Worcester News - Stories for 10 January 2006

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Worcestershire | Archive | 2006 | January

Stories for 10 January 2006

News

Cabinet reshuffle may scupper council's plea for more money

A MEETING arranged by county council chiefs to argue the case for more money could end in officials being stood up - because of an ill-timed Government reshuffle rumoured for the same day. more...

MP Foster's tribute to Labour peer Tony Banks

WORCESTER MP Mike Foster has paid a warm tribute to Tony Banks, his co-architect of the hunting ban, who died on Sunday evening. more...

It's finally time to cut the first turf for sports centre

BUILDERS have finally moved into a Malvern school to build a £1.3m sports centre. more...

CALLED IN FOR A CHECK-UP, THE BABY WHO DIED

A TRAUMATISED mum has said she was disgusted and distressed after a hospital sent her a letter inviting her for a scan to check on her baby's progress - just weeks after he had died. Tracey Hooper gave birth to her third child Edward at just 26 weeks, following an emergency caesarean on November 24, 2005. But he was so poorly he had to be transferred from the Worcestershire Royal Hospital to the Russells Hall hospital in Dudley, where his lungs collapsed and he died just two weeks later on Thursday, December 8. The Royal was informed of his death and has since faxed Mrs Hooper's GP informing him that Edward's death certificate had arrived. more...

Group wins deal to train the Gurkhas in security

TRAIN 4 Security, the security training company based in Droitwich, has won a major contract with the Royal Gurkha Rifles. more...

Rosy Christmas for Blooms garden centre

GARDEN centre operator Blooms of Bressing-ham said that its tills jingled over Christmas as changes to its festive ranges proved a winner with shoppers. more...

DIGITAL CAMERA SALES MAKE TRADING SNAPPY

Photographic specialist Jessops celebrated a buoyant Christmas after digital cameras again proved to be one of the season's "must-buys". Like-for-like sales stood 9.4 per cent higher in the five weeks to January 1. Jessops described the performance as a "welcome respite" from the tough retail climate. more...

JobCentre and benefits staff threaten strike

TALKS were held to avert a strike by thousands of workers in JobCentres and benefit offices across Britain. more...

TUC's rate cut plea

THE economy faced real difficulties this year, including the prospect of higher unemployment and 80,000 job losses in manufacturing firms, without a cut in interest rates, the TUC warned. more...

More help for the city's poor families

SURE Start - a Government scheme aimed at children who live in the poorest areas - is set to open two more centres in Worcester. more...

How can I recycle if there are no sacks?

SIR - I back the waste recycling campaign, but I recycle next to nothing. Why? Because I can't get the city council to give me any recycling sacks. more...

We've been down this road before

SIR - I hate to put a dampener on plans to enhance Worcester's waterfront but have we not heard all this before? more...

Setting the fares record straight

SIR - We would like to clarify the question raised by your correspondent more...

I'd go to France if I was younger

SIR - Terry James is wrong about Tony Blair "losing the plot" - in fact our Prime Minister is putting the successful final touches to a job started by Mrs Thatcher 25 years ago. more...

Anything's better than going by car

SIR - Although I rode a bicycle in my teens and early 20s (1950-1965), I wouldn't today, at 68, feel safe in the present volume of traffic. Matthew Spring (Thursday, December 22) says he saves a lot of money by cycling. more...

Motorists are just asking for trouble

SIR - The incidence of car thefts and thefts from cars has recently left me wondering how many owners contribute to it. more...

There's my mum

SIR - May I thank John Evans and the Worcester News for the picture of Class 1910 of St Barnabas School. My mother was on the picture. She was born in October 1900. more...

Saying sorry is just not good enough

WE now live in a world ruled and run by computer-fuelled bureaucracies, our lives at the mercy of the wrong keystroke. Examples of mistakes - and the resulting toll in human misery - are never far away from our newspapers and television screens. more...

These pups are in need of love

THESE adorable puppies are the last of our 12 dogs of Christmas. more...

Now it's pets that are becoming obese

CHARITY vets are urging people with podgy pets to pause for thought this year and take a closer look at the health of their animals. more...

Union boss hits at Co-op pensions ruling

THE Worcestershire employees of the Co-op group will suffer as a result of the company's decision to ditch its final salary pension scheme, says retail union Usdaw. more...

Railway delighted by its new passengers record

BOSSES at the Severn Valley Railway are really chuffed after setting a new record. more...

Spend a tenner on this tenor's CD and you'll help hospice

A top opera singer has hit the high notes to help Acorns Children's Hospice. more...

I'm in Who's Who - but no one told me

SPORTS car entrepreneur Charles Morgan is one of two Worcestershire men to have joined the latest edition of guide to the rich and famous Who's Who - though he was unaware of the honour until we told him. more...

If you saw fatal crash phone us, say police

POLICE are appealing for witnesses after a 31-year-old man was killed when his car veered off a road and smashed into a tree in Hallow, near Worcester, in the early hours of Saturday morning. more...

Plight of the cricket club that coached Dolly's kids

The cricket club that coached the children of legendary Worcestershire all-rounder Basil `Dolly' D'Oliveira is looking for a new home while its pitch is rebuilt by the University Of Worcester. more...

Where the roadworks will be this week in city

MOTORISTS in Worcester should brace themselves for disruptions to their journeys as roadworks continue in the city. more...

Demolition mix-up on lido's play area works

YOUNGSTERS will be splashing around this summer now work has started on a wet play area. more...

Is this the end of the road for free milk?

IT used to be as common as the three Rs. Children would queue up at playtime to get their daily dose of calcium. The trusty old glass of milk, which has just about been clinging on for dear life since Margaret Thatcher "the milk snatcher" got her hands on it in the 1970s, could be just about to give up the ghost for good. more...

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