A majority voted against shutting down the women's handball team at IK Junkeren's annual meeting on Thursday evening, rejecting the board's proposal to discontinue the program due to financial reasons and transfer it to another club in Bodø. Before the meeting, the board added new information to its original proposal, stating that Junkeren will pay 500,000 kroner in startup funds to the club taking over the handball program, and proposed that the operation of the women's team be discontinued by May 1, 2026. There were 121 eligible voters present at the annual meeting.
Bad weather is forcing organizers to change the setup for the World Championship in cod fishing in Svolvær, with strong gales from the southwest expected on Friday and Saturday. Organizers have opened fishing in the entire Austnesfjorden, which is more sheltered, and only one of the two fishing fields will be used, as the other is more exposed to weather and may be closed. Weather has led to cancellations from several boats that were supposed to participate in the event.
The new multi-purpose hall in Sortland may be delayed by three months due to the regulatory plan being withdrawn from consultation before the deadline because it included a state-secured outdoor area near Blåbyhallen, which must be clarified before a new consultation. The regulatory plan may now be adopted in June, which would shift the project timeline, with the original plan having construction start on July 3, 2026, and completion on December 6, 2026, now moved to October 12, 2026, and completion to March 27, 2027. The delay could make the project more expensive for the municipality due to increased costs from index regulation, and in the executive board, Høyre called for a separate case on the consequences of the delay.
The Fisheries Directorate has reversed the decision to withdraw the clearance for the aquaculture site Kjeøya N in Vestvågøy after Isqueen AS complained, having initially decided to withdraw it because the site had not been in operation since 2019. The decision was reversed after the company presented new information about the cause of the inactivity, involving aftermath of an ILA outbreak, leading to biological, economic, and operational challenges for the company in the years before and after it took over the site. After a new assessment, the Directorate believes Isqueen AS has demonstrated a real need for the site and intends to use it, and announces it will conduct a new assessment if the site is not put into operation within a certain timeframe.
Greatest avalanche danger is expected in the afternoon, with the danger level reaching level four, the second highest level at Varsom.no, in Ofoten, Salten, and Svartisen, meaning high danger for naturally triggered avalanches. Much wind and rain have led to wind-drifted snow at heights above 1000 meters above sea level, and when temperatures drop during the day, this will also apply lower in the mountains.
Average speed measurement has been introduced along E10 between Lenvik and Bogen in Evenes municipality to reduce speed and contribute to fewer serious car accidents on the stretch, with the speed cameras on the approximately 3.4-kilometer stretch installed in 2025 and tested until now. From Wednesday, March 18, these are in full operation, becoming the fourth stretch in Nordland to get average speed measurement in the last three years.
The new launch window for the carrier rocket 'Spectrum' opens today; the rocket is to be launched from Andøya Spaceport in cooperation with the German space company Isar Aerospace. Andøya Spaceport and Isar Aerospace inform that the next launch from the satellite base at Nordmela may take place one of the nearest days, with activity divided into two possible periods: March 19-29 and April 8-19. After the launch in January was postponed, students in Orbit NTNU are also trying to send up the satellite FramSat-1 again on board Isar Aerospace's carrier rocket, and the third attempt to launch the carrier rocket Spektrum 2 from Andøya last night was called off, with Isar Aerospace canceling the launch one hour before liftoff.
Rødt has created a plan to combat waste, assessing the new airport in Bodø as not socio-economically profitable, and Bodø mayor Odd Emil Ingebrigtsen reacts to the statement.
Pelagia Bodø Sildoljefabrikk may have to apply for a new discharge permit if production starts up again, with the background that production of fish meal and oil at the plant has been idle since spring 2024. In an inspection report, the County Governor reminds that plants that have been out of operation for more than two years must report before a possible restart, and then authorities can require the company to apply for a completely new discharge permit, with the County Governor having uncovered several deviations at the plant, including deficiencies in storage of hazardous waste and chemicals, and inadequate preparedness against acute pollution. Pelagia has a deadline until June 1 to correct the deviations and must also pay a fee of 32,300 kroner after the inspection.
Only two of Narvik's three public shelters are operational today, with the doors of the city's largest mountain facility in the center welded shut and deteriorating.
Statskog and Mo Industripark are entering a two-year letter of intent to boost business development at Røssvoll, and when the new airport is completed next year, large areas will be freed up for new purposes. Four companies have now received permission to investigate deposits of gold and other minerals in Bindal municipality, and Nordland county municipality has allocated funds for vessel preservation, with M/K Lykken in Øksnes getting a good share of this year's pot. Nordland county municipality will also give 5 million kroner in grants for the construction of a timber quay at Finneid in Fauske municipality.
A new reporting scheme for serious incidents in the health and care service is ready and will take effect this summer, aiming to contribute to increased learning and thus fewer patient injuries. Health and Care Minister Jan Christian Vestre (Ap) announced the scheme in autumn 2024 after TV 2 uncovered a series of adverse events at Norwegian hospitals.
Bodø/Glimt launched this year's kit today, with new this year being that the collar is back on the shirt as it was on some older kits from the 60s and 90s, and the women's team will be the first to play a match in the new kits when they start their second consecutive season in the Toppserien on Friday. Nikita Haikin (30) has become a Norwegian citizen and is eligible for World Cup play for Norway this summer, and Norway's U19 national team played 2–2 against France as the second and decisive round in the European Championship qualification started on Thursday in Croatia. Next season, Øksil will not have a men's team in the elite series in volleyball, and Kjetil Knutsen has decided to make several changes in the team starting against Aalesund on Saturday morning.
A man in his late 80s has had about 560,000 kroner returned after being tricked into investing in what he thought was cryptocurrency, and a man in his late 20s must appear in court after being arrested at Nordlandsbadet in Bodø in December 2024 where police were called. Nora Haukland from Alta, one of the aggrieved women in the criminal case against Marius Høiby, announces legal action against media, and in Alta, police have stopped a male driver in his 30s suspected of driving under the influence. The Labour Inspection Authority, police, and Norwegian Public Roads Administration uncovered several violations during a joint control at Finnsnes control station on Wednesday.
This week, the Home Guard has the annual major exercise 'Nordland 1', lasting from April 8 to 14, with around 800 soldiers visible in the local community in Bodø, and from April 10 to 15, the top of Keiservarden is closed to all traffic not part of the exercise. Employers must now provide work clothes to their employees after the agreement on work clothing for municipal employees has been renegotiated, and Yr reports increased danger of forest fires in large parts of Nordland and has therefore issued a yellow danger warning. Four people lost their lives in drowning accidents in March, shows the Norwegian Society for Sea Rescue's drowning statistics, and Hildonen's bakery and confectionery will soon close its doors. Mining company Nussir has signed a sponsorship agreement with Kvalsund Idrettslag, and the government has decided to continue the youth fishing scheme also this summer. The municipal council in Hamarøy is disappointed that there will be no extra fast boat departures this summer, and the director of the Main Rescue Centre in Northern Norway was only 13 days at the main office in Bodø last year, despite the position being located in the city. Ambulance personnel in Øksnes are reacting to poor roads in several places, and in an email to the municipality, they request marking of a telehiv, as it is challenging to remember where it is during emergencies, also reacting to the same problem on another stretch.