Staffordshire News.co.uk

Secretary of State for Agriculture, Caroline Spelman MP, paid tribute to Staffordshire University filmmakers for throwing the spotlight on Staffordshire\'s farmers and food producers

Businesses and graduates are being invited to attend the launch of a new paid graduate internship scheme.

A worldwide 48 hour game design event is returning for its third year at Staffordshire University.

A Film Technology lecturer is venturing out onto to the international film circuit with his new documentary feature.

A groundbreaking forensic study by a Staffordshire University academic has uncovered new evidence of events at a former death camp where more than 800,000 Jews perished during the Holocaust.

Staffordshire University are using the occasion of Holocaust Memorial Day to enter into formal partnership which recognises the area’s links to a former mining community in the Czech Republic.

AN exhibition of fashionable clothing spanning more than a century opened at Newcastle Borough Museum at the weekend.

A poster designed by a Staffordshire University student which encourages students to have their say has been selected to front a new national campaign.

Budding young writers with a nose for news will have the opportunity to grab the headlines with journalism competition.

A Staffordshire University graduate has returned to the UK from a whirlwind tour of Afghanistan and Germany presenting radio shows for UK troops.

A STUNNING collection of period clothing housed at Staffordshire University travels to Newcastle this week as a tribute to fashion lecturer and historian Betty Smithers.

Staffordshire University's Equality and Diversity officer Hifsa Haroon Iqbal has been has been awarded an MBE in the Queen's New Year's Honours List.

Officials to talk with owners

Caterers urged to sign up for cut-price course

£25k awarded to stave off winter chills

Council gets hooked on walking

Staffordshire Moorlands man strikes gold

Staffordshire Moorlands and Leek United hail "win-win" partnership

Feedback on three options sought....

Enthusiasts invited to turn back the clock

Deep Hayes jaunt scales the heights

Biddulph facility set to reopen on Saturday

Funding bid for new games area

Four-day display in Leek Market Place

Village school hears new talk

Council's extensive consultation on emerging masterplan

Fruit grafting and willow sculpture lined up at Biddulph

Council puts health and safety first

Residents urged to use the grey bin

Council sets wheels in motion

Former council chairman hands out more than £8k

Scaffolding and skip hire among sub-contracts up for grabs

A man who used to have a £40-a-day drug habit has been crime-free since February 2011, after becoming the first offender from North Staffordshire to be subject to an innovative alternative to custody.

A partnership agreement to ensure missing people and their families are provided with better support has been signed by Staffordshire Police and the charity Missing People today.

An appeal to trace escaped prisoner John Anslow is set to feature on Crimewatch tonight, Thursday 26 January.

A man has been sentenced to six months imprisonment today, Wednesday 25 January.

Officers investigating the disappearance of escaped prisoner John Anslow have been granted more time to interview a man arrested on Monday night.

Residents are invited to meet their Local Policing Team (LPT) officers next week as they tour the rural areas of the Staffordshire Moorlands.

Crime continues to fall across Staffordshire and Stoke-on-Trent according to the latest force wide figures. Between April and December 2011 there were over 4,263 fewer recorded crimes compared to the same period in 2010– a drop of almost eight per cent from 53,729 offences to 49,466 .

A Stoke-on-Trent man has pleaded guilty to causing the deaths of two people and jailed for nine years following a road traffic collision in Fenton, Stoke-on-Trent.

Three more men have today (Wed 18 January 2012) been charged with the murder of a Chasetown man.

Staffordshire Police arrested 150 people as part of a targeted campaign to get drink and drug drivers off the county’s roads.

Police arrested six people when they executed warrants in the Poolfields and Clayton areas of Newcastle.

Officers have issued a warning after receiving two reports of suspicious activity at two Leek ATMs over the last week.

Officers from Staffordshire Moorlands Local Policing Team (LPT) are hosting a number of neighbourhood surgeries in January and February.

The incident in Guildford Street, Shelton has now been safely and peacefully resolved.

Staffordshire Police have today (Friday 6 January) opened an online photograph competition ahead of the national 101 non emergency number launch next week.

Two men have today Thursday 5 January been charged with the murder of a Chasetown man.

Staffordshire Police is encouraging people to join, or set up, a police registered Neighbourhood Watch scheme.

Detectives in Stafford have arrested and charged a 17-year-old in connection with two burglaries on Tuesday 3 January.

A member of Staffordshire Police Authority has been awarded the MBE in the Queen’s New Year Honours List.

A man has been arrested following the execution of a drugs warrant at an address in Norton Canes.

Cheryl Cole's manager Will.I.Am has insisted that the Geordie babe will NOT be returning to The X Factor - despite Simon Cowell's recent comments.Earlier this week, SiCo revealed he believes the Girls...

Rihanna has hit back at those who have criticised her new tattoo on Twitter.As we previously reported, the We Found Lover hitmaker appeared to have the words Thug Life - thought to be a tribute to late...

Amanda Holden's hubby Chris Hughes has thanked doctors for saving her life.As we previously reported, the Britain's Got Talent judge almost died after giving birth to her second daughter Hollie Rose...

One Direction star Harry Styles has denied reports that he's dumped older woman Caroline Flack, stating that the decision to end their relationship was mutual. The Sun claimed that Styles had given Caroline...

STOKE City could be visiting Derby County today as FA Cup holders had they played just about anyone other than Manchester City in last year's final.

That's the assessment of boss Tony Pulis after speaking for the first time about the fears that haunted him ahead of May's Wembley showpiece.

Pulis kept quiet at the time, but he now says he felt deep down that Man City were the worst possible opposition to draw in the final.

He believes Stoke would have fared better had they been playing a Manchester United or Chelsea.

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MORE than £2.2 million has been paid out in compensation and legal fees in just three years following school accidents and pranks.

Pupils and staff made the personal injury claims against the area's three main councils for everything from slips on spilt food to "accidentally" letting off a fire extinguisher.

Thirty-four successful claims made against Stoke-on-Trent City Council resulted in a total payout of £744,367 since 2008. Twenty-nine further claims were unsuccessful.

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A PET owner who failed to take her dog to a vet despite the animal's weight dramatically plummeting has been fined £500.

Mum Maxine Davenport, pictured, pleaded guilty to causing unnecessary suffering to her white whippet, Zero, after the dog developed intestine problems.

North Staffordshire Magistrates' Court was told the dog, which has since been put to sleep, was just "days from death" when 37-year-old Ms Davenport called the RSPCA on August 1.

The animal had also suffered from vomiting and diarrhoea.

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WHEN Karen Lee won a Sentinel nostalgia competition with her tales of growing up in a bakery, little did she know it would be the start of a new career as a children's author.

But the 58-year-old, from Biddulph, put her £100 prize money towards a laptop and has now used that computer to write her first published novel.

Called 'Norris And The Tree', it was launched this week and the eight-year-old fictional hero could soon be rivalling Horrid Henry for space on children's bookshelves.

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STAFFS: People across Staffordshire needing support with debt management have given the thumbs up to an advice line.

Run by the Citizens' Advice Bureau (CAB), the advice line 08444 111 444 enables people to talk to trained advisors when they are experiencing difficulties.

The service is being supported by Staffordshire County Council as part of a four-year funding agreement.

Cabinet member for communities Pat Corfield said: "Helping people in Staffordshire to avoid debt and all of its associated problems is a concern for all of us.

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RESIDENTS have spoken out in strong support of their often under-fire hospital.

Bosses at Stafford Hospital invited those who live in and around the town to a question time event last night.

Around 100 people turned up to listen to an update on goings-on there.

And the majority of them burst into rounds of applaud when it came to praising the care people had received.

The hospital was the focus of a year-long public inquiry due to unusually high mortality rates among patients.

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NEWCASTLE: Motorists will be able to pick up free kits to protect their cars from number plate thieves.

Newcastle Borough Council and Staffordshire Police have teamed up with Asda to run the scheme at its Wolstanton store on Friday, February 3 from 10am to 1pm.

They will be handing out kits containing tamper-proof screws, which are impossible to remove with a regular screwdriver.

The £110 campaign is being funded by the East Newcastle Locality Action Partnership, which includes Staffordshire Police and the borough council.

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THOUSANDS of tenants living in social housing face a £5 rise in their rent.

Aspire Housing's board has agreed a 7.7 per cent rent increase, based on a Government formula.

This will see association's 20,000 customers in the region pay an average of £4.98 a week extra from April.

Aspire tenants say the increase, which follows a series of similar rises over recent years, will put a squeeze on their living standards.

They believe housing associations should be helping their customers, many of whom are already struggling in the economic downturn.

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TWO former care homes withdrawn from an auction because council leaders felt they were going too cheap are back up for sale – at the same price.

Stoke-on-Trent City Council has run up a bill of more than £2,000 in security costs at boarded-up Eardley House and Heathside House since taking them off the market.

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POLICE are hunting three armed robbers who threatened off-licence staff with a screwdriver.

The men stole an undisclosed amount of cash from Bargain Booze, in London Road, Oakhill.

The two women working at the time were left shaken but unhurt.

Detectives said the hooded robbers fled the shop on foot following the raid, which happened at 9.30pm on Thursday, and ran towards Trent Valley Road in Oakhill.

DS Phil Bryan, of Staffordshire Police, said: "The offenders threatened the two female staff working in the shop, but fortunately they were not injured.

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A TEENAGER given just days to live is looking forward to the future after undergoing a life-saving double lung transplant.

Sixteen-year-old Casey Blunstone, who has cystic fibrosis, underwent a 10-hour operation at Great Ormond Street Hospital, London.

Her family, from Walgherton near Nantwich, was told that a possible match had become available on Friday, January 13.

She had the transplant the following day after being told last year it was her only chance of survival.

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RESIDENTS in an over-55s complex have lost their fight for a pedestrian crossing outside their homes.

More than 100 people at West End Village, in Stoke, have signed a petition calling for a further crossing on the 30mph London Road.

But highways officers from Stoke-on-Trent City Council have ruled the road does not qualify for a zebra or pedestrian controlled crossing, because no pedestrians have been knocked over by vehicles.

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ANGRY parents have voiced their concerns about plans to privatise their childcare to save council funds.

Staffordshire County Council is consulting on changes to childcare in Knutton, Biddulph and Stafford. Nurseries run from the children's centres in these areas would be transferred to private companies, and parents have until March 11 to submit comments before final decisions are made.

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AFTER five years of taking part in the same festival Hannah Bowers is ready to hang up her dancing shoes.

The 18-year-old from Meir Park took part in the 012 Dance extravaganza at The Regent theatre last night, along with her dance troupe from Blythe Bridge High School.

But it will be her last performance, as Hannah, below, is ready to start university in September.

She said: "It has been a really excellent experience and I have made so many friends along the way.

"The dance festival encourages people to get involved and build on their skills as a performer."

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TWO Thelma and Louise-style female robbers jailed for a total of eight-and-a-half years after holding up a man driving his car have complained about the length of their prison terms.

Tracy Cutting and Donna Fitzakerley, pictured from left, took their cases to the Court of Appeal yesterday to try to win a cut in their prison sentences.

Cutting had claimed her five-year jail term was too long when considering sentencing guidelines.

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