More the one-off allowance for a child's birth was EUR 200 if one of the parents was declared in the Mārupe municipality or EUR 400 if both parents were declared in the municipality the municipality will pay a benefit of EUR 500 for a newborn child if one of the parents is declared in the Mārupe municipality If both parents are declared in the municipality the amount of the newborn allowance will be EUR 1,000 which are paid without an assessment of a person's financial situation the health allowance has been increased from €150 to €200 The allowance for adapting one dwelling for people with mobility problems has been increased from €6,000 to €10,000 In the municipal election year, some Latvian municipalities have also increased child-related and other allowances Select text and press Ctrl+Enter to send a suggested correction to the editor Select text and press Report a mistake to send a suggested correction to the editor All three deceased are members of the same family the State Police found that there were three dead people in the house with gunshot wounds Initial information indicates that the crime was most likely committed by a man who was found among the dead with indications that the man first killed two members of his family The State Police told Latvian Television (LTV) that in the interests of the investigation they will not even disclose the age of the deceased child There have been no previous reports from this family about possible domestic violence or other circumstances that would indicate unfavorable family circumstances Police said they had taken possession of the weapon that was likely used in the crime head of the 1st Division of the 1st Bureau of the Criminal Police Department of the Riga Regional Department of the State Police told LTV that none of the family members had a permit to possess a weapon The fire at Edge Autonomy UAV factory in Marupe on Wednesday may have been caused by negligence with workplace safety said Chief of Latvian State Police Armands Ruks in an interview to TV3 programme 900 seconds The possibility of arson is also considered by law enforcers He reported that police have commenced a number of examinations to investigate the fire and how it started the state of one of the victims of the fire is too poor at the moment for the person to provide testimony a massive fire started at Edge Autonomy UAV factory in Marupe Vehicles parked nearby were damaged by the heat According to information from medical workers two people were hospitalised and one more was provided with medical aid on site Edge Autonomy (previously known as UAV Factory) manufactured UAV system technologies The company exports products to governments commercial and academic clients in nearly 70 countries around the world The company cooperates with Latvian armed forces UAVs manufactured by Edge Autonomy were recently sent to the Ukrainian army More on this topic: Massive fire at Edge Autonomy UAV factory in Marupe A view of the village of Marupe near Riga [Image: marupe.lv] An alternative route for the Rail Baltica railroad will be proposed for the district of Marupe just outside Riga ensuring that the village of Marupe, where population density is higher than elsewhere in the region, is bypassed following widespread dissatisfaction in the area over the original planned route Latvian Prime Minister Laimdota Straujuma announced in an interview with Latvian State Television today according to the results of an opinion poll that Transport Minister Anrijs Matiss presented to the government 94 percent of residents of Latvia support the Rail Baltica project "I do not know who carried out the survey but I can say that public opinion differs between those who express overall support for the construction of the railway and those who will be personally affected by the project I believe that the majority supports the construction of the railway but we must carefully consider those who don't and ensure that compensations payments are fair," said Straujuma Straujuma emphasised that the public debate about the Rail Baltica project had had a generally positive impact Marupe residents strongly opposed the proposed railway route "I will also have an individual meeting with the head of the district of Madona to discuss the issue," added Straujuma At a public debate about the Rail Baltica project at Marupe Culture Center on March 7 both local residents and representatives from the Marupe District Council had voiced objections to the project saying that there were too many things that had not yet been decided According to Marupe local government's development director Peteris Piksa the municipality had been waiting for information regarding the route that the railway would take to Riga for four months "In the end we received not the several volumes we had been expecting They do not even mention the 50 percent of private homes that will be affected by Rail Baltica nor [the impact on] other private properties He also indicated that the amount of compensation offered to Marupe residents was ridiculously small A subscription to The Baltic Times is a cost-effective way of staying in touch with the latest Baltic news and views enabling you full access from anywhere with an Internet connection. Subscribe Now! 2025 © The Baltic Times /Cookies Policy Privacy Policy The waterway that started my fascination with hidden urban streams is the 2.5-mile Mārupīte on the eastern side of Riga This was the stream that I’ve known since birth The scene above is with my mother at Arcadian Park (Arkādijas Parks) where the Mārupīte flows through an Olmstedian landscape a couple of blocks from my grandparents’ home On the tourism map above, the Marupite emerges as a trickle from the peat swamps and farm fields between the villages of Tiraine and Marupe to the southwest of Riga crossing the city line into the Bieriņi neighborhood The creek widens into the Māras Dīķis pond emptying into the Daugava at Agenskalna Bay In contrast to some of the urban creeks that I’ve documented, where there is water seeping out of the ground at an identifiable location, the Mārupite has multiple sources including a large swamp to the south of the village of Mārupe a couple of drainage ditches merge to form the creek the creek is paralleled by Mārupite Gatve (Avenue) for the next 1.4 miles The creek appears very modest within Marupe at times expanding its banks following a heavy rainfall The village was developed in the 1920s and transformed into a collective farm during the Soviet regime only a half hour drive from the capital city’s center nearly indistinguishable from Marupe with its suburban homes and large backyards within Bieriņi the creek flows through a thickly forested ravine that is followed by a trail Brūklenu Iela crosses over the stream in a thicket of pine trees One of the most enduring childhood memories that I have is the pleasant aroma of pine that is Latvia The country does not have gold and silver lodes Its amber jewelry comes from the hardened sap seeping out of these trees A victim of history, Thalmann lost the 1932 election to Hitler and was quickly imprisoned by the Nazis. In the 1939 agreement between Hitler and Stalin, Latvia fell into the Soviet sphere of influence. Although the Nazis and Soviets briefly made nice to each other in carving up eastern Europe Stalin did not bring up Thalmann in the treaty Kārlis Ulmanis was also a victim of history. Following the Soviet annexation of Latvia in 1940, he was imprisoned and later deported to Turkmenistan where he died. His brother’s grandson Guntis Ulmanis served as Latvia’s second post-Soviet president in the 1990s a fitting tribute to an elder Ulmanis whose administration was abruptly deposed A rare highway with ramps and cloverleaf interchanges it was often used by Soviet filmmakers as a stand-in for American highways After the highway, the creek dips beneath the Riga-Tukums railway trestle goes underground at Marupes Street (above) and emerges to the surface when it widens into the Maras Dikis Pond I often strolled with my grandparents around this pond having nearly drowned after falling into the ice here in her youth The pond is located in the Torņakalns neighborhood a block away from my grandparents’ home The pond has a history going back to the Middle Ages, when the German Order of the Brothers of the Sword led a crusade into the Baltic regions seeking to conquer and convert the indigenous peoples the church-owned mill was transferred to the Riga municipal authorities the mill was rebuilt and worked for another two centuries A map from 1791 and another from 1905 from the site neogeo.lv show the location of Maras dikis pond and the growth of the city around it. The first map is in German, the language of the Baltic German nobles the Russian government insisted on using the tsar’s language in official documents raised for my first four years at 28 Torņakalna Street in a home shared by my grandparents It was a multi-generational household with a sizable backyard where we grew our meals and ate them outdoors in the summertime Across the street was an old manor that was confiscated by the Soviets and used as a kindergarten and three sizable parks along the Marupite These are my visual memories of Torņakalns the section of Altonavas Street running past this house was renamed for Vācietis The type of beret worn by him was also a favorite of my grandfather Could be the popular clothing style of Torņakalns residents as well as a linguist and publisher of Latvian folklore Can’t get enough of my coverage of international urban streams? Check out the site Hidden Hydrology for more examples in cities worldwide Wall Street Journal reports on the city’s $160 million acquisition of the CitiStorage warehouse completing the footprint for Bushwick Inlet Park in Brooklyn Bronx Times reports on the proposal for a new waterfront park in the Throgs Neck neighborhood of the Bronx Untapped Cities reports on 10 NYC neighborhoods with thematic street names Untapped Cities covers the history and nature of Inwood Hill Park in Manhattan Chicago Magazine reports on the benefits of restoring urban rivers AllAfrica.com reports on efforts to clean up the rivers flowing through Addis Ababa, Ethiopia Δdocument.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value" Sergey Kadinsky is an analyst at the New York City Department of Parks & Recreation and an adjunct professor of history at Touro College He is a licensed tour guide who paid his way through college atop the double-decker Gray Line buses Latvia’s State Fire and Rescue Service (VUGD) reports at around 15:00 p.m information was received about a massive fire at a factory in Marupe The fire was localised at around 19:00 p.m Efforts to clear debris and snuff remaining pockets of fire continued until Wednesday morning Upon arriving at the scene rescuers found a building aflame with fire spreading rapidly and producing large volumes of smoke three ladder and chemical trucks were involved Riga International Airport’s fire fighters were called in to assist the fire had engulfed 600 m2 area of a two-storey production facility and 20 m2 of products left nearby Three cars parked nearby were damaged by the heat from the fire two fire victims were hospitalised and one person was provided with medical aid on site fire fighters deployed absorbents in the nearby ditch as confirmed by the Ministry of the Interior will investigate the fire at the UAV drone factory in Marupe Minister Māris Kučinskis is provided with the latest information about the fire Once the emergency has been resolved completely State Police representative Madara Šeršņova reported: initial information does not indicate it was an act of arson a criminal procedure will commence in order to determine the exact cause of the fire UAVs manufactured by Edge Autonomy are also supplied for the need of the Ukrainian army Riga International Airport representative Ilze Salna says one of the airport’s five fire fighting units was involved in efforts to put out the fire Because the massive fire produced large volumes of smoke VUGD urged local residents to close windows doors and switch off ventilation to prevent health problems Edge Autonomy representatives have confirmed that the fire had broke out at the factory They did not provide more detailed comments The company’s deputy director Jānis Vilmanis admits the fire has caused major damages adding that the full extent is unknown as of yet Edge Autonomy representative Dzintars Neimanis stressed in a press statement that the company does what it can to ensure the fire does not affect operations too much He also said it is too soon to consider possible losses «Our priority is making sure our employees are safe Three of our workers were injured in the fire We trust in operational services working on-site to determine the cause of the fire This is why to avoid interfering with the investigation we refrain from making any assumptions,» Neimanis writes Edge Autonomy (previously known as UAV Factory) manufactures unmanned vehicle technologies supplied to government The company is considered one of the leading world-class UAV technologies manufacturer In 2021 Edge Autonomy operated with turnover of ER 8.661 million and profits of EUR 546 356 The company was founded in 2009 with base capital of Eur 1 041 505 The company is owned by US company Edge Autonomy Holdings LLC Also read: Latvia sends Ukraine first shipment of military equipment acquired using public donations Take note – story published 1 year and 3 months ago Before the municipalities of Mārupe and Babīte were merged in 2021, as chairman of the then Babīte municipality Council and shareholder of the company Babīte Heat dismissing a Member of the board of directors of Babīte Heat decided to compensate him for his untaken leave – more than EUR 37,500 and Andrejs Ence explained the payment of the massive compensation as follows: "We had a board Member living and sleeping in the company He had accumulated 284 days of untaken leave over 10 years." according to the Corruption Prevention and Combating Bureau (KNAB) the disbursement was illegal and criminal proceedings were initiated against Ence for alleged abuse of office as well as deprived him of the right to hold official positions in state and local government institutions for two years.  Ence's post in the municipality will have to be vacated The politician said in a conversation with LTV that he disagrees with the court's decision and will decide on appealing it after receiving the full verdict The judgment may still be appealed to a court of second instance Sign up for our daily Newsletter and stay up to date with all the latest news You are receiving this pop-up because this is the first time you are visiting our site You are using software which is blocking our advertisements (adblocker) we are relying on revenues from our banners So please disable your adblocker and reload the page to continue using this site.Thanks Only special greenhouses can grow vegetables in Latvian winters only tomatoes and cucumbers were grown in the Mārupe Greenhouses The first greens had already been harvested The new greenhouse is seven thousand square meters wide and comes with LED lighting we can get it to the consumer very quickly that would be a benefit because currently Lithuania and Estonia are growing it no one is growing it in Latvia all year round,” said Maruta Kravale Chair of the Board of the LLC “Mārupe Greenhouses.” The amount expected to be produced in the greenhouse is 2 million lettuce plants per year The first lettuce leaves have been harvested The greenhouse was completed late last year and the first seeds were planted in early December Read more at eng.lsm.lv Frontpage photo: © Jon Helgason | Dreamstime FreshPublishers © 2005-2025 HortiDaily.com Take note – story published 2 years and 2 months ago "A high-hazard fire has broken out at a production plant creating a lot of smoke which can harm human health VUGD brigades are working on the extinguishing of the fire," said VUGD on Twitter Eyewitness accounts on social media showed the burning building was the Edge Autonomy Riga unmanned aircraft (drone) production plant (Jaunbrīdagi 1 Social media quickly filled with other images and videos from passers-by In addition to a large number of firefighters from the VUGD nearby Rīga Airport sent a brigade of its own to assist Airport operations were not affected by the fire Municipal police controlled traffic regulations in the area Members of the public were requested by officials to stay away from the site According to the State Emergency Medical Service (NMPD) two people were taken to the hospital and one received medical assistance onsite By 20:00 the VUGD said the amount of smoke coming from the site had significantly reduced and absorbent pads had been placed in nearby ditches to reduce contamination The State Police will investigate the cause of the fire at the hi-tech facility A spokeswoman for the State Police Madara Šeršņova said initial information did not point towards arson but that a full investigation has been started to find out precisely what happened Just two weeks ago, LSM reported on Edge Autonomy's drone deliveries to Ukraine following a public donation drive once the flames have been overcome, attention is likely to focus on the cause of the fire and whether it was an accident or something more sinister.  function () { LSM.articles.prepareVideoWithCover('vc-7995-2023-02-938213'); });WhatsApp Video 2023-02-07 at 17.03.250min function () { LSM.articles.prepareVideoWithCover('vc-961-2023-02-938214'); });WhatsApp Video 2023-02-07 at 17.03.270min function () { LSM.articles.prepareVideoWithCover('vc-3426-2023-02-938215'); });WhatsApp Video 2023-02-07 at 17.03.260min In October last year, a U.S. Congressional delegation paid a visit to the company, as LSM reported at the time The promotional video below gives a tour of the facility Take note – story published 1 year and 6 months ago At least a century-old oak was illegally sawn in Mārupe in October last year. The tree may have been cut because it interfered with the adjacent new build The developer and construction contractor of the project "Dižozolu nami" is Zeninvest Ltd. Some 600 thousand euros have been invested in building the house Police initially commenced criminal proceedings for arbitrary felling of trees but prequalified it according to the Section of the Criminal Law regarding destruction or damage of specially protected nature territories One person was identified as a suspect in the spring Photo: Latvijas TelevīzijaPhoto: Latvijas TelevīzijaPhoto: Latvijas TelevīzijaPhoto: Latvijas TelevīzijaPhoto: Latvijas TelevīzijaPhoto: Latvijas TelevīzijaPhoto: Latvijas TelevīzijaPhoto: Latvijas TelevīzijaPhoto: Ģirts Zvirbulis/Latvijas TelevīzijaPhoto: Ģirts Zvirbulis/Latvijas TelevīzijaPhoto: Ģirts Zvirbulis/Latvijas Televīzija The court has now ruled that the new building will have to be demolished The Court of First Instance annulled the building permit issued and found the construction of the rowhouse arbitrary The Court's decision requires that the plot of land be restored to its previous condition This means tearing the building to the ground The decision of the Court of First Instance may be appealed the project executor has not yet decided whether to do so “See the lawyers and think about what to do next,” added Oskars Kalniņš “The aim is not to get the project demolished The issue is public and environmental interest in private entrepreneur interest we would allow the developer to continue the project and make even more profit it would be a completely unacceptable precedent,” lawyer Arnis Priediņš assessed it has not yet been decided what to do with the sawn-off oak