London Welsh unsure of their status ahead of final – Rugby News Update
London Welsh, a club that plays in the Championship, the first tier of English rugby, are unsure of their status ahead of their final against the Cornish Pirates on May 23, with the return leg on May 30.
The Aviva Premiership, the top tier of rugby in England has minimum criteria for promotion from the first tier. The London Welsh club is in with a chance to join the elite rugby clubs, if they win the final against the Pirates, who are not vying for promotion even if they were to win the final.
They visit the Pirates at Mennaye Field ground on May 23, a stadium where they lost by 21 points during the regular season, before showcasing the Kassam Stadium in Oxford for the return leg on May 30, a stadium they want to make their permanent home if they are to achieve promotion. Their regular stadium is the Old Deer Park ground, but that ground does not meet the minimum criteria for holding Premiership matches.
Speaking about the promotion and the use of the stadium for the match, a London Welsh statement read, "London Welsh have taken this opportunity to showcase the Kassam Stadium because it is one of the grounds where the club could play next season if they are promoted to the Aviva Premiership. It is the home of Oxford United F.C. but the stadium was always designed for rugby as well as football. It offers high quality playing and spectator facilities plus excellent floodlighting which was a factor in the club's decision."
London Welsh have submitted an auditor’s report to the Professional Game Board, and they met last Thursday to determine, with initial reports coming out that the group was divided, with representatives from the Premiership Rugby questioning the candidacy of the club.
The Rugby Football Union will decide hours before the first leg if the club meets the minimum requirement for promotion; however, the Kassam Stadium does meet the criteria, as it has a capacity of 12,000, along with hosting two Challenge Cup finals in the 2000s.
Essex Old County Courthouse pillars could fall - Press Republican
ELIZABETHTOWN — First, Essex County lawmakers' chairs were collapsing. Now, it looks like the roof itself is in danger of coming down at the Old County Courthouse.
The County Board of Supervisors meets weekly at that building in Elizabethtown, but members were told Monday that the four pillars out front are in danger of snapping off if they're not repaired soon.
Department of Public Works Superintendent Anthony LaVigne said each pillar has an outer shell around a wooden post in the center.
"I'd like to head toward repairing these pillars. The ones in jeopardy are basically rotted through."
The County Public Works Committee unanimously approved immediate repairs to the pillars.
LaVigne said he has an estimate of about $47,000 to do the work, using treated posts and putting more vents in. Those pillars should have a 75-year life, he said.
He said the Old Courthouse is a historic building, so the State Historic Preservation Office must be consulted.
"They're (pillars) not properly vented to dry out," LaVigne said. "We're looking at it as a restoration and repair project."
The next step is the design and bid of the work, he said.
"Those are load-bearing pillars," LaVigne said. "They're not ornamental."
The courthouse was built in 1823 and has been modified several times since. It is no longer used for County Court; a new building was constructed nearby for that purpose.
Money for the work will probably come from the fund balance, supervisors said.
Supervisors previously learned their meeting-chambers chairs were breaking, and Board of Supervisors Chair Randy Douglas (D-Jay) said Monday that replacing them was a priority.
"Half these chairs are over 100 years old. It's a safety issue," he said. "The bottom line is the chairs need to be replaced. You'll fall off the chair, break your neck — that's what's going to happen."
Douglas has offered to buy new chairs so taxpayers don't have to foot the bill.
"We're not going to throw them away. I don't know about a museum, but we'll refurbish them."
At least one member of the board likes his chair, however.
"I, personally, am happy with my chair," Supervisor William Ferebee (R-Keene) said.
The pillars should be repaired as soon as possible, Supervisor Daniel Connell (D-Westport) said.
"We have a major safety issue here. We can't have the roof falling down."
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London's babies and their international mums - The Guardian
London's global magnetism for capital, entrepreneurs and labour is famously large, a characteristic underlined by Office for National Statistics figures compiled by the GLA Intelligence Unit showing that incomers from overseas have lately produced most of the children born here. In 2010 over half - 56.3% - of live births in London were to mothers born outside of the UK. This compares with roughly 25% in the whole of England and Wales.
Look deeper, and we find an interesting distribution of those London births across the boroughs. The four where the percentages were highest - above 70% - are Newham, Brent, Kensington and Chelsea and Westminster. That's quite a variety. The five where they were lowest - below 40% - were, broadly speaking, more alike: the suburban boroughs of Bromley, Bexley, Richmond, Sutton and Havering which, at 20.%, has the lowest of all (though that's still one-in-five).
The birth pattern also varied in terms of the parts of the world whether the overseas-born mother had begun her own life. For example, Bexley's live births to mothers born overseas contained the highest percentage in London from Africa at 51.3%, followed by Southwark, Greenwich and Barking and Dagenham. Tower Hamlets had the highest percentage from the Middle East or Asia (66.8%), followed by Redbridge and Harrow. Waltham Forest had the highest from the "new EU" countries (26.2%), followed by Haringey, Barnet and Ealing.
By contrast, births to "new EU"-born mothers were very low in Westminster and Kensington and Chelsea - less than 5%. Those to East and Asian-born mothers were relatively low - less than 20% - in a very diverse nine boroughs that included Hackney, Richmond, Islington and Barnet. The lowest percentage of Africa-born mothers among all those from overseas was in Tower Hamlets.
All sorts of demographic patterns and contrasts to be detected there - read the whole thing, complete with maps and graphs, by way of here. While doing so, bear in mind the words of our Olympic organisers: "Diversity was a key reason why London, one of the most multicultural cities in the world, was chosen to host the Games in the bidding process."
Zipcar Offers Vauxhall Ampera in London - Car Rentals
It’s been announced by Zipcar that it has ventured into a pilot partnership with automaker Vauxhall Motors to make its all-new electric Ampera available in its fleet of pay-as-you-go, self-service vehicles for the next six months. Although Hertz has also announced the Amerpa will join its Hertz On Demand service in London next month, Zipcar has beat them to the punch in making the Ampera available by a car sharing club for the first time, with the Extended-Range Electric Vehicle (E-REV) being offered from yesterday.
This addition to the Zipcar fleet will allow the car sharing network’s members to reserve the Ampera online or on their smartphones – just like any of the other 1,700 Zipcar vehicles throughout the British capital. However, the Amperas will be much easier to spot on London’s busy streets, as they will become movable landmarks thanks to their eye-catching, full-body wrap liveries of country meadows and spots.
The Vauxhall Ampera, which was voted the 2012 Car of the Year, can carry four adults in comfort, while the hatchback design offers great practicality. It offers between 25 and 50 miles of battery-powered electric dive and emits zero tailpipe emissions. The sophisticated propulsion system includes an extended range of up to 360 miles, which allows customers using the car to take it on longer journeys – the range-extending engine helps to sustain battery life. Its small 1.4-litre petrol-fuelled engine/generator operates at optimum efficiency, creating enough electricity to power the motor (not wheels) and runs seamlessly as part of the powertrain.
Zipcar UK general manager Mark Walker says they are committed to positive change in their environments. They believe this pilot marks a step change in the electric vehicle evolution in London and represents a big advance for the city and its residents. Thanks to the unique technology of the Vauxhall Ampera, their members can be taking multiple short trips on any given day using just the stored electric battery power or take longer trips powered by electricity generated by the on-board range extender. Members won’t have to worry about range or recharging an electric car for the first time.
Walker added that, to make the pilot possible, they will be partnering with five London Boroughs – Westminster, Croydon, Wandsworth, Camden and Islington – specifically for the provision of committed charging points. They have worked close to these Boroughs for several years to develop the uptake of car sharing in London, and their continued dedication to advancing the concept is vital for making the capital an even better place to live and work.
Vauxhall Motors new business fleet sales manager Stewart Gibbs says the Ampera has brought the first electric vehicle that can go anywhere, anytime to the market. This car is designed to boost fuel economy and lower emissions. A partnership with an innovative business like Zipcar, who is dedicated to helping the environment, is one they are delighted to be involved in.
Zipcar is the leading car sharing network in the world with a fleet of over 9,000 vehicles on college campuses and in urban areas across the US, Canada and the UK. The company has grown to this since its founding in 2000, and now it has over 700,000 members. The company offers over 30 makes and models of self-service vehicles by the hour or day to both residents and businesses who need an alternative to the expense and hassles of car ownership.
London 2012: More Olympic tickets to go on sale - BBC News
More tickets are to go on sale on Wednesday for events at the London 2012 Olympics - with anyone eligible to buy a ticket.
There are some £20 tickets left for sports such as volleyball, table tennis, weightlifting, taekwondo, boxing and fencing.
But several sports have sold out, and there are only higher-priced tickets left for most medal events.
The tickets will go on sale from 11:00 BST for 24 hours.
Their availability can already be viewed on the website.
Organisers Locog say there is a good number of tickets at the cost of £45 to £450 in sports including archery, badminton, basketball, beach volleyball, canoe sprint, diving, handball and hockey.
Only a limited amount of tickets are available in race walk, mountain biking, artistic gymnastics and rowing.
Up to four tickets can be purchased per session, and up to four sessions in one transaction, for all available sports apart from football - where more tickets are available to encourage groups to attend.
'Delivered on promise'All tickets have been sold in some sports, including athletics, cycling, equestrianism, rhythmic gymnastics and swimming and the opening and closing ceremonies.
Locog commercial director Chris Townsend said: "Our priority has been to get as many people who missed out in the sales process last year to the Games.
"We have delivered on our promise and now another 150,000 people have successfully purchased up to four tickets each."
He warned: "Wednesday's sale is a live sale, and, like other high demand events including pop concerts, we expect the website to be very busy and customers may well be held in queues for over 30 minutes at peak times".
The online ticketing system sparked criticism last year after it crashed under high demand.
In some cases, the system reportedly informed potential buyers they had secured tickets, who were later told that they had failed.
Essex Fire Dispute-Strike Ballot Papers Go Out - Market Wire
ESSEX, ENGLAND--(Marketwire - May 22, 2012) - Ballot papers are going out to Essex fire crews this week in a strike vote over unnecessary frontline cuts and changes imposed without agreement. The ballot starts on Wednesday 23rd May and closes on 13 June. The law then requires at least seven days notice of any strike action after that date.
Essex Fire Brigades Union is writing today directly to Councillor Tony Hedley, chair of Essex fire authority, seeking his agreement to lift the block on allowing the national fire service conciliators and ACAS to work together on a possible way forward for conciliated talks.
The union says the ballot is necessary because the fire authority is imposing changes whilst also planning further cuts. 100 full-time fire station based crews have been axed since 2008 with retained 'on call' crews cut by 60. Further cuts now being planned will bring total losses of around one in five frontline firefighters since 2008.
Backroom staffing has risen by 7.5% - from 238 in 2008 to 256 today. The latest budget review shows underspends of £1.3 million on wholetime firefighters, £206,000 on retained and £136,000 on control firefighters.
Mick Rogers FBU brigade secretary said: "Essex fire crews are furious at what is going on and will be giving their verdict on cuts and imposed changes. Managers need to get their heads out of the sand and realise the strength of feeling.
"There is still time enough to resolve the issues between us and we are now asking the Chair to the Fire Authority to use his good offices to remove the barriers to serious talks getting underway. But if there is no genuine intention or positive moves to resolve the very real concerns of the frontline professionals then strike action becomes an ever increasing prospect.
"Essex fire crews are united and very determined on this matter. This is not the small group of disgruntled militants the chief's PR team is suggesting, but a huge swell of opposition.
"No firefighter ever wants to take strike action but it will happen if things go on like this. I'd urge the Fire Authority to wake up, understand the strong views of their own crews and kick start talks to resolve this dispute."
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