Stories for 7 October 2003

Bournemouth Cherries

Warren suffers appeal blow

CHERRIES star Warren Cummings has maintained his innocence despite losing his appeal against his sending off at Colchester.  more...

Bournemouth News

Watching for signs of recovery

ONE of the problems if you are in business is recognising when the economy changes course. When do we move from slow down or recession into recovery or vice versa?   more...

Aerospace group buys US company

DORSET-BASED Cobham has agreed to acquire Sierracin Corporation's Harrison Division for $10.5 million (£6.29 million) in cash subject to regulatory approvals.  more...

Awards to honour town's top tourism businesses

POOLE'S top tourism businesses are one step nearer to learning who will be honoured on October 15 at the borough's inaugural Sibbett Gregory Tourism Awards, The Palms.  more...

Applause for boys in skatepark plea

TWO young teenagers braved the political forum to ask the council to dig deep and help bring a skatepark to their area.  more...

Train company unveils £1billion rolling stock

RAIL passengers in Bournemouth became the first to travel on South West Trains' new £1 billion, state-of-the-art rolling stock on Sunday.  more...

Residents trapped in flats blaze

TRAPPED residents were hanging from their windows screaming for help when emergency services arrived at a blazing block of flats in Boscombe last night.  more...

Food in a class of its own...

SCHOOL dinners used to be famous for serving up lumpy mash and stodgy "frog spawn" tapioca pudding.   more...

Time to repay the years of kindness

FOR almost half a century Helen Alford has been severely disabled. At the age of two she lost both her legs and for 33 years she walked with artificial limbs. At the age of 51 she is now in a wheelchair.  more...

NOW IT'S HELEN'S TURN TO BE HELPED

TIRELESS charity worker Helen Alford and her husband Gerry have spent more than a decade raising funds to help countless disabled children in Brazil.  more...

Bournemouth Pirates

Crowning glory for Pirates

IT WILL go down as one of the truly great nights of speedway at Poole Stadium.  more...

Easy riders

PIRATES captain Tony Rickardsson paid tribute to Ales Dryml after their superb team-riding went along way towards securing Poole the Sky Sports Elite League title on Monday night (Oct 6).  more...

East Dorset News

Sex education bid set for expansion

MORE youth workers are to be allowed to hand out condoms to youngsters following a successful pilot project in Wimborne.  more...

Poole News

Chernobyl children go shopping in Dorset

A GROUP of visiting schoolchildren from the Chernobyl area of the former Soviet Union will not find the cold Russian winter quite so hard this year.  more...

Purbeck News

Chernobyl children go shopping in Dorset

A GROUP of visiting schoolchildren from the Chernobyl area of the former Soviet Union will not find the cold Russian winter quite so hard this year.  more...

Weymouth News

Lib Dems in bid to scrap council tax

COUNCIL tax should be scrapped and replaced with an income-based charge, councillors in Dorset have said. The proposal - together with a fairer method of business rate allocation - forms part of demands by the county's Liberal Democrats for a radical overhaul of local government finance. Councillor Stephen Friar, leader of the Liberal Democrats at West Dorset District Council, said: "The present council tax system does not take into account the person's ability to pay. "Last year state pensions were increased by just 2.6 per cent, but council tax across the country increased by 13 per cent." Coun Friar has proposed a motion for debate at a council meeting on November 13. It calls on the Deputy Prime Minister to replace the council tax with a progressive charge based on ability to pay. "On this occasion I am looking for a full debate at the earliest opportunity," said Coun Friar. Brian Ellis, leader of Weymouth and Portland Borough Council's Liberal Democrats, said it was not just the council tax that was unfair, but also the redistribution of business rates. He claimed the current method - based on the adult working population - penalises resorts which see massive influxes of visitors during the year. "We are calling for a fairer deal for the people of Weymouth and Portland, but it is a national and not a local issue," said Coun Ellis. "The council currently collects more than £11.7 million in business rates for central government, but only receives £2.2 million back. We want to narrow that £9.5 million gap." Councillor Anne Thomas, Labour leader on the council, said: "On the face of it the Liberal Democrat proposal is attractive. However, it would mean people paying two income taxes. The question the Liberal Democrats are hiding is what do we do about people who have large assets but small incomes," she said. The borough council plans to raise £4.3m this financial year in council tax, 10.2 per cent of its total £41.8 million income. In April this year the government launched a year-long review into local government finance. The Local Government Association submitted a paper this week calling for councils to have access to more local income.  more...

Lib Dems in bid to scrap council tax

COUNCIL tax should be scrapped and replaced with an income-based charge, councillors in Dorset have said.  more...

Police invite children to design card

SCHOOLCHILDREN are being given the chance to design the official Christmas card for Dorset Police.  more...

Fury over bid to axe consultative panels

COMMUNITY campaigners fear they have lost their voice at County Hall.  more...

Hunting ban protesters prepared to go to prison

HUNT members in Dorset have said they are prepared to risk prison and defy any hunting ban which they say would be imposed through 'blind prejudice'.  more...

Fire in scrap yard destroys 100 cars

A FIRE ripped through a scrap metal yard damaging 100 cars.  more...

Fire in scrap yard destroys 100 cars

A FIRE ripped through a scrap metal yard damaging 100 cars.  more...

Means testing vow over harbour fees

MEANS testing could be introduced to ensure people on low incomes are not priced out of Weymouth harbour.  more...

Heartless

DORSET soccer bosses have been labelled `heartless' by a Dorchester team who say they have been booted out of a memorial cup final.  more...