AN anti-smoking enforcement policy for York is set to be agreed next week, ahead of the introduction of the national ban in just over a month. City of York Council's neighbourhood services panel will meet on June 7, when it will be asked to approve the
A CYCLE route providing safe passage from a village near York to the outskirts of the city will be proposed to City of York Council. Villagers in Rufforth, west of York, will put their idea before City of York Council after an open evening next month
Daily Mail Comment today raises questions about MPs employing family out of their £84,081 annual staffing allowance from the public purse. It happens in all three main parties. The tory gent for Old Bexley and Sidcup pays his wife £3,271 a month and his
A York respite centre for suffers of multiple sclerosis has received an excellent review by social care inspectors. The Woodlands MS Resources & Respite Care Centre, which provides short-term respite care to sufferers of the debilitating condition, passed
LOTTERY funding is being sought to help fund the next cycle of York's Mystery Plays. City of York Council is set to agree to bid for between £100,000 and £120,000 from the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF). The money would go a long way towards the total
Photograph by Malcolm Beckwith © The copyright of this image remains with the photographer
A "total waste of time and money." That is the verdict of pub landlords in York on the Government's plans to put health warnings on bottles of booze. They have a point. The increases in binge-drinking and alcohol-related disease and death in the UK are
Political leaders often resort to Punch And Judy politics in Parliament, responding to legitimate questions in derisory fashion, hysterically supported by the collective response of "hear, hear", stamping of feet and waving of papers from their gang
ANDREW HITCHON meets the retired York military policeman who 25 years ago had the daunting job of disarming 11,500 Argentine soldiers at the end of the Falklands War. "THERE were thousands of Argentine soldiers, who at that time were still fully-armed
COUNCIL bosses are to review their requirement that large new housing developments in York should include 50 per cent affordable homes. Any reduction would smack of caving in to pressure from builders. Of course, developers don't want to build homes
I AM a parent with two young children, my youngest being five months old. I get the number one bus every day into Acomb to take my oldest daughter to nursery. For the past couple of weeks I've had a few run-ins with the elderly over my pushchair,
I know you get a lot of criticism about Mike Bentley's column, and I also know that I have risen to the bait yet again, but he outdid himself in this article. I did not read past the end of the first paragraph, where he wrote: "Several valuable items
Ernie Dickinson (A coalition will benefit the city, Letters, May 23) criticised Green opposition to housing at Germany Beck, but is strangely silent on his own opposition when it comes to housing within the Barbican development. He seems to ignore
MY wife had a recent stay in York Hospital, and the standard of care and cleanliness in first Ward 14 and then especially Ward 11 was quite exceptional. The sister and nurses on Ward 11 worked well together. My wife spent her birthday there - not a nice
Although Adam McCartney and I share the same surname, I find it hard to share the same opinion as him about York (Discovering the ugly side of historic York, Letters, May 24). It is disheartening that he is only highlighting the negative aspects of
I find it amazing that Gordon Brown thinks he is up to the job of Prime Minister. His greatest policy triumph is tax credits - the source of misery and confusion for so many struggling families. £2 billion of public money is to be written off after
I AM trying to find a very dear friend of mine with whom I lost contact many years ago. I have many memories of the time we spent together, and over the years I have often wondered what has happened to Patricia Ann Toase. At the time of our last meeting
People in York may be wondering whatever happened to Make Poverty History? When they met at the G8 summit in Gleneagles in 2005, leaders of the richest and most powerful countries pledged to increase aid and cancel the debts of many poor countries.
BLACK bins, blue bins, green bins - can anyone please tell me what colour the new proposed slop-bucket bin is going to be? I need to know, because I'm going colour blind. Government and councils are driving us elderly into despair. Many of us,
There were obviously a lot of people looking forward to this triumphant pair of hometown gigs from the Pigeon Detectives. Both Saturday and Sunday nights at Leeds Town Hall sold out. And early on Sunday evening, excited chants of "Yorkshire, Yorkshire
"Winning the award has opened up new opportunities to me and helped me to move on from the work I was doing into new areas". Those were the words of Diane Markwick, 44, winner of last year's York Community Pride Public Sector Hero award. Diane is encouraging
A MASSIVE cash boost will create five businesses and 18 new jobs for York. York Science Park (Innovation Centre) Ltd has been awarded £695,000 to create Park Central, a project which will create additional office, exhibition space, networking area and
Get it right first time. We are now second only to Germany in terms of government tax and spend. They are traditionally seen as a high-tax and high-spend country. Woefully, we are all too well aware of the wastage generated by this government, much of
THE bravery of undercover police put a drug dealer behind bars - and others may join him. Two detectives known only as Vicki and Jo posed as drug users as they bought heroin and crack cocaine from Kevin Paul Brill, 30, York Crown Court heard. Jonathan
AN ECO friendly new visitor centre has scooped a prestigious property prize. Dalby Forest Visitor Centre, near Low Dalby, picked up the sustainability award at the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) Pro Yorkshire Awards. The centre came
HEALTH bosses have revealed their latest scheme for combating bed blocking - sending patients 15 miles down the A19 from York to Selby. Since April, a handful of patients every week have been sent to Selby War Memorial Hospital when they are medically
YORK'S Age Concern boss said it was now struggling to meet a rising demand for its own hospital-based services for the elderly. The charity offers PCT-funded schemes to help older patients when they went home - for example, help with their shopping.
HELP is at hand for small businesses looking for a boost - after the launch of a new PR company. One Hit PR, based in York, offers services dedicated to small and start-up businesses across Yorkshire. Unlike some PR companies, it operates on a pay-as-you-go
Most people worry about work while they are on holiday and fear for their job when they are away from the office, according to a new report today. A survey of 1,800 workers by employment law firm Peninsula found that many of those questioned found it
Maxine Gordon meets the North Yorkshire women on a mission to help the victims of the forgotten tsunami' ANNE Le Gassicke looks at the photograph of a group of Solomon Island villagers standing together on muddy earth and shakes her head. "They
"Don't be silly, mum, we don't dance. No one does." My eldest daughter regaled me with this fact while she and her sister got ready for the school disco. "Don't dance? It's a disco. Exactly what do you do?" I asked. She explained how girls clump together
CLIMATE change concerns us all. So The Diary was glad to hear the four parties on City of York Council agreed it should be one of their priority issues for the next 12 months. Not only is recycling to be rolled out and stepped up, but a cross-party
THE retail industry is a complex beast. In their patriotic efforts to separate us from our money, and keep the UK economy turning over, its exponents have to acquire many skills. It's not just about providing a product at a competitive price. To survive
SHE should have been enjoying a swimming session with her friends and her mum. But disabled youngster Lucy Branton was instead left with a broken nose, black eyes, displaced teeth and lasting trauma, after a catalogue of serious failings by her York
THE miserable Bank Holiday weather meant visitors headed for cover in York. At the city's historic Castle Museum, tourists and residents sought shelter from the showers to take a trip down the attraction's recreated Victorian street, Kirkgate. The museum's
NEW recruit Neil Lowe has not ruled out York City Knights' chances of a late charge to promotion. The former Doncaster forward made a try-scoring debut as a substitute as the Knights won 24-12 at Blackpool, and he impressed enough to be deemed the
Wheldrake and York - promoted from division three last season in the IT Sports Mixed Tennis League - are the new leaders in division two. Wheldrake just got the better of Civil Service, despite only winning four rubbers, with the winner being served
HOUSING chiefs in York have beaten their target for reducing the number of council homes that fall short of a key quality benchmark. Earlier this year, The Press revealed that 1,034 City of York Council homes - or one in eight - failed to meet the Government's
BEV Harton closed on a two-dart 74 and a 23 from Cueball B' colleague Angie Hields blew away Flag, whose Sarah Jackson-Dawn Stroughair combined to stop a clean sweep in York John Smith's Ladies Darts League division one. Babs Harrison (Slip B') closed
Civil Service beat Castlegarth to go top of division three in the Fulford Ladies Invitation Tennis League. Wendy Cook and Jackie Ritchie got Service off to a great start winning 11-1 in the first round and with three good wins collected 26 games to help
Tyke Petroleum Men's League Tennis division three leaders Fulford took two comfortable points from second-placed Wilberfoss, the 78-30 win based on a haul of 30 games from Govind Baker and Ben Robinson. Wilberfoss's best reply - more than half the
Yorkshire Phoenix suffered a complete wash-out to their Friends Provident Trophy match against Warwickshire Bears at Edgbaston yesterday, so increasing the pressure on them to qualify for the semi-finals stages of the competition. They now have three
ONE of York's leading house builders has welcomed news that the city's affordable homes rules are to be reviewed. At present, City of York Council says that in any new development of 15 or more homes, 50 per cent must meet "affordable housing" criteria
Cygnet A' moved into top spot of the York Monday Night Phoenix Darts League division one after a stunning 8-1 victory against Flag A'. Paul Cooper (17) sealed the win and Pete Leake (2 x 20) and Dave Mason (19) gave good support. Flag's only success
It's Beverley's big night tomorrow with the Hilary Needler Trophy taking pride of place as a valuable stepping-stone to Royal Ascot for a whole host of juvenile fillies. A good race to win in its own right, with Listed status and £25,000 in prize money
OUT-OF-CONTRACT York City midfielder Neal Bishop has returned from the Four Nations Tournament with a winner's medal. The England National Game XI side beat Wales 3-0 to win the round-robin competition having secured the title without conceding a goal
WHEN she was born, the motor car was a new invention, there was no such thing as manned air travel, and York was still the domain of the horse and cart. But as pensioner Hilda Elsegood celebrates her 100th birthday, she can now look forward to travelling
POLICE are appealing to villagers to turn in whoever started a fire which caused extensive damage to a primary school. Fire broke out at Barkston Ash RC Primary School in Barkston Ash village near Tadcaster at 4.30pm yesterday, causing thousands of pounds
HUNDREDS of people packed into York Minster for the Global Day Of Prayer activities. Among the worshippers were the new Lord Mayor of York Irene Waudby and Sheriff Keith Hyman. The event on Sunday night was part of a worldwide programme. The
"A total waste of time and money. It's a nanny state gone absolutely mad." That is the reaction of pub landlords in York to the Government's decision to put health warning labels on alcoholic drinks by the end of 2008. The labels will detail alcoholic
A MAN who overcame a brain tumour to become a councillor for the first time has received a letter of congratulations from Tory leader David Cameron. Robert Wood, of New Lane, Sheriff Hutton, was struck down by a brain tumour only five weeks before the
THE repair bill from Selby's worst fire in 25 years could be as much as £2 million, it was feared today. Dozens of shop workers are still coming to terms with the devastating blaze which ripped through the Somerfield and Wilkinson stores in Abbey Walk
CELEBRATIONS are under way to mark the 150th anniversary of a North Yorkshire white horse - the largest in Britain. Kilburn's white horse has its landmark birthday this month and a fantastic array of racing themed activities are going on. These include
COUNCIL bosses have been accused of bias over the proposed overhaul of local government in North Yorkshire. The Harrogate and Knaresborough MP, Phil Willis, said a council questionnaire had been weighted heavily in favour of making North Yorkshire County
