MARK McLAUGHLIN
Evening News (Edinburgh)
July 26, 2010, Monday
1 Edition
The glory days of Edinburgh's beer industry might be in the past, but now it is to get a shot in the arm - or a kick in the teeth, depending on your point of view - as Scotland's most controversial brewery heads for the city.
The owners of Aberdeenshire-based BrewDog are preparing to open a bar in the Capital, and with a range that includes beer bottles inside stuffed animals, it seems unlikely to be a quiet addition to Edinburgh's pub world.
The firm has courted controversy with its high-powered ales, and is planning to offer free drink for life to anyone who gets a tattoo of its logo on the opening night of its first bar in Aberdeen.
Alcohol-awareness campaigners have repeatedly condemned the firm for its super-strength brews: The animal skin-covered End of History, which was launched last week and costs £500 a bottle, is 55 per cent proof ABV.
BrewDog also offers its 41 per cent Sink The Bismarck and 9.2 per cent Hardcore IPA.
Managing director James Watt said he was on the hunt for a suitable site for the firm's first bar in Edinburgh. He said: "I think a site in the Old Town would suit our brand the most but we're open-minded. We would be equally at home in the New Town or Leith."
But BrewDog may face resistance to any city bar if it repeats the marketing gimmick planned for the Aberdeen opening later this year.
Mr Watt said: "We're going to have a tattoo artist in the pub on the opening night and we're offering free beer for life to anyone who will have the BrewDog logo tattooed on their body."
Steve Mudie, president of the Scottish Licensed Trade Association, called the stunt "abhorrent", adding: "I would have to question whether such a stunt is entirely legal.
"The Licensing (Scotland) Act 2005 comes down very strongly on licensed premises that offer incentives to customers that may encourage them to act irresponsibly.
"Think about an 18-year-old going in there on opening night thinking it would be a great laugh to get a tattoo for free beer. He's going to live for the next 60 years or so with this stupid tattoo, provided he doesn't end up with health problems due to the amount of free alcohol he's consumed."
Conservative councillor Jeremy Balfour, who sits on the city's licensing board, called the stunt "irresponsible".
He added: "While I wouldn't want to pre-judge a licensing application before it's even come before the board, I wouldn't think a gimmick like this would do it any favours."
Wednesday 28 July 2010
NEWS: Supertot
MARK McLAUGHLIN
Evening News (Edinburgh)
July 23, 2010, Friday
A TODDLER has survived falling 18 feet from his bedroom window without a scratch - after landing on a pile of rubbish.
Eighteen-month-old Jayden Douglas, who has been nicknamed Superman, is believed to have climbed out of his cot, on to the window sill and opened the window fully before tumbling out.
He landed on a discarded cardboard box and rubbish bags which were lying outside the family home in Denholm Avenue, Musselburgh. If he had fallen just a few inches further away he would have crashed through an old glass-topped table that was sitting on the patio waiting to be thrown out.
His mum, Tammie Thomson, 18, said: "I was cooking in the kitchen at around 8pm on Sunday and I heard a loud bang. I thought it was the cooker exploding and heard Jayden screaming.
"I ran upstairs and he wasn't in his room, but the window was open and the curtains were flapping in the breeze. I looked out of the window and there he was lying on top of a cardboard box in the garden.
"I ran downstairs and found him crawling towards the door screaming his eyes out. He could barely crawl. I called my mum and phoned for an ambulance and he was taken to hospital.
"They did X-rays and scans as they thought he might have hurt his neck in the fall, but they came back clear. He didn't even have a bruise or a scratch.
"They kept him in hospital for two days for observation but he's absolutely fine."
Miss Thomson, who is separated from Jayden's father and has only lived in the property for eight weeks, said she had left the window open just a crack in order to let air in.
She added: "I've asked the landlord to install window catches but we probably won't need them now. He's terrified of the window.
"My wee brother said to him the other day, 'did you fall out the window?' He pointed at the window and went 'uh oh!' and then started crying again, so it's obviously had a lasting impact.
"Otherwise he's fine. He's a very active boy and very funny.
"We're now calling him Superman and I think someone must be looking out for him."
Following Jayden's escape, police sealed the property off to conduct a routine investigation into his fall.
A spokesman said: "Lothian and Borders Police responded to an address in Denholm Avenue, Musselburgh, around 8pm on July 18 following reports that an 18-month-old baby boy had fallen from a window to the ground four metres below.
"The child was taken to the Sick Kids hospital for examination but had sustained no injuries and was kept in for observation. Inquiries are ongoing to determine the circumstances surrounding the incident."
Evening News (Edinburgh)
July 23, 2010, Friday
A TODDLER has survived falling 18 feet from his bedroom window without a scratch - after landing on a pile of rubbish.
Eighteen-month-old Jayden Douglas, who has been nicknamed Superman, is believed to have climbed out of his cot, on to the window sill and opened the window fully before tumbling out.
He landed on a discarded cardboard box and rubbish bags which were lying outside the family home in Denholm Avenue, Musselburgh. If he had fallen just a few inches further away he would have crashed through an old glass-topped table that was sitting on the patio waiting to be thrown out.
His mum, Tammie Thomson, 18, said: "I was cooking in the kitchen at around 8pm on Sunday and I heard a loud bang. I thought it was the cooker exploding and heard Jayden screaming.
"I ran upstairs and he wasn't in his room, but the window was open and the curtains were flapping in the breeze. I looked out of the window and there he was lying on top of a cardboard box in the garden.
"I ran downstairs and found him crawling towards the door screaming his eyes out. He could barely crawl. I called my mum and phoned for an ambulance and he was taken to hospital.
"They did X-rays and scans as they thought he might have hurt his neck in the fall, but they came back clear. He didn't even have a bruise or a scratch.
"They kept him in hospital for two days for observation but he's absolutely fine."
Miss Thomson, who is separated from Jayden's father and has only lived in the property for eight weeks, said she had left the window open just a crack in order to let air in.
She added: "I've asked the landlord to install window catches but we probably won't need them now. He's terrified of the window.
"My wee brother said to him the other day, 'did you fall out the window?' He pointed at the window and went 'uh oh!' and then started crying again, so it's obviously had a lasting impact.
"Otherwise he's fine. He's a very active boy and very funny.
"We're now calling him Superman and I think someone must be looking out for him."
Following Jayden's escape, police sealed the property off to conduct a routine investigation into his fall.
A spokesman said: "Lothian and Borders Police responded to an address in Denholm Avenue, Musselburgh, around 8pm on July 18 following reports that an 18-month-old baby boy had fallen from a window to the ground four metres below.
"The child was taken to the Sick Kids hospital for examination but had sustained no injuries and was kept in for observation. Inquiries are ongoing to determine the circumstances surrounding the incident."
NEWS: Rubber Bullet And Taser Treatment
MARK McLAUGHLIN
Evening News (Edinburgh)
July 22, 2010, Thursday
A CRAZED knifeman who held a nurse hostage in her own home had to be brought down with a rubber bullet after a Taser failed to subdue him.
The Evening News told earlier this week how the controversial weapon was used on Rafal Swiderski after he had held 51-year-old nurse Mary Johnston at knifepoint for more than four hours.
It has now emerged that it failed to hit the target and officers were given permission to use the baton round before deploying the Taser again.
The case is only second time either weapon has been used by Lothian and Borders Police, and is the first time they have been deployed together.
Officers today defended the move as they told how 20-year-old Swiderski had turned his aggression towards firearms officers during the incident, threatening them with a knife and a broken bottle.
Chief Superintendent Charlie Common, head of operations for Lothian and Borders Police, said the decision to fire a Taser came after several hours of negotiations failed and Swiderski began charging at them with the knife.
The weapon failed when only one of the electrical barbs struck Swiderski. Both barbs needed to connect in order to complete the circuit and send a 50,000-volt charge through the knifeman's body.
Swiderski retreated into Ms Johnston's Broxburn home and re-emerged with a broken bottle and began charging at officers again.
Chief Supt Common said: "A baton round was discharged, which temporarily stunned the suspect, however, he picked up the broken glass again and as he did so a Taser was discharged at him. As a result, he was subdued and arrested.
"In view of the circumstances faced, the use of both Taser and baton round were considered to have been entirely appropriate."
The use of Tasers hit the headlines again following the shooting of Raoul Moat which has raised fresh controversy about their use.
Amnesty International, which is calling for a pilot project in Strathclyde where 30 ordinary officers have been issued with Tasers to be abandoned, said it supported the force.
John Watson, the organisation's programme director for Scotland, said: "Our position on Tasers is that we accept that they have a part to play in policing, particularly in incidents like this one where they were dealing with a violent individual posing a risk to life.
"We have no complaints about the use of Taser in this case because they were being used by trained firearms officers. Tasers are firearms and they should only be used by trained firearms officers.
"However, we have serious concerns about the scheme in Strathclyde which has lowered the threshold over what incidents they can be used for."
Ms Johnston, whose ordeal on May 22 this year began when she awoke to find Swiderski in her home, has also backed the officers who brought her attacker into custody. She had been barricaded inside until she managed to secretly text a plea for police help.
Swiderski was remanded in custody pending background reports after pleading guilty last week.
CONTROVERSIAL WEAPONS
The last time a baton round was used before the Swiderski case was in West Linton, on December 13, 2005, after a man fired an airgun at officers as they surrounded his home. It was the first time the weapon had been used since the force began trialling its in 2003.
Two years later, on May 10 2007, police used a Taser, introduced the previous year, for the first time to stop a man who rampaged through Bar 53, in Broxburn's East Main Street, armed with two machetes.
Human rights group Amnesty International is mounting a legal challenge to a pilot scheme in Strathclyde to arm 30 regular beat officers with Tasers, as opposed to authorised firearms officers, amid links to almost 300 deaths in North America.
Evening News (Edinburgh)
July 22, 2010, Thursday
A CRAZED knifeman who held a nurse hostage in her own home had to be brought down with a rubber bullet after a Taser failed to subdue him.
The Evening News told earlier this week how the controversial weapon was used on Rafal Swiderski after he had held 51-year-old nurse Mary Johnston at knifepoint for more than four hours.
It has now emerged that it failed to hit the target and officers were given permission to use the baton round before deploying the Taser again.
The case is only second time either weapon has been used by Lothian and Borders Police, and is the first time they have been deployed together.
Officers today defended the move as they told how 20-year-old Swiderski had turned his aggression towards firearms officers during the incident, threatening them with a knife and a broken bottle.
Chief Superintendent Charlie Common, head of operations for Lothian and Borders Police, said the decision to fire a Taser came after several hours of negotiations failed and Swiderski began charging at them with the knife.
The weapon failed when only one of the electrical barbs struck Swiderski. Both barbs needed to connect in order to complete the circuit and send a 50,000-volt charge through the knifeman's body.
Swiderski retreated into Ms Johnston's Broxburn home and re-emerged with a broken bottle and began charging at officers again.
Chief Supt Common said: "A baton round was discharged, which temporarily stunned the suspect, however, he picked up the broken glass again and as he did so a Taser was discharged at him. As a result, he was subdued and arrested.
"In view of the circumstances faced, the use of both Taser and baton round were considered to have been entirely appropriate."
The use of Tasers hit the headlines again following the shooting of Raoul Moat which has raised fresh controversy about their use.
Amnesty International, which is calling for a pilot project in Strathclyde where 30 ordinary officers have been issued with Tasers to be abandoned, said it supported the force.
John Watson, the organisation's programme director for Scotland, said: "Our position on Tasers is that we accept that they have a part to play in policing, particularly in incidents like this one where they were dealing with a violent individual posing a risk to life.
"We have no complaints about the use of Taser in this case because they were being used by trained firearms officers. Tasers are firearms and they should only be used by trained firearms officers.
"However, we have serious concerns about the scheme in Strathclyde which has lowered the threshold over what incidents they can be used for."
Ms Johnston, whose ordeal on May 22 this year began when she awoke to find Swiderski in her home, has also backed the officers who brought her attacker into custody. She had been barricaded inside until she managed to secretly text a plea for police help.
Swiderski was remanded in custody pending background reports after pleading guilty last week.
CONTROVERSIAL WEAPONS
The last time a baton round was used before the Swiderski case was in West Linton, on December 13, 2005, after a man fired an airgun at officers as they surrounded his home. It was the first time the weapon had been used since the force began trialling its in 2003.
Two years later, on May 10 2007, police used a Taser, introduced the previous year, for the first time to stop a man who rampaged through Bar 53, in Broxburn's East Main Street, armed with two machetes.
Human rights group Amnesty International is mounting a legal challenge to a pilot scheme in Strathclyde to arm 30 regular beat officers with Tasers, as opposed to authorised firearms officers, amid links to almost 300 deaths in North America.
NEWS: 111 year old Annie is the oldest woman in Britain
Mark McLaughlin
Evening News (Edinburgh)
July 21, 2010, Wednesday
SHE has lived during the reigns of six British monarchs, outlived the premierships of 26 prime ministers and survived two world wars.
Born in 1898 when Queen Victoria was on the throne, her life has witnessed the advent of TV, air travel and the birth of the NHS. Now Annie Turnbull, who is set to be 112 in September, can celebrate becoming the oldest person in the UK.
On her 111th birthday, Annie was the oldest woman in Scotland, and the fourth oldest woman in the UK.
Staff at Victoria Park Care Home, where she has lived for just over two years after she decided to leave Manderston Court sheltered-housing complex for more focused care at the age of 109, said she wished to mark the event privately.
Care home manager Sue Donaldson said: "Annie doesn't want publicity so we wouldn't want to say anything beyond what was said already at her 111th birthday party. She is a very private woman.
"For our part, it's a great privilege to have her here and to look after her."
Annie became the oldest in UK this week following the death of Eunice Bowman, from Ince-in-Makerfield, Lancashire, on July 16, just a month before her 112th birthday. She is now the 27th oldest known living person in the world, and the seventh oldest in Europe.
The world's current oldest living person is Frenchwoman Eugénie Blanchard at 114 years and 155 days.
However, they all have a long way to go if they aim to beat Frenchwoman Jeanne Calment, who set the record at 122 before her death in 1997.
Born and brought up in Stoneyburn, West Lothian, Mrs Turnbull moved to the Capital after leaving school aged 14.
The year of her birth saw the introduction of Edinburgh's first motor buses â€" the Penny Stinkers â€" as well as the opening of the Glenogle Baths in Stockbridge.
She went into service as a table-maid â€" a job she held for most of her working life.
Although the job was hard, it gave her the chance to meet well-known people, including author Rudyard Kipling. She lived in Easter Road until the age of 92, before moving to the Manderston Court sheltered-housing complex.
She said previously: "I've really been lucky, not having any illnesses.
"I feel well enough in myself, but my bones are all breaking to bits! It doesn't faze me. I know it's just age. It's certainly a wonderful thing, especially to feel so good."
Evening News (Edinburgh)
July 21, 2010, Wednesday
SHE has lived during the reigns of six British monarchs, outlived the premierships of 26 prime ministers and survived two world wars.
Born in 1898 when Queen Victoria was on the throne, her life has witnessed the advent of TV, air travel and the birth of the NHS. Now Annie Turnbull, who is set to be 112 in September, can celebrate becoming the oldest person in the UK.
On her 111th birthday, Annie was the oldest woman in Scotland, and the fourth oldest woman in the UK.
Staff at Victoria Park Care Home, where she has lived for just over two years after she decided to leave Manderston Court sheltered-housing complex for more focused care at the age of 109, said she wished to mark the event privately.
Care home manager Sue Donaldson said: "Annie doesn't want publicity so we wouldn't want to say anything beyond what was said already at her 111th birthday party. She is a very private woman.
"For our part, it's a great privilege to have her here and to look after her."
Annie became the oldest in UK this week following the death of Eunice Bowman, from Ince-in-Makerfield, Lancashire, on July 16, just a month before her 112th birthday. She is now the 27th oldest known living person in the world, and the seventh oldest in Europe.
The world's current oldest living person is Frenchwoman Eugénie Blanchard at 114 years and 155 days.
However, they all have a long way to go if they aim to beat Frenchwoman Jeanne Calment, who set the record at 122 before her death in 1997.
Born and brought up in Stoneyburn, West Lothian, Mrs Turnbull moved to the Capital after leaving school aged 14.
The year of her birth saw the introduction of Edinburgh's first motor buses â€" the Penny Stinkers â€" as well as the opening of the Glenogle Baths in Stockbridge.
She went into service as a table-maid â€" a job she held for most of her working life.
Although the job was hard, it gave her the chance to meet well-known people, including author Rudyard Kipling. She lived in Easter Road until the age of 92, before moving to the Manderston Court sheltered-housing complex.
She said previously: "I've really been lucky, not having any illnesses.
"I feel well enough in myself, but my bones are all breaking to bits! It doesn't faze me. I know it's just age. It's certainly a wonderful thing, especially to feel so good."
NEWS: Tae Be Or No Tae Be...
Mark McLaughlin
Evening News (Edinburgh)
July 21, 2010, Wednesday
IF you find yourself accosted by a barefoot, oddly dressed stranger quoting Hamlet in a voice resembling a cross between Yoda and Braveheart don't panic- they're probably playing Edinburgh Festival Bingo.
A blogger and wannabe-comedienne has designed a bingo card that challenges revellers to carry out dares during the course of the festival.
The dares include ideas like "walk around barefoot", "wear completely irrelevant fancy dress", "recite Hamlet's 'to be, or not to be' soliloquy to the first person you see", "speak like Yoda" or "speak in a bad Scottish accent".
However, some challenges could land you in trouble with the authorities, or leave you with a sore face if you approach the wrong person.
For example, Fringe organisers might take exception to festivalgoers trying to "camp out on the Royal Mile".
Meanwhile, some performers may take offence at players ticking the box marked "heckle a comedian", while it would take a brave person to "ask people to vote Conservative".
The card was designed by 19-year-old student Lolly Adefope, an aspiring comedienne who is hoping to come to the Edinburgh Festival for the first time this year.
She said: "Me and a group of friends were trying to get a theatre troupe together for this year's Festival but it didn't quite come together, but I still wanted to do something.
"I thought it would be a brilliant idea to design something that would allow festivalgoers to engage with the Festival more closely.
"My friends and I had a brainstorming session to come up with some of the dares we could ask people to do and the bingo card was the result.
Miss Adefope, who is originally from Surrey and studies English, has published her card online in her Lols On Comedy section on A Younger Theatre, an arts blog.
A Younger Theatre editor Jake Orr, 22, said: "I think a lot of the dares are supposed to be tongue in cheek. Lolly doesn't actually want people to vote Conservative. The dare contains a bit of irony as it's a reaction to the looming cuts in arts funding.
"There's also a disclaimer at the bottom of the card which advises players that heckling should not be malicious."
The disclaimer goes on to suggest forms of benign heckling such as "random standing up and sitting down, or oinking". A further advisory provides tips on how to "organise a flashmob", a random act of madness carried out in unison by a group of people, with suggestions including the Cha Cha Slide or the Macarena.
Mr Orr added: "There's no overall prize for winning so it will be up to individual groups to decide on prizes, and make up the rest of the rules as they go along."
Evening News (Edinburgh)
July 21, 2010, Wednesday
IF you find yourself accosted by a barefoot, oddly dressed stranger quoting Hamlet in a voice resembling a cross between Yoda and Braveheart don't panic- they're probably playing Edinburgh Festival Bingo.
A blogger and wannabe-comedienne has designed a bingo card that challenges revellers to carry out dares during the course of the festival.
The dares include ideas like "walk around barefoot", "wear completely irrelevant fancy dress", "recite Hamlet's 'to be, or not to be' soliloquy to the first person you see", "speak like Yoda" or "speak in a bad Scottish accent".
However, some challenges could land you in trouble with the authorities, or leave you with a sore face if you approach the wrong person.
For example, Fringe organisers might take exception to festivalgoers trying to "camp out on the Royal Mile".
Meanwhile, some performers may take offence at players ticking the box marked "heckle a comedian", while it would take a brave person to "ask people to vote Conservative".
The card was designed by 19-year-old student Lolly Adefope, an aspiring comedienne who is hoping to come to the Edinburgh Festival for the first time this year.
She said: "Me and a group of friends were trying to get a theatre troupe together for this year's Festival but it didn't quite come together, but I still wanted to do something.
"I thought it would be a brilliant idea to design something that would allow festivalgoers to engage with the Festival more closely.
"My friends and I had a brainstorming session to come up with some of the dares we could ask people to do and the bingo card was the result.
Miss Adefope, who is originally from Surrey and studies English, has published her card online in her Lols On Comedy section on A Younger Theatre, an arts blog.
A Younger Theatre editor Jake Orr, 22, said: "I think a lot of the dares are supposed to be tongue in cheek. Lolly doesn't actually want people to vote Conservative. The dare contains a bit of irony as it's a reaction to the looming cuts in arts funding.
"There's also a disclaimer at the bottom of the card which advises players that heckling should not be malicious."
The disclaimer goes on to suggest forms of benign heckling such as "random standing up and sitting down, or oinking". A further advisory provides tips on how to "organise a flashmob", a random act of madness carried out in unison by a group of people, with suggestions including the Cha Cha Slide or the Macarena.
Mr Orr added: "There's no overall prize for winning so it will be up to individual groups to decide on prizes, and make up the rest of the rules as they go along."
SPORT: Ajax Style Strip Is Hit And Miss For Hearts
MARK McLAUGHLIN
Evening News (Edinburgh)
July 20, 2010, Tuesday
"THE boys in maroon are the best in the land," is the famous refrain that welcomes Hearts on to the pitch but fans might have to sing a different tune at Tynecastle this season.
The club's new "Ajax-style" home strip, with a white central panel offset by two maroon stripes at either side, has been met with a mixed response from former players and fans.
The strip has echoes of the 1972-73 season, which had a maroon central panel offset by white stripes down either side.
Former striker Donald Ford, 65, who wore that strip more than anyone else with a total of 44 appearances that season, remembers it well.
He said: "I'm really happy they're bringing that design back because the players really liked it , but I don't think the fans were too happy with it if I remember correctly.
"Probably my most memorable game in that strip was when I scored from a header at Ibrox [December 2 1972] to win 1-0,
"I think the maroon is the most important part of the strip so it's a shame they've decided to do it the other way."
However, former team-mate Ian Sneddon, who scored his first competitive goal in the strip, was partial to the white.
He said: "My favourite strip was always the away strip with the white top and maroon shorts.
"I think the new one looks quite nice with the white panel down the middle and the maroon at the sides."
One of the most notable former-players to wear maroon-and-white was current manager Jim Jefferies, who made eight appearances as a youngster in 72-73.
However, David Beveridge, of the Robertson's Bar Hearts Supporters Club, was surprised that Jefferies current team will be playing in a mostly white top.
He said: "I remember during his first spell as manager when we changed the strip from that horrible purpley-maroon colour and he said he liked his team playing in the classic maroon.
"I'm all for an all-maroon Hearts top and I'm not happy that we'll be walking out in white."
There was a similarly mixed response from regular fans, and not only for the radical home strip.
Jambo Keith Marsh, 45, a postman from Gorgie, said: "I think the Hearts strip should be mostly maroon but I do think the design is quite modern and stylish, and it will probably appeal to the kids and sell more replicas.
Fans are used to seeing Hearts march out in white while playing away, but their decision to go white at home has forced them to design an even more radical blue-and-white Argentina-style design away.
Scott Preston, 47, a road worker from Clermiston and lifelong season ticket holder, was not impressed. He said: "It looks like a Kilmarnock top."
Fellow road worker Craig Fowler, 32, from South Queensferry, said he won't be deterred by the radical new design.
He said: "I buy a new strip regardless of how it looks."
Evening News (Edinburgh)
July 20, 2010, Tuesday
"THE boys in maroon are the best in the land," is the famous refrain that welcomes Hearts on to the pitch but fans might have to sing a different tune at Tynecastle this season.
The club's new "Ajax-style" home strip, with a white central panel offset by two maroon stripes at either side, has been met with a mixed response from former players and fans.
The strip has echoes of the 1972-73 season, which had a maroon central panel offset by white stripes down either side.
Former striker Donald Ford, 65, who wore that strip more than anyone else with a total of 44 appearances that season, remembers it well.
He said: "I'm really happy they're bringing that design back because the players really liked it , but I don't think the fans were too happy with it if I remember correctly.
"Probably my most memorable game in that strip was when I scored from a header at Ibrox [December 2 1972] to win 1-0,
"I think the maroon is the most important part of the strip so it's a shame they've decided to do it the other way."
However, former team-mate Ian Sneddon, who scored his first competitive goal in the strip, was partial to the white.
He said: "My favourite strip was always the away strip with the white top and maroon shorts.
"I think the new one looks quite nice with the white panel down the middle and the maroon at the sides."
One of the most notable former-players to wear maroon-and-white was current manager Jim Jefferies, who made eight appearances as a youngster in 72-73.
However, David Beveridge, of the Robertson's Bar Hearts Supporters Club, was surprised that Jefferies current team will be playing in a mostly white top.
He said: "I remember during his first spell as manager when we changed the strip from that horrible purpley-maroon colour and he said he liked his team playing in the classic maroon.
"I'm all for an all-maroon Hearts top and I'm not happy that we'll be walking out in white."
There was a similarly mixed response from regular fans, and not only for the radical home strip.
Jambo Keith Marsh, 45, a postman from Gorgie, said: "I think the Hearts strip should be mostly maroon but I do think the design is quite modern and stylish, and it will probably appeal to the kids and sell more replicas.
Fans are used to seeing Hearts march out in white while playing away, but their decision to go white at home has forced them to design an even more radical blue-and-white Argentina-style design away.
Scott Preston, 47, a road worker from Clermiston and lifelong season ticket holder, was not impressed. He said: "It looks like a Kilmarnock top."
Fellow road worker Craig Fowler, 32, from South Queensferry, said he won't be deterred by the radical new design.
He said: "I buy a new strip regardless of how it looks."
NEWS: Running For A Tuk Tuk
MARK McLAUGHLIN
Evening News (Edinburgh)
July 20, 2010, Tuesday
A BUSINESSWOMAN is gearing up for a 150-mile charity run to help out an old friend trying to make ends meet on the streets of Delhi.
Caroline Williams, 46, owner of The Massage Place on Rodney Street, whose only previous running experience is a half-marathon 20 years ago, is aiming to complete the run from King Robert the Bruce's Cave, near Gretna, to Denbighshire in North Wales, in just six days.
She hopes to raise more than £6,000 to buy an auto rickshaw - a motorised carriage known in India as a "tuk-tuk" for the noise it makes - for her friend Dheeraj Lal, affectionately known as Champu, a former street child.
Caroline said: "I first met Champu while travelling in Delhi ten years ago. I was walking down the road trying my best to ignore all of the begging street kids, as we had been advised to do by our tour guides, when this little guy walked up to me and said something that really made me laugh.
"I can't recall what it was but I was totally taken with him. He didn't ask me for anything, he just wanted to walk with me and practise his English.
"I asked him if he ever got jealous of the tourists who arrived with pockets full of money, and he said no because he worked a really good corner of the street and he felt lucky that he had a house when others didn't.
"We struck up a friendship and he took me to a lot of the local festivals, and took me to meet his family where I got the chance to take a look at this 'house'.
"It was a shack about two-thirds of the size of a double bed and he was sleeping in there with his parents and two brothers.
"Despite this, he was very proud and still refused to ask me for anything. He even paid the taxi fare to his 'house'."
Champu is now in his mid-20s, with three children, meaning there are now eight people taking turns to sleep in his tiny shack, and he is frequently arrested for offering his services as an unofficial tour guide.
Caroline added: "With the Commonwealth Games coming to Delhi this year the Indian government have started cracking down hard on the street vendors, so Champu told me he was saving to buy a tuk-tuk. He proudly told me he already had the equivalent of GBP153 saved up, but the cheapest second-hand tuk-tuk costs GBP3,000 with a new one costing over GBP6,000 so it would take him a lifetime to save up.
"That's why I decided to raise money to buy him one because the money won't just be helping him. All of the money he raises is shared amongst his family and the other members of his community."
Caroline has already raised around a quarter of the money she needs and is holding several fundraising events in the Capital ahead of her Trans-Britain Challenge on September 11, including a quiz night at The Outhouse on July 28 and a 10km "Tapas Run" ending at Tapa Restaurant at The Shore on August 8.
Entry to the quiz night and Tapas Run costs £5 per head per event. To donate to Caroline's Trans-Britain Challenge visit www.justgiving.com/whenpathscross.
Evening News (Edinburgh)
July 20, 2010, Tuesday
A BUSINESSWOMAN is gearing up for a 150-mile charity run to help out an old friend trying to make ends meet on the streets of Delhi.
Caroline Williams, 46, owner of The Massage Place on Rodney Street, whose only previous running experience is a half-marathon 20 years ago, is aiming to complete the run from King Robert the Bruce's Cave, near Gretna, to Denbighshire in North Wales, in just six days.
She hopes to raise more than £6,000 to buy an auto rickshaw - a motorised carriage known in India as a "tuk-tuk" for the noise it makes - for her friend Dheeraj Lal, affectionately known as Champu, a former street child.
Caroline said: "I first met Champu while travelling in Delhi ten years ago. I was walking down the road trying my best to ignore all of the begging street kids, as we had been advised to do by our tour guides, when this little guy walked up to me and said something that really made me laugh.
"I can't recall what it was but I was totally taken with him. He didn't ask me for anything, he just wanted to walk with me and practise his English.
"I asked him if he ever got jealous of the tourists who arrived with pockets full of money, and he said no because he worked a really good corner of the street and he felt lucky that he had a house when others didn't.
"We struck up a friendship and he took me to a lot of the local festivals, and took me to meet his family where I got the chance to take a look at this 'house'.
"It was a shack about two-thirds of the size of a double bed and he was sleeping in there with his parents and two brothers.
"Despite this, he was very proud and still refused to ask me for anything. He even paid the taxi fare to his 'house'."
Champu is now in his mid-20s, with three children, meaning there are now eight people taking turns to sleep in his tiny shack, and he is frequently arrested for offering his services as an unofficial tour guide.
Caroline added: "With the Commonwealth Games coming to Delhi this year the Indian government have started cracking down hard on the street vendors, so Champu told me he was saving to buy a tuk-tuk. He proudly told me he already had the equivalent of GBP153 saved up, but the cheapest second-hand tuk-tuk costs GBP3,000 with a new one costing over GBP6,000 so it would take him a lifetime to save up.
"That's why I decided to raise money to buy him one because the money won't just be helping him. All of the money he raises is shared amongst his family and the other members of his community."
Caroline has already raised around a quarter of the money she needs and is holding several fundraising events in the Capital ahead of her Trans-Britain Challenge on September 11, including a quiz night at The Outhouse on July 28 and a 10km "Tapas Run" ending at Tapa Restaurant at The Shore on August 8.
Entry to the quiz night and Tapas Run costs £5 per head per event. To donate to Caroline's Trans-Britain Challenge visit www.justgiving.com/whenpathscross.
NEWS: Hostage Horror Ends With A Taser
Mark McLaughlin
Evening News (Edinburgh)
Nurse tells of hostage terror
A NURSE was held hostage in her bedroom for four hours after waking to find a disturbed knife man in her room.
Mary Johnston, 51, was barricaded inside with Rafal Swiderski until she managed to secretly text a plea for police help.
Swiderski, 20, piled furniture against the bedroom door and pulled out his knife after Ms Johnston spotted him.
He then brandished the knife at her and threatened to stab himself, as well as banging and shouting, and pointing frantically at the empty street.
The Edinburgh Royal Infirmary staff nurse, of East Main Street, Broxburn, eventually managed to slip out after police arrived and started trying to convince him to let her go.
Swiderski was eventually arrested after being shot and immobilised by a taser stun gun.
Ms Johnston said: "I had been on the night shift and I was woken about 11.45am by someone coming into the house. The next thing I knew this strange man had walked into my bedroom.
"He kept saying, 'Shhh, please'. He clearly thought someone was after him.
"He went into the kitchen and I heard him raking around and when he came back he pushed my bed and my treadmill against the door, and when he turned around I saw that he had a knife in the back of his trousers.
"He pulled the knife out and didn't let go of it, and a few times he said he was going to stab himself with it.
"Then he told me to lift up the blinds so he could see out, and started pointing at nothing and shouting 'look, look'.
"I tried to calm him down by telling him that no-one was there, but whenever I let go of the blinds he held the knife to me and told me to lift them up."
Ms Johnston was able to grab her phone without Swiderski noticing, and discreetly text, "HELP. PHONE POLICE", to her last number.
She added: "I could hear the police arrive outside. This just made him more agitated and he began jumping on the bed, on the chest of drawers and throwing ornaments around.
"The police were saying, 'Rafal, Rafal, let the lady go. You don't need her.'
"I managed to push the bed away from the door until it was just wide enough to squeeze through. When I saw my chance, I ran for it. He saw me and ran after me, but I made it out the front door and managed to pull it shut behind me."
The case follows the shooting of Raoul Moat with a shotgun-style taser, which has raised fresh controversy about the use of the stun guns.
But Ms Johnston is adamant that the police did the right thing.
She said: "If the police hadn't tasered him, who knows what he would have done."
Last Thursday, Swiderski pled guilty to entering Ms Johnston's house without invitation, barricading her inside and brandishing a knife on May 22 this year.
He was remanded in custody pending background reports. Sentencing is due on August 5.
A police spokesman said: "Lothian and Borders Police issue tasers to authorised firearms officers, who are only permitted to use the device in circumstances where a suspect presents a clear risk to the public, the officers in attendance or even themselves.
"Before a taser is discharged, the suspect will be given clear warning to cease their actions and surrender."
Evening News (Edinburgh)
Nurse tells of hostage terror
A NURSE was held hostage in her bedroom for four hours after waking to find a disturbed knife man in her room.
Mary Johnston, 51, was barricaded inside with Rafal Swiderski until she managed to secretly text a plea for police help.
Swiderski, 20, piled furniture against the bedroom door and pulled out his knife after Ms Johnston spotted him.
He then brandished the knife at her and threatened to stab himself, as well as banging and shouting, and pointing frantically at the empty street.
The Edinburgh Royal Infirmary staff nurse, of East Main Street, Broxburn, eventually managed to slip out after police arrived and started trying to convince him to let her go.
Swiderski was eventually arrested after being shot and immobilised by a taser stun gun.
Ms Johnston said: "I had been on the night shift and I was woken about 11.45am by someone coming into the house. The next thing I knew this strange man had walked into my bedroom.
"He kept saying, 'Shhh, please'. He clearly thought someone was after him.
"He went into the kitchen and I heard him raking around and when he came back he pushed my bed and my treadmill against the door, and when he turned around I saw that he had a knife in the back of his trousers.
"He pulled the knife out and didn't let go of it, and a few times he said he was going to stab himself with it.
"Then he told me to lift up the blinds so he could see out, and started pointing at nothing and shouting 'look, look'.
"I tried to calm him down by telling him that no-one was there, but whenever I let go of the blinds he held the knife to me and told me to lift them up."
Ms Johnston was able to grab her phone without Swiderski noticing, and discreetly text, "HELP. PHONE POLICE", to her last number.
She added: "I could hear the police arrive outside. This just made him more agitated and he began jumping on the bed, on the chest of drawers and throwing ornaments around.
"The police were saying, 'Rafal, Rafal, let the lady go. You don't need her.'
"I managed to push the bed away from the door until it was just wide enough to squeeze through. When I saw my chance, I ran for it. He saw me and ran after me, but I made it out the front door and managed to pull it shut behind me."
The case follows the shooting of Raoul Moat with a shotgun-style taser, which has raised fresh controversy about the use of the stun guns.
But Ms Johnston is adamant that the police did the right thing.
She said: "If the police hadn't tasered him, who knows what he would have done."
Last Thursday, Swiderski pled guilty to entering Ms Johnston's house without invitation, barricading her inside and brandishing a knife on May 22 this year.
He was remanded in custody pending background reports. Sentencing is due on August 5.
A police spokesman said: "Lothian and Borders Police issue tasers to authorised firearms officers, who are only permitted to use the device in circumstances where a suspect presents a clear risk to the public, the officers in attendance or even themselves.
"Before a taser is discharged, the suspect will be given clear warning to cease their actions and surrender."
NEWS: Rod Rage
MARK McLAUGHLIN
Evening News (Edinburgh)
July 16, 2010, Friday
IT'S the kind of behaviour you might expect from some laddish fans at an Oasis concert â€" boorish and intimidating.
But it was the last thing anyone expected from the droves of middle aged rock fans who flocked to see Rod Stewart at Edinburgh Castle over the past two nights.
Yet for Mercy Breheny, 36, Wednesday night turned nasty when she refused to let some of the old rocker's fans shelter from the rain in her stairwell.
Ms Breheny, 36, called the police after one concert-goer broke into her close and shouted a barrage of abuse outside her door after she shut them out in the rain.
The trouble started after she cycled to her flat in Johnston Terrace shortly before Wednesday night's concert began to find middle aged fans sheltering in her stairwell doorway.
"I pulled up on my bike at around 8 o'clock and they were standing there drinking beer and smoking.
"I asked them to excuse me and let me into my stair, and when I turned around to close the door behind me they blocked the entrance," she said.
"I asked them to excuse me again about five times and they ignored me, so I pushed the door shut at their backs.
"On the way up the stair I could hear shouting and swearing. Then I heard the door being forced by a shoulder, then heard someone racing up the stairs to catch up with me.
"He was shouting and screaming. It was along the lines of, 'Don't f******* shut the door on me, you f******** b****', He sounded really mad.
"I ran into the house and closed my door behind me. I heard other voices behind him and I was worried I had a gang after me.
"I like to think I know how to look after myself but I was really scared that he'd come up and force my door as well.
"I actually thought he would do it. He had riled himself up to an absolutely insane degree."
Ms Breheny changed out of her wet clothes and worked up the courage to go back into the stairwell to see if the way was clear to find a police officer.
She said: "I went back out into the street and explained what happened to a policeman who was directing fans up to the gig, but he looked like he couldn't care less.
"He said, 'Can't you see that we're a bit busy here?'
"Busy doing what? Shepherding other harmless fans up the street while I'm being threatened in my own house?"
A police spokeswoman today said they had investigated the incident in the close, but by the time they arrived the people responsible had already headed to the concert.
Evening News (Edinburgh)
July 16, 2010, Friday
IT'S the kind of behaviour you might expect from some laddish fans at an Oasis concert â€" boorish and intimidating.
But it was the last thing anyone expected from the droves of middle aged rock fans who flocked to see Rod Stewart at Edinburgh Castle over the past two nights.
Yet for Mercy Breheny, 36, Wednesday night turned nasty when she refused to let some of the old rocker's fans shelter from the rain in her stairwell.
Ms Breheny, 36, called the police after one concert-goer broke into her close and shouted a barrage of abuse outside her door after she shut them out in the rain.
The trouble started after she cycled to her flat in Johnston Terrace shortly before Wednesday night's concert began to find middle aged fans sheltering in her stairwell doorway.
"I pulled up on my bike at around 8 o'clock and they were standing there drinking beer and smoking.
"I asked them to excuse me and let me into my stair, and when I turned around to close the door behind me they blocked the entrance," she said.
"I asked them to excuse me again about five times and they ignored me, so I pushed the door shut at their backs.
"On the way up the stair I could hear shouting and swearing. Then I heard the door being forced by a shoulder, then heard someone racing up the stairs to catch up with me.
"He was shouting and screaming. It was along the lines of, 'Don't f******* shut the door on me, you f******** b****', He sounded really mad.
"I ran into the house and closed my door behind me. I heard other voices behind him and I was worried I had a gang after me.
"I like to think I know how to look after myself but I was really scared that he'd come up and force my door as well.
"I actually thought he would do it. He had riled himself up to an absolutely insane degree."
Ms Breheny changed out of her wet clothes and worked up the courage to go back into the stairwell to see if the way was clear to find a police officer.
She said: "I went back out into the street and explained what happened to a policeman who was directing fans up to the gig, but he looked like he couldn't care less.
"He said, 'Can't you see that we're a bit busy here?'
"Busy doing what? Shepherding other harmless fans up the street while I'm being threatened in my own house?"
A police spokeswoman today said they had investigated the incident in the close, but by the time they arrived the people responsible had already headed to the concert.
NEWS: Rod In The Rain
MARK McLAUGHLIN
Evening News (Edinburgh)
July 15, 2010, Thursday
"Where the ocean meets the sky, I'll be sailing," sang Rod Stewart last night as the ocean fell from the sky and threatened to send his stage sailing down the Royal Mile.
Torrential downpours soaked Rod's fans to the skin as they watched him belt out his hits at Edinburgh Castle.
"Does anybody want a wet programme," shouted desperate programme seller Kenneth Cameron at the gates prior to the gig, fearing his wares may not make it through the night.
The 20-year-old, who had travelled through from Glasgow, said: "I've only sold about 30 programmes. People just aren't buying them because there's no way to keep them dry. I don't have any bags or anything, and who wants to pay GBP15 for papier mache?"
The tunes on the long, wet walk up Castlehill before the gig didn't belong to Rod but to his adopted countrymen Travis, as the expectant crowds belted out an acappella version of Why Does It Always Rain On Me?.
Rod may have been thinking the same thing as he took to the stage just after 8pm, not that many people at the back would have seen him arrive as the big screens were rendered useless in the downpour.
The singer's ageing sex-god swagger was reduced to a comical Albert Steptoe trot as he struggled to stay on his feet, while his leggy blonde brass section had even more trouble in their short dresses and six-inch heels.
Meanwhile, the poor stagehands danced around like performance artists laying towel after towel in front of the singer to keep his winklepickers firmly rooted to the ground.
Fan Andrew Tait, 47, from Chesser, said: "He did the best he could in the rain, and he still had the people dancing."
Liz Morrison, also 47 from Chesser, said: "He's a great performer but you can't help the weather."
Rod's fans at the front resembled a dancing rainbow in their multicoloured ponchos â€" the most prominent colour being green.
"I'll never wear a blue darker than this," smiled Rod, pulling on his electric blue jacket and pointing at a flag of his beloved Celtic in the front row, to a mix of boos and cheers from the crowd.
It was a reminder that London-born Rod, the son of a Leith master builder, will always have a special place in his heart for Scotland.
Evening News (Edinburgh)
July 15, 2010, Thursday
"Where the ocean meets the sky, I'll be sailing," sang Rod Stewart last night as the ocean fell from the sky and threatened to send his stage sailing down the Royal Mile.
Torrential downpours soaked Rod's fans to the skin as they watched him belt out his hits at Edinburgh Castle.
"Does anybody want a wet programme," shouted desperate programme seller Kenneth Cameron at the gates prior to the gig, fearing his wares may not make it through the night.
The 20-year-old, who had travelled through from Glasgow, said: "I've only sold about 30 programmes. People just aren't buying them because there's no way to keep them dry. I don't have any bags or anything, and who wants to pay GBP15 for papier mache?"
The tunes on the long, wet walk up Castlehill before the gig didn't belong to Rod but to his adopted countrymen Travis, as the expectant crowds belted out an acappella version of Why Does It Always Rain On Me?.
Rod may have been thinking the same thing as he took to the stage just after 8pm, not that many people at the back would have seen him arrive as the big screens were rendered useless in the downpour.
The singer's ageing sex-god swagger was reduced to a comical Albert Steptoe trot as he struggled to stay on his feet, while his leggy blonde brass section had even more trouble in their short dresses and six-inch heels.
Meanwhile, the poor stagehands danced around like performance artists laying towel after towel in front of the singer to keep his winklepickers firmly rooted to the ground.
Fan Andrew Tait, 47, from Chesser, said: "He did the best he could in the rain, and he still had the people dancing."
Liz Morrison, also 47 from Chesser, said: "He's a great performer but you can't help the weather."
Rod's fans at the front resembled a dancing rainbow in their multicoloured ponchos â€" the most prominent colour being green.
"I'll never wear a blue darker than this," smiled Rod, pulling on his electric blue jacket and pointing at a flag of his beloved Celtic in the front row, to a mix of boos and cheers from the crowd.
It was a reminder that London-born Rod, the son of a Leith master builder, will always have a special place in his heart for Scotland.
NEWS: Factors Play With Dead Childrens' Memory
MARK McLAUGHLIN
Evening News (Edinburgh)
July 13, 2010, Tuesday
THEY were promised a playpark so their memories of horror would fade amidst laughter and joy - but today all they've been left with is a bench.
Earlier this month, the Evening News told how the parents of tragic Blair Easton, 11, and Craig Quinn, 12, were turned away from a playpark supposedly erected in the boys' memory when it was locked up for the exclusive use of residents of the plush new estate on the site of the warehouse where the children perished in flames in 1999.
Now, disgusted mothers Donna Hume and Catherine Craig have been told that the park that they fought to see built - and even helped pick the outdoor play equipment for - was never intended to commemorate their boys at all.
Midlothian Council claims the only memorial it agreed with Applecross Homes, the now liquidated developers of the Eskbridge estate in Penicuik, was a solitary park bench.
The claim flies in the face of more than a decade of promises made to the families, friends, teachers and former schoolmates at Eastfield Primary School, who were closely consulted on the plans and all agreed that a playpark would be a fitting memorial.
Mrs Hume, who is divorced from Blair's father Derek Easton and now lives in Tranent, said: "If it's not the boys' playpark then why were we asked to choose the things that we would like to see in the park?
"The council doesn't seem to care any more. They were full of promises at the time but all we've been left with is lies."
The boys died in a fire which ripped through the former Borders Concrete warehouse in March 1998.
People visiting the memorial are now met with a grey metal fence built around the playpark, and the only publicly accessible area is a green bench on the edge of the park bearing the boys' names.
A Midlothian Council spokesperson said: "As a condition of the planning permission, details of the proposed memorial were submitted by Applecross and approved by the council.
"These details specified a circular metal bench, with a tree planted in the centre. The memorial was also to include a plaque, the wording of which was agreed by the families and by the school. The memorial was constructed in accordance with these details."
However, Midlothian Provost Adam Montgomery, who supported the idea of a memorial park, has challenged his council's official claim and pledged to see the "Residents Only" signs torn down. He said: "I understood that the playpark was the memorial agreed by the parents and the school, and that the bench with the plaques would form just one part of that memorial. I'm going to get to the bottom of it."
It is understood that the fence was erected by Eskbridge factors Charles White Limited following complaints about vandalism. Charles White property manager Sarah Wilson refused to comment.
Evening News (Edinburgh)
July 13, 2010, Tuesday
THEY were promised a playpark so their memories of horror would fade amidst laughter and joy - but today all they've been left with is a bench.
Earlier this month, the Evening News told how the parents of tragic Blair Easton, 11, and Craig Quinn, 12, were turned away from a playpark supposedly erected in the boys' memory when it was locked up for the exclusive use of residents of the plush new estate on the site of the warehouse where the children perished in flames in 1999.
Now, disgusted mothers Donna Hume and Catherine Craig have been told that the park that they fought to see built - and even helped pick the outdoor play equipment for - was never intended to commemorate their boys at all.
Midlothian Council claims the only memorial it agreed with Applecross Homes, the now liquidated developers of the Eskbridge estate in Penicuik, was a solitary park bench.
The claim flies in the face of more than a decade of promises made to the families, friends, teachers and former schoolmates at Eastfield Primary School, who were closely consulted on the plans and all agreed that a playpark would be a fitting memorial.
Mrs Hume, who is divorced from Blair's father Derek Easton and now lives in Tranent, said: "If it's not the boys' playpark then why were we asked to choose the things that we would like to see in the park?
"The council doesn't seem to care any more. They were full of promises at the time but all we've been left with is lies."
The boys died in a fire which ripped through the former Borders Concrete warehouse in March 1998.
People visiting the memorial are now met with a grey metal fence built around the playpark, and the only publicly accessible area is a green bench on the edge of the park bearing the boys' names.
A Midlothian Council spokesperson said: "As a condition of the planning permission, details of the proposed memorial were submitted by Applecross and approved by the council.
"These details specified a circular metal bench, with a tree planted in the centre. The memorial was also to include a plaque, the wording of which was agreed by the families and by the school. The memorial was constructed in accordance with these details."
However, Midlothian Provost Adam Montgomery, who supported the idea of a memorial park, has challenged his council's official claim and pledged to see the "Residents Only" signs torn down. He said: "I understood that the playpark was the memorial agreed by the parents and the school, and that the bench with the plaques would form just one part of that memorial. I'm going to get to the bottom of it."
It is understood that the fence was erected by Eskbridge factors Charles White Limited following complaints about vandalism. Charles White property manager Sarah Wilson refused to comment.
NEWS: Rosslyn Repairs On The Rocks
MARK McLAUGHLIN
Evening News (Edinburgh)
July 10, 2010, Saturday
REPAIRS to Rosslyn Chapel will be delayed for at least a year following the collapse of the historic chapel's stonemasons.
Stonemasons Hunter Clark, which was founded in 1900 by Glasgow masons Thomas Hunter and William Clark, folded last month leaving around 168 people unemployed.
The £9 million repair work - which was partly funded by a donation from Da Vinci Code star Tom Hanks following the chapel's appearance in the blockbuster - has been left half finished.
The chapel trust will now have to fork out more money in administration fees to find a new contractor to complete the job, and costs may rise even further if the new contractors present them with a higher revised estimate for completion.
Rosslyn had hoped to have the repair work fully completed this month in time for their peak summer season, but they have been forced to re-tender for the remainder of the work and don't expect to have it finished until at least summer 2011.
However, the good news for the chapel is that work on the roof, which has been hidden under canvas for over a decade, had been completed before Hunter Clark folded and it is set to be fully unveiled later this month.
Colin Glynne-Percy, director for the Rosslyn Chapel Trust, said: "The roof has been hidden for around 13 years, well before its profile was raised by the Da Vinci Code so many of the fans of the book will not have seen the chapel in its full glory.
"We have also removed the internal scaffolding that was obscuring the ceiling inside in time for the peak summer season."
The intricately-carved ceiling, made up of rectangles and cubes, has confounded historians for generations. Many have claimed that the ceiling contains some kind of message, and more recent research has put forward the theory that it may be a form of musical notation.
However, photos may have to wait as the floor is still half finished. Visitors were banned from taking photos of the chapel's ancient interior after a number of people tripped or fell while gazing up at the ornate carvings on the ceiling.
Mr Glynne-Percy said: "Overall, work on the chapel is about 50 per cent complete. We had hoped to have it finished by now but it looks like its going to have to wait until next year.
"The previous estimate for the job was £9 million, and we hope the final bill won't be much higher than that."
Evening News (Edinburgh)
July 10, 2010, Saturday
REPAIRS to Rosslyn Chapel will be delayed for at least a year following the collapse of the historic chapel's stonemasons.
Stonemasons Hunter Clark, which was founded in 1900 by Glasgow masons Thomas Hunter and William Clark, folded last month leaving around 168 people unemployed.
The £9 million repair work - which was partly funded by a donation from Da Vinci Code star Tom Hanks following the chapel's appearance in the blockbuster - has been left half finished.
The chapel trust will now have to fork out more money in administration fees to find a new contractor to complete the job, and costs may rise even further if the new contractors present them with a higher revised estimate for completion.
Rosslyn had hoped to have the repair work fully completed this month in time for their peak summer season, but they have been forced to re-tender for the remainder of the work and don't expect to have it finished until at least summer 2011.
However, the good news for the chapel is that work on the roof, which has been hidden under canvas for over a decade, had been completed before Hunter Clark folded and it is set to be fully unveiled later this month.
Colin Glynne-Percy, director for the Rosslyn Chapel Trust, said: "The roof has been hidden for around 13 years, well before its profile was raised by the Da Vinci Code so many of the fans of the book will not have seen the chapel in its full glory.
"We have also removed the internal scaffolding that was obscuring the ceiling inside in time for the peak summer season."
The intricately-carved ceiling, made up of rectangles and cubes, has confounded historians for generations. Many have claimed that the ceiling contains some kind of message, and more recent research has put forward the theory that it may be a form of musical notation.
However, photos may have to wait as the floor is still half finished. Visitors were banned from taking photos of the chapel's ancient interior after a number of people tripped or fell while gazing up at the ornate carvings on the ceiling.
Mr Glynne-Percy said: "Overall, work on the chapel is about 50 per cent complete. We had hoped to have it finished by now but it looks like its going to have to wait until next year.
"The previous estimate for the job was £9 million, and we hope the final bill won't be much higher than that."
FEATURE: Help For Haiti
MARK McLAUGHLIN
Evening News (Edinburgh)
July 9, 2010, Friday
'IMAGINE how difficult it would be trying to run Edinburgh when all of the MSPs, councillors, and police were living in tents because their houses and offices had crumbled to the ground," says Sciennes-based charity fund-raiser John Cunningham.
"The Capital would be gone and the whole country would fall apart. There would be no food, no water, dead people piling up...and nowhere to turn for help."
This was exactly the scenario facing relief charity Mercy Corps when they landed in Haiti six months ago in the wake of the devastating earthquake.
Within hours the charity had boots on the ground offering instant aid to thousands of people, and setting up bases that would help in the reconstruction in the months ahead.
"We wouldn't have been able to do it without the support the readers of the Edinburgh Evening News," said Mr Cunningham, director of fund-raising at the charity.
Residents in the Capital raised more than GBP430,000 in the first six months of the Evening News-backed appeal, with more than half of the money spent already on Mercy Corps ongoing projects.
With the money raised Mercy Corps has been able to provide:
Mr Cunningham said: "I deliberately didn't go out there myself as it became clear that we needed someone to stay behind to coordinate the massive fund-raising effort."
However, programme officer Carrie Beaumont, 29, from Granton, was one of the people sent out. She fed regular reports back to headquarters, and the picture she painted was grim.
"All the schools in the city came down and many thousands of people were crushed," said Mr Cunningham.
"We worked closely with the United Nations [UN] but they were badly affected. Their offices collapsed and they lost a large number of their staff."
In the early days of the relief effort many non-governmental organisations [NGOs] were criticised for a reportedly poorly coordinated response to the crisis.
However, Mr Cunningham said that - from the Mercy Corps' point of view at least - this lack of coordination was a symptom of the chaos that the country was in rather than a failing of the aid effort.
Mr Cunningham is full of praise for the people of Edinburgh, who rallied round their locally-based charity to help.
"There was an instant response," he said. "Personal donations came rolling in, and we had six people manning the phones six days a week.
"Amongst the biggest responses we received was from local schools. We put together a Power Point presentation for schools showing photographs about the earthquake, and what we did to help.
"The most interesting questions we got back was from primary school children, who are a lot less reserved than secondary schools so their questions came from the heart. They asked questions like: 'Where are they living now?'; 'What do they have to eat?' and; 'Have any of them lost their arms and legs?', personal questions that many adults might be too sensitive to ask.
"Six months on, the mood in Haiti is resolute. It was already the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere and before the earthquake many people were depressed and frustrated at the state that the country was in, but now they see it as an opportunity to rebuild the country."
Mr Cunningham pulls out a copy of Mercy Corps six-month report, and points to a quote by 23-year-old displaced student Moïse Mackendy.
"Before the earthquake I was disappointed with how things were going in Haiti, but now I understand I must be one of the people who will make Haiti different."
HONOURS FOR DONORS
03/01/10 Itihaas restaurant, Dalkeith Charity Night
16/01/10 The Rotary Club of Edinburgh Bhangra Ceilidh GBP 5,200.00
17/01/10 The Rotary Club of Corstorphine Collection GBP 2,000.00
20/01/10 Raj Restaurant, The Shore Fundraising Appeal
23/01/10 Rotary Club of Currie Balerno Airport Collection
23/01/10 Living and Giving charity shop, Stockbridge Donation
27/01/10 Artemis, Melville Street Donation GBP 10,000.00
27/01/10 Zest Restaurant, St Andrew Street Charity Night GBP 610.00
27/01/10 Hair and Image for Men, Andy Murray racquet auction GBP 500.00
27/01/10 RBS / Royal Mail Brussels L'Atelier hotel fundraiser GBP 6,354.00
30/01/10 The Rotary Club of Edinburgh City Centre Collection GBP 5,665.95
31/01/10 The Rotary Club of Edinburgh Jubilee Charity Fund
07/02/10 Traverse Theatre Comedy Fundraiser
07/02/10 The Queen's Hall, Clerk Street Edinburgh Bands Together for Haiti
19/02/10 Cinnamon Indian Restaurant 8.5 stone fish curry auction GBP 500.00
26/02/10 Middle East Festival Donation
28/02/10 The Queen's Hall, Clerk Street Poets For Haiti
25/03/10 HMV Picture House Edinburgh Schools Battle Of The Bands
23/04/10 Voodoo Rooms She-Bang Rave Unit
*where donations were disclosed
Evening News (Edinburgh)
July 9, 2010, Friday
'IMAGINE how difficult it would be trying to run Edinburgh when all of the MSPs, councillors, and police were living in tents because their houses and offices had crumbled to the ground," says Sciennes-based charity fund-raiser John Cunningham.
"The Capital would be gone and the whole country would fall apart. There would be no food, no water, dead people piling up...and nowhere to turn for help."
This was exactly the scenario facing relief charity Mercy Corps when they landed in Haiti six months ago in the wake of the devastating earthquake.
Within hours the charity had boots on the ground offering instant aid to thousands of people, and setting up bases that would help in the reconstruction in the months ahead.
"We wouldn't have been able to do it without the support the readers of the Edinburgh Evening News," said Mr Cunningham, director of fund-raising at the charity.
Residents in the Capital raised more than GBP430,000 in the first six months of the Evening News-backed appeal, with more than half of the money spent already on Mercy Corps ongoing projects.
With the money raised Mercy Corps has been able to provide:
Mr Cunningham said: "I deliberately didn't go out there myself as it became clear that we needed someone to stay behind to coordinate the massive fund-raising effort."
However, programme officer Carrie Beaumont, 29, from Granton, was one of the people sent out. She fed regular reports back to headquarters, and the picture she painted was grim.
"All the schools in the city came down and many thousands of people were crushed," said Mr Cunningham.
"We worked closely with the United Nations [UN] but they were badly affected. Their offices collapsed and they lost a large number of their staff."
In the early days of the relief effort many non-governmental organisations [NGOs] were criticised for a reportedly poorly coordinated response to the crisis.
However, Mr Cunningham said that - from the Mercy Corps' point of view at least - this lack of coordination was a symptom of the chaos that the country was in rather than a failing of the aid effort.
Mr Cunningham is full of praise for the people of Edinburgh, who rallied round their locally-based charity to help.
"There was an instant response," he said. "Personal donations came rolling in, and we had six people manning the phones six days a week.
"Amongst the biggest responses we received was from local schools. We put together a Power Point presentation for schools showing photographs about the earthquake, and what we did to help.
"The most interesting questions we got back was from primary school children, who are a lot less reserved than secondary schools so their questions came from the heart. They asked questions like: 'Where are they living now?'; 'What do they have to eat?' and; 'Have any of them lost their arms and legs?', personal questions that many adults might be too sensitive to ask.
"Six months on, the mood in Haiti is resolute. It was already the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere and before the earthquake many people were depressed and frustrated at the state that the country was in, but now they see it as an opportunity to rebuild the country."
Mr Cunningham pulls out a copy of Mercy Corps six-month report, and points to a quote by 23-year-old displaced student Moïse Mackendy.
"Before the earthquake I was disappointed with how things were going in Haiti, but now I understand I must be one of the people who will make Haiti different."
HONOURS FOR DONORS
03/01/10 Itihaas restaurant, Dalkeith Charity Night
16/01/10 The Rotary Club of Edinburgh Bhangra Ceilidh GBP 5,200.00
17/01/10 The Rotary Club of Corstorphine Collection GBP 2,000.00
20/01/10 Raj Restaurant, The Shore Fundraising Appeal
23/01/10 Rotary Club of Currie Balerno Airport Collection
23/01/10 Living and Giving charity shop, Stockbridge Donation
27/01/10 Artemis, Melville Street Donation GBP 10,000.00
27/01/10 Zest Restaurant, St Andrew Street Charity Night GBP 610.00
27/01/10 Hair and Image for Men, Andy Murray racquet auction GBP 500.00
27/01/10 RBS / Royal Mail Brussels L'Atelier hotel fundraiser GBP 6,354.00
30/01/10 The Rotary Club of Edinburgh City Centre Collection GBP 5,665.95
31/01/10 The Rotary Club of Edinburgh Jubilee Charity Fund
07/02/10 Traverse Theatre Comedy Fundraiser
07/02/10 The Queen's Hall, Clerk Street Edinburgh Bands Together for Haiti
19/02/10 Cinnamon Indian Restaurant 8.5 stone fish curry auction GBP 500.00
26/02/10 Middle East Festival Donation
28/02/10 The Queen's Hall, Clerk Street Poets For Haiti
25/03/10 HMV Picture House Edinburgh Schools Battle Of The Bands
23/04/10 Voodoo Rooms She-Bang Rave Unit
*where donations were disclosed
FEATURE: Never Mind The Pollocks...Or The Guitars
Mark McLaughlin
Evening News (Edinburgh)
July 9, 2010, Friday
'I JUST like doing certain things and painting and making music are two of them," a bored-looking John Squire once told a television interviewer in his Stone Roses heyday, in between fiddling with his shoelaces. "There's no contest between them."
It doesn't seem like 20 years since his paint splattered album covers and psychedelia-tinged guitars defined a generation, but two decades on those famous riffs that saw him lauded as one of the greatest British guitarists of all time have been silenced. Painting, it seems, has won.
John Squire today unveils his first Edinburgh exhibition, Nefertiti, at The Henderson Gallery on Thistle Street Lane, but Roses fans looking for shades of Jackson Pollock or hoping he'll belt out an impromptu rendition of Waterfall will be disappointed.
"The work is inspired by the music of Miles Davis," he explains. "It wasn't a plan of mine, it just sort of evolved from the work I did for Liberty fabrics and Penguin books.
"Liberty make fabrics for clothes and they asked me to do a couple of designs for them. I was working very graphically at the time for the Penguin book covers and I had a desire to do some stuff in lino print - where you take a sheet of lino and cut designs into it for print making. I was listening to a lot of Miles Davis albums at the time such as Nefertiti and ESP, and a lot of these shapes just occurred to me from listening to the music.
"It was the kind of stuff I used to do at school and it seemed like a good way forward for my latest art works. My mum's still got stuff that I did from before school, so I must have been creating some kind of art from an early age. I see it with my own kids. As soon as they're able to grip a pencil or a crayon they're trying to express themselves visually. It's a shame most kids grow out of that. I don't think I ever have - and I hope I never do."
In a sense Squire has come full circle from his childhood drawings and pre-Roses days as prop-maker with renowned Manchester-based animation house Cosgrove Hall, producers of Wind In The Willows and Dangermouse.
"There's a story going round that I was an animator that I need to clarify," says Squire. "I was the worst animator in the building. I was employed as a prop-maker, making little pots and pans, joints of beef and miniature onions, all on commission. I would sit in my bedroom listening to The Clash and making all of the s*** for kids' television, but it was great experience.
"They took me on full time, which was great. The studio was full of all these old hippies, and I created the first Stone Roses covers in the studio at work. They eventually gave me a shot at animating but I was awful. All of my characters looked like they needed a visit to the chiropracter once I'd got my hands on them."
Clearly Squire's poor grasp of the precision art of stop-frame animation was never going to challenge Nick Park, but he soon branched out into a more expressive form art. The first single cover he created at Cosgrove Hall was So Young/Tell Me, the heavily Clash inspired first single featuring a smashed up radio, but he would soon become known for the paint-splattered Jackson Pollock pastiches that would adorn the Roses greatest work.
"The Pollocks were basically just copies," explains Squire. "I knew we were never going to get the rights to use actual Pollocks on the sleeves but I knew this was the look and the sound I wanted for the Roses.
"A few punk albums used that drip paint effect on their covers. I seem to remember a single by Slaughter Joe and a few Clash posters.
"I was also listening to a lot of Jesus And Mary Chain at the time and wanted to emulate some of their sounds and also express it visually and the splatter paints seemed the best way to do it."
Many will be aghast that Squire has hung up his axe in favour of a paint brush but he's no stranger to confounding expectations.
When fans expected the Roses' Second Coming to come packed with more pop-tinged melodies he dropped an album full of Led Zeppelin riffs, dark lyrics and even darker sleeve to boot.
"The dark Second Coming sleeve was unintentional," admits Squire, before coming up with an even more confounding excuse for an album that was five years in the making. "I painted over the collage and intended to wash some of the paint off but I didn't have time."
Then, just as The Roses seemed to find their stride again, he dropped the bombshell that he was leaving the band to go into the studio with a busker and a couple of session musicians to create the first Seahorses album.
"I don't want to be in some sham of a band for one album before splitting," Squire was quoted as saying a little over a year before the band split after one album.
After the Seahorses he embarked on a fairly low-key solo career which yielded two albums, but by his second album, Marshall's House, featuring songs wholly inspired by American realist painter Edward Hopper, he found his heart being pulled towards his art.
"I did a show in London in 2004 featuring a lot of the old Roses stuff but a lot of that work isn't very big - probably only a few feet wide - so I started to really apply myself to create larger works. After Marshall's House I started to realise that maybe that's where my heart lay."
The only guitars in the new exhibition can be found in the canvas in the form of cryptic looking numbers which are actually inspired by printed guitar tablature of Miles Davis tracks.
"I don't read music so my only way into songs is through guitar tab. I transcribed Davis' trumpet for guitar and used the tab in the paintings." says Squire.
"I'm not much of an art historian either really. Most of my stuff is self-inspired. I think it's the kind of work that rewards really close study. I love a textured surface - something you can actually feel - as I think the analogue is becoming more and more important in a digital world."
Sage words from the man who created some of the last great sleeve covers of the LP generation, before they were eclipsed by the CD - compact in every form including the art - before being all but wiped out altogether by the iPod.
Squire may have created his last album cover but his greatest paintings may be yet to come.
Nefertiti: New Works By John Squire, Henderson Gallery, tomorrow - 19 August, 11am-6pm, www.edinburgh.artfestival.com ***
Evening News (Edinburgh)
July 9, 2010, Friday
'I JUST like doing certain things and painting and making music are two of them," a bored-looking John Squire once told a television interviewer in his Stone Roses heyday, in between fiddling with his shoelaces. "There's no contest between them."
It doesn't seem like 20 years since his paint splattered album covers and psychedelia-tinged guitars defined a generation, but two decades on those famous riffs that saw him lauded as one of the greatest British guitarists of all time have been silenced. Painting, it seems, has won.John Squire today unveils his first Edinburgh exhibition, Nefertiti, at The Henderson Gallery on Thistle Street Lane, but Roses fans looking for shades of Jackson Pollock or hoping he'll belt out an impromptu rendition of Waterfall will be disappointed.
"The work is inspired by the music of Miles Davis," he explains. "It wasn't a plan of mine, it just sort of evolved from the work I did for Liberty fabrics and Penguin books.
"Liberty make fabrics for clothes and they asked me to do a couple of designs for them. I was working very graphically at the time for the Penguin book covers and I had a desire to do some stuff in lino print - where you take a sheet of lino and cut designs into it for print making. I was listening to a lot of Miles Davis albums at the time such as Nefertiti and ESP, and a lot of these shapes just occurred to me from listening to the music.
"It was the kind of stuff I used to do at school and it seemed like a good way forward for my latest art works. My mum's still got stuff that I did from before school, so I must have been creating some kind of art from an early age. I see it with my own kids. As soon as they're able to grip a pencil or a crayon they're trying to express themselves visually. It's a shame most kids grow out of that. I don't think I ever have - and I hope I never do."
In a sense Squire has come full circle from his childhood drawings and pre-Roses days as prop-maker with renowned Manchester-based animation house Cosgrove Hall, producers of Wind In The Willows and Dangermouse.
"There's a story going round that I was an animator that I need to clarify," says Squire. "I was the worst animator in the building. I was employed as a prop-maker, making little pots and pans, joints of beef and miniature onions, all on commission. I would sit in my bedroom listening to The Clash and making all of the s*** for kids' television, but it was great experience.
"They took me on full time, which was great. The studio was full of all these old hippies, and I created the first Stone Roses covers in the studio at work. They eventually gave me a shot at animating but I was awful. All of my characters looked like they needed a visit to the chiropracter once I'd got my hands on them."
Clearly Squire's poor grasp of the precision art of stop-frame animation was never going to challenge Nick Park, but he soon branched out into a more expressive form art. The first single cover he created at Cosgrove Hall was So Young/Tell Me, the heavily Clash inspired first single featuring a smashed up radio, but he would soon become known for the paint-splattered Jackson Pollock pastiches that would adorn the Roses greatest work.
"The Pollocks were basically just copies," explains Squire. "I knew we were never going to get the rights to use actual Pollocks on the sleeves but I knew this was the look and the sound I wanted for the Roses.
"A few punk albums used that drip paint effect on their covers. I seem to remember a single by Slaughter Joe and a few Clash posters.
"I was also listening to a lot of Jesus And Mary Chain at the time and wanted to emulate some of their sounds and also express it visually and the splatter paints seemed the best way to do it."
Many will be aghast that Squire has hung up his axe in favour of a paint brush but he's no stranger to confounding expectations.
When fans expected the Roses' Second Coming to come packed with more pop-tinged melodies he dropped an album full of Led Zeppelin riffs, dark lyrics and even darker sleeve to boot.
"The dark Second Coming sleeve was unintentional," admits Squire, before coming up with an even more confounding excuse for an album that was five years in the making. "I painted over the collage and intended to wash some of the paint off but I didn't have time."
Then, just as The Roses seemed to find their stride again, he dropped the bombshell that he was leaving the band to go into the studio with a busker and a couple of session musicians to create the first Seahorses album.
"I don't want to be in some sham of a band for one album before splitting," Squire was quoted as saying a little over a year before the band split after one album.
After the Seahorses he embarked on a fairly low-key solo career which yielded two albums, but by his second album, Marshall's House, featuring songs wholly inspired by American realist painter Edward Hopper, he found his heart being pulled towards his art.
"I did a show in London in 2004 featuring a lot of the old Roses stuff but a lot of that work isn't very big - probably only a few feet wide - so I started to really apply myself to create larger works. After Marshall's House I started to realise that maybe that's where my heart lay."
The only guitars in the new exhibition can be found in the canvas in the form of cryptic looking numbers which are actually inspired by printed guitar tablature of Miles Davis tracks.
"I don't read music so my only way into songs is through guitar tab. I transcribed Davis' trumpet for guitar and used the tab in the paintings." says Squire.
"I'm not much of an art historian either really. Most of my stuff is self-inspired. I think it's the kind of work that rewards really close study. I love a textured surface - something you can actually feel - as I think the analogue is becoming more and more important in a digital world."
Sage words from the man who created some of the last great sleeve covers of the LP generation, before they were eclipsed by the CD - compact in every form including the art - before being all but wiped out altogether by the iPod.
Squire may have created his last album cover but his greatest paintings may be yet to come.
Nefertiti: New Works By John Squire, Henderson Gallery, tomorrow - 19 August, 11am-6pm, www.edinburgh.artfestival.com ***
NEWS: Young Dad In Coma After Blaze
MARK McLAUGHLIN
Evening News (Edinburgh)
July 6, 2010, Tuesday
A YOUNG father has been left fighting for his life after suffering a heart attack when he was pulled from his burning flat by firefighters.
Colin Juner, 27, had to be resuscitated by paramedics after being rescued from the blaze.
Mr Juner, known as Coco to friends, is now understood to be in an induced coma at the Edinburgh Royal Infirmary.
He suffered severe smoke inhalation in the fire, which is thought to have broken out in the kitchen of his flat on South Street, Dalkeith, at around 8am on Sunday.
He was resuscitated on the way to hospital after suffering a cardiac arrest, and ambulance crews said he was conscious and breathing when he arrived at hospital.
Mr Juner is a regular at the nearby Buccleuch Pub, where he is well known to the bar staff.
Friend Tracy Lennon, who works at the bar, said: "He's in hospital in an induced coma at the moment. The hospital said they were going to put him under for three days and see if he improves, but he was in a pretty bad way.
"Everyone in the pub knows him well. He's a nice guy who would do anything for you.
"He was a handyman who could turn his hand to anything, and would take work wherever he could find it.
"We hope he's going to be all right."
Friends said Mr Juner has a three-year-old son, Leon, with his ex-partner Jayde Orme. He is a former pupil of St David's High.
On his Facebook page, Mr Juner said he "lives for the weekends" and loves spending time with his son, who he describes as "my number one".
Friends posted messages of support on his site yesterday.
Cassie Fuller said: "Please pull yourself through Coco. Get better soon."
Mr Juner's flat sits above the Riccio Gallery, an art and picture framing store, which was slightly damaged in the fire.
A spokesman for the gallery said: "He's a nice guy to chat to. I don't know him too well but I know his son comes and stays with him on a fairly regular basis.
"It's extremely fortunate that his son wasn't staying with him that night.
"There wasn't a great deal of damage to the gallery, just a bit of water damage that seeped through from the flat above but it could have been worse."
An ambulance spokeswoman said: "The man was rescued from the property with severe smoke inhalation and had gone into cardiac arrest as a result.
"The crew managed to precipitate the patient on route to the Edinburgh Royal Infirmary.
"This obviously is quite unusual to get that as a result of a fire, especially at that age, although we don't know how long he was exposed to the smoke."
Police said the cause of the fire was not suspicious.
Evening News (Edinburgh)
July 6, 2010, Tuesday
A YOUNG father has been left fighting for his life after suffering a heart attack when he was pulled from his burning flat by firefighters.
Colin Juner, 27, had to be resuscitated by paramedics after being rescued from the blaze.
Mr Juner, known as Coco to friends, is now understood to be in an induced coma at the Edinburgh Royal Infirmary.
He suffered severe smoke inhalation in the fire, which is thought to have broken out in the kitchen of his flat on South Street, Dalkeith, at around 8am on Sunday.
He was resuscitated on the way to hospital after suffering a cardiac arrest, and ambulance crews said he was conscious and breathing when he arrived at hospital.
Mr Juner is a regular at the nearby Buccleuch Pub, where he is well known to the bar staff.
Friend Tracy Lennon, who works at the bar, said: "He's in hospital in an induced coma at the moment. The hospital said they were going to put him under for three days and see if he improves, but he was in a pretty bad way.
"Everyone in the pub knows him well. He's a nice guy who would do anything for you.
"He was a handyman who could turn his hand to anything, and would take work wherever he could find it.
"We hope he's going to be all right."
Friends said Mr Juner has a three-year-old son, Leon, with his ex-partner Jayde Orme. He is a former pupil of St David's High.
On his Facebook page, Mr Juner said he "lives for the weekends" and loves spending time with his son, who he describes as "my number one".
Friends posted messages of support on his site yesterday.
Cassie Fuller said: "Please pull yourself through Coco. Get better soon."
Mr Juner's flat sits above the Riccio Gallery, an art and picture framing store, which was slightly damaged in the fire.
A spokesman for the gallery said: "He's a nice guy to chat to. I don't know him too well but I know his son comes and stays with him on a fairly regular basis.
"It's extremely fortunate that his son wasn't staying with him that night.
"There wasn't a great deal of damage to the gallery, just a bit of water damage that seeped through from the flat above but it could have been worse."
An ambulance spokeswoman said: "The man was rescued from the property with severe smoke inhalation and had gone into cardiac arrest as a result.
"The crew managed to precipitate the patient on route to the Edinburgh Royal Infirmary.
"This obviously is quite unusual to get that as a result of a fire, especially at that age, although we don't know how long he was exposed to the smoke."
Police said the cause of the fire was not suspicious.
NEWS: Chinese Twitters
Evening News (Edinburgh)
July 5, 2010, Monday
MARK McLAUGHLIN
POLICE have moved to reassure parents that there are not child snatchers lurking in their area after an internet rumour spread like wildfire.
Panicked parents in Midlothian have fuelled the flames by posting updates on social networking sites such as Twitter and Facebook.
It follows an alleged incident in the Homebase car park in Straiton Retail Park, where a woman was reported to be acting suspiciously towards an eight-year-old boy. The youngster's mother later spoke of her fear that she had been trying to entice him into her car.
Police investigated but said they found "no information that can lead to us conclude that an attempt to abduct a child took place".
However, since then there have been several unsubstantiated "sightings" of the same yellow car lurking outside Gorebridge and Bonnyrigg primary schools, Cuicken Primary in Penicuik and Lasswade High.
Facebook and Twitter chat has been buzzing with the rumours, and the Evening News has received several e-mails calling for an investigation. Some even claim that the supposed child snatchers have actually been successful in abducting children.
One man e-mailed to say he heard about the "abductions" from a neighbour who works at Gorebridge Primary.
He said: "Over the past week or so there have been a number of child abductions in the Midlothian area.
"One at Straiton Retail Park, and at primary schools in Gorebridge and Penicuik. Parents are very concerned.
"A young foreign-looking couple are doing the attempted snatches, using a yellow car.
"Only coverage of this is really via Facebook. I think there needs to be more news coverage to alert parents. Everyone is scared and keeping their kids in the house. A lot of people are worried."
Scott Birse, from Buckstone, also claimed schools were being advised to be vigilant following the incident in Straiton.
He said: "There have been two further incidents, I believe in Gorebridge and Penicuik, possibly involving the same couple in a yellow car.
"There seem to be rumours of a further two incidents. This seems quite a big issue. I would like to hear that the police are on the case."
A Lothian and Borders Police spokesman confirmed that their officers responded to an incident on 23 June in the car park of Homebase at Straiton, where a woman was reported to be acting suspiciously.
However, he said they had received no calls about any more sightings, and dismissed the further claims as hearsay.
The spokesman added: "A full investigation has been carried out in respect of [the 23 June] incident, and there is no information that can lead us to conclude that an attempt to abduct a child took place.
"We have received no reports from the public regarding any further incidents of this nature that have taken place in Midlothian. However, we would appeal to anyone who has any information to contact police immediately.
"Lothian and Borders Police and partner agencies are committed to protecting our communities and everyone within them, and we will respond vigorously to any reports where there is a risk to children involved."
July 5, 2010, Monday
MARK McLAUGHLIN
POLICE have moved to reassure parents that there are not child snatchers lurking in their area after an internet rumour spread like wildfire.
Panicked parents in Midlothian have fuelled the flames by posting updates on social networking sites such as Twitter and Facebook.
It follows an alleged incident in the Homebase car park in Straiton Retail Park, where a woman was reported to be acting suspiciously towards an eight-year-old boy. The youngster's mother later spoke of her fear that she had been trying to entice him into her car.
Police investigated but said they found "no information that can lead to us conclude that an attempt to abduct a child took place".
However, since then there have been several unsubstantiated "sightings" of the same yellow car lurking outside Gorebridge and Bonnyrigg primary schools, Cuicken Primary in Penicuik and Lasswade High.
Facebook and Twitter chat has been buzzing with the rumours, and the Evening News has received several e-mails calling for an investigation. Some even claim that the supposed child snatchers have actually been successful in abducting children.
One man e-mailed to say he heard about the "abductions" from a neighbour who works at Gorebridge Primary.
He said: "Over the past week or so there have been a number of child abductions in the Midlothian area.
"One at Straiton Retail Park, and at primary schools in Gorebridge and Penicuik. Parents are very concerned.
"A young foreign-looking couple are doing the attempted snatches, using a yellow car.
"Only coverage of this is really via Facebook. I think there needs to be more news coverage to alert parents. Everyone is scared and keeping their kids in the house. A lot of people are worried."
Scott Birse, from Buckstone, also claimed schools were being advised to be vigilant following the incident in Straiton.
He said: "There have been two further incidents, I believe in Gorebridge and Penicuik, possibly involving the same couple in a yellow car.
"There seem to be rumours of a further two incidents. This seems quite a big issue. I would like to hear that the police are on the case."
A Lothian and Borders Police spokesman confirmed that their officers responded to an incident on 23 June in the car park of Homebase at Straiton, where a woman was reported to be acting suspiciously.
However, he said they had received no calls about any more sightings, and dismissed the further claims as hearsay.
The spokesman added: "A full investigation has been carried out in respect of [the 23 June] incident, and there is no information that can lead us to conclude that an attempt to abduct a child took place.
"We have received no reports from the public regarding any further incidents of this nature that have taken place in Midlothian. However, we would appeal to anyone who has any information to contact police immediately.
"Lothian and Borders Police and partner agencies are committed to protecting our communities and everyone within them, and we will respond vigorously to any reports where there is a risk to children involved."
Sunday 4 July 2010
NORWAY: "Man eating fish and sea-mammal eating men..."
MARK McLAUGHLINEvening News (Edinburgh)
2 June 2010, Friday
“I’LL have seal to start and whale for the main course,” I said to the smiling Norwegian waiter, conscious of the fact that this was a phrase I had never uttered before.
Norway is a land of firsts, a genuinely unique place where it’s possible to pack in more exclusive experiences in one long-weekend than you would probably have in a month elsewhere. Majestic landscapes, well-stocked fjords, midnight sun, quirky architecture and taboo menus and are just some of the experiences on offer in Norway this summer.
However, make no mistake that such distinctiveness comes at a price. The Arctic freezes-and-thaws that created the dramatic landscape is evidence that summer temperatures can fluctuate from below freezing to upwards of 30 degrees; the preservation of its centuries old tradition of whaling attracts persistent condemnation from conservationists; while the high taxation that maintains its efficient infrastructure means it’s a very expensive place to eat and, more especially, drink.
The extortionate price of a pint in Norway is, as my friendly tour-guide pointed out in the hope I wouldn’t mention it, probably the only thing that many booze-loving Scots know about this exciting country. However, he did point to a recent survey by Edinburgh-based flights comparison Skyscanner which found that Norway is cheaper than many popular destinations including France, Spain and Italy when factoring in a cup of coffee, beer, meal, accommodation and car hire.
I have to admit that prior to my visit in early June Norway wasn’t top of my travel plans, but after three days sampling some of the best the country has to offer I’ll definitely be back. Shortly after boarding the Wideroe plane to Bergen Airport I decided to learn my first Norwegian.
“Takk means ‘thank you’,” said the attractive blonde air hostess as she handed me a coffee (attractive blondes are an abundant feature in Norway). “Tock,” I replied, to her obvious amusement. “No, Takk!” she said, stifling her giggles. “Took!!” I attempted again before she lost interest and moved on...this was going to require some practice.
Flying over the coast of Bergen was unlike anything I have ever seen. Tiny islands dot the coastline, not so much rising from the sea as appearing to float upon it like moss on a still lake. I disembarked to the most unexpected site – sunshine – which was not entirely unsurprising in a city little more than 400 miles north-west of Edinburgh but remained most welcome on an excursion where I had been advised to pack waterproofs and sturdy shoes. The warm sunshine also allowed me to see much more of those attractive Scandinavian blondes than I had envisioned.
The climate isn’t the only similarity that Bergen shares with Edinburgh. It is home to the centuries-old trading port of Bryygen, a UNESCO World Heritage site which, like our Old Town, features row-upon-row of tightly packed medieval-style housing, but unlike the brick fortresses of the Royal Mile these houses are made out of wood, a tradition that has resulted in them being burnt-down and remade several times.
Bergen has also recently reinstated its tram network after 40 years, to a similarly mixed reception.
“The people are about 50/50 for and against it,” explained our Bergen-By-Expert history guide Eirik Brudvik. “It’s a bit like marriage. Norway has a 50 per cent divorce rate. Norwegian women are very hard to live with. Demanding...but very rewarding,” he added, with a wink.
Bergen’s most famous son is Edvard Grieg, a composer who had only crossed my consciousness as the guy who wrote the soundtrack to Alton Towers and seminal ‘80s platform game Manic Miner over a century before either had been invented. Grieg, of course, is famous for much more than my limited cultural scope and the best place to discover his legacy is at Troldhaugen, Grieg’s former home overlooking the spectacular Lake Nordas which has been preserved for posterity.
Following an overnight stay at the Bergen First Hotel Marin, it was back to the airport and onwards to Tromso, the world’s northernmost city lying 200 miles inside the Arctic Circle.
Tromso isn’t much to look at from the ground. Its architecture is largely grey and functional, with the exception of a few eccentric buildings such as the split-pyramid-shaped Arctic Cathedral and the fallen domino architecture of the Polaria aquarium. However, its real charms become apparent when either looking up at the sky, or looking down on the city from the surrounding peaks.
Tromso is a key destination for viewing two of the world’s most startling natural phenomena – 24-hour-sunshine in the summer and the eerie aurora borealis in the winter.
It is also home to some amazing restaurants including the mountaintop Fjellheisen, which is accessible only by cable-car but worth it to sample the panoramic views of Tromso harbour and perfectly cooked lamb, and the traditional Acatandria Seafood Restaurant which offers up a truly unique Norwegian menu including reindeer, seal and, most controversially, whale meat.
As a fish-allergy sufferer much of the non-mammalian menu was closed to me so it was with relatively little guilt that I took my first bite of seal, which is so abundant that their numbers are regularly culled. After sampling the seal, which tasted a little like rich bacon, I do admit to some trepidation at trying my first whale.
Whale meat tastes like an impossibly lean and tender beef steak, and it soon became clear why these animals are in such high demand in the whaling nations of Scandinavia, Russia and the Far East.
The waiter’s assurances that my minke whale came from a large extended family and was hunted sustainably, with a view to ensuring that only a few hundred more of its unlucky mates would make it onto Norwegian plates, placated my palate but my guilt soon returned when I related my dinner to some horrified friends who reminded me of the inhumane way the animals are hunted – almost exclusively from a canon-fired harpoon.
A visit to Tromso Museum further exacerbated my guilt when I was able to examine a full-size skeleton hanging from the ceiling, and discovered just how mammalian these aquatic creatures are. Its pectoral fins are powered by a five-digit paddle that looks remarkably like a large hand, while its cavernous ribcage, shoulder blades and spine resembles a scaled-up human torso. I’m clearly not the only visitor who has questioned their right to hunt these animals for food, with an interactive poll revealing that 60 per cent of English-speaking visitors would advocate a ban on whaling, compared to a moderate 45 per cent of Norwegian-speaking visitors.
Thankfully, very few whales venture into Lyngen Fjord, around two hours drive from Tromso and home to Lyngsfjord Adventure’s summer fishing expeditions, so I was spared the indignity of having to explain myself to my dinner’s buddies. However, I did encounter an altogether less-elegant but no less controversial animal.
Casting my line to the bottom of the Fjord, it wasn’t long before I felt a powerful tug on the hook. Struggling with the reel, I peered over the starboard side to come face-to-face with a grotesque grinning monster baring a fearsome looking row of teeth. The skipper immediately came to my aid warning me not to go anywhere near its mouth.
“It’s a wolf fish,” exclaimed my excited Lyngsfjord tour guide Morten Pettersen. “Its jaws have a very powerful reflex action that’ll have your hand off, even after it’s been dead for more than an hour. Very tasty though. I’ve never caught one before.”
Morten could barely contain his delight when he learned about my fish allergy and realised I wouldn’t be fighting him to take the beast home (which is prohibited anyway - or so my hungry looking guide claimed). Also, with my whale still giving me moral indigestion, I was in no hurry to sample another increasingly rare delight. The wolf fish, or seawolf, is currently listed on the US National Marine Fisheries Service’s “species of concern” list. Three days in Norway and I had already become a conservationists nightmare.
While I would have no hesitation in returning to Norway it was clearly time to leave, and thankfully the exits were clearly marked. The exit sign above the departure gate door said “Ut” – and after a weekend of high mountains, freezing fjords, man-eating fish and sea-mammal-eating men I was glad to make it “oot” alive.
• Free international flights are available to anyone buying Widerøe’s Explore Norway Ticket between June 22 and August 27 ranging from one-zone for £289; two zones £350; and all three zones, £415, with an additional week costing just £180. Children from two to 11 enjoy a 25 per cent discount when travelling with their parents or grandparents.
FOCUS: Neo's Gallery at Café Renroc
Neo's Gallery at Café Renroc
89-91 Montgomery Street Edinburgh Midlothian EH7 5HZ 0131 556 0432
Current Exhibition
Edinburgh Digital Photography Meetup Group
Black and White Town
BIOGRAPHY
The Edinburgh Digital Photography Group was founded in March 2009, with the aim of bringing together local people who share an interest in digital photography – members range from beginners to more experienced photographers. We wish to foster a supportive, friendly atmosphere, often meeting up for photo walks or sometimes just for a bit of liquid refreshment and conversation in a local bar.
Our work has a wide range including landscapes, local events, portraiture, wildlife and botanical photography. If you wish to join us, please have a look at our website. Here we display the results of our work together, swap ideas, run competitions and organise our meetings.
This is our first exhibition and we have chosen to run with the theme of ‘Black and White Town’ which has given members a fantastic opportunity to exhibit their interpretations and perspectives on town and urban life. All pictures are on sale for £30 each. If you wish to purchase, please contact a member of Cafe Renroc staff.
Visit The Edinburgh Digital Photography Meetup Group’s website by clicking on this link:
The Edinburgh Digital Photography Meetup Group
89-91 Montgomery Street Edinburgh Midlothian EH7 5HZ 0131 556 0432
Current Exhibition
Edinburgh Digital Photography Meetup Group
Black and White Town
BIOGRAPHY
The Edinburgh Digital Photography Group was founded in March 2009, with the aim of bringing together local people who share an interest in digital photography – members range from beginners to more experienced photographers. We wish to foster a supportive, friendly atmosphere, often meeting up for photo walks or sometimes just for a bit of liquid refreshment and conversation in a local bar.
Our work has a wide range including landscapes, local events, portraiture, wildlife and botanical photography. If you wish to join us, please have a look at our website. Here we display the results of our work together, swap ideas, run competitions and organise our meetings.
This is our first exhibition and we have chosen to run with the theme of ‘Black and White Town’ which has given members a fantastic opportunity to exhibit their interpretations and perspectives on town and urban life. All pictures are on sale for £30 each. If you wish to purchase, please contact a member of Cafe Renroc staff.
Visit The Edinburgh Digital Photography Meetup Group’s website by clicking on this link:
The Edinburgh Digital Photography Meetup Group
NEWS: Libraries switch on to electronic lending with eBook scheme
MARK McLAUGHLIN
Evening News (Edinburgh)
July 2, 2010, Friday
FLICKING through well-thumbed and yellowing paperbacks could soon be a thing of the past as Edinburgh libraries prepare to roll out their first electronic lending scheme.
With so-called eBooks becoming more popular, the city's libraries will soon be offering a wide range of books to download for a short spell.
Library members will be able to access the library catalogue remotely through the new YourLibrary online portal, and when the rental period expires the book will simply disappear from their device. The system removes the need to physically borrow and return books, and the automatic deletion removes the misery of overdue fees.
Liz McGettigan, the city council's head of libraries and information services, said: "Most people are getting into technology these days and this is something that our libraries have been keeping up with.
"People who buy books in bookshops are the same people who borrow from libraries and, in the same way, those that buy eBooks online would also consider borrowing them for a short-term download.
"It's early days yet as we've had a few technical difficulties getting the system up and running, but there's no rush because eBooks are still in their infancy.
"It's a bit like the battle between VHS and Betamax videos. There are so many different formats out there with no agreed standard, so producing something that works for everyone is still a bit off.
"The eBook system is just a part of our new virtual library portal, which is really easy to use and makes it simple for new people to join the library and browse our catalogue.
"We've now got one of the most innovative interactive library portals in Scotland, which is pretty amazing.
"However, it definitely won't spell the end of books altogether. We will always stock paperback and hardback books because people will always want to read them in this format, regardless of whatever new technology comes along."
As well as offering the service for eBook readers the portal will be available on any computer browser and some books will also be available in MP3 format, for audio book download on to an iPod or similar device.
Jim Thompson, the city's digital and information manager, said: "The cost of eBooks will be about 20 per cent of the cost of the money we're currently spending on audio books.
"The books are bought in by publication and there are restrictions in place on the browser to prevent people just cutting-and-pasting them into a word- processing file and keeping them for good."
A small selection of books are now available for download from the Bloomsbury Publications catalogue, accessible through the portal, with current titles including Sheila Hancock's memoir of her life with Inspector Morse actor John Thaw, entitled The Two of Us, and model-author-celebrity chef Sophie Dahl's novel Playing With The Grown Ups.
Librarians hope to have more than 50 titles online by the end of the year.
Evening News (Edinburgh)
July 2, 2010, Friday
FLICKING through well-thumbed and yellowing paperbacks could soon be a thing of the past as Edinburgh libraries prepare to roll out their first electronic lending scheme.
With so-called eBooks becoming more popular, the city's libraries will soon be offering a wide range of books to download for a short spell.
Library members will be able to access the library catalogue remotely through the new YourLibrary online portal, and when the rental period expires the book will simply disappear from their device. The system removes the need to physically borrow and return books, and the automatic deletion removes the misery of overdue fees.
Liz McGettigan, the city council's head of libraries and information services, said: "Most people are getting into technology these days and this is something that our libraries have been keeping up with.
"People who buy books in bookshops are the same people who borrow from libraries and, in the same way, those that buy eBooks online would also consider borrowing them for a short-term download.
"It's early days yet as we've had a few technical difficulties getting the system up and running, but there's no rush because eBooks are still in their infancy.
"It's a bit like the battle between VHS and Betamax videos. There are so many different formats out there with no agreed standard, so producing something that works for everyone is still a bit off.
"The eBook system is just a part of our new virtual library portal, which is really easy to use and makes it simple for new people to join the library and browse our catalogue.
"We've now got one of the most innovative interactive library portals in Scotland, which is pretty amazing.
"However, it definitely won't spell the end of books altogether. We will always stock paperback and hardback books because people will always want to read them in this format, regardless of whatever new technology comes along."
As well as offering the service for eBook readers the portal will be available on any computer browser and some books will also be available in MP3 format, for audio book download on to an iPod or similar device.
Jim Thompson, the city's digital and information manager, said: "The cost of eBooks will be about 20 per cent of the cost of the money we're currently spending on audio books.
"The books are bought in by publication and there are restrictions in place on the browser to prevent people just cutting-and-pasting them into a word- processing file and keeping them for good."
A small selection of books are now available for download from the Bloomsbury Publications catalogue, accessible through the portal, with current titles including Sheila Hancock's memoir of her life with Inspector Morse actor John Thaw, entitled The Two of Us, and model-author-celebrity chef Sophie Dahl's novel Playing With The Grown Ups.
Librarians hope to have more than 50 titles online by the end of the year.
NEWS: Parents locked out of park built in children's memory
MARK McLAUGHLIN
Evening News (Edinburgh)
July 1, 2010, Thursday
THE parents of two children who died in a horrific warehouse fire have been locked out of a playpark built in their memory.
Donna Hume and Catherine Craig campaigned for years to see a country park built over the site of a derelict warehouse in Penicuik where their boys Blair Easton, 11, and Craig Quinn, 12, died in 1998.
Midlothian Council, however, decided to award the site to private housebuilder Applecross Homes to create the new Eskbridge Estate, which was completed last year.
As a concession, the council insisted that a memorial be written into the plans and the families agreed on a playpark.
However, Craig's mother Catherine was horrified when she visited the park and was turned away by a sign warning that it was for "Eskbridge residents use only".
She said: "This was a memorial park for the boys so friends and family could visit but they have now put up sign up saying residents only.
"Although it's been over ten years it's still affecting us all."
Donna Hume, who is divorced from Blair's father Derek Easton and now lives in Tranent, added: "It's sickening that they've locked everyone out of the park except for the residents of these shiny new houses.
"Blair would have been 23 this year and getting to the age where he may have been thinking about having children himself.
"Some of his classmates have children of their own now and I'm sure they would have enjoyed taking their children down there."
The whole community was left in shock when the boys died in the fire which ripped through the former Borders Concrete warehouse in March 1998.
People visiting the memorial are now met with a grey metal fence built around the playpark, and the only publicly accessible area is a green bench on the edge of the park bearing the boys' names.
Two plaques on the bench read: "Full of fun and mischief and memories of Blair Easton (11) and Craig Quinn (12) who will live on through all those who knew and laughed with them."
A spokeswoman for the site's estate agents Strutt & Parker said the purpose of the park appeared to have been "lost in translation" when developer Applecross went into administration last year, and referred inquiries to the site's current factors, Charles White Limited.
Charles White property manager Sarah Wilson refused to comment.
Midlothian Provost Adam Montgomery, who has been a local councillor in the area since before the boys' deaths and supported the idea of a memorial park on the site, has now written to the council's chief executive to find a way to tear these signs down and open the park up to the public.
He said: "I have asked for an investigation into what has happened here and a look at the agreements we received when we permitted this development to go ahead.
"However, even if there wasn't any agreement to keep this park open to the public I will aim to get it reopened, because it's not right that relatives and friends of the youngsters are not allowed to gain access to it."
Evening News (Edinburgh)
July 1, 2010, Thursday
THE parents of two children who died in a horrific warehouse fire have been locked out of a playpark built in their memory.
Donna Hume and Catherine Craig campaigned for years to see a country park built over the site of a derelict warehouse in Penicuik where their boys Blair Easton, 11, and Craig Quinn, 12, died in 1998.
Midlothian Council, however, decided to award the site to private housebuilder Applecross Homes to create the new Eskbridge Estate, which was completed last year.
As a concession, the council insisted that a memorial be written into the plans and the families agreed on a playpark.
However, Craig's mother Catherine was horrified when she visited the park and was turned away by a sign warning that it was for "Eskbridge residents use only".
She said: "This was a memorial park for the boys so friends and family could visit but they have now put up sign up saying residents only.
"Although it's been over ten years it's still affecting us all."
Donna Hume, who is divorced from Blair's father Derek Easton and now lives in Tranent, added: "It's sickening that they've locked everyone out of the park except for the residents of these shiny new houses.
"Blair would have been 23 this year and getting to the age where he may have been thinking about having children himself.
"Some of his classmates have children of their own now and I'm sure they would have enjoyed taking their children down there."
The whole community was left in shock when the boys died in the fire which ripped through the former Borders Concrete warehouse in March 1998.
People visiting the memorial are now met with a grey metal fence built around the playpark, and the only publicly accessible area is a green bench on the edge of the park bearing the boys' names.
Two plaques on the bench read: "Full of fun and mischief and memories of Blair Easton (11) and Craig Quinn (12) who will live on through all those who knew and laughed with them."
A spokeswoman for the site's estate agents Strutt & Parker said the purpose of the park appeared to have been "lost in translation" when developer Applecross went into administration last year, and referred inquiries to the site's current factors, Charles White Limited.
Charles White property manager Sarah Wilson refused to comment.
Midlothian Provost Adam Montgomery, who has been a local councillor in the area since before the boys' deaths and supported the idea of a memorial park on the site, has now written to the council's chief executive to find a way to tear these signs down and open the park up to the public.
He said: "I have asked for an investigation into what has happened here and a look at the agreements we received when we permitted this development to go ahead.
"However, even if there wasn't any agreement to keep this park open to the public I will aim to get it reopened, because it's not right that relatives and friends of the youngsters are not allowed to gain access to it."
NEWS: Ex-Marine is gunning for world record
MARK McLAUGHLIN
Evening News (Edinburgh)
June 30, 2010, Wednesday
IT'S a world record attempt that has a touch of the Buck Rogers about it.
Eighteen gamers will strap on their body armour and zap each other with ray guns for at least 24 hours to raise money for a host of local charities.
Portobello gaming arcade Dark Ocean hopes to hold the world's longest game of "laser tag" on Sunday.
The game involves kitting out gamers with light-sensitive targets and laser guns.
The stunt has never been attempted before, and if it is successful it will involve players battling it out without a break for a minimum of 24 hours.
The event is the brainchild of new Dark Ocean owner Ronald Gray, 35, from Leith.
The former Royal Marine swapped his rifle for ray guns when he took over the business two months ago.
He said: "We're raising money for Macmillan Cancer Support because one of my managers had cancer.
"As an ex-Royal Marine the forces charity Help for Heroes is also close to my heart, while my daughter is currently receiving treatment at the Sick Kids hospital, so we're raising money for the Friends Foundation.
"Some of the money will also go to Barnardo's and the Lothian Autistic Society."
Edinburgh East MSP Kenny MacAskill, who as justice secretary has launched several crackdowns on guns, will reveal that he has no objection to ray guns when he launches the event at 3pm on Sunday.
Mr MacAskill said: "I am pleased to be invited along.
"Although I have little experience of laser gaming, I am delighted to support a local event and raise some much-needed cash for a number of charities."
The bid will also receive support from the Edinburgh Wolves American football team.
Mr Gray said he had not set a fundraising target, but was committed to raising as much money as possible.
He said: "When you set a target there is the temptation for people to stop giving when the target is reached, so I've left it open."
He added that the business had been "flourishing" since he took over.
The arcade was at the centre of controversy when it opened in late 2007 after police warned it could become a "flashpoint venue" for rival gangs from Craigentinny/Lochend and Portobello/Northfield.
However, Mr Gray said fighting had never been a problem and the only battles that take place happen with fake weapons inside the building.
He said: "Before I took the business over I was a regular visitor and I never noticed any trouble at all.
"One of the locals who objected to the plans at the time is actually a frequent visitor now. She loves the place."
Evening News (Edinburgh)
June 30, 2010, Wednesday
IT'S a world record attempt that has a touch of the Buck Rogers about it.
Eighteen gamers will strap on their body armour and zap each other with ray guns for at least 24 hours to raise money for a host of local charities.
Portobello gaming arcade Dark Ocean hopes to hold the world's longest game of "laser tag" on Sunday.
The game involves kitting out gamers with light-sensitive targets and laser guns.
The stunt has never been attempted before, and if it is successful it will involve players battling it out without a break for a minimum of 24 hours.
The event is the brainchild of new Dark Ocean owner Ronald Gray, 35, from Leith.
The former Royal Marine swapped his rifle for ray guns when he took over the business two months ago.
He said: "We're raising money for Macmillan Cancer Support because one of my managers had cancer.
"As an ex-Royal Marine the forces charity Help for Heroes is also close to my heart, while my daughter is currently receiving treatment at the Sick Kids hospital, so we're raising money for the Friends Foundation.
"Some of the money will also go to Barnardo's and the Lothian Autistic Society."
Edinburgh East MSP Kenny MacAskill, who as justice secretary has launched several crackdowns on guns, will reveal that he has no objection to ray guns when he launches the event at 3pm on Sunday.
Mr MacAskill said: "I am pleased to be invited along.
"Although I have little experience of laser gaming, I am delighted to support a local event and raise some much-needed cash for a number of charities."
The bid will also receive support from the Edinburgh Wolves American football team.
Mr Gray said he had not set a fundraising target, but was committed to raising as much money as possible.
He said: "When you set a target there is the temptation for people to stop giving when the target is reached, so I've left it open."
He added that the business had been "flourishing" since he took over.
The arcade was at the centre of controversy when it opened in late 2007 after police warned it could become a "flashpoint venue" for rival gangs from Craigentinny/Lochend and Portobello/Northfield.
However, Mr Gray said fighting had never been a problem and the only battles that take place happen with fake weapons inside the building.
He said: "Before I took the business over I was a regular visitor and I never noticed any trouble at all.
"One of the locals who objected to the plans at the time is actually a frequent visitor now. She loves the place."
NEWS: Branching out on our own will Bia thrill
MARK McLAUGHLIN
Evening News (Edinburgh)
June 30, 2010, Wednesday
A HUSBAND and wife chef team who have worked in a string of Michelin-starred restaurants around the world - including Gordon Ramsay's eateries in New York - are set open their first Edinburgh bistro.
Matthias Llorente and his wife Roisin have recently taken over a branch of The Olive Branch Bistro, in Colinton Road, after the owners of decided to downsize for family reasons.
The Llorentes will shortly rename their restaurant Bia Bistrot, promising a menu stocked with fresh, seasonal and locally sourced produce.
Mr Llorente, 32, from Grenoble in south-eastern France, said: "I met Roisin in Scotland ten years ago and we've since travelled the world, working in restaurants and gaining experience.
"We've been back about a year now and we're keen to get going with our own business. This is our first self-run restaurant but we've been working in the industry for more than 15 years.
"We will continue to run it as The Olive Branch Bistro for the time being, but hope to have it fully rebranded in August."
The name of their new bistro harks back to the days when it was known as Bistrot Des Arts - said to have been a favourite of Rebus author Ian Rankin.
Roisin, 31, from Donegal in Ireland, was most recently sous-chef in the double Michelin-starred Gordon Ramsay At The London, in New York, while Matthias held the same post at Ramsay's other New York restaurant, Maze.
Roisin has also held senior kitchen posts in Michelin-starred restaurants Michael Deane, in Belfast, and L'Ecrivain, in Dublin. Matthias has worked in the double Michelin-starred Domaine de Chateauvieux in Geneva.
The couple met while working in the kitchen of Edinburgh's Sheraton Grand Hotel in 2000.
The Llorentes will fill the void left by Stuart and Kerry Thom who have been forced to close two of their three Olive Branch Bistros after Mrs Thom contracted meningitis.
Their George IV Bridge branch is also closing along with the branch in Colinton, and they will instead focus their attentions on their original Broughton Street branch as well devoting more time to their three children and allowing Mrs Thom to make a full recovery.
Mr Thom said: "Kerry was really ill recently and although she's getting better we've decided to make things a little easier on ourselves.
"Trying to run a business while looking after three children is a tough job at the best of times, but there's only the two of us and with Kerry being ill we thought it was time to refocus.
"The Broughton bistro is still going strong."
Evening News (Edinburgh)
June 30, 2010, Wednesday
A HUSBAND and wife chef team who have worked in a string of Michelin-starred restaurants around the world - including Gordon Ramsay's eateries in New York - are set open their first Edinburgh bistro.
Matthias Llorente and his wife Roisin have recently taken over a branch of The Olive Branch Bistro, in Colinton Road, after the owners of decided to downsize for family reasons.
The Llorentes will shortly rename their restaurant Bia Bistrot, promising a menu stocked with fresh, seasonal and locally sourced produce.
Mr Llorente, 32, from Grenoble in south-eastern France, said: "I met Roisin in Scotland ten years ago and we've since travelled the world, working in restaurants and gaining experience.
"We've been back about a year now and we're keen to get going with our own business. This is our first self-run restaurant but we've been working in the industry for more than 15 years.
"We will continue to run it as The Olive Branch Bistro for the time being, but hope to have it fully rebranded in August."
The name of their new bistro harks back to the days when it was known as Bistrot Des Arts - said to have been a favourite of Rebus author Ian Rankin.
Roisin, 31, from Donegal in Ireland, was most recently sous-chef in the double Michelin-starred Gordon Ramsay At The London, in New York, while Matthias held the same post at Ramsay's other New York restaurant, Maze.
Roisin has also held senior kitchen posts in Michelin-starred restaurants Michael Deane, in Belfast, and L'Ecrivain, in Dublin. Matthias has worked in the double Michelin-starred Domaine de Chateauvieux in Geneva.
The couple met while working in the kitchen of Edinburgh's Sheraton Grand Hotel in 2000.
The Llorentes will fill the void left by Stuart and Kerry Thom who have been forced to close two of their three Olive Branch Bistros after Mrs Thom contracted meningitis.
Their George IV Bridge branch is also closing along with the branch in Colinton, and they will instead focus their attentions on their original Broughton Street branch as well devoting more time to their three children and allowing Mrs Thom to make a full recovery.
Mr Thom said: "Kerry was really ill recently and although she's getting better we've decided to make things a little easier on ourselves.
"Trying to run a business while looking after three children is a tough job at the best of times, but there's only the two of us and with Kerry being ill we thought it was time to refocus.
"The Broughton bistro is still going strong."
NEWS: Fire victim's fiancé tells of torment
MARK McLAUGHLIN
Evening News (Edinburgh)
June 29, 2010, Tuesday
THE former fiancé of a mum-of-three who died in a house fire said he is distraught that they won't get the chance to patch up their relationship.
Tommy Simpson has set up tribute websites to Angela Campbell, who died in the ferocious fire at her three-bedroom home in the Dedridge area of Livingston during the early hours of Saturday morning.
Miss Campbell, a former James Young High School pupil, had three children - Jordan, five, Ryan, two, and Mia, one - who were only spared because they were staying with relatives.
Mr Simpson wrote on the sites: "We were going to get back together. Ang, in my eyes you will always be my woman.
"The kids are totally great and missing you loads, but I know you are going to be with them every minute of every day.
"Everyone knows that Ang and I had our ups and downs just like everyone else and that we were engaged.
"At the end of the day she was always there for me and I was always there for her."
Mr Simpson was too upset to speak when contacted by the Evening News.
He has transformed Miss Campbell's former Facebook and Bebo sites into tribute pages, where friends have been leaving messages since her death.
Friend Leigh Doherty said: "You treasure those babies of yours. Spoil them even more now and remind them of mummy every day. Chin up Tommy. Try to be strong."
Miss Campbell had recently signed up for a college course at Stevenson College, to do adult learning classes in English, maths and information technology. She was also looking forward to a holiday in Magaluf with her friends next year.
Her site also reveals she was an indie and dance music fan, and a Rangers supporter.
Friends and neighbours were still stopping yesterday to lay flowers at her doorstep.
Isabell Martin, 70, who lives close to Angela's parents, said: "She was such a lovely young girl, it is really so sad for the mum and dad, and for the little kids.
"I know her family are taking it very hard, especially her dad Paul: I don't think he's coping too well. No wonder, though: no parent should ever have to say goodbye to their child."
A spokeswoman for Lothian and Borders Fire and Rescue said that police and fire investigation teams are still trying to establish the cause of the blaze.
The spokeswoman added that council teams would decide whether the damage was severe enough to require demolition.
Evening News (Edinburgh)
June 29, 2010, Tuesday
THE former fiancé of a mum-of-three who died in a house fire said he is distraught that they won't get the chance to patch up their relationship.
Tommy Simpson has set up tribute websites to Angela Campbell, who died in the ferocious fire at her three-bedroom home in the Dedridge area of Livingston during the early hours of Saturday morning.
Miss Campbell, a former James Young High School pupil, had three children - Jordan, five, Ryan, two, and Mia, one - who were only spared because they were staying with relatives.
Mr Simpson wrote on the sites: "We were going to get back together. Ang, in my eyes you will always be my woman.
"The kids are totally great and missing you loads, but I know you are going to be with them every minute of every day.
"Everyone knows that Ang and I had our ups and downs just like everyone else and that we were engaged.
"At the end of the day she was always there for me and I was always there for her."
Mr Simpson was too upset to speak when contacted by the Evening News.
He has transformed Miss Campbell's former Facebook and Bebo sites into tribute pages, where friends have been leaving messages since her death.
Friend Leigh Doherty said: "You treasure those babies of yours. Spoil them even more now and remind them of mummy every day. Chin up Tommy. Try to be strong."
Miss Campbell had recently signed up for a college course at Stevenson College, to do adult learning classes in English, maths and information technology. She was also looking forward to a holiday in Magaluf with her friends next year.
Her site also reveals she was an indie and dance music fan, and a Rangers supporter.
Friends and neighbours were still stopping yesterday to lay flowers at her doorstep.
Isabell Martin, 70, who lives close to Angela's parents, said: "She was such a lovely young girl, it is really so sad for the mum and dad, and for the little kids.
"I know her family are taking it very hard, especially her dad Paul: I don't think he's coping too well. No wonder, though: no parent should ever have to say goodbye to their child."
A spokeswoman for Lothian and Borders Fire and Rescue said that police and fire investigation teams are still trying to establish the cause of the blaze.
The spokeswoman added that council teams would decide whether the damage was severe enough to require demolition.
NEWS: Paolozzi Revisted
MARK McLAUGHLIN
Evening News (Edinburgh)
June 28, 2010, Monday
A BOLD mural based on the work of renowned Edinburgh artist Eduardo Paolozzi could soon grace the playground of his old school.
Leith Walk Primary School is planning its first major celebration of the artist, who attended the school in the 1920s, with a massive painting on the back wall of a neighbouring two-storey building.
The mural looks similar to one of Paolozzi's famous colourful collages, on a massive scale, with geometric shapes and images drawn from fashion magazines, such as a high-heeled shoe, a make-up compact and a model with an oversized head.
Leith marketing firm Newhaven Communications has donated the wall, which overlooks the school playground, to honour the artist.
Head teacher Stewart Crabb said: "The playground is a bit of a concrete jungle at the moment, so we were looking for some sort of community project to revive it and make it a bit more lively.
"Paolozzi is an ex-pupil of the school, so we thought it would be a good idea to celebrate his work.
"Newhaven came up with the idea of creating a big mural on the wall, so we are hoping to do some fundraising in the near future to pay for it.
"It's such a massive painting, the size of a whole building. If we get the go-ahead, we will move to the fundraising stage. Newhaven has donated its time so we'll only have to pay for the paints."
Paolozzi was born in 1924 to Italian immigrant parents in Leith.
After beginning his education at Leith Walk School and Holy Cross Academy, he went on to attend evening classes at the Edinburgh College of Art.
During his time at ECA, as well as learning drawing and stone-cutting, he began to fill scrapbooks with images cut from magazines - a habit that was eventually to make him one of the fathers of Pop Art.
He was made a CBE in 1968, elected to the Royal Academy in 1979 and knighted in 1989.
His best-known work in the city is The Manuscript of Monte Cassino - the three-piece sculpture sited outside St Mary's Roman Catholic Cathedral on York Place that includes a giant hand and foot. The Dean Gallery also hosts an exact replica of his art studio.
Mr Crabb added: "We've not really had the chance to do anything like this before.
"We would love to display some of his art at the school, but I would imagine it's worth a fortune now, so it will be a bit beyond our means.
"This will be the first major project we've undertaken to mark his time at the school."
Evening News (Edinburgh)
June 28, 2010, Monday
A BOLD mural based on the work of renowned Edinburgh artist Eduardo Paolozzi could soon grace the playground of his old school.
Leith Walk Primary School is planning its first major celebration of the artist, who attended the school in the 1920s, with a massive painting on the back wall of a neighbouring two-storey building.
The mural looks similar to one of Paolozzi's famous colourful collages, on a massive scale, with geometric shapes and images drawn from fashion magazines, such as a high-heeled shoe, a make-up compact and a model with an oversized head.
Leith marketing firm Newhaven Communications has donated the wall, which overlooks the school playground, to honour the artist.
Head teacher Stewart Crabb said: "The playground is a bit of a concrete jungle at the moment, so we were looking for some sort of community project to revive it and make it a bit more lively.
"Paolozzi is an ex-pupil of the school, so we thought it would be a good idea to celebrate his work.
"Newhaven came up with the idea of creating a big mural on the wall, so we are hoping to do some fundraising in the near future to pay for it.
"It's such a massive painting, the size of a whole building. If we get the go-ahead, we will move to the fundraising stage. Newhaven has donated its time so we'll only have to pay for the paints."
Paolozzi was born in 1924 to Italian immigrant parents in Leith.
After beginning his education at Leith Walk School and Holy Cross Academy, he went on to attend evening classes at the Edinburgh College of Art.
During his time at ECA, as well as learning drawing and stone-cutting, he began to fill scrapbooks with images cut from magazines - a habit that was eventually to make him one of the fathers of Pop Art.
He was made a CBE in 1968, elected to the Royal Academy in 1979 and knighted in 1989.
His best-known work in the city is The Manuscript of Monte Cassino - the three-piece sculpture sited outside St Mary's Roman Catholic Cathedral on York Place that includes a giant hand and foot. The Dean Gallery also hosts an exact replica of his art studio.
Mr Crabb added: "We've not really had the chance to do anything like this before.
"We would love to display some of his art at the school, but I would imagine it's worth a fortune now, so it will be a bit beyond our means.
"This will be the first major project we've undertaken to mark his time at the school."
NEWS: Defunct School Gets New Lease of Life
MARK McLAUGHLIN
Evening News (Edinburgh)
June 25, 2010, Friday
A MYSTERY bidder is planning to run a new school in the building left vacant by the collapse of St Margaret's, it emerged today.
Parents fighting to save the school from closure have admitted defeat after they failed to raise enough money to take it over, but they have now turned their attention to other bids to resurrect parts of the campus for future use.
An announcement on the Save St Margaret's School Campaign website revealed there was at least one other bid which will include the school buildings as well as the nursery.
Val Devlin, who had two girls in the junior school and chaired the St Margaret's School Parents and Friends Association, said: "All that we know is that bids were taken for St Hilary House nursery, that the bids closed on Tuesday evening, and that they're currently under consideration.
"We also know that one of the bidders is interested in purchasing the junior school building with a view to setting up an entirely new junior school.
"However, the parents won't be involved in that, it will be a totally private bid, and the logistics of it all means that nothing will be in place for August."
St Margaret's looked after children's education right through their childhood and adolescent years, from three months to 18 years.
St Hilary House, which is subject to several bids, catered for three months up to five years.
However, it is the junior school building, which catered for ages five to 11, that is the subject of the new combined bid.
Ms Devlin said: "The are several bids for the nursery, which is being sold as a going concern as it's still a viable business.
"However, we know that there is one bid for the junior school building, but not for the actual school business which has now been liquidated.
"All of the teachers have been made redundant and most of the pupils have now been found other schools.
"If this gentleman's bid is accepted he will be setting up a brand new junior school for ages five to 11.
"We know that he has a chain of nurseries already and is looking to expand.
"However, we don't know the identity of this person and we don't expect to be told in advance by KPMG.
"KPMG have been as helpful as they can be under the circumstances, as they will obviously be operating under certain legal constraints regarding how much they can say.
"I've now found alternative schools for my girls and most people have been sorted, although not all of them which is obviously a cause for concern.
"However, if the old St Margaret's junior school is taken over in good time, and it offers a good service, then I would consider taking my children back there."
No-one from KPMG could be contacted for comment.
Evening News (Edinburgh)
June 25, 2010, Friday
A MYSTERY bidder is planning to run a new school in the building left vacant by the collapse of St Margaret's, it emerged today.
Parents fighting to save the school from closure have admitted defeat after they failed to raise enough money to take it over, but they have now turned their attention to other bids to resurrect parts of the campus for future use.
An announcement on the Save St Margaret's School Campaign website revealed there was at least one other bid which will include the school buildings as well as the nursery.
Val Devlin, who had two girls in the junior school and chaired the St Margaret's School Parents and Friends Association, said: "All that we know is that bids were taken for St Hilary House nursery, that the bids closed on Tuesday evening, and that they're currently under consideration.
"We also know that one of the bidders is interested in purchasing the junior school building with a view to setting up an entirely new junior school.
"However, the parents won't be involved in that, it will be a totally private bid, and the logistics of it all means that nothing will be in place for August."
St Margaret's looked after children's education right through their childhood and adolescent years, from three months to 18 years.
St Hilary House, which is subject to several bids, catered for three months up to five years.
However, it is the junior school building, which catered for ages five to 11, that is the subject of the new combined bid.
Ms Devlin said: "The are several bids for the nursery, which is being sold as a going concern as it's still a viable business.
"However, we know that there is one bid for the junior school building, but not for the actual school business which has now been liquidated.
"All of the teachers have been made redundant and most of the pupils have now been found other schools.
"If this gentleman's bid is accepted he will be setting up a brand new junior school for ages five to 11.
"We know that he has a chain of nurseries already and is looking to expand.
"However, we don't know the identity of this person and we don't expect to be told in advance by KPMG.
"KPMG have been as helpful as they can be under the circumstances, as they will obviously be operating under certain legal constraints regarding how much they can say.
"I've now found alternative schools for my girls and most people have been sorted, although not all of them which is obviously a cause for concern.
"However, if the old St Margaret's junior school is taken over in good time, and it offers a good service, then I would consider taking my children back there."
No-one from KPMG could be contacted for comment.
NEWS: Modern Art
MARK McLAUGHLIN
Evening News (Edinburgh)
June 24, 2010, Thursday
AN UNDERGROUND gallery with a modern glass entrance is set to be created at Edinburgh College of Art.
Plans for the expansion, which will include a plastercast of "Winged Nike" to welcome visitors, have been lodged with the city council.
But they look sure to prove controversial, with critics saying the result would be an "incongruous add on" akin to the Usher Hall extension and planned expansion of Edinburgh International Conference Centre.
A college spokeswoman said the extension would offer new opportunities for showcasing art and design in Edinburgh. "We are also looking to improve the streetscape on Lauriston Place," she said.
"The main college building is really set back from the street, and it can be quite daunting for new students coming here for the first time."
However, Paul Beswick, chair of Tollcross Community Council, said
: "The Art College was designed with the red sandstone to fit in with the important fire station next door and this spoils the attractive look of the two buildings.
"This is the third application for an incongruous add on.
"The Usher Hall has a totally inappropriate add on to the side. The plans have been approved for another glass 'lean to' on the side of the Conference Centre, which is a truly iconic building.
"I won't be able to comment fully until I've seen all of the plans, but on first impression I would say that this type of detraction from important buildings should be resisted."
The Usher Hall glass extension - finally opened to the public in February after years of delays - attracted criticism from Edinburgh World Heritage Trust and The Royal Fine Art Commission for Scotland for its "awkward" design.
The proposed expansion of the EICC, which was expected to be given final approval today after a similarly protracted planning wrangle, has also been attacked by the Cockburn Association.
But the college spokeswoman rejected Mr Beswick's criticisms, stating that the ECA building "wasn't particularly old or historic".
She said: "Lauriston Place already has quite a lot of modern architecture, particularly in the new Quartermile development across the road.
"The college building itself has only been around for the last 50 years or so, and there's also quite an untidy looking car park out front which doesn't particularly enhance the street or the college.
"We did an exhibition a couple of years ago where we invited the community council along, and they said they would be really interested to find out more about the college, and work with us on future projects, so we would be happy to have their input on the current plans."
A spokesman for the ECA's architects, Oliver Chapman, said the vision for the new building is to "create a real street presence for the college and encourage access by the general public".
He added: "The extensive use of glass conveys a sense of openness and offers enticing views into the gallery space below.
"The principal stair extends into the gallery proper and draws the visitor into this space.
"The imposing plastercast of the 'Winged Nike' stands as a sentinel and draws the eye to the gallery entrance and acts as a gateway to the college campus."
Evening News (Edinburgh)
June 24, 2010, Thursday
AN UNDERGROUND gallery with a modern glass entrance is set to be created at Edinburgh College of Art.
Plans for the expansion, which will include a plastercast of "Winged Nike" to welcome visitors, have been lodged with the city council.
But they look sure to prove controversial, with critics saying the result would be an "incongruous add on" akin to the Usher Hall extension and planned expansion of Edinburgh International Conference Centre.
A college spokeswoman said the extension would offer new opportunities for showcasing art and design in Edinburgh. "We are also looking to improve the streetscape on Lauriston Place," she said.
"The main college building is really set back from the street, and it can be quite daunting for new students coming here for the first time."
However, Paul Beswick, chair of Tollcross Community Council, said
: "The Art College was designed with the red sandstone to fit in with the important fire station next door and this spoils the attractive look of the two buildings.
"This is the third application for an incongruous add on.
"The Usher Hall has a totally inappropriate add on to the side. The plans have been approved for another glass 'lean to' on the side of the Conference Centre, which is a truly iconic building.
"I won't be able to comment fully until I've seen all of the plans, but on first impression I would say that this type of detraction from important buildings should be resisted."
The Usher Hall glass extension - finally opened to the public in February after years of delays - attracted criticism from Edinburgh World Heritage Trust and The Royal Fine Art Commission for Scotland for its "awkward" design.
The proposed expansion of the EICC, which was expected to be given final approval today after a similarly protracted planning wrangle, has also been attacked by the Cockburn Association.
But the college spokeswoman rejected Mr Beswick's criticisms, stating that the ECA building "wasn't particularly old or historic".
She said: "Lauriston Place already has quite a lot of modern architecture, particularly in the new Quartermile development across the road.
"The college building itself has only been around for the last 50 years or so, and there's also quite an untidy looking car park out front which doesn't particularly enhance the street or the college.
"We did an exhibition a couple of years ago where we invited the community council along, and they said they would be really interested to find out more about the college, and work with us on future projects, so we would be happy to have their input on the current plans."
A spokesman for the ECA's architects, Oliver Chapman, said the vision for the new building is to "create a real street presence for the college and encourage access by the general public".
He added: "The extensive use of glass conveys a sense of openness and offers enticing views into the gallery space below.
"The principal stair extends into the gallery proper and draws the visitor into this space.
"The imposing plastercast of the 'Winged Nike' stands as a sentinel and draws the eye to the gallery entrance and acts as a gateway to the college campus."
NEWS: Parking Meters RIP?
MARK McLAUGHLIN
Evening News (Edinburgh)
June 24, 2010, Thursday
PARKING meters in Edinburgh are set to be phased out to make way for a "cashless parking" system letting drivers pay with their mobile phone and credit card.
The city council is currently consulting on the new RingGo system, which will end the practice of buying a ticket to stick on the windscreen.
Instead, traffic wardens will be able to check a car has paid to be in a particular space with a handheld computer. The scheme is currently in operation in private parking bays at the Travelodge in St Mary's Street, as well as several cities throughout the UK.
It could result in the number of cash meters being reduced, meaning people who are unwilling or unable to pay by credit card may have further to walk to buy a ticket.
A council spokesman said: "The scheme uses location identification as a means of knowing what vehicles have paid to park in a street. This requires handheld devices to be able to communicate with a central database using real-time information.
"It allows for users to extend their stay. However, one issue that will need to be addressed is the fact that we have different maximum stay periods for parking bays throughout the city. The cost of an initial payment at a machine will be the same whatever the method of payment."
He said there would be no cost to the council in setting up the scheme as it would be included in the contract with NSL, which currently provides the city's parking attendants.
The attendants will have a handheld device with a readout showing all of the bays in the street, with details of the make, model and number plate of the cars that have paid to park there.
If the traffic warden sees a car which is not on the list, a parking ticket would be issued.
RingGo differs from the current mPark system, which uses the ticket machine to print a pay and display voucher which has to be displayed on the vehicle.
The spokesman said the system would end the trade in "black market tickets", whereby kind-spirited drivers give tickets to other drivers if they still have time left on them.
However, he added that the scheme was less about maximising revenues and more about making parking more convenient. Tim Cowen, director of communications at NSL, said: "I can't remember the last time I used a parking meter in London. It's a really good system, and really convenient.
"It makes it easier for the driver - you don't have to run to the shop to get change. You just phone the hotline, give your details and Bob's your uncle."
HOW DOES IT WORK?
Note down the unique identification number on your parking bay.
* Phone the hotline and give the make, colour and registration number of your car.
* Pay by credit card or have the charge added to your prearranged RingGo account.
* Note down time restrictions on the bay. Drivers can top up remotely provided they do not exceed the time limit.
* Traffic wardens will receive real-time updates of which cars have paid to occupy each space.
* If a car is parked in a space that doesn't appear on the warden's list a ticket will be issued.
Evening News (Edinburgh)
June 24, 2010, Thursday
PARKING meters in Edinburgh are set to be phased out to make way for a "cashless parking" system letting drivers pay with their mobile phone and credit card.
The city council is currently consulting on the new RingGo system, which will end the practice of buying a ticket to stick on the windscreen.
Instead, traffic wardens will be able to check a car has paid to be in a particular space with a handheld computer. The scheme is currently in operation in private parking bays at the Travelodge in St Mary's Street, as well as several cities throughout the UK.
It could result in the number of cash meters being reduced, meaning people who are unwilling or unable to pay by credit card may have further to walk to buy a ticket.
A council spokesman said: "The scheme uses location identification as a means of knowing what vehicles have paid to park in a street. This requires handheld devices to be able to communicate with a central database using real-time information.
"It allows for users to extend their stay. However, one issue that will need to be addressed is the fact that we have different maximum stay periods for parking bays throughout the city. The cost of an initial payment at a machine will be the same whatever the method of payment."
He said there would be no cost to the council in setting up the scheme as it would be included in the contract with NSL, which currently provides the city's parking attendants.
The attendants will have a handheld device with a readout showing all of the bays in the street, with details of the make, model and number plate of the cars that have paid to park there.
If the traffic warden sees a car which is not on the list, a parking ticket would be issued.
RingGo differs from the current mPark system, which uses the ticket machine to print a pay and display voucher which has to be displayed on the vehicle.
The spokesman said the system would end the trade in "black market tickets", whereby kind-spirited drivers give tickets to other drivers if they still have time left on them.
However, he added that the scheme was less about maximising revenues and more about making parking more convenient. Tim Cowen, director of communications at NSL, said: "I can't remember the last time I used a parking meter in London. It's a really good system, and really convenient.
"It makes it easier for the driver - you don't have to run to the shop to get change. You just phone the hotline, give your details and Bob's your uncle."
HOW DOES IT WORK?
Note down the unique identification number on your parking bay.
* Phone the hotline and give the make, colour and registration number of your car.
* Pay by credit card or have the charge added to your prearranged RingGo account.
* Note down time restrictions on the bay. Drivers can top up remotely provided they do not exceed the time limit.
* Traffic wardens will receive real-time updates of which cars have paid to occupy each space.
* If a car is parked in a space that doesn't appear on the warden's list a ticket will be issued.
NEWS: Bid To Rebuild Bar Where Hero Firefighter Died
MARK McLAUGHLIN
Evening News (Edinburgh)
June 23, 2010, Wednesday
THE pub that was destroyed in the blaze which killed firefighter Ewan Williamson is set to be rebuilt and may even include a tribute to the fallen hero.
Plans have been submitted to restore The Balmoral, on Dalry Road, almost a year after the pub was gutted by flames.
Owner Trust Inns intends to restore it to its original design, while discussions have also been held about creating a memorial to the 35-year-old.
Ewan is already honoured with a plaque at Lothian's fire HQ on Lauriston Place and the Evening News has been running a campaign for him to be awarded the Queen's Gallantry Medal.
A spokesman for planning agent Sludden Design, which is involved in rebuilding the bar, said: "I know there were some discussions about putting in some kind of tribute to Ewan Williamson, but I'm not sure how advanced these discussions are.
"The process to reinstate the bar has only now just begun. It's still in the same condition it was in following the fire a year ago.
"We have now made the planning application and building control warrant for the reinstatement of the bar, and are awaiting clearance by the council.
"All of the drawings have been submitted and we're in the process of tendering someone to do the work."
Ewan was among the team of firefighters that rescued more than 20 people, including a baby, from the flats above The Balmoral in the early hours of 12 July last year before he lost his life.
A police investigation to determine the cause of the blaze is ongoing.
A spokeswoman for the Crown Office said: "We can confirm that the procurator fiscal in Edinburgh received a report into the death of Ewan Williamson.
"The investigation by Lothian and Borders Police and HSE, under the direction of the procurator fiscal, is ongoing. No decision has been taken regarding proceedings."
All of the tenants rescued that day have been rehoused, following a short period in council temporary accommodation.
A council spokesman said: "The council involvement was minimal beyond rehousing the tenants for a short space of time and ensuring that the building had been made safe.
"All of the flats above The Balmoral were private lets but we understand that the tenants have all now found alternative accommodation."
A spokeswoman for Lothian and Borders Fire and Rescue said: "We will be working with The Balmoral to ensure that the reinstated pub does not contain any fire risks, but not to any greater extent than we would with any other commercial property."
Trust Inns declined to comment.
Evening News (Edinburgh)
June 23, 2010, Wednesday
THE pub that was destroyed in the blaze which killed firefighter Ewan Williamson is set to be rebuilt and may even include a tribute to the fallen hero.
Plans have been submitted to restore The Balmoral, on Dalry Road, almost a year after the pub was gutted by flames.
Owner Trust Inns intends to restore it to its original design, while discussions have also been held about creating a memorial to the 35-year-old.
Ewan is already honoured with a plaque at Lothian's fire HQ on Lauriston Place and the Evening News has been running a campaign for him to be awarded the Queen's Gallantry Medal.
A spokesman for planning agent Sludden Design, which is involved in rebuilding the bar, said: "I know there were some discussions about putting in some kind of tribute to Ewan Williamson, but I'm not sure how advanced these discussions are.
"The process to reinstate the bar has only now just begun. It's still in the same condition it was in following the fire a year ago.
"We have now made the planning application and building control warrant for the reinstatement of the bar, and are awaiting clearance by the council.
"All of the drawings have been submitted and we're in the process of tendering someone to do the work."
Ewan was among the team of firefighters that rescued more than 20 people, including a baby, from the flats above The Balmoral in the early hours of 12 July last year before he lost his life.
A police investigation to determine the cause of the blaze is ongoing.
A spokeswoman for the Crown Office said: "We can confirm that the procurator fiscal in Edinburgh received a report into the death of Ewan Williamson.
"The investigation by Lothian and Borders Police and HSE, under the direction of the procurator fiscal, is ongoing. No decision has been taken regarding proceedings."
All of the tenants rescued that day have been rehoused, following a short period in council temporary accommodation.
A council spokesman said: "The council involvement was minimal beyond rehousing the tenants for a short space of time and ensuring that the building had been made safe.
"All of the flats above The Balmoral were private lets but we understand that the tenants have all now found alternative accommodation."
A spokeswoman for Lothian and Borders Fire and Rescue said: "We will be working with The Balmoral to ensure that the reinstated pub does not contain any fire risks, but not to any greater extent than we would with any other commercial property."
Trust Inns declined to comment.
NEWS: Burglar's Paradise
MARK McLAUGHLIN
Evening News (Edinburgh)
June 22, 2010, Tuesday
A JEWELLER is being forced to remove security shutters he put up after a spate of attempted break-ins - because they do not have planning permission.
Mohammed Aslam, owner of Aslam Jeweller on Leith Walk, said his store had been targeted by thieves several times.
However, he failed to secure proper planning permission, and as a result an enforcement notice has been issued ordering him to take the shutters down.
Mr Aslam has now applied for retrospective permission to keep the shutters in place, but his hopes have been dealt a severe blow after city planners recommended his application be refused on the grounds shutters "do no preserve or enhance the character and appearance of the Leith conservation area".
Mr Aslam's planning consultant Derek Scott said: "We obviously disagree with the planners' assertion that the shutters have an adverse effect on the conservation area. Contrary to the planning officers' views it is actually an improvement to the character of the area, and there are plenty of other roller shutters on the street. They are an established part of Leith Walk.
"There's a fundamental requirement for some form of security on the premises but the council has served an enforcement notice which will effectively leave us without any.
"Due to structural pillars it's not possible to mount the shutters internally, as the council would prefer, and a removable metal grille is not an option for a jewellers because it does not protect the glass. Therefore, we hope the elected members will support us in our application to keep this premises secure."
Mr Aslam is calling on councillors at tomorrow's planning committee to take into account a 34-name petition and nine letters from neighbouring businesses in support of the roller shutters, and reject the recommendation of head of planning John Bury to refuse the retrospective planning permission.
Mr Bury said: "Taking into account the supporting statement and letters of support for this development, it is still considered that the solid roller shutter and external projecting housing fail to preserve or enhance the character and appearance of the conservation area.
"The roller shutter and external projecting housing do not comply with the development plan and non-statutory guidelines. Neither the character nor appearance of the conservation area is preserved or enhanced by the development. It is recommended that the committee refuses the proposal."
Leith Business Association's Gordon Burgess sympathised with Mr Aslam's plight but said: "Rules are there for a reason. I've spoken to the owner and he's now aware he should have gone down the appropriate road. Despite the fact he's running a jewellers and needs security, he must abide by the law."
Evening News (Edinburgh)
June 22, 2010, Tuesday
A JEWELLER is being forced to remove security shutters he put up after a spate of attempted break-ins - because they do not have planning permission.
Mohammed Aslam, owner of Aslam Jeweller on Leith Walk, said his store had been targeted by thieves several times.
However, he failed to secure proper planning permission, and as a result an enforcement notice has been issued ordering him to take the shutters down.
Mr Aslam has now applied for retrospective permission to keep the shutters in place, but his hopes have been dealt a severe blow after city planners recommended his application be refused on the grounds shutters "do no preserve or enhance the character and appearance of the Leith conservation area".
Mr Aslam's planning consultant Derek Scott said: "We obviously disagree with the planners' assertion that the shutters have an adverse effect on the conservation area. Contrary to the planning officers' views it is actually an improvement to the character of the area, and there are plenty of other roller shutters on the street. They are an established part of Leith Walk.
"There's a fundamental requirement for some form of security on the premises but the council has served an enforcement notice which will effectively leave us without any.
"Due to structural pillars it's not possible to mount the shutters internally, as the council would prefer, and a removable metal grille is not an option for a jewellers because it does not protect the glass. Therefore, we hope the elected members will support us in our application to keep this premises secure."
Mr Aslam is calling on councillors at tomorrow's planning committee to take into account a 34-name petition and nine letters from neighbouring businesses in support of the roller shutters, and reject the recommendation of head of planning John Bury to refuse the retrospective planning permission.
Mr Bury said: "Taking into account the supporting statement and letters of support for this development, it is still considered that the solid roller shutter and external projecting housing fail to preserve or enhance the character and appearance of the conservation area.
"The roller shutter and external projecting housing do not comply with the development plan and non-statutory guidelines. Neither the character nor appearance of the conservation area is preserved or enhanced by the development. It is recommended that the committee refuses the proposal."
Leith Business Association's Gordon Burgess sympathised with Mr Aslam's plight but said: "Rules are there for a reason. I've spoken to the owner and he's now aware he should have gone down the appropriate road. Despite the fact he's running a jewellers and needs security, he must abide by the law."
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