Archive
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Battalion musters for golden jubilee
AN army battalion from the region celebrates its own golden jubilee this year. The 2nd Battalion The Green Howards is commemorating its 50th anniversary on April 3 and hopes to attract old comrades to the event. The battalion, which dates back to 1689
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Forum's 1,000th member
BUSINESS is blooming for Sedgefield Borough Business Forum after a flower firm became its 1,000th member. Open All Flowers is run by Caroline Maher, who started her business with help from the Business Link County Durham enterprise grant scheme. She said
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Partners seek ideas to revive towns
A COMMUNITY partnership is forging ahead with ideas to regenerate two dales towns. The Market Towns Partnership for Barnard Castle and Middleton-in-Teesdale met on Monday. The discussion focussed on which issues residents believed were common problems
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Crimewatch focuses on shooting
CAMERAS from BBC TV's Crimewatch UK were in North Yorkshire yesterday to film an item on an unsolved shooting. Pub landlord Kris Stephenson was shot and wounded after being confronted by two intruders at the Bay Horse in Masham in the early hours of December
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Lucky 13 for hospice funds
THIRTEEN runners have proved lucky for St Teresa's Hospice, in Darlington. The athletes, who took part in last year's Great North Run, presented a cheque for £4,788.06 to the charity. The group included Callum Woodcock, ten, who took part in the junior
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Football club supports skills coaching
ASPIRING soccer stars can brush up their ball skills this half-term at a course being run by Middlesbrough Football Club. Eleven courses will run from next Monday to Friday at venues across Teesside and North Yorkshire. As well as training tips, youngsters
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School's staff delighted at specialist sporting status
STAFF are delighted that their Sedgefield school has achieved specialist status. Sedgefield Community College was yesterday named as a specialist sports school by Minister Stephen Timms. The decision means the school will receive £100,000 for capital
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Campaign launched to halt family's deportation
A CAMPAIGN to prevent a refugee family being deported to Macedonia was launched yesterday. Marjun and Lile Dimitrievski have been living in Redcar, east Cleveland, for the past 18 months with their sons, Sasha, 11, and eight-year-old Miki. Now they have
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Schoolteacher denies assault on teenager
A TEACHER accused of molesting a schoolboy after showing him Internet porn denied the charges yesterday. David McPhearson-Smith, 41, admitted taking the boy, 15, to his home but "emphatically" denied touching him. The teacher told Newcastle Crown Court
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Surgeon death toll 'could be up to 70'
AS MANY as 70 patients may have died at the hands of disgraced surgeon Richard Neale, the High Court heard yesterday. Richard Lissack QC, representing former patients pressing for a full public inquiry into the Neale case, said the number of "wholly unnecessary
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Man denies sex attacks on 14-year-old girl
A MAN raped a teenager who had been drinking after she staggered to his house to use the toilet, a court heard yesterday. Dennis Coleman, 19, attacked the 14-year-old when she called at his home in Stanley, County Durham, after drinking with friends in
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Lottery bid aims to help the Empire strike back
PLANS for a £350,000 refurbishment of the Consett Empire have been unveiled. Owners at the workers' co-operative Leisure Services Ltd are pinning their hopes on a £50,000 Lottery grant and on Derwentside District Council approving a £300,000 hand-out.
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Beginning a new Elizabethan age
It was 50 years ago today that the world learned of the death of King George VI - and the accession of Queen Elizabeth II. Nick Morrison looks at the passing of one era, and the beginning of another. JUST before three o'clock this afternoon, the Queen
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Wardens given free travel to keep trouble off the buses
COMMUNITY wardens in east Cleveland are to be given free lifts on buses in return for helping to ensure good behaviour on board. An agreement with Arriva and Leven Valley buses allows Redcar and Cleveland Borough Council's 32 wardens to have free travel
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Paralympian's baby named
DISABLED athlete Tanni Grey-Thompson and her husband, Dr Ian Thompson, have named their daughter Carys Olivia. The couple's first child was born at the University Hospital of Wales, in Cardiff, by a planned Caesarean section operation, at 9.55am on Monday
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1,400 BT Cellnet jobs to be axed
MOBILE phone group mmO2 plans to axe 1,400 jobs in its BT Cellnet UK business this year. The group, which demerged from BT in November, said the cuts would affect back-office, technical and administrative staff. It is also closing 133 of its 320 BT Cellnet
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Prescription for World Cup syndrome
A VIDEO and tv equipment hire company in the North-East believes it can beat World Cup sickness syndrome this summer. Surveys suggest as many as six million staff around the country may ring in sick, or put in for a lieu day, when England play World Cup
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'Guilty' Mallon's game of chance
RAY Mallon has dramatically sacrificed a four-year crusade to clear his name for the chance to become Middlesbrough's first directly-elected mayor. Last night, the suspended boss of Middlesbrough CID was waiting to discover whether his sensational gamble
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Hear All Sides
Letters from The Northern Echo EDEXCEL THE furore about the mistakes made by the Edexcel examinations board must make every other board say, with relief: "There but for the grace of God, go we." While Edexcel have made errors which they should not have
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Park preview time
Visitors can get a sneak preview tomorrow of a park being created. Herrington Country Park, which is due to officially open on the outskirts of Sunderland in July, is being created on a former industrial site, colliery and pit heap. The public has been
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Merger talks top meeting agenda
MEMBERS of Middlesbrough and Cleveland Harriers in favour of a groundbreaking merger with Teesside rivals Mandale Harriers have been urged to attend an emergency general meeting tonight. Eddie Murtagh, who was Middlesbrough and Cleveland secretary for
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Services picking up
BRITAIN'S services industry recorded growth last month for the first time since August as new business and confidence picked up. The monthly report, by the Chartered Institute of Purchasing and Supply (CIPS), showed expansion after four months of contraction
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Boost for housing benefit services
COUNCILS across the region are to benefit from a cash boost to improve housing benefit departments. The local authorities will receive the money as part of the Government's Housing Help Fund. The councils to benefit from a share of the £1.8m fund include
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Cows and pigs saved from fire
FOURTEEN cows and a score of pigs were led to safety at Church Farm, Evenwood, County Durham, yesterday, when fire destroyed a stone barn and byre. Large quantities of hay, corn and poultry feeding stuffs were lost and a tractor was burned out. Until
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£1m real ale pub will create 30 jobs
A REAL ale pub chain will create 30 jobs when a £1m pub opens in Washington next week. JD Wetherspoon has spent five months converting a former snooker hall and caf in Victoria Road, Concord. The first pint will be pulled at the pub - called the William
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Forum aims to back arts activities
ARTISTS and creative groups have been invited to help set up an independent body to boost the profile of art on Derwentside. Voluntary Arts Network, Derwentside CVS and Derwentside Leisure Services have joined forces for an inaugural meeting of the district's
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Comment from The Northern Echo - Politics before pragmatism
RAY Mallon's decision to plead guilty to 14 disciplinary charges is borne out of frustration and political expediency. He maintains his innocence but sees a guilty plea as the only way to free himself from the shackles of Operation Lancet so he can bid
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Another delivery failure
AMONG our disintegrating public services, the Post Office is one of few that still enjoys public esteem. Of course, its new name, Consignia, does not enjoy public esteem. Rightly, it is ridiculed. But, despite that crass name change, the sometimes maddening
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Picking over definitions of a dailectic devide
THOUGH almost a third of the population is now said to work from home, Gadfly has almost always resisted the temptation. Certainly home is where heart and hearth is, where the fire blazes, the broth pot bubbles and the kettle sings sweetly, white no sugar
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Zoe's Wembley date turns into a national tour
Teenage star Zoe Birkett is to embark on a national tour with other Pop Idol wannabes after shows at Wembley Arena sold out in two days. But the tour of the ITV show's final ten contenders will not visit the North-East, despite it being home to both Zoe
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Chance to shape a new interest
BUDDING sculptors are being encouraged to sign up for a series of courses at an arts workshop in the heart of the Yorkshire Dales. The sessions at the Old School Arts Workshop, in Middleham, are running throughout the year and will focus on various different
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'Back MMR' appeal amid measles fears
EXPERTS in the region have appealed again for parents to back the controversial MMR vaccine, while playing down talk of a measles outbreak. Fears have been fanned this week by reports of four suspected measles cases in the Gateshead area. This follows
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Pop Idol Aaron quits job to tour
Pop Idol reject Aaron Bayley has finally shunted his day job into a siding. The train driver has picked up his last pay check - for £24 - so he can earn big bucks as a rock star. Aaron, 26, of Walkerdene, Newcastle, loved his job but after a brief spell
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Recession affects all regions - CBI
THE recession in the manufacturing industry is hitting all regions in the UK - with only a glimmer of hope that things could improve, says a new survey. The report, by the CBI and consultancy firm Business Strategies, showed that in the past four months
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Police plea to identify body found in river
POLICE were last night trying to identify the remains of a man whose body was pulled from a river in North Yorkshire. The corpse was spotted in the River Derwent, near the York Road industrial estate on the southern outskirts of Malton by a driver from
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Community centre is growing fast
A COMMUNITY is cashing in on a former bank building weeks after it opened as resource centre for information and learning. Organisations are moving into the former Barclays branch, in Willington High Street, which has been renovated by the town's community
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Protection blueprint for world heritage sites
A £10m blueprint for the future of one of Britain's few UN- designated World Heritage Sites was unveiled yesterday. The 30-year management plan identifies conservation work to be carried out at Fountains Abbey and Studley Royal, near Ripon, North Yorkshire
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Reveley's Double Blade sure to provide a cutting edge
MARY REVELEY'S fortunes hit rock bottom at Market Rasen yesterday where three of her much-fancied runners failed to complete the course. But it was a far happier story at Saturday's Lingfield meeting when Tees Components won under a supremely confident
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north run is confirmed as the greatest
IT'S official - the Great North Run is the world's biggest half-marathon. An announcement yesterday that the Guinness Book of Records has confirmed the record follows news that the event raised £8m for charity last year. At the launch of this year's run
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Our first winner is . . . Zoe
SINGING starlet Zoe Birkett returned to her home town yesterday and became the first recipient of an award to mark the positive efforts of young people. The 16-year-old, from Darlington, visited The Northern Echo's offices in Priestgate and received a
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Striker Phillips backs club stance over Yorke
ENGLAND international Kevin Phillips, who has scored ten of Sunderland's 20 Premiership goals this season, has expressed his disappointment that Manchester United striker Dwight Yorke will not be sharing the job with him - but has defended the club's
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Call centre recruitment drive building up at new operation
A JOBS boost for the Tees Valley will not be as big as was anticipated. Call centre operator nvisage has confirmed a recruitment drive that will take numbers of people employed at a new operation on Teesside to at least 230. But it said reports of 500
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Musicians of note to play in region
TWO classical musicians who first met and performed together in New York are to play at the Sir William Turner's Hospital, in Kirkleatham, near Redcar. Adam Skoumal is a prize-winning pianist from Prague while Ilze Urbane, a flautist, was born in Riga
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On-loan footballer faces drink-driving charge
FRENCH footballer Lilian Laslandes is to appear in a North-East court on a drink-driving charge. The on-loan Sunderland striker was allegedly more than three times over the drink-drive limit when police breathalysed him in the early hours at the wheel
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Funds help centre into new home
A COMMUNITY association in Hartlepool has a new home thanks to the support of a number of local organisations. Rift House Community Association now occupies premises at St Columba's Church, in Marlowe Road, after their previous home, Rift House Community
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Miners' helper under hammer
A RARE throwback to the old days of mining will be going under the hammer in North Yorkshire this spring. The miner's dial is a brass-bound compass that colliers would once take down the pit with them to help navigate underground. On April 3 it will be
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Magistrate loses damages claim
A MAGISTRATE yesterday lost her claim for damages and was ordered to pay £5,000 costs, after she was hurt when lift doors suddenly closed on her. Moira James, a member of the bench at Hartlepool Magistrates' Court, was injured when doors shut suddenly
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Ski slope bought for trout fishery
AFTER a mini-airport, three trout fisheries, a mini-dam and wild west water wheel, the people of a remote area of County Durham may have a new feature on their landscape - a 70m ski slope. Dentist and businessman Les Smith has bought the ski slope for
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Backing for more women in Parliament
A NORTH-EAST MP is backing a selection process which would see more women becoming parliamentary candidates. At the Women's Conference, in Cardiff, on Saturday, the Labour Party set out measures to ensure that more women were selected as parliamentary
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Landlord fined over faulty boiler and fire
A LANDLORD was fined £2,100 yesterday for installing a dangerous gas boiler and fire. Russell Thompson, 51, of Hersham Close, Gosforth, Newcastle, who owns 25 properties in the Gateshead area, was fined at Gateshead Magistrates' Court after pleading guilty
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'Staff stunned by sex claims'
STAFF at a nursery in Newcastle were horrified when colleagues were suspended over child abuse claims, a High Court judge hear. Joyce Eyeington, a former supervisor, said staff did not believe it. She was called as a witness for Christopher Lillie and
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Broker moves to Lingfield
A REVITALISED County Durham industrial centre is getting a new tenant. Mortgage and Property Services is moving from Victoria Road, Darlington, into new premises in Lingfield House, Lingfield Point in the town. The mortgage and loan broker's 12 staff
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Ex-brewery site sold to Tesco
Supermarket chain Tesco has bought the site of Sunderland's former Vaux brewery. The chain, which is expanding in the North-East, has paid an undisclosed sum for the site, near the city centre, to Whitbread. Sunderland City Council drew up a blueprint
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Winners off on travels
TWO visitors to The Northern Echo's recent holiday fair have won free trips after entering a prize draw. Mayfair Group Travel, of Brandon, near Durham City, and its sister company, Durham City Coaches, donated the prizes at the fair, which was held in
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Ski slope scheme for activities centre
FOLLOWING a mini-airport, three trout fisheries, a mini-dam and Wild West waterwheel, an area of County Durham could get a new feature on the landscape - a 70-metre ski slope. Businessman Les Smith has bought the ski slope for an undisclosed fee from
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Ryanair's record rises
LOW fares airline Ryanair has reported record rises in passengers and profits during the final quarter of last year. The Irish company, which has operations at Teesside Airport, said passenger totals were up by 30 per cent, to 2.7 million, and after-tax
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Virtual trip into the future
SHOPPERS can take a look into the future, thanks to virtual reality. A week-long exhibition in Middlesbrough's Cleveland Centre depicts the town's old docks, their fall into decay - and plans to give the area a multi-million pound transformation. Visitors
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'Alarming increase' in drink-drive convictions
COMMENTING at the annual general licensing sessions at York yesterday on an "alarming increase" in the number of persons convicted of driving under the influence of drink, the chairman, Mr Gilbert Johnson, said that all magistrates took a very serious
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First meeting of cement task force
A TASK force set up in the wake of a closure announcement at a North-East cement works has its first meeting tomorrow. About 150 staff and dozens of contractors could be out of work when Blue Circle's plant at Eastgate, in Weardale, County Durham, shuts
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Blueprint to expand rescued school
A SPECIAL school that parents helped save from closure could be expanded. Sunderland City Council education officials are proposing to increase the number of pupils at the city's Barbara Priestman School for disabled youngsters. They are recommending
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Council homes clearance goes on
SEVERAL homes in Newton Aycliffe have been scheduled for demolition in the latest phase of a clearance programme. The work is part of Sedgefield Borough Council's strategy to reduce the high number of empty properties it owns. Council officers have identified
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Picking over definitions of a dailectic devide
THOUGH almost a third of the population is now said to work from home, Gadfly has almost always resisted the temptation. Certainly home is where heart and hearth is, where the fire blazes, the broth pot bubbles and the kettle sings sweetly, white no sugar
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Beer festival offers mix of tastes and sounds
DRINKERS will be raising their glasses to unusual ales and off-beat entertainment at a beer festival next week. The annual Wear Valley Campaign for Real Ale (Camra) beer festival begins next Wednesday, at Bishop Auckland Town Hall, Among the unusual tipples
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Another delivery failure
AMONG our disintegrating public services, the Post Office is one of few that still enjoys public esteem. Of course, its new name, Consignia, does not enjoy public esteem. Rightly, it is ridiculed. But, despite that crass name change, the sometimes maddening
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Leniency for mum on drugs charges
A GERMAN mother-of-two who fell into the world of drug dealing after falling in love with an addict has been spared jail. Christine McCauley, 33, moved to Britain after marrying a soldier but was left isolated after they parted. She then became involved
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Where did our spare time go?
WHATEVER happened to all that leisure time? Remember when, a few years ago, experts were predicting that we would have all this free time. Computers would do all our work for us and we would all be working part-time. The great problem of the future was
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Reports over devolution condemned
DEVOLUTION campaigners in the North-East have condemned reports that creating an elected regional assembly would be at the price of abolishing county councils. There have been unattributed stories in the national press that county councils such as Durham
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Plunge man assaulted before he died, jury told
A PATHOLOGIST told a jury yesterday that a foundry worker who fell to his death from a riverside path had been assaulted before he died. Dr James Sunter told the jury at Teesside Crown Court that although Michael Burrup, 36, of Stanhope, County Durham
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Bearing up well, bridge that spans 240 years
SPECIALIST engineers have been surprised to discover that a bridge which is nearly 240 years old is still in first-class condition. The Grade II listed Winston Bridge, on the B6274 in Teesdale, County Durham, was thought to be in need of urgent structural
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Council keeps mobility drive on track
A COUNCIL is helping a service that provides a lifeline to keep elderly and disabled people on the road. Peterlee-based Communicare provides transport for people who have difficulty getting about through a team of volunteer drivers and escorts. But its
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Where did our spare time go?
WHATEVER happened to all that leisure time? Remember when, a few years ago, experts were predicting that we would have all this free time. Computers would do all our work for us and we would all be working part-time. The great problem of the future was
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Quakers earn rare away win
Darlington weathered a dominant first half Carlisle performance, a shocking pitch and a poor refeering display, to claim only their second League away win of the season with a hard-earned victory at Brunton Park last night. It was Carlisle's first defeat
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Celebration gallops ahead
A VISITOR attraction is hosting a series of events to celebrate Chinese New Year. The Year of the Horse will get under way at Newcastle's Life Interactive World with special activities along the Fortune Cookie Trail, during half term week, from next Monday
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Cash lifeline for Pitman's Academy
A building that offered hope to redundant miners in the 1930s has been saved from closure by a £13,000 council grant. A leaking roof threatened to bring an end to The Spennymoor Settlement, affectionately known as the Pitman's Academy. The fear that an
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Children play active role in history lesson
schoolchildren stepped back in time to sample education Victorian-style as part of a living history lesson. Pupils in early years age groups dressed in period costume as classes took on an austere 19th Century feel for the day at St Joseph's RC Comprehensive
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Operation hawkeye to combat car crime
CARELESS motorists are being targeted by police in a campaign to cut vehicle crime. Officers in Sedgefield want to see a fall in the number of thefts from cars and are launching an initiative in towns and villages this week. Enlisting the help of Sedgefield
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Auction mart re-openings hit by delay
RED tape delays by the Government are hampering efforts to re-open auction marts after the effects of the foot-and-mouth outbreak, it was claimed yesterday. The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) has declared that markets can start
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Trainees hot on the trail of employment
THE future is looking bright for nine men who were made redundant from Corus last year. Thanks to Stockton Warm Zone they are being retrained for careers in the gas industry and have begun an intensive training programme at Redcar and Cleveland College
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Magpies lined up for match at Kingsway
ONE of the country's most famous non-league football grounds is staging one last big match before bulldozers move in at the end of the season. The Kingsway ground, home to Bishop Auckland FC for 115 years, is due to be sold to developers so that the club
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Nursery 'abuse' report with CPS
THE Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) is to decide whether to prosecute a North-East nursery over an allegation of neglect. Police and social services have completed their investigations into The Play Hut, in Darlington. Detectives have been investigating
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Miner's Gala images to be shown
A UNION official who helped to organise the Durham Miners' Gala is bringing his impressions of the march to a gallery. George Robson spent almost 30 years working for the National Union of Mineworkers and is still involved in organising the Big Meeting
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Boyd has last word as Pool make point
A SUPERB last minute strike from Adam Boyd at Hull City last night ensured Hartlepool United did not go home pointless. Pool, a goal down as early as the fifth minute when winger Ryan Williams scored, fully deserved to draw level after a battling and
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Police end rape investigation
Police are no longer investigating the rape of a woman at a Metro station earlier this week after the alleged victim withdrew her complaint. The 26-year-old woman claimed she had been ambushed by two men and raped in an open pathway as she made her way
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Archaeology pioneer to step down
THE founding director of an internationally-renowned archaeology trust has announced plans to retire after 30 years. Dr Peter Addyman, of the York Archaeological Trust, has overseen more than 1,000 excavations in and around the city and assembled one
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Payment eases costs of Selby
THE Government agreed last night to pay compensation to cash-strapped police chiefs for the enormous costs of handling the Selby train crash inquiry. About £825,000 is to be paid to North Yorkshire Police after the force launched the biggest investigation
