Lincolnshire Echo back issues from March 2008:
County talent has second showcase
Mar 01, 2008 ... "I Was very pleased, chuffed in fact. It made my day," saysNorth Greetwell writer Chris Barnett. Speaking of his inclusion in the second Lincolnshire Anthology,The Sorting Floor #2, they were sentiments I could echo having beenasked to be involved in the selection of stories for ...
Young people can help grow giants
Mar 01, 2008 ... As if gardening wasn't rewarding enough a number of gardeningassociations are now offering an extra incentive to those with greenfingers. Spalding Plant and Bulb Company has opened its SpringInternational Photo Competition. Photographers and gardeners haveuntil Saturday, May 31, ...
'A dream of nirvana'
Mar 01, 2008 ... The Us president Franklin D Roosevelt once described EastonWalled Gardens as "a dream of Nirvana, almost too good to be true". And it seems that even half a century later the county ofLincolnshire is inclined to agree with him. Last week the visitor attraction near Grantham, ...
Could dial2play be next big pub game?
Mar 01, 2008 ... A New games system developed and tested at the University ofLincoln could become Britain's most popular pub pastime, accordingto its inventor. University of Lincoln graduate and part-time lecturer Cash Garmanhas come up with a games system called Dial2Play which ...
Use your mobile to play big-screen game
Mar 01, 2008 ... Pub gaming has entered new realms with an invention by aUniversity of Lincoln graduate. Cash Garman, who is also a part-time lecturer, has come up with agames system called Dial2Play which involves controlling a computerprogramme played on a big-screen television with a mobile ...
Mafia hit-list fear led man to kill sister in crash
Mar 01, 2008 ... A man deliberately killed his sister in a high-speed car crash inthe bizarre belief that they were both on a Mafia hit-list, a courtheard. Andrew Lowe (41) invited his unsuspecting victim out for lunchbefore suddenly driving into a tree at Moor Lane, Thurlby, nearBassingham, at ...
Abseil daredevils give flats a 10-storey clean-up
Mar 01, 2008 ... An abseiling team of cleaners have been helping to spruce up anew Lincoln city centre flats development. The team of daredevils yesterday strapped themselves in for thefinal surface clean of the new Witham Wharf development, inBrayford Wharf East. Using ropes and harnesses, ...
How you can pass the test with flying colours
Mar 01, 2008 ... Dye works best if you have not just washed your hair, so leave itfor a day before you get ...
Rugged finish better than a smooth operator
Mar 01, 2008 ... British women love a rugged, hairy chested man, according toresearch. A survey by online matchmaking site, PARSHIP.co.uk, showed thatone in three women go for a man in the hirsute mould of SeanConnery, Pierce Brosnan and Tom Jones. They outnumber those who prefer the ...
Chip and pin suspects caught on film
Mar 01, 2008 ... These are the men police believe could be involved in a creditcard fraud ring that has stolen thousands of pounds from Lincolnpeople. The Echo can exclusively reveal images of the men, captured onCCTV as they tried to operate their scam in the Ramper Servicespetrol station in ...
Hostage man's family appeals for release
Mar 01, 2008 ... The stepmother of Lincoln hostage Peter Moore has spoken out forthe first time in an official statement. The Foreign and Commonwealth Office has released a new appeal onbehalf of the kidnapped men's families. It was delivered by Pauline Sweeney, stepmother of Peter Moore,and ...
Serial fly-tipper locked up after 10 years
Mar 01, 2008 ... A prolific fly-tipper has been jailed for three months fordumping rubbish in a Lincolnshire village. Peter James Fitzgerald, also known as Peter Bell, had beenarrested for waste offences in 1998. He pleaded guilty to four counts of fly-tipping in March 2000,but then failed ...
Signal 'mistake' could have put workers in danger
Mar 01, 2008 ... An investigation is to be carried out into an apparent "seriousblunder" during last week's rail workers strike in Lincoln. The Rail, Maritime and Workers' Union has asked rail safetychiefs to investigate after a mistake was spotted that would haveseen a train ploughing into an ...
Low-flying lights sighting remains mystery
Mar 01, 2008 ... Low-flying lights over Lincoln remain a mystery after RAF personnel based near Lincoln were unable to shed any light on theincident. Five low-flying lights were seen hovering silently across the skylast Friday evening between the racecourse and the cathedral. RAF Waddington ...
Echo readers win ale name game
Mar 01, 2008 ... Echo readers' have won a competition to name the first ale to bemade in a new Lincoln micro-brewery. Real ale specialist Ken Munro, who is breathing new life the famous Green Dragon pub in Broadgate, where it will be brewed, wasblown away with their suggestions. He had a ...
Is this the chip and pin gang?
Mar 01, 2008 ... These are the men police believe could be involved in a creditcard fraud ring that has stolen thousands of pounds from Lincolnpeople. The Echo can exclusively reveal images of the men, captured onCCTV as they tried to operate their scam in the Ramper Servicespetrol station in ...
Alice aims to be in fashion wonderland
Mar 01, 2008 ... A City fashion student has been named as a finalist in a nationaldesign competition. Alice Binns (21), a third year student at the University ofLincoln, has made it into the final of the prestigious 2008 FashionAwareness Direct competition. She beat hopefuls from 13 ...
A green blow as bin prices double
Mar 01, 2008 ... Eco-friendly residents are to be charged double the amount ifthey want to buy home composting equipment. Lincolnshire County Council says that it has no choice but toincrease costs to households as its funding from the Government isabout to be reduced. But it predicts that ...
How cash shortage is leaving city short of police cover
Mar 01, 2008 ... Today, the Echo reveals that at times Lincoln is drasticallyunder-policed. For example, Police Community Support Officer Bob Baylis worksthe Moorland patch of the city, where more than 9,000 people live. "There have been times when I am the police presence in the wholeof the ...
Fatal crash victim named
Mar 01, 2008 ... The scooter rider killed in a collision with a Land Rover has been identified. Jason Bennett (26), of Skidbrooke, near Louth, died after beingin collision with a red Land Rover Discovery on Thursday morning. He was pronounced dead at the scene in Saddleback Road, near ...
Heart charity dance
Mar 01, 2008 ... Twinkletoes can don their dancing shoes to raise money forcharity at an afternoon tea dance. The Hearts of Positive Energy (Hope) annual dance will includean afternoon's music, dance and sing along to raise money forpatients, carers, and families who have been affected ...
Chance for a say on crime
Mar 01, 2008 ... Police in a county town are giving the public the chance to havetheir say on crime. People living in Sleaford are being urged to contact their localofficers and tell them what they think policing priorities are. PCSO Laura Rowley said: "It's easy to criticise and say we're ...
Serial fly-tipper is jailed for offences - 10 years later
Mar 01, 2008 ... A Prolific fly-tipper has been jailed for three months foroffences committed nearly 10 years ago. Peter James Fitzgerald, also known as Peter Bell, had beenarrested for waste offences in 1998. He pleaded guilty to four counts of fly-tipping in March 2000,but then failed to ...
Abseilers make clean sweep of a real tall order
Mar 01, 2008 ... Daredevil cleaners have been helping to spruce up a new citycentre development as builders put the finishing touches to it. The team of abseiling cleaners yesterday strapped themselves infor the final surface clean of the new Witham Wharf development inBrayford Wharf ...
Getting a room with a Brayford view
Mar 01, 2008 ... Seventy-two of the 113 apartments in Witham Wharf have now beensold and Chris Howard, managing director of developers Wigford Ltd,said there has been keen interest in the others. "All the major building work is now done and we are hoping toopen up our penthouse showroom in the next ...
Crash victim is named
Mar 01, 2008 ... The scooter rider killed in a collision with a Land Rover has been identified. Jason Bennett (26), of Skidbrooke, near Louth, died after beingin collision with a red Land Rover Discovery on Thursday morning. He was pronounced dead at the scene in Saddleback Road, near ...
Could UFO be an unmanned military plane?
Mar 01, 2008 ... The sighting of a chain of orange lights in the sky over Lincolnhas been given no explanation by the military. Five low-flying lights were seen hovering silently across the skylast Friday evening between the racecourse and the cathedral. A spokesman at RAF Waddington said it ...
Sightings in the news
Mar 01, 2008 ... The most famous and mysterious UFO sighting in England was inRendlesham Forest in Suffolk in 1980. The incident was near two military bases, RAF Bentwaters and RAFWoodbridge, used at the time by the US Air Force. Several servicemen reported seeing strange lights in the ...
Demand for rail 'blunder' probe
Mar 01, 2008 ... Network Rail has come under fire after a train narrowly avoidedan engineering team working in the county. The Rail, Maritime and Transport Workers' union has now askedrail safety chiefs to investigate an apparent "serious blunder",which happened during last Saturday's 24-hour ...
Reward for school after top results
Mar 01, 2008 ... A School has been rewarded for making outstanding improvements inits pupils' GCSE results. Lincoln's Yarborough School, in Riseholme Road, was recognised bythe Specialist School and Academies Trust (SSAT) at a gala dinner atLondon's Bafta headquarters. Rob Boothroyd, ...
Centres decision delay
Mar 01, 2008 ... Tough decisions on whether to close a Lincoln tourist informationcentre and relocate another have been postponed. As reported in the Echo, the centre in the city's Cornhill, justoff High Street, could be shut and money invested in other partsof the service such as Internet ...
Timeline of a kidnapping
Mar 01, 2008 ... May 29, 2007: Five British men seized by about 40 armed menwearing police uniforms at the Iraqi Finance Ministry in Baghdad,and taken in the ...
Iraq hostage release plea
Mar 01, 2008 ... The stepmother of Lincoln man Peter Moore - one of the fivekidnapped men being held in Iraq - has spoken out for the first timein an official statement. The Foreign and Commonwealth Office has released a new appeal onbehalf of the kidnapped men's families. It was delivered by ...
Despite it all, force is not doing badly
Mar 01, 2008 ... Despite the uncomfortable truths revealed on these pages - anddespite the fact Lincolnshire Police is the most under-funded forcein Britain - it is actually performing very well in many areas. Last year, 70 per cent of victims of burglaries at their homes,of vehicle crime, violent ...
Shortages hit handling of rape and child abuse cases
Mar 01, 2008 ... Officers say a lack of resources, particularly highly trainedrape and child protection specialists, means some offenders are notbeing locked up quickly enough - if at all. Detective Chief Inspector Glen Harris said: "A number of seriouscase reviews are ongoing at the moment. These ...
Worries over sex offenders
Mar 01, 2008 ... Officers claim not all sex offenders are monitored to the levelof official guidelines. Detective Chief Inspector Glen Harris said the public'sperception in this area far from matched the realities. "What we do not want to do is scare people. The high-risk andvery high-risk ...
Chief admits 'shame' of cold case failings
Mar 01, 2008 ... If you were the parent of someone who had been murdered or rapedand at the time there was not enough evidence for an arrest, youwould probably be devastated. But if new evidence arose, or technological advances meant it wasnow solvable, you would think it would be a reasonable ...
Trouble on the home front
Mar 01, 2008 ... Policing domestic abuse is extremely important for LincolnshirePolice. Nine of the last 13 homicides in the county have been directlylinked to it. And out of those nine, on eight occasions officers had received acomplaint of violence from the victims weeks or months ...
When thin blue line is one pcso
Mar 01, 2008 ... The reality is that at times Lincoln is drastically under-policed. Police Community Support Officer Bob Baylis works the Moorlandpatch of the city, where more than 9,000 people live. "There have been times when I am the police presence in the wholeof the south-west sector - ...
International fraudster gang hunted by police
Mar 01, 2008 ... A Highly sophisticated ring of international fraudsters could betargeting Lincoln, police believe. The thieves have already netted around pounds100,000 from cardholders. Now, it has been revealed that they may have tried to strikeagain at a second filling ...
Protecting yourself from credit card fraud
Mar 01, 2008 ... Card holders should cover the chip and pin machine ...
Major rethink on Lincoln Christmas market
Mar 03, 2008 ... Lincoln's Christmas market is to be given a radical overhaul after criticism of last year's event. Under plans seen by the Echo, fast food stalls and modern fairground rides could be scrapped and replaced with better qualityalternatives. New elements may include traditional ...
Extreme sport takes off
Mar 03, 2008 ... People in Lincolnshire have been trying a new extreme sport whichgives them the chance to run 20mph and jump seven feet into the air. Called power bocking, the sport involves participants usingspring loaded jumping stilts on their legs. A taster day took place at the NK Centre ...
Protesters target animal use in circus
Mar 03, 2008 ... Campaigners in Lincolnshire have staged a protest against the useof animals in circuses. About 10 protesters gathered at the gates of the site of CircusMondao in Skellingthorpe, near Lincoln, on Saturday. They were armed with placards with the slogans "Your fun istheir ...
Council sick records under fire
Mar 03, 2008 ... Some council staff in Lincolnshire are taking too much time offsick, according to new figures. According to the most recent statistics, staff at five councilsin Lincolnshire surveyed by the Echo take off an average of justunder 9.5 days a year. The Government's target is ...
Murder suspect released on bail
Mar 03, 2008 ... A man arrested on suspicion of murder following a fatal crash inLincolnshire has been released on police bail. Scooter rider Jason Bennett (26), of Skidbrooke, died in a collision with a red Land Rover Discovery in Saddleback Road in thevillage near Louth early last ...
Murder victim's mum's bravery rewarded
Mar 03, 2008 ... A Lincolnshire woman whose teenage daughter was brutally murderedin Lincoln, has been honoured with a national 'Mum of the Year'award. Jackie James-Clarke (38) has been named as Mum of the Year 2008by Tesco Magazine. Mrs James-Clarke's daughter Sandy Hadfield (13) was ...
Teenage pregnancies on the increase
Mar 03, 2008 ... More teenage girls are getting pregnant in Lincolnshire, newfigures reveal. In 2006 there were 35.9 conceptions per 1,000 girls under the ageof 18 in the county. The figures, from Lincolnshire's Tackling Teenage Pregnancy team,show that in 2005 the rate was lower at 34.8 ...
Gale force winds wreak havoc in county
Mar 03, 2008 ... More than 12,000 homes in Lincolnshire lost power as gale forcewinds rocked the county. Lincolnshire Police received more than 500 calls about stormrelated incidents, including fallen trees on roads and railwaycrossing barriers blowing off overnight on Friday. Central ...
Best on buses just the ticket
Mar 03, 2008 ... Well behaved schoolchildren have been rewarded for being the beston the buses. They are winners in the Max Respect campaign which rewardsyoungsters who promote good behaviour on bus journeys to and from school. Bus drivers from across the county have been voting for ...
Pupils show top designs
Mar 03, 2008 ... Scooping first prize in the art competition in the primary schoolcategory was 11-year-old Amber Crawshaw (left) of WashingboroughSchool. She said: "My poster shows road safety and it took me about ...
Live the high life in Lincoln
Mar 03, 2008 ... Apartment living has seen a big revival in popularity in the lastfew years. Apartments that have been designed and built to specifically meetthe practicalities of the modern-day lifestyle of busy professionalsare proving exceptionally popular. To help meets these needs in ...
Hot property...
Mar 03, 2008 ... Property: Apartments, Witham Wharf, Lincoln. FEATURES: Contemporary two bedroom apartments designed for openplan ...
Protest against circus
Mar 03, 2008 ... Animal rights campaigners descended on a circus at the weekendto stage a protest. About 10 demonstrators gathered at the gates of the site ofCircus Mondao in Skellingthorpe. They were armed with placards bearing the slogans "Your fun istheir misery" and "The cruellest show ...
Red tape 'crippling police force'
Mar 03, 2008 ... Huge amounts of police paperwork is crippling the alreadyunderstaffed Lincolnshire force, the Echo can reveal. Officers say most of the paperwork is "rubbish" and "a waste oftime." They have told the Echo they would prefer to be out on thestreets, instead of being tied to a ...
Stilt-walker head above all the rest
Mar 03, 2008 ... A New extreme sport gives people the chance to run at 20mph andjump seven feet into the air. Called power bocking, the sport involves participants usingspring loaded jumping stilts on their legs. A taster day took place at the NK Centre in North Hykeham ...
What the professional says
Mar 03, 2008 ... Di Gallon (51) is a pharmacist at the Co-op Pharmacy in MoorlandAvenue, Lincoln. She started rolling out the C-Card scheme when it was firstintroduced in Lincolnshire in 2003. She said that in her experience teenagers were still gettingpregnant because they wanted to and ...
Teen mums on increase
Mar 03, 2008 ... The number of teenage girls in Lincolnshire getting pregnant ison the rise, new statistics reveal. In 2006 there were 35.9 conceptions per 1,000 girls under the ageof 18. The figures, from Lincolnshire's Tackling Teenage Pregnancy team,show that in 2005 the rate was lower at ...
Mild winter disease fear
Mar 03, 2008 ... Cattle disease bluetongue could start spreading again because thewinter has not been cold enough to kill off midges, the LincolnshireWildlife Trust has warned. Normally the insects that spread the disease are killed off bywinter frosts and snows, but the mild winter means many ...
Storm knocks out power to 12,000 homes
Mar 03, 2008 ... Power was lost to more than 12,000 homes across Lincolnshire asgale force winds rocked the county. Lincolnshire Police received more than 500 calls about stormrelated incidents including fallen trees on roads and railwaycrossing barriers blowing off overnight. Central ...
Councils under fire for poor rates of sickness
Mar 03, 2008 ... Council workers are taking too much time off sick, according tonew figures. The most recent statistics show staff at five councils inLincolnshire surveyed by the Echo take off an average of just under9.5 days a year. The Government's target is for nine days a year and the ...
Body count ... Employees' average tally of off days
Mar 03, 2008 ... 2007-08: 9.05 2006-07: 9.3 2006-07: 10.88 2005-06: 10.87 2006-07: ...
Binge-drink campaign bar award
Mar 03, 2008 ... Pubs and clubs working hard to clamp down on binge-drinkingare to be recognised for their efforts. The Best Bar None scheme is being launched in Lincoln onWednesday. The national project, backed by the Home Office and the BritishInstitute of Inn Keeping, was piloted in ...
In step for good cause
Mar 03, 2008 ... A Crocus walk in aid of Breakthrough Breast Cancer is being heldin Sleaford on Sunday. The nature walk hopes to reveal kingfishers and moorhens on theRiver Slea as well as the first ...
Repair offer warning
Mar 03, 2008 ... Cowboy builders looking to cash in on earthquake repairs couldtarget the county. North Kesteven District Council has urged all householders to becareful when trying to find a builder. "If there is any damage you should contact a reputable ...