Prague City Beat

Public transport unions held talks with city officials today but could still take industrial action later this week

Industrial action by DPP employees could bring Prague to a standstill

Hockey team parts company with the most successful coach in its history

Photos of most of the addresses in the city are now at your disposal via Google Maps

Got a big mouth? How big? Big enough to win a prize?
Shoot Your Mouth is a new monthly open mike night.
What are they looking for?
Make us laugh.
One Night, one mic, one grand prize.
The audience decides your fate.
Your stories. Your jokes. No notes. No script.
Bring the stories, jokes, and absurd moments in life that [...]

The Bezrealitky.cz website has a cool Google Maps mash-up, showing the price in crowns-per-square-meter of real estate around the Czech Republic.
Link

Neo-Nazis reportedly beat up a group of Sri Lankans after chasing them out of the Misch Masch club in Prague 7-Holešovice on June 19.
Five men have been arrested in connection with the incident, one of whom is said to have taken part in the far-right D?lnická strana’s (”Workers Party’s”) May 1 march in Prague.
Following the [...]

“Czechs Thursday brought symbolically hundreds of books to the Prague Letna public park at a rally in support of a new National Library (NK) building designed by Czech-born architect Jan Kaplicky who died in mid-January.”

If you are fans of the late Jan Kaplický’s architecture, you can join a demonstration in support of his national library project this Thursday (6:30pm) at Old Town Square.
The civic group Democracy builds. Face the National Library!, which is organising the event has already attracted over 22,000 supporters in their Facebook campaign since the [...]

The stories are all over the news today, the fire took down half of the Vystaviste Industrial Palace.
Some possibly relevant information in consideration of arson:
“The whole exhibition grounds, including the Industrial Palace, is leased by
Incheba company whose assistant director is Vaclav Kocka, a friend of
senior opposition Social Democrat (CSSD) leader Jiri Paroubek.
Kocka’s son Vaclav was [...]

“In Prague Holesovice close to Orten’s square, a new, ambitious centre of art opens, lining up to the two most extensive Czech private Galleries. Its name sounds international : DOX.
Those three thousand cubic metres will be to disposition to Czech and foreign artists according to selection of renowned curators. The first of them is Spanish [...]

Here’s a great article about what’s underneath that massive slab of stone that used to hold up the statue of Stalin.

From today (July 7th), a new law comes into effect banning the drinking of alcohol in various public areas of Prague.
It is now no longer legal to drink alcohol within 100 meters (109 yards) of metro station entrances, schools, medical institutions, and children’s playgrounds.
Public drinking is also banned in specific areas — mainly parks and [...]

With seating for 10,000 drinkers, the first Český pivní festival (Czech Beer Festival) rolls out the barrels at the Výstavište fairgrounds in Prague 7-Holešovice from May 23rd until June 1st.
Link

ROPID, the agency responsible for public transport in the greater Prague area, is planning to introduce Berlin-style “MetroBus” BRT services on several busy routes, according to Pražský deník.
Link (in Czech)

According to a ForbesTraveler.com article unearthed by today’s Mladá fronta Dnes, the Prague zoo is one of the world’s 10 best.
Link

Here’s the flyer…

Here’s the space where it’s happening this afternoon! I’ll now use my incredible literary skills to transcribe the flier because I am at a complete loss to improve on it one iota.
Dog Day Afternoon
“The Weekend Starts Here” Cocktail and Shopping party!
A great opportunity to shop for fabulous stuff while having a beer [...]

I just had a fantastic late breakfast at the just-opened Bohemia Bagel in P7. (Eggs, bacon, hashbrowns, biscuits with sausage gravy – 160 CZK) Letna is lacking on the food front so this is a very welcome addition. Well done BB team. Dig the long diner bar.

It’s located just [...]

As well as bringing thousands of runners onto Prague’s streets, Marathon Weekend also involves a fair degree of disruption to the city’s tram system.
Here’s a quick breakdown of the routes affected:
Saturday, May 12th, 2007
17 (2:45pm-5:30pm) — Partially Rerouted
18 (2:45pm-4pm) — Partially Rerouted
133 (2:45pm-5:30pm) — Shortened
Sunday, May 13th, 2007
3 (9:30am-1pm) — Divided Into Two Sections
6 (9:30am-11am) [...]

Abandoning its traditional tent on Wenceslas Square, the Prague International Marathon “expo” center opens its doors at the Výstaviště fair ground on Thursday 10th.
Now housed in the Industrial Palace (Průmyslový palác), the Marathon Sport Expo will be PIM’s base of operations for the three days leading up to the big event.
As well as being the [...]