pay, as our correspondent Jochen Remmert writes.

And also Hesse’s Finance Minister Michael Boddenberg (CDU) said in a letter to the head of the Chancellery and the Federal Minister of Economics that the state of Hesse views the possible sale of Hahn Airport to a Russian investor as “extremely critical”. The federal government, which is entrusted with examining the process in accordance with the Foreign Trade and Payments Act, should “explore all of its options for preventing this sale” +++ the Deutsche Bundesbank moved to its headquarters in the north of Frankfurt exactly 50 years ago +++ many children start school in Frankfurt without having gone through an initial examination. The pediatric and adolescent health service lacks the necessary staff to ensure the examinations.

Stay healthy,

Marie Lisa Kehler

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You can also read current reports from the region in Skyline-Blick, our live news blog for the Rhine-Main region, and on the Rhein-Main-Zeitung website.

The Wetter for Wednesday

Almost undisturbed sunshine for most of the day. After an icy start in the afternoon, a maximum of 4 to 6 degrees.

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Wednesday February 8th

Michael Hoffmann-Beckingbusiness lawyer, former member of the supervisory board of the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung GmbH (80); Eugenio Muñoz del Rio (SPD), Stadtältester in Frankfurt (77); Anita Djafariformer managing director of the Frankfurt association Litprom – Literatures of the World (70); Heinz-Georg Sundermannfrom 2002 to July 2022 Managing Director of Lotto Hessen, Wiesbaden (67); Ferdinand GerlachDirector of the Institute for General Medicine at the Goethe University in Frankfurt (62); Johannes Scherercabaret artist and moderator at Hit Radio FFH, Frankfurt (50); Tim Thabefounding partner and CEO of Creditshelf AG, Frankfurt (46); Christoph Koehlermanaging director of the Darmstädter Privatbrauerei GmbH (38).

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