1) ESCAPE FROM THE CITY
2) COVID, LEGHORN BEATS THE TREND
3) THE BATTLE FOR MEDICAL MARIJUANA
4) ARTISANS CARRY ON REGARDLESS OF THE CRISIS
5) WINS 640000 € BUT STILL RECEIVED UNIVERSAL BASIC INCOME

BACKGROUND MUSIC
Title: Leopard Print Elevator
Author: Kevin McLeod (incompetech.com)
License: Creative Commons Attribution
Links: https://incompetech.com/music/royalty-free/index.html?isrc=USUAN1500077

LINKS TO THE ARTICLES
https://firenze.repubblica.it/cronaca/2021/02/24/news/smart_working_campagna_toscana-288925717/?rss
https://iltirreno.gelocal.it/livorno/cronaca/2021/02/23/news/ricoveri-ai-minimi-storici-e-contagi-giu-livorno-resta-l-eccezione-della-toscana-1.39943579
https://firenze.repubblica.it/cronaca/2021/02/23/news/processo_cannabis_walter_de_benedetto_vi_spiego_come_la_cannabis_mi_aiuta_a_sopportare_il_dolore_-288926206/?rss
https://iltirreno.gelocal.it/massa/cronaca/2021/02/23/news/mirella-l-artigiana-che-resiste-non-getto-via-40-anni-di-lavoro-1.39943810
https://www.iltelegrafolivorno.it/cronaca/reddito-di-cittadinanza-truffa-denuncia-cecina-1.6060311

SCRIPT
Good morning, good afternoon, good evening, wherever you may be, however you might be listening, welcome to another episode of What’s Up Tuscany, the daily podcast from L’Arno where you will find the stories that caught our attention today, Wednesday February 24th 2021, as selected by our journalists. If you like what we do, please subscribe and share this podcast on social media - it would be a very nice thing to do...

Let’s start today with a story we read this morning on La Repubblica, one that describes one of the lesser-known consequences of this pandemic, the escape from the city. A mini-exodus of families that leave the big cities to take advantage of the many incentives offered by villages across the region. This behaviour isn’t certainly new, the whole Decameron from Boccaccio is based around something similar, but has been proven true in this pandemic as well. According to a report from Coldiretti, only 0.3% of all contagions happen in the countryside. If you add to this the possibility of working remotely and the expansion of ultra wideband connections, there aren’t many reasons to remain in big cities. Small towns are taking the chance to invite people to settle there with a series of interesting incentives. Many families and companies are willing to take the risk. From Santa Fiora to Arcidosso to Radicondoli you can find commuting bonuses, discounts on heating bills but one of the contributing factors is the better quality of life. Smaller communities make it a lot easier to fit in quickly. Is it only a mini-bubble caused by the generous incentives or the first sign of a tendency already noticed in many countries? Only time will tell. We encourage you to read the article at the link below: it’s really worth your time.

Let’s talk again about the pandemic but with a totally different story that we read last evening on Il Tirreno. If the spread of the virus seems almost out of hand in many provinces, things in Leghorn are much better, with the situation improving day after day. A tendency contrary to the regional trend that has seen contagions drop from 35 per day in January to 26 per day. There could be many reasons for this anomaly but we have read some possible explanations. As the bulk of contagions registered from the beginning of the year happened in the workplace for people between 34 and 60 years of age, many think that this improvement was caused by better behaviours from owners and workers. The fact that the number of people in COVID wards has decreased could be explained by the lower average age of the patients. At the Leghorn hospital we’re far from the peak of last Autumn, when 116 people were being treated. This week only 53 people are in the COVID ward. It could very well be just a statistical fluke, but we’d rather believe that this is just the first step towards the end of this collective nightmare that could be ruining the lives of a multitude of people.

Let’s move now to a completely different story we read on La Repubblica, the first hearing of the trial of a man with chronic arthritis that, in order to manage his constant pain, started to grow marijuana in his garden. The story of Walter de Benedetto dates back to 2019 when, unable to procure the medical marijuana he was prescribed by his doctor, he decided to take things into his own hands. After he was caught, Walter seeked the help of several advocacy groups and seems determined to make his a “cause célèbre” to push for marijuana to be legalized. Walter is bedridden after his rheumatoid degenerative arthritis has worsened and the usage of medical marijuana is a way to alleviate his pain. Unfortunately it is very difficult to procure such substances and Walter is unwilling to give a single penny to the crime syndicates that dominate illegal drug trade, a principled position whose consequences do not seem to bother him. The next hearing in the Arezzo Tribunal will happen on April 27th - we will let you know how it goes.

Let’s move on to a story of ordinary heroism we read on Il Tirreno, that of an artisan that is braving the consequences of the crisis and seems unwilling to give up. Mirella Ricci, owner of an upholstery shop in downtown Massa, has to resist the temptation to sell everything each day but has managed to carry on so far. Her reasons? The pride for her work and the respect for the courage of her husband’s parents, who founded the company 50 years ago. Commerce downtown has been suffering for decades. People seem unwilling to spend money to reupholster quality furniture and the fact that the streets downtown are not as busy as before doesn’t really help. COVID was the final nail in the coffin for many shops. Mirella manages to stay afloat as she owns the premises, many others weren’t so lucky. Some days are worse than others. Mirella says that sometimes in an entire day not a single person steps into her shop...

Let’s close today’s episode with a story that could unnerve even the holiest of men, yet another episode linked to the controversial universal basic income. As we read this morning on Il Telegrafo, the Guardia di Finanza has discovered two cases where people were receiving the benefit without being entitled to it. If the first one is rather common, a 64 year old man that declared to be resident in Cecina despite having lived in Morocco for 10 years, the second one is much more unnerving. A 37 year old from Cecina “forgot” to declare 22500 Euros he received from selling his share of a flat he had inherited. Wait, it gets worse. He also “forgot” to declare 640000 Euros he had won betting online in the past three years. All to get around 6000 Euros of basic income between 2019 and 2020. Doesn’t happen often but I’m quite speechless. Not precisely - I’ve got plenty of words to describe this character, but none is suitable for a family-friendly show. Fill in the blanks with your favourite insults.

That was all for today, I’m your host Luca Bocci and I’ll see you tomorrow for another episode of What’s Up Tuscany, the daily podcast from L’Arno where you’ll find the news that, according to us, are well worth a second look. Thanks for listening and goodbye.