Kaiserslautern’s swimming season begins this Saturday with the opening of the Warmfreibad near Kleber Kaserne. The pool will be operating from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. Tuesday through Sunday and noon to 8 p.m. on Mondays. The opening of the Waschmuehle continues to be delayed beyond the initial target opening date of June 4 due to construction work, city officials said in a statement.

Kleber and Landstuhl Java Cafés will be closed for staff training on Friday. Meanwhile, the ROB Java Café will close early on the same day, wrapping up at 1 p.m. The VAT office located within the ROB Java Café will remain open. On Tuesday, all Kaiserslautern Java Cafés will be back to their regular operating hours.

Kaiserslautern waste management will begin weekly collection of bio bins next week. From June to October, residents can dispose of their kitchen and garden waste, including leftovers, grass clippings, and fruit and vegetable scraps every week to reduce odor and avoid attracting insects during the summer months. Collected organic waste in Kaiserslautern is processed into environmentally friendly bio-compost and biomass energy. 

Don’t forget about the B2Run 5K event happening this evening. Expect traffic disruptions throughout downtown starting from 10 a.m. due to barricade setups. Several roads, including Lutrinastrasse, Karl-Marx-Strasse to Bismarckstrasse, and Schneiderstrasse will be closed between 4 p.m. and approximately 9 p.m. More info here.

The 1. FC Kaiserslautern soccer team will play their final game of the season at 3:30 p.m. on Sunday at Fritz Walter Stadium against Duesseldorf. In eighth place with 45 points in the German second division, it has been a successful season for the Red Devils, following their promotion from third division last summer. However, they have only won one of their last 11 games and have lost the last two at home. Duesseldorf is in sixth place, 10 points ahead of Kaiserslautern. According to the FCK website, there are no tickets available for Sunday’s game on the Betzenberg. The 2023/24 second division season gets underway July 28. 

The Pentecost, or Pfingsten, holiday is expected to bring traffic congestion to Germany this weekend. Drivers nationwide will be on the roads for a long weekend, and Rheinland-Pfalz kicks off school holidays from May 30 through June 7. The most significant traffic disruptions are expected on Friday afternoon and on Whit Monday, May 29, according to German Automobile Club ADAC. In 2022, the Friday before Pentecost was the third busiest day on German roads. 

A 16-year-old American riding the train Sunday between Kaiserslautern and Einsiedlerhof reported being hugged against her will, kissed on her bare legs and threatened with rape by a man speaking Arabic, German federal police said Tuesday. When two witnesses on the train, who also spoke Arabic, rushed to the aid of the teenager, the suspect pulled the hair of one of the men and tore his T-shirt, police said. Two other witnesses on the train, meanwhile, reported the incident to police. The suspect was forced off the train at the Einsiedlerhof station and fled. Police are investigating the incident and reviewing video footage to try and identify the suspect.

A motorcyclist clocked at more than twice the speed limit near Hochspeyer on Sunday is expected to lose driving privileges for two months and pay a fine of 100 euros, the Westpfalz police department in Kaiserslautern said today. The biker’s speed of 112 kilometers per hour (about 70 miles per hour) was recorded in a 50 kph (or about 31 mph) zone. German police caught the offender while performing a traffic check on the B48 by a youth hostel near Hochspeyer. Over the course of an hour, police measured the speed of 20 vehicles, including 13 motorcycles. Two other vehicles were caught speeding, including another motorcyclist and a car. Both drivers were going about 13 miles per hour over the posted speed limit. They must pay a fine of 100 euros and will likely be docked one or two points from their driver’s license, police said.

Thieves snagged U.S. dollars from an unlocked vehicle in Siegelbach. The unknown persons got away with U.S. and euro currency, totaling approximately 210 euros, Westpfalz Police said. The car was parked on Finkenstrasse and appears to have been left unlocked. Witnesses who noticed any suspicious activity between 8:30 p.m. Sunday and 7:15 a.m., Monday, can contact Kaiserslautern Police at 0631 369-2620.

Blood drives in the Kaiserslautern Military Community are scheduled for various locations through June. The first event is slated for May 30-31 at Smith Barracks in Baumholder, followed by Rhine Ordnance Barracks on June 6, Vogelweh on June 7, Ramstein Air Base on June 20-21, Sembach on June 26, and Kleber Kaserne on June 27. For more information, visit www.militarydonor.com and use the code “Europe.”