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LOCAL NEWS 13/01/01 RECORD SOLO FLIGHT BEGINS FROM ELMDON
Birmingham International Airport was the venue for the start of an
attempt to pilot the smallest aircraft, flown solo by a woman, to circumnavigate
the world via Australia and the Pacific.
A highlight of the departure was an RAF Harrier Jump Jet, flying in formation with Polly as she began her global adventure on the eve of her 57th birthday. Through her flight, Polly is aiming to raise enough money to endow a further scholarship for the charity ‘The Royal International Air Tattoo Flying Scholarships for the Disabled in Memory of Sir Douglas Bader’. She carries the names of 800 individual sponsors on the wings of her aircraft. SUPERCAR STOLEN BEFORE THE NEC AUTOSPORTS INTERNATIONAL SHOW.
The Autosports International Show at the NEC in Birmingham has already had its first visitors even before the doors open to the public today. Car thieves visited the venue early and stole a £34,000 high performance 150 mph Mitsubishi Galant VR4 Saloon, one of six high performance Mitsubishi road and rally vehicles scheduled to go on display The vehicle had just been unloaded from a vehicle transporter, parked and before the car could be moved into Exhibition Hall 6 the opportunist thieves struck. The Mitsubishi Galant VR4 Saloon is silver in colour and has distinctive RALLIART show plates fitted. Mitsubishi Motors in the UK are appealing for anybody seeing this car or knowing where it is to contact their local Police or to telephone Mitsubishi Motors on 01285 655777 or 01285 647200. Mitsubishi Motors spokesperson David Miles said; "I know our Ralliart products are ‘hot’, desirable and scarce but this is ridiculous - we need it back for the Show – can I appeal for its return please." DINNER LADY ADMITS SCHOOL BRAWL A dinner lady and two teenage girls involved in a mass brawl after
a school rounders match have admitted affray at Wolverhampton Crown Court.
PRISON SERVICE BACK IN CHARGE The new contract to run a Worcs prison has been officially awarded
to the Prison Service.
HIV POSITIVE NURSES RECRUITED Wolverhampton Health Authority has sought to reassure the public
over its decision to let HIV positive African trainee nurses treat patients.
LORRY DRIVER CHARGED OVER DRUGS A man from Tamworth has been charged with drug smuggling after a
combined operation involving customs and police seized drugs worth £5m.
MOTHER SLAMS POLICE CAMPAIGN The mother of a street robber who died after his mugshot was projected
on to an office building in Birmingham has criticised the police.
BLAIR TOLD TO 'GET A LIFE' A prospective Birmingham Conservative Parliamentary candidate urged
Tony Blair to "get a life" after he used an internet article to ridicule
him.
CELEBRITY HAIRDRESSER DIES Top hairdresser Umberto Giannini from Kidderminster has died suddenly
following a battle against a rare viral disease, a company said.
RUNNER STARTS RECORD ATTEMPT A 38-year-old endurance runner has began an attempt on the world
48-hour distance record watched by bemused shoppers in Long Eaton.
MP'S WARNING OVER GOODYEAR Recovery in employment figures and inward investment in Wolverhampton
will be severely hit if Goodyear pulls out of the city, an MP has warned.
LOCAL NEWS 15/01/01 BMW STARTS PRODUCTION AT HAMS HALL
New Generation of Four-Cylinder Engines from the UK The first engines have started to roll off the line at BMW’s new engine plant at Hams Hall, near Birmingham. At present, approximately 20 engines per day are being produced at the brand new £400 million production facility which presently employs 450 people. By the end of the year, daily production will rise to over 600 engines, requiring a workforce of 650 associates. In the first year of production, Hams Hall will build approximately 60,000 engines. The factory will play a crucial role in BMW’s international production network as the "centre of competence" for the production of all BMW 4-cylinder petrol engines between 1.6 and 2.0 litres capacity. The engines will be exported to the BMW vehicle assembly plants in Germany (Munich, Regensburg and Dingolfing), South Africa (Rosslyn) and the USA (Spartanburg). At full capacity, the Hams Hall plant, the most modern engine production facility in the world, will be capable of producing over 400,000 engines per year and will employ 1,500 people. Within a week of job advertisements being placed in regional newspapers and broadcast on radio stations in the West Midlands at the end of last year, almost 9,000 people telephoned the freephone number to express their interest in working at Hams Hall. As part of the selection process, applicants are currently being invited to special weekend "open days" before being formally interviewed. In view of the large number of applications, this is a process which will take several months to complete. Hams Hall’s Plant Director, Colin Mitchell, is delighted at the extremely positive public response to the job opportunities being offered by BMW: "We have been overwhelmed by the quantity of applications and extremely encouraged by the quality of the applicants. Employing the best people is an essential element of BMW’s continuing success internationally and will be a crucial factor in enabling Hams Hall to match the world-class standards of excellence set by BMW’s production plants in Germany and elsewhere in the world." Official Opening on 8 February, 2001 The Hams Hall engine factory will be officially opened on 8 February at an event hosted by BMW Board Chairman Professor Joachim Milberg. Guest of honour will be the Rt. Hon. Andrew Smith MP (Oxford), Chief Secretary to the Treasury. Numerous other political representatives and dignitaries will also be attending the opening ceremony. TRUST HAS HIGHEST DEATH RATE A survey of 174 NHS hospital trusts shows Wallsall NHS Trust to have the highest mortality rate. The Good Hospital Guide found that 17 patients died in the trust for every 10 that died in the trust with the lowest death rate. Walsall Hospitals was the worst performing trust with the third worst being Sandwell Healthcare. COUNTY HAS LOWEST VIOLENCE RATE Warwickshire has the lowest recorded rate of violent crime in the country despite a rise in the number of reported incidents. Latest figures show there are only 5.1 offences per 1,000 population despite a 2.8% increase in violence in the county. The figures are attributed to a police crackdown called Operation Impact 2. FLYING TEACHER ON SECOND LEG A former music teacher was continuing her solo round-the-world flight from Birmingham after successfully completing the second leg. Mother-of-three Polly Vacher, 57, of Drayton, Oxfordshire, is flying a twin-engined Piper Dakota and her back-up team says all is going well. Suzy Dunbar, support team member, said: "She is on schedule." TRIBUTES TO RETIRING ARCHDEACON More than 500 people attended a service at St Martin's Church in the Bull Ring to bid Birmingham's archdeacon a formal farewell. Venerable John Duncan retires at the end of the month after serving the city for 40 years. Among those paying tribute at the service was The Right Rev Mark Santer, Bishop of Birmingham. GOVERNMENT CAMPAIGN LAUNCHED Birmingham City Council is to launch a high profile campaign urging citizens to have their say on the future shape of local government in the city. The Running Birmingham? You Choose campaign will canvass opinion on new models of local government in the city. A referendum will be held later this year to decide whether voters want a directly-elected mayor for the city. BIG BROTHER CHEQUE ON THE WAY A Shrewsbury Down's Syndrome sufferer to whom Big Brother winner Craig Phillips donated his £70,000 prize will finally receive the money this week. Phillips, 28, will give the cash to Jo Harris, 18, to have a heart and lung transplant in the United States. Channel 4 said the donation was delayed when the NHS said Jo may be able to have the operation in Britain for free. TREADMILL RUNNER BREAKS RECORDS A Derbyshire endurance runner has set two new world records after a 48-hour non-stop attempt. Rory Coleman, 38, already holds six world endurance running records - but he beat his own record over two days and set the fastest time for 200km. Print worker Mr Coleman, of Long Eaton, has already completed 252 marathons in his running career. MICROLIGHT CRASH VICTIM NAMED The pilot of a microlight killed when his aircraft crashed in Staffordshire has been named by police. Phillip Chester, 40, of Southport, Merseyside, died when the craft went down on farmland near Sandon. The single passenger on board, Peter McGlaughlan, 38, from the Crosby area of Liverpool, suffered broken ribs and has been released from hospital. FALCONS MAY REDUCE PIGEONS Councillors in Rugby are to discuss controversial plans to use falcons
to control the pigeon numbers in the town. Proposals to use falcons were
drawn up after traders complained about the mess created by the pigeons.
Animal rights campaigners have criticised the scheme and have called on
the council to use alternative methods of controlling the pigeons.
LOCAL NEWS 16/01/01 WEST MIDLANDS WORST FOR ROBBERY West Midlands police recorded the highest number of robberies in the country, Government figures have revealed. It showed 4.1 robberies per 1,000 residents in the year up to September and 17 violent offences per 1,000. The figures for violence compare starkly with Warwickshire, where totals are as low as 4.6 per 1,000 people. TOURIST SHOT DEAD IN JAMAICA A 28-year-old tourist from Birmingham has been shot dead inside a taxi in the Jamaican resort of Montego Bay. Melonie Clarke, two teenage relatives and an unidentified man were passengers when the man shot her in the back before fleeing the scene. Ms Clarke, a clerical worker, died in hospital. Police said they had not established a motive for the killing. JOB PROSPECTS 'SET TO IMPROVE' Employment prospects across the region should rise in the first quarter of the year, according to a new survey. Manpower's Quarterly Survey of Employment Prospects reported that companies in the West Midlands are expected to take on more staff. The health care sector was highlighted as a growth area set for a significant increase in the number of vacancies. RED CROSS EXPERT VIEWS SERVICE One of Japan's leading experts in dealing in the aftermath of disasters is visiting Staffordshire Ambulance Service's training centre. Satoshi Imanaka is the official disaster co-ordinator for Japan's Red Cross in nine regional centres. He will inspect the ambulance service's Special Casualty Access Team Training Centre in Uttoxeter. BABY'S DEATH: WHAT WENT WRONG? A judge has ordered social services to explain the support they offered to a mentally disturbed Wolverhampton father who killed his one-month-old daughter. Paul Turner, 18, and his girlfriend were left to care for daughter Tiffany, despite warnings of their incapability. Turner, of Wednesfield, was ordered to be detained for two-and-a-half years after admitting manslaughter. WORKERS MARCH TO SAVE JOBS orkers have marched through Coventry city centre in protest at plans to move jobs from their factory to Canada. The demonstration was held to highlight a dispute at the nearby Rolls-Royce engineering factory in Ansty. Plant workers are being balloted on a strike over plans to transfer 600 jobs to Canada and shoppers signed a petition supporting the workers. BOMBS FOUND IN BUILDING An arms cache, including petrol and nail bombs, has been found in a building in a suburb of Birmingham. West Midlands police said the makeshift arsenal was found by a member of the public in the Law and Leisure Learning Centre, Handsworth. The haul - two petrol bombs, two nail bombs and 14 CS gas canisters - was concealed in a plastic bag. DOGS DUMPED WITH RUBBISH The RSPCA has launched an investigation after two dogs were discovered dumped with the rubbish in freezing temperatures in Wolverhampton. One dog was dead and a second was still alive when refuse collectors found them huddled next to rubbish bags outside boarded-up flats in Mayfield Road. The surviving dog is being treated at a veterinary centre. MAN 'BLUDGEONED' WITH HANDLE A Staffordshire man suffered serious head and facial injuries after being "bludgeoned" with what police believe to be a pickaxe handle. Staffordshire Police said the 38-year-old man was the victim of an unprovoked attack in Cape Street, Cheadle. A man and a woman have been arrested and released on police RAIL PASSENGERS GET CHEAP FARES Central Trains is cutting fares on its West Midlands routes in an attempt to entice dissatisfied customers back on to its trains. The discount offer follows speed restrictions and vital repair work undertaken in the wake of the Hatfield rail crash. A spokesman said passengers would return once timetables were normalised. LOTTERY CASH FOR YOUNG AND OLD Two healthy living projects for teenagers and older people are to
benefit from new Lottery funding totalling £700,000. Birmingham's
Playhouse arts education scheme has been given £389,500 to deliver
anti-drug advice to more than 16,000 youngsters in the city. Age Concern
Wolverhampton will use its £311,099 to revamp its day centres.
LOCAL NEWS 17/01/01 CAR PARK MOTHER WANTS APOLOGY A mother who gave birth in a car park has called for an apology from Warwick health bosses who she claimed had locked the maternity unit's doors. Paula Chamberlain, 23, from Leamington Spa, said she gave birth in the car park while her husband tried in vain to alert medical staff. The couple have lodged a formal complaint against the hospital. TRIBUTE TO WORKER SHOT DEAD Birmingham City Council has paid tribute to a clerical worker who was shot dead while holidaying in Jamaica. Melanie Rose Clarke, 28, of Spring Hill, was shot as she sat in a taxi in the popular resort of Montego Bay. A city council spokesman said Ms Clarke, a member of its environmental services customer liaison team, would be sadly missed. EX-SPEAKER PRESENTS AWARDS Former Commons Speaker Betty Boothroyd is presenting awards for the Sandwell Common Purpose scheme at the HQ of West Bromwich Building Society. The ex-West Bromwich West MP is due to become Baroness Boothroyd of Sandwell when she takes up her seat in the House of Lords. The Common Purpose scheme aims to improve towns and cities in the area. REGION'S RICHEST ARE NAMED Two brothers who set up a computer firm as teenagers are among the West Midlands' top earners, according to a rich list in the Birmingham Post. Richard and David Darling of Codemasters paid themselves £22m last year, while Bob Edmiston of car importer IM Group earned £12m. Mr Edmiston gives most of his money to promote Christianity overseas. LOTTO BOOST FOR HEALTH PROJECT Staff at a health project in Birmingham have been celebrating after securing almost £400,000 of Lottery funding. The Playhouse project will use the cash to tackle issues such as drugs and teenage pregnancy, through the arts. Director Dr Steve Ball said: "This award will enable us to continue using the arts in education to help people make sense of the world." VILLAGERS FEAR FILM PORTRAYAL Residents in a Worcestershire village are worried a film about a US woman who changed locals lives, could concentrate on her colourful early life. Nicole Kidman is to play Victoria Woodhull-Martin, a civil rights campaigner, who settled in Bredon's Norton in the late 19th-century. But locals fear the film will focus on her reputation as a prostitute. GENERAL CRIME RISES BY 13.4% General reported crime rose by 13.4% in Staffs in the first half of last year, according to Government statistics. The county saw the biggest crime rise of the 43 police forces in England and Wales, 17 with a 13.4% rise. The West Midlands was one of four metropolitan forces, with Merseyside, Greater Manchester and the Met, where crime increased, with a rise of 3.2%. MIX-UP CAUSED AMBULANCE DELAY Confusion between 999 phone operators led to a 24-minute delay in
paramedics getting to a double fatal car crash. Ambulance trusts are likely
to get new guidelines for cross-border incidents after an independent inquiry
into the crash at Bretby, Derbys, last August. The crash happened 200m
inside the county and the review said failure to follow procedures had
led to the delay.
LOCAL NEWS 18/01/01 THREE HURT IN SIX-VEHICLE CRASH Three drivers have been seriously hurt in a six-vehicle pile-up on the A500 near Stoke-on-Trent. A 38-tonne articulated lorry travelling towards Stoke crossed onto the southbound carriageway and was in collision with the other vehicles. Police said all the injuries suffered were serious but none were thought to be life threatening. APPEAL FOR ARSON WITNESSES Police have renewed an appeal for information about an arson attack which left a Coventry mother dead and her two young daughters seriously injured. Nasreen Akhtar, 36, died after the fire last week at the family home in Foleshill. Her daughters, aged three and 18 months, were injured. Murder squad detectives want to trace four youths seen near the house. BANS FOR 'ANTI-SOCIAL' YOUTHS Police in Redditch have expressed delight at a district judge's decision to impose anti-social behaviour orders on four unruly teenagers. The orders ban the four, aged 13-16, from parts of the Wythall area. A West Mercia Police spokesman said the youths were involved in intimidating local residents, criminal damage and other "disgraceful" activities. TOBACCO SMUGGLER JAILED A 28-year-old found guilty of evading £1.4m duty on 7.2m smuggled cigarettes has been jailed for five years. Worcester Crown Court heard how Richard Williams, from the city, was arrested with contraband Egyptian tobacco. Customs officers had tracked him and four other men to a unit on the Blackpole Industrial Estate, Worcester, the court heard. 'RACISM' TRIBUNAL CLAIM DROPPED A black traffic warden who claimed years of racist abuse from colleagues has resigned after dropping a tribunal claim for racial discrimination. Sharon Edwards, 34, from Whitley in Coventry, said she was victimised by colleagues at a city police station. During the hearing she conceded that a probation report showed problems with her motivation and punctuality. COUNCIL PRAISED OVER TAX DRIVE Government watchdogs have praised Stafford Borough Council for clawing back nearly £650,000 in business tax arrears built up by local firms. The drive helped the authority slash the arrears to less than £500,000, the Audit Commission confirmed. The commission also praised the council for ensuring 98.1% of council tax bills were paid in the last year. CAR FIRM MORTGAGE PROBLEMS Insurance chiefs will meet bosses of Birmingham's Rover Group after a worker was refused mortgage protection over "uncertainty" about the firm's future. John Towers, whose Phoenix Consortium bought the troubled firm last May, attacked the decision by CGNU as "ironic" as business was now booming. CGNU, the parent company of Norwich Union, refused to quote for a worker. £100m TO HELP TACKLE POVERTY The most deprived areas of the West Midlands will receive more than £100m over three years to tackle poverty. Birmingham gets the largest share of the Government cash, with £5.5m next year and £40m in the next two years. More than 40 of the poorest council wards are being targeted in a drive to improve health, education and housing and to reduce crime MEP FRUSTRATED AT EU COMMISSION West Midlands Tory MEP Philip Bushill-Matthews has said the EU Commission lacks urgency and purpose. The Tory employment spokesman cited his 1999 European Parliament report on finance for businesses which had only been voted on this month. He said: "It took five months to even reach the Parliament as staff from ten Commissioners had to look at it first." RECYCLING PLANT WILL STAY SHUT Wolverhampton residents who opposed a recycling plant are celebrating a decision to close it permanently. Sita, which operated the tyre recycling site in Ettingshall Road, confirmed the plant will not reopen after closing last June for refurbishment. Campaigners, who said the plant's fumes caused breathing problems, are still concerned about the site's future use.
LOCAL NEWS 19/01/01 A Stoke hospital has promised a full investigation after it emerged that 12 bodies were stored in a disused and unrefrigerated boilerhouse. David Fillingham, chief of North Staffordshire Hospital, said corpses were stored in the run-down building between Boxing Day and New Year's Eve. The makeshift morgue was originally set up 12 months earlier. Cold weather payments of £8.50 have been triggered by the recent cold snap in Shropshire - the second time the payments have been made this winter. The DSS said the payments would be made automatically to elderly people on Minimum Income Guarantee and other vulnerable claimants. Seven consecutive days of a temperature of zero or below triggers the payments. Police are hunting a mugger who attacked a frail 92-year-old grandmother,
leaving her with a broken wrist and facial injuries. Constance Glassbrook
had her bag and £40 taken as she walked through a subway in Yardley,
Birmingham. She is still traumatised in hospital and detectives have appealed
for information to help catch the mugger.
A West Midlands Conservative MEP has pledged to fight a possible EU directive limiting the time farmers can spend driving tractors. Philip Bushill-Matthews said the proposal governing the use of vibrating machinery was due before the European Parliament in the coming months. British Conservative MEPs would campiagn against the measure, he said. Relatives of a 47-year-old man who died three weeks after a suspicious blast ripped through his flat are to appeal for information about the crime. Colin Salt had 70% burns after the blast destroyed a newsagent's shop and his flat in Bradeley, Stoke-on-Trent, on December 28 last year. The investigation is being treated as murder. Petrol was found at the scene. Mid-Worcestershire MP Peter Luff has welcomed Government confirmation that school assemblies will be continued. Mr Luff received the assurance from education minister Jacqui Smith in an answer to a parliamentary question. The Conservative MP recently criticised Worcestershire County Council, which has called for changes to laws governing collective worship in school. Health minister Gisela Stuart has toured the Royal Shrewsbury Hospital after the local MP raised concerns about the state of its buildings. Ms Stuart praised Shrewsbury and Atcham Labour MP Paul Marsden for bringing it to ministers' attentions. Ms Stuart added that funds had been earmarked and the main priority was to develop a new medical assessment unit. MASSIVE RISE IN RACE INCIDENTS West Mercia police have recorded the biggest rise in the country in reported racial incidents according to the latest Home Office statistics. In the West Mercia region reports of racist incidents rose by 459% compared to a national rise of 107%. Devon and Cornwall police recorded the next highest increase at 364%. None of the UK's 43 forces showed a reduction. LORRY DRIVER JAILED OVER DEATH A lorry driver from Daventry has been jailed for a year at Northampton Crown Court for causing the death of a 10-year-old boy by dangerous driving. Anthony Ellis, 39, of Trinity Close, was at the wheel of a 38-tonne HGV when it collided with two cars which had stopped on the A45. The boy who died, David Metcalfe, was in the back of one of the cars. THREE ARRESTED OVER ROBBERY Police have arrested two men and a woman in connection with an armed
robbery in Worcs in which a Post Master was allegedly stabbed. During the
raid on the Post Office in Blakedown the Post Master received stab wounds
to his hand which required hospital treatment. Kidderminster Police are
appealing for witnesses to the incident.
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