Tick research and other regional news

The Sørlandet / Agder news of 15 and 16 October 2026 covers research on ticks and the possible arrival of new species in Agder county, the performance of a striker trained in Flekkefjord, and two public-service stories: the E18/E39 construction site at Gartnerløkka in Kristiansand and passport appointment delays. Local news briefs from the period are grouped at the end of the article.

Sørlandet / Agder news: ticks and weakened research

A warmer climate increases the risk of new types of ticks carrying other infectious agents. That is the warning from Randi Eikeland, head of the National Centre for Tick-borne Diseases and professor at the Flåttsenteret at Sørlandet hospital (NRK Sørlandet / Agder). She considers that important research in this field has been "very weakened in recent years".

"We must be equipped to handle new types of ticks and new forms of infectious diseases that arrive in Norway with ticks," she says. The professor finds it striking how little work is being carried out today on tick biology and distribution. She also points to the lack of systematic monitoring of the pathogens carried by the castor bean tick and how they are evolving.

In a recent column, a group of tick experts noted that the situation is drying up in Norway. It is not the ticks that are drying up, the source clarifies, but the research. According to Randi Eikeland, the need for knowledge is growing, which makes the lack of resources flagged by specialists all the more problematic.

Kristian Lien, from Flekkefjord to the top of the Allsvenskan

Kristian Lien, 24, from Flekkefjord, is the top scorer in the Swedish league with 15 goals in 23 matches for Djurgården, a Stockholm club (NRK Sørlandet / Agder). He says he was never preoccupied with the idea of becoming a professional footballer.

In the football hall in Flekkefjord, his former coach Sigurd Bruhjell remembers a quite ordinary boy at the start, with an enormous passion for the ball. "His strength was the duel and the willingness to never give up. He was a man who pulled the others in the group along," he says (NRK Sørlandet / Agder).

The player now wants to reach the European cups again with his club. His career began at Flekkefjord FK, in Agder county.

Gartnerløkka: the E18 and E39 under pressure

The point where the E18 meets the E39, at Gartnerløkka in Kristiansand, has caused congestion and difficulties for drivers for years. Extension works are meant to improve traffic flow, but the construction phase is itself causing regular queues (NRK Sørlandet / Agder).

Alf Erik Andersen, an Frp representative, is putting questions to Transport Minister Kamzy Gunaratnam. He is asking what concrete instructions she will give to the Norwegian Public Roads Administration, Statens vegvesen, to avoid delays. "The business world fears major delays and residents expect queues and chaos," he says.

The minister replies that the best possible traffic flow is a central premise, including for the E18/E39 Gartnerløkka–Kolsdalen project. She stresses that Statens vegvesen is monitoring the project throughout the construction phase.

Passports: a new booking system in Kristiansand

The wait to get an appointment for a new passport in Kristiansand currently stands at four months and 22 days. A new booking system is meant to help reduce this wait (NRK Sørlandet / Agder).

"We will introduce a new booking system. It will be easier to read when you look for an appointment: where there is space and when those slots are available," explains Karine Wigh, head of the passports and identity section in the Agder police district. The system will also let people cancel an appointment themselves if they have booked in several places or on several dates.

Passport, identity card, police and foreign affairs services will be grouped under the same "automaton". The police hope this change will free up slots and bring waiting times down.

📌 Local briefs

Amalie Andersen, 26, has been faced with a pile of documents, letters and claims since her father's death this summer. She came across terms such as skifteattest, hjemmelserklæring and tinglysning, and had to choose, with her young sister, between a public and a private estate (NRK Sørlandet / Agder).

At Agder District Court, the prosecution on Wednesday requested one year and five months in prison against a foster mother in her thirties, charged with having sexual relations with her foster son over a period of five months in autumn 2023. The prosecution considers that she acted knowingly and without coercion (NRK Sørlandet / Agder).

A model from Grimstad is continuing her career in Paris, and a municipality is training all of its teachers to spot violence against children (NRK Sørlandet / Agder).

A missing man was located ten kilometres from the starting point, and police had been warned of a vehicle driving the wrong way on the E18 before a collision (Fædrelandsvennen, 15 October).

Sources: NRK Sørlandet / Agder, Fædrelandsvennen, The Local Norway — Period: 15 October 2026 and 16 October 2026