The latest edition of BBC2's Top Gear saw presenter Jeremy Clarkson quiz former deputy prime minister John Prescott over his decision to install a bus lane on the M4.
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City
Bakersfield: Temporary traffic lights in Oakdale Road and Greendale Road.
City centre: Lane restrictions in Lower Parliament Street between 9.30am and 3.30pm Monday to Friday, and all day on Sundays.
Wilford: Lane restrictions at the Clifton Road/Wilford Lane junction between 9.30am and 3.30pm, Monday to Friday, and all day Sunday.
Newark and Sherwood
Southwell: Temporary 10mph speed restriction and two metre (6'6") carriageway width restriction in The Ropewalk. Diversion in place for vehicles over two metres wide.
Ollerton: No entry onto Newark Road from the Ollerton roundabout.
Newark: 40mph speed limit in Beacon Hill Road and Sleaford Road, near the Newbury Road junction.
Newark: Dunholme Avenue closed between the Harewood Avenue and Boundary Road junctions.
Balderton: Bowbridge Lane closed between the Hawton Lane and Staple Lane junctions.
East Stoke: Part of Moor Lane closed east of the A46(T) Fosse Road.
North Muskham: Bathley Lane Level Crossing closed from 9pm to 6am daily until Friday, March 4;
Ashfield
Huthwaite: Footpath between Main Street and Back Lane closed.
Sutton-in-Ashfield: No left turn from the A38 Kings Mill Road West into Kirkby Road, from 7pm today.
Mansfield
Mansfield Woodhouse: Park Avenue closed between Beech Tree Avenue and Audrey Crescent from 8am.
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The Ohio High School Athletic Association's Board of Directors will hear Lake Ridge's appeal via teleconference Tuesday, the OHSAA confirmed.
Source: http://highschoolsports.cleveland.com/news/article/7369898677663029978
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NOTTINGHAM City Council was today fined �30,000 for failing to comply with health and safety regulations over asbestos in a building used by 148 employees.
The Health and Safety Executive prosecuted the council after it did not manage the risk from asbestos at the Woolsthorpe Depot, Woolsthorpe Close, Bilborough, which was contained in parts of the building for four years.
The building was used by the Street Scene Team, now known as City Services, which provides services to improve the environment, including the removal of graffiti and cleaning the streets of Nottingham.
Nottingham Magistrates Court heard that 148 staff used the site to collect equipment and vehicles.
There were also a few office staff based there.
The court heard the authority also did not carry out measures specified in a Health and Safety file, called Asbestos Removal Works and dated February 2005, for managing the risk from asbestos at the Woolsthorpe Depot.
The council admitted both charges and was fined �15,000 on each, with an additional order to pay �12,000 costs.
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A 12-INCH spanner was a clue that police were hoping would help in their hunt for an armed gang.
The gang had robbed a Sherwood bank of �4,000 the previous week. The spanner had been brandished by one of the raiders as he vaulted over the counter to go through the tills.
Police found it in the robbers' abandoned bronze Jaguar, which had been stolen in Birmingham. The car had been dumped less than a mile from the hold-up, in Carrington.
"This could belong to someone's set of spanners," a police spokesman said. "We are checking out garages in the area to trace its origin."
The spanner did not belong to the Jag's Birmingham owner.
The National Coal Board was to invest �110,000 in Gedling Colliery.
The colliery, one of the nation's biggest producers of coal, was to get the money for a pit bottom reorganisation scheme which had been designed to eliminate underground transport bottlenecks and release more than 30 pit bottom workers for other more productive duties.
Work was to start soon on the scheme, and was to be done by the end of the year.
At Plessey Telecommunications, shop stewards circulated to 4,000 hourly-paid workers details of a new offer under a pay and productivity scheme.
Meanwhile, 1,000 clerks remained on strike for a second of four planned days.
The new offer to hourly-paid workers meant an extra �1 a week in addition to the �2 under a recent offer.
The clerks were asking for a 35s increase and a new grading scheme. The firm had offered 30s for men and 24s for women. However, that was providing that the new grading scheme was withdrawn. Bosses were also not prepared to meet with the workers, members of the Clerical Administrative Workers' Union, until they returned to work and withdrew sanctions.
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The Bilton Grange Community Association says buying a neighbouring pub would mean it could expand its performing arts facilities
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HEALTH officials have confirmed the Jubilee Birth Centre will remain open for at least the next 12 months.
Its future was thrown into doubt after dozens of closures last year due to staff sickness.
Now, Phil Morley, chief executive at Hull And East Yorkshire Hospitals NHS Trust, which runs the Cottingham centre, has confirmed the centre will continue to operate for at least the next year while a decision over its long-term future is made.
This is good news for mothers across Hull and the East Riding who want a natural, midwifery- led birth.
The Jubilee Birth Centre is the region's only natural birth centre and is treasured by many.
The strength of feeling among mothers and supporters is evident after they organised meetings, set up a supporters' group and signed online petitions against any potential closure.
But while the latest move is good news, it is by no means a long-term solution.
Mr Morley and the trust board will have to look at the loss the unit – and the maternity service as a whole – is running at.
This comes at a time when the trust is faced with saving �95 million over the next five years.
Although Mr Morley said he recognises the importance of midwifery-led services, he said the service cannot continue to run in the current way and changes have to be made.
It will be up to the trust board to decide the way forward after consultation with staff, mothers and the wider public.
Mr Morley promised to meet with staff and mothers over the future of the centre and he has done that.
Mothers have stayed true to their word by doing all they can to raise awareness of the centre and show how much the unit means to them. For the next 12 months, at least, Mr Morley said the centre is safe.
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City
Bakersfield: Temporary traffic lights in Oakdale Road and Greendale Road.
City centre: Lane restrictions in Lower Parliament Street between 9.30am and 3.30pm Monday to Friday, and all day on Sundays.
Wilford: Lane restrictions at the Clifton Road/Wilford Lane junction between 9.30am and 3.30pm, Monday to Friday, and all day Sunday.
Newark and Sherwood
Southwell: Temporary 10mph speed restriction and two metre (6'6") carriageway width restriction in The Ropewalk. Diversion in place for vehicles over two metres wide.
Ollerton: No entry onto Newark Road from the Ollerton roundabout.
Newark: 40mph speed limit in Beacon Hill Road and Sleaford Road, near the Newbury Road junction.
Newark: Dunholme Avenue closed between the Harewood Avenue and Boundary Road junctions.
Balderton: Bowbridge Lane closed between the Hawton Lane and Staple Lane junctions.
East Stoke: Part of Moor Lane closed east of the A46(T) Fosse Road.
North Muskham: Bathley Lane Level Crossing closed from 9pm to 6am daily until Friday, March 4;
Ashfield
Huthwaite: Footpath between Main Street and Back Lane closed.
Sutton-in-Ashfield: No left turn from the A38 Kings Mill Road West into Kirkby Road, from 7pm today.
Mansfield
Mansfield Woodhouse: Park Avenue closed between Beech Tree Avenue and Audrey Crescent from 8am.
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A second man from East Yorkshire is holed-up in crisis-hit Libya.
Keith Wilkins, 65, is stranded in a depot in Al Brega, 150 miles from the port of Benghazi.
The oil equipment inspector, of Thwing, near Driffield, is among two dozen UK workers at the Sirte Oil Company.
They have been officially warned not to risk taking the road to Benghazi.
Mr Wilkins, who has three children and three grandchildren, said: "The food has been a bit tight, they are rationing the portions out.
"But we have got no choice, we can't escape.
"It's probably safer in here than on the road to Benghazi.
"Everything we keep hearing about Gaddafi is, two or three more days, then he'll be gone.
"But nobody really knows.
"The uncertainty is a real worry, but being all together gives us a lot of confidence."
As reported in the Mail, oil worker Neil Kemp, 48, of Sutton, is holed up with a handful of Britons on an oil terminal near the town of Ajadabia, in the north-east of the country.
He decided against travelling the 100 miles to Benghazi earlier this week, due to the worsening violence in the area.
The FCO has said there are up to 220 Britons still stranded in Libya.
Prime Minister David Cameron has insisted the Government was doing everything it can to help British nationals flee the country.
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PLANS for thousands of Nottingham patients to have medical tests in Leicester have moved a step closer.
Under the proposals, pathology services – the study and diagnosis of disease – will be shared between hospitals in Leicester and Nottingham, with particular tests done at one site.
The move will create one of the largest single-managed pathology service in the country.
Nottingham University Hospitals Trust (NUH), which manages the Queen's Medical Centre and City Hospital, is working with University Hospitals of Leicester NHS Trust (UHL) to make the move. Dr Paul Shaw, consultant pathologist at UHL, has been appointed director of pathology services for the new service. Tony Scriven, head of pathology at NUH, has been appointed general manager.
Dr Shaw said: "Getting this service right is going to be a major task but already there are some examples of innovation arising from conversations between colleagues in Nottingham and Leicester. Our ambition is to be the number one pathology service in the country."
Over the next year, the teams will work on consolidating the service.
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from Simon Lewis at Murrayfield
IRELAND beware. The Scots are going to throw the kitchen sink at Declan Kidney's team when this Six Nations clash gets under way at Murrayfield this afternoon.
Two weeks on from a disastrous 24-6 defeat to Wales, when butter-fingered Scotland made Ireland look like they were sponsored by Teflon, Scottish captain Al Kellock has been spitting fire and promising redemption for his side to the team's much put-upon fans.
“It doesn't bear thinking about following the Wales performance with another bad one,” Kellock wrote in his Scotsman column. “We have to make sure that was a blip.
“We are going out into a uniquely pressurised atmosphere again tomorrow, but that is why we are here and, if you cannot handle that, forget international rugby. We have prepared well, worked hard on the details of a game plan we believe is good enough to beat Ireland, so long as we all retain the focus when the first whistle sounds.
“We are responsible for exciting the Murrayfield crowd and lifting our supporters, not them us. We know that the performance against Wales let Scotland down, and it is for us to inspire the nation tomorrow. We fully intend to.”
Fighting talk indeed, although the Irish have some redemption to seek of their own following a victory that got away against the French in Dublin in round two.
The numbers of Irish fans crossing over the sea to Edinburgh may be fewer in these straitened times - every taxi driver, hotelier and publican in this ancient city will attest to that as they were to the absence of traditionally large numbers of Welsh fans a fortnight ago – but those who did dig deep and make the effort could be rewarded with witnessing a turning point in Ireland's fortunes.
A third game in succession of high error and penalty counts must not be allowed to happen and if that is the case, Declan Kidney's men can be every bit as dynamic as Six Nations championship front-runners England have been in their first three games.
In overpowering a bulked up France side at Twickenham today, Martin Johnson's team showed they have more in their arsenal than just Northampton flyer Chris Ashton and that the old standbys of the English yeomanry, hard tackling, strong scrummaging and steely resolve, are very much still to the fore.
Should Ireland start to turn it on against the Scots tomorrow and then again in Cardiff against Wales, that momentum will stand to them heading into a potential Grand Slam decider for the English at the Aviva Stadium on March 19 and make for an intriguing encounter between the best of enemies.
Source: http://feeds.examiner.ie/~r/iesportsblog/~3/7S4tJEviLv4/post.aspx
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Temperatures set to fluctuate below and above the freezing point.
Source: http://www.thestar.com/blogs/article/945597--complicated-weather-system-coming-to-gta
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THE chairman of Notts Fire Authority has accused fellow members of having "neither the guts nor the courage" to fight against massive Government cuts to the fire service's budget.
Darrell Pulk, a Labour councillor, was speaking at a tense debate at a meeting of the authority yesterday, called to decide the fire service's share of council tax bills next year.
He said Liberal Democrat and Conservative councillors who sit on the authority should have lobbied the Government in a bid to prevent a cut to Notts Fire Service's budget of �6.5m over four years – one of the highest in the country.
"I am angry and disappointed certain members of this authority neither had the guts nor courage to lobby their party over these cuts," he said.
Mr Pulk claimed they had failed to put party politics aside for the good of the fire service.
Lib Dem Councillor Jason Zadrozny said: "How dare you say that? You have abused your position as chairman, we have made every effort to work with you and you have not listened."
The authority had been asked to approve a 3.5% rise in its share of the council tax next year, but it decided to freeze bills and take �500,000 from its �7m savings to cover the shortfall, following an amendment proposed by Mr Zadrozny.
The authority will set up a working party to review whether four fire stations need to close.
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Michael Meldon turned a year's worth of work into a load of confidence.
Source: http://highschoolsports.cleveland.com/news/article/7097752234132673635
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HANNAH Soar has completed the initial phase of officer training at Britannia Royal Naval College, in Dartmouth.
The 20-year-old joined the Royal Navy in April last year and hopes to become a warfare officer.
Her training has included ten weeks at sea in UK waters on an amphibious assault shop, HMS Albion.
Hannah, who is from Mapperley, went to the Becket School, in Wilford.
During her summer leave period, before setting off to sea, she helped to organise and completed a 290-mile charity bike ride from Land's End, finishing at London Bridge five days later.
"We raised �1,750, which was way above our initial aims," she said. "There was over �270 in our charity buckets and that went to Seafarers UK, whilst the remainder was donated to the Royal Navy and Royal Marine Charities organisation."
Midshipman Soar has returned to the naval college to do take the initial warfare officer's foundation course, which counts towards a degree in maritime studies.
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HULL: Oil worker Neil Kemp may be forced to travel 100 miles across dangerous country to escape crisis-hit Libya.
HMS Cumberland was expected to return to Benghazi at some point this weekend.
Yesterday, the frigate docked in Malta after collecting 207 passengers, including 68 Britons, from the Libyan port.
Today, the ship was expected to begin a second trip to Benghazi to collect more passengers.
Mr Kemp, 48, of Sutton, is holed up with a handful of Britons on an oil terminal near the town of Ajadabia, in the north-east of the country.
He decided against travelling the 100 miles to Benghazi earlier this week, due to the worsening violence in the area.
So far, requests by Mr Kemp for the ship to pick up workers nearer their terminal have fallen on deaf ears.
Last night, Mr Kemp refused to rule out hiring a car or van to drive to Benghazi, although he is still waiting for an answer from the Foreign Office in London.
Mr Kemp said: "We are still on the terminal. About 40 people left today for Benghazi but we stayed. There is now myself and three other Brits.
"We are hoping to get HMS Cumberland back again on Sunday.
"If we have to travel to Benghazi, so be it."
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