Apeldoorn is taking various security measures, ranging from access gates to special rules of conduct, to make sure that Sinterklaas' national arrival party on Saturday is safe and pleasant, Hart van Nederland reports.
In the night from Friday to Saturday, the municipality will place access gates at 14 locations in the city center. Everyone who attends the celebration must pass through one of these gates, where there will be random checks.
The national Sinterklaas arrival party in Apeldoorn can happen without any blackface Zwarte Piet characters, according to the court in Arnhem. The court ruled against a lawsuit demanding that the municipality of Apeldoorn revoke the permit for the party because Sinterklaas will only be accompanied by so-called Chimney Pieten - Piet characters with soot marks on their faces instead of blackface makeup, NOS reports.
Action group Kick Out Zwarte Piet is planning to protest in twelve different cities in November against the use of blackface makeup and costuming often adorned by white actors portraying Sinterklaas's helper. The activists consider Zwarte Piet in his traditional form a racist stereotype. On Thursday there were protests in Apeldoorn and Deventer calling for Zwarte Piet to remain in the blackface costume seen mainly over the last hundred years, and which some say is adhering to Dutch tradition.
Far-right, anti-Islam group Pegida is calling on people to come to the national Sinterklaas arrival this year dressed as blackface Zwarte Piet. "We want to turn it into a traditional, beautiful children's party again", Pegida leader Edwin Wagensveld, dressed in a Sinterklaas costume, said in a video on Facebook.
This year Sinterklaas will only be accompanied by so-called Chimney Pieten at his national arrival in Apeldoorn on November 16th. All of Sinterklaas' helpers will have soot marks on their faces, instead of the traditional blackface makeup, NTR announced on Tuesday, NU.nl reports.
The police recovered a Porsche in Apeldoorn which was taken on test drive from a company in Enter and never returned. The suspect who took the expensive car for a test drive was arrested at the scene, the police said on Facebook.
The car dealership in the Overijssel town called the police at around 5:50 p.m. on Saturday to report that the car had been stolen. "Intense investigation" led the police to Apeldoorn, where the car was found, the police said.
The test driver was arrested.
Sinterklaas will make his national arrival to the Netherlands in Apeldoorn this year, NTR and Apeldoorn mayor Petra van Wingerden-Boers announced on Friday.
The national arrival will happen on Saturday, November 16th. Sinterklaasjournaal, the kids' show that follows Sinterklaas' travels to the Netherlands, will start on Monday, November 11th.
Today Apeldoorn is commemorating the 10th anniversary of an attack on the Royal Family in the city on Queen's Day 2009. Today ten years ago Karst T. drove his car through the Queen's Day crowd in an attempt to crash into a bus containing the Royal Family. A total of eight people were killed, including T. himself, and dozens were injured, Omroep Gelderland reports.
Family members of the victims and others involved will gather at a closed meeting in Apeldoorn on Tuesday.
Dutch public works department Rijkswaterstaat is investigating whether there is a connection between three fatal accidents this past week, in which a total of nine people were killed. In all three cases, the cars collided with so-called matrix signs. Rijkswaterstaat will investigate whether these road signs played a role in the cause of the accidents, AD reports.
Two of four men killed in a one-sided accident on the A1 highway on Monday morning, played for football club A.V.V. Columbia in Apeldoorn. The club is "shocked and baffled" by their deaths, A.V.V. Columbia said in a statement on their website.
Apeldoorn will hold a public gathering on April 30th to commemorate an attack on Queen's Day in 2009. The municipality initially planned a closed meeting only for relatives and those involved, but due to interest decided to extend open the event to the public, a spokesperson for the municipality said to Omroep Gelderland.
The Grote Kerk in Apeldoorn will be open for the commemoration from 4:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. on April 30th. There will be no official program, but there will be two showcases featuring cards, letters and stuffed animals left at the scene of the attack in 2009.
At least one person was seriously hurt in a stabbing on a parking lot in the heart of Apeldoorn on Thursday. The victim was rushed to hospital by ambulance. A suspect was arrested with the help of witnesses and a local resident, De Stentor reports.
The parking lot on Rosariumstraat is cordoned off with police tape. A trauma helicopter was dispatched to the scene, but it was later canceled, according to the newspaper. So far nothing is known about the extent of the victim's injuries or the circumstances surrounding the incident.
The Apeldoorn city hall was evacuated as a precaution on Thursday after a crack was found in the floor of the hall. Dozens of people, who were in the city hall for various political meetings, were asked to leave the building, NU.nl reports.
The city hall has been undergoing renovations since September and the building is currently only used for political gatherings, a municipal spokesperson said to the newspaper. The crack was discovered by cleaning staff.
Next month Rijkswaterstaat will start widening the A1 highway between Apeldoorn and the Azelo junction near Almelo. The 65 kilometer stretch of highway will be widened almost everywhere. This major job is expected to take 10 years to complete and cost around 400 million euros, NU.nl reports.
The A1 is one of the two main road links from the Randstad to the North and East European hinterland.
Multiple accidents caused extreme amounts of traffic on Dutch roads during rush hour on Thursday evening. There was a total of 478 kilometers of traffic jams on the Dutch highways, making Thursday evening the busiest rush hour in the Netherlands so far this year, according to Rijkswaterstaat.
According to the ANWB, which also takes provincial roads into account, there was 887 kilometers of traffic jams on Dutch roads on Thursday evening. According to the ANWB's figures, Thursday evening was the third busiest rush hour this year.
A former group leader of youth care institution Hoenderloo Groep in Apeldoorn appeared in court on Monday on charges of forcing an underage girl at the institution into prostitution. The PvdA will ask parliamentary questions about this case, Omroep Gelderland reports.
A person was found dead on Stoomwezenstraat in Apeldoorn on Tuesday afternoon. Emergency services tried to resuscitate the victim, but it was to no avail. The police are investigating whether the victim was killed in a crime, De Stentor reports.
The body was found around 5:00 p.m. At around 6:00 p.m. the police were investigating a third floor home of an apartment building next to where the body was found, according to the newspaper. Forensic investigators could be seen on the home's balcony.
What exactly happened is not yet clear.
An elderly couple died at camping site De Achterste Hoef in the Noord-Brabant town of Bladel during the early hours of Sunday morning. A fire had broken out in their caravan, De Stentor reports.
The victims' identity still has to be officially determined. But based on the campsite's register and the license plate of the caravan, the police know which campsite guests were involved. The victims are a 77-year-old man and his 70-year-old wife from Apeldoorn. They've been coming to the campsite for 15 years, according to the newspaper.
Twelve Dutch municipalities teamed up with nature organization IVN to plant tiny forests in their towns or cities this autumn. According to IVN, tiny forests make urban areas greener, and contribute to biodiversity and water storage during heavy rainfall, NOS reports.
Flooded streets and traffic problems were the result of heavy rains in the Netherlands on Monday afternoon and night. Oost-Brabant and the Nijmegen-Arnhem region were most affected. Between 20 and 40 millimeters of rain fell in a short period in the east and west of the country, AD reports.
The body of a woman was found in a home on Bronsgietersdonk in Apeldoorn on Wednesday evening. The police "seriously take into account" that she was killed in a crime, a spokesperson for the police said to De Stentor.
The police responded to the home around 7:00 p.m. So far the police said nothing about how the woman died. No arrests were made.
Neighbors told De Stentor that a married couple lived in the home. Whether the husband was home on Wednesday evening is not clear. Local residents described them as pleasant neighbors.
One person was killed in a shooting incident in Apeldoorn on Monday morning. The shooting happened around 10:45 a.m. on Frambozenlaan in the Zevenhuizen neighborhood, NU.nl reports.
Exactly what happened is not clear. The police indicated that they are considering all scenarios, but do not assume a crime. An investigation was carried out at the scene.
For privacy reasons, the police made no statements about the identity of the victim.
An 18-year-old student from Apeldoorn died after being critically injured in a climbing accident in Ardennes, Belgium last week, his football club a.v.v. Columbia said on their website, RTL Nieuws reports.
The young man studied Sports and Movement at Aventus in Apeldoorn. He was taking part in a group activity of a campsite in Engreux, Belgium when the accident happened. He fell 20 meters. A helicopter rushed him to a hospital in the Liege region.
Rents in the Netherlands free sector continue to rise, especially outside the four large cities. The average rental price in the Netherlands increased by nearly 6 percent compared to a year ago, according to figures rental housing site Pararius released on Tuesday, NOS reports.
