Media Watch - June 19
Top Birmingham City Council Stories:
Forty bikes given out in huge drive to get city cycling (Birmingham Mail) The first batch of new Big Birmingham Bikes have been handed out to eager commuters as part of a £24 million scheme to get the city cycling. Quotes Cllr Lisa Trickett.
Free keep fit to celebrate the solstice (Birmingham Mail) Full coverage of this weekend’s 24 hours of free ParkLives events. Quotes Ian Hay, ParkLives session leader for Tai Chi at the Lickey Hills.
A fifth of Wolverhampton pregnant mums addicted to nicotine (Birmingham Mail) Almost a fifth of expectant mums in parts of the West Midlands continue to smoke right through their pregnancy, shocking new figures have revealed. Figures are much lower than average in Birmingham and Director of Public Health Dr Adrian Phillips is quoted on the benefits of mums-to-be quitting.
Services under threat as Budget plans emerge (The MJ) Councils have warned that further cuts will mean salami slicing will have to be replaced by axing entire services. Quotes Sir Albert Bore and chief executive Mark Rogers speaking at the first public meeting of the Birmingham Independent Improvement Panel.
The heavy burden of a sporting dream (The Voice) Article about Lincoln Moses and the community sports HUB he now chairs following a community asset transfer from Birmingham City Council. Quotes a Birmingham City Council spokesperson.
Regional Headlines:
Four in court after drugs in ambulance – Four Dutch men appear in court after drugs with a street value of more than £30m were found in an ambulance.
Alps air crash victim inquest opens – A British businessman killed when a pilot crashed a Germanwings plane in the Alps died of multiple injuries, an inquest hears.
Fatal crash driver ‘confused’ – A motorist who drove into the path of an oncoming motorcycle, killing the rider, was ‘confused’ by a new road layout , a court hears.
National Headlines:
Bradford families ‘crossed into Syria’ – Three Bradford sisters and their nine children missing from the UK have crossed the border into Syria, an IS smuggler has told the BBC.
Prayers held for US church victims – Prayers are held in South Carolina and across the US after the killing of nine people at an African-American church in Charleston.
PM warns of ‘quietly condoning IS’ – Prime Minister David Cameron is expected to warn of the dangers posed by those who ‘quietly condone’ Islamic State militants’ extremist ideology.
