Today in Rhein-Main: With donkeys against the may beetle

Good evening,

welcome back dear readers.

We have selected three topics for you that have particularly concerned us in the editorial team.

One for the "oh cute factor" and two more for the gross factor.

In Griesheim, a herd of donkeys (“Oh, cute”) is supposed to help avert the May beetle plague.

In Wiesbaden, meanwhile, a lot of energy is being expended to name someone responsible for the recent food scandal.

In addition, a left-wing speaker was released from his duties.

The man is accused of sexual harassment. 

Marie Lisa Kehler

Deputy head of the regional section of the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung.

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With donkeys against the May beetle plague: Anyone who belongs to the category of long-term brooding knows the permanent circles of thoughts.

It is often about topics that are acutely on your mind.

But much more often about those who could possibly keep you busy.

After all, you don't want to stumble unprepared into discussions that you suspect will be held (or at least should be held) at some point.

It can also sometimes be about nonsense scenarios.

For example, the question of whether buying a donkey (or better: a whole herd) in your home allotment garden could be a good idea. 

To make it short: Yes, she is.

Argumentation help for this potential debate is available from Griesheim.

Donkeys are used there to combat an impending May beetle plague.

The donkeys eat the grass on the forest floor, making it unattractive to grubs.

Because 2022 threatens to be a cockchafer year.

After three years in the ground, the may beetle flees in the fourth year to have offspring.

In the first few months, it nibbles at the tender grass roots and then begins to attack the tree roots.

Many of the already attacked trees do not survive.

Therefore, cockchafer larvae are considered pests.

So instead of using the poisoned club, seven insatiable donkeys are used.

They spend about 22 hours a day eating.

Food scandal spoils the appetite: Three years ago, the number of people who spontaneously decided to give up sausage and meat must have increased.

At that time, photos of contaminated sausages from the Wilke company appeared.

37 illnesses and three deaths were associated with the germ-contaminated sausage.

Three years later - another company, similar effects: people have fallen ill with listeria again.

Being a vegetarian doesn't help this time.

Because it is about contaminated vegetables that come from a farm in Groß-Gerau.

And again this one question arises, which was already in the room at the time: How reliably are food companies checked?

Because it turns out that the affected fruit and vegetable shoot has not been checked for two years.

The consumer protection organization Foodwatch is now calling for a fundamental reform of food monitoring.

Consumer Protection Minister Priska Hinz (Die Grünen), who was criticized three years ago, did not personally answer journalists' questions on Tuesday.

In a statement over the weekend, her ministry listed future and already implemented improvements in food monitoring.

It says, among other things: "Since March 5, 2020, the approved companies have been regularly, risk-based and recurrently checked by the regional presidents." The new food scandal makes it clear that this is not always the case.

Speaker of the left optional: So now.

Several days after allegations of abuse of power, sexual harassment and sexual assault became known, the parliamentary group leader of the Hessian Left Party reacted to the allegations in the scandal within the state party and in the Wiesbaden district association and temporarily released a speaker from the state parliamentary group from his duties.

The fact that the Wiesbaden local politician was neither on leave nor released until Monday caused incomprehension within the left.

In the city of Wiesbaden, the coalition negotiations between the SPD, the Greens, the Volt and the left are now stalling.

Meanwhile, the public prosecutor's office has announced that all proceedings in this matter have been discontinued.

There is no sufficient suspicion.

And what's more, pawnshops are fighting against their bad reputation +++ director Malte Rauch talks about the film "Die Rollbahn" (2003).

It is about the forced labor camp near Mörfelden-Walldorf.

In 1944, 1,700 young Jewish Hungarian women from the Auschwitz concentration camp had to build the first runway at Frankfurt Airport.

The film will be shown on April 20th at 8:15 p.m. in the cinema of the German Film Museum +++ Students at state universities in Frankfurt can visit the zoo free of charge immediately.

Stay healthy,

Marie Lisa Kehler

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 at www.faz.net/rmz

The

for Wednesday

It's mostly sunny.

With a weak north-west wind, temperatures will rise to 17 degrees.

Cloudless at night with 6 degrees.

have birthday

on

Wednesday April 20th

Rainer Burelbach

(CDU), Mayor of the City of Heppenheim (57);

(FDP), Member of the German Bundestag, from 2015 to November 2021 Parliamentary Secretary of the state parliamentary group, Wiesbaden (56);

, President of the Deutsche Bundesbank from 2011 to December 2021, Frankfurt (54);

, presenter at Zweites Deutsches Fernsehen, Mainz (53).