Thousands of drivers are enduring motoring misery thanks to long-running road works at a major Halesowen junction - and work is now set to continue well into November. Traffic has been tailing back in both directions along Stourbridge Road and Drews
A Church education boss has accused Dudley Council of breaking promises to Halesowen C of E pupils. Revd David Morphy, Director of Education for the Diocese of Worcester hit out at plans not to link the closure of Halesowen C of E with a facelift at
An Oldbury soldier has vowed to quit the Army later this month after being cleared of killing a teenage looter in Iraq. Irish Guardsman Martin McGing, of Titford Road, was acquitted as one of a group of three soldiers at a military tribunal in June
Hundreds of campaigners heard praise heaped on Cradley High at a meeting to discuss how to save the 30-year-old top-performing school from the axe. Around two hundred parents and pupils crammed into the school hall to hear campaigners, councillors Tim
A Halesowen dad has been jailed for nine months after assaulting his wife for a fourth time in three years in a booze-fuelled attack. Vinod Kaypee, of Fairfield Road, was put behind bars after holding a knife to his wife Kulwant and threatening to cut
A big-hearted Halesowen lad has been washing cars during his summer holidays to raise £100 to help multiple sclerosis sufferer Ian Nicholls. Robin Johnson, aged 11, was set a challege by his new school, King Edward's in Bartley Green, to raise money
Startling statistics have revealed borough residents are in huge debt to the tune of £16,000 each, on average. The shocking figure was released by Stourbridge's Citizens Advice Bureaux (CAB) as part of their mammoth campaign to encourage people across
A row of burnt-out, derelict shops are set to be bulldozed as part of an ambitious Rowley Regis estate plan. The next stage of the Brickhouse Estate's massive facelift is set to go ahead in the next few months - meaning residents will see the back of
Controversial proposals for a two-storey Halesowen mosque have been put off by councillors for a traffic survey after a 181-signature strong petition from residents who claim the scheme will create motoring misery. Plans to build a mosque with a towering
A green-fingered Oldbury tenant has a golden garden after winning first prize in a Sandwell Homes competition. Pam Smith took away the Best Garden Award from Sandwell Homes' first garden competition held last month. She also took away a £250 prize
I would like to ask why, after a number of stories in your paper and complaints to the police about the groups of youths roaming the Colley Gate area, causing a nuisance and damaging property nothing seems to be done by the police. In fact they seem
I wish to thank you for sending me free competition tickets to Jools Holland outdoor concert on Friday July 21. I bought two tickets so that friends could join us. We had a wonderful time and will certainly go and see him again. Once again, many
Thame Road Children's home was highlighted by me last year when I said that Sandwell Council can close the Kings Meadow elderly care home and make people in their 90s homeless to save cash and at the same time waste money on the Children's home that was
Meeting Mr Ken Turner several times in the Cornbow Hall in Halesowen at Age Concern classes, I requested a litter bin at the bottom of Portsdown Road, near the bus stop in front of the park. Three bus services stop here and passengers often throw bus
A deathtrap former Oldbury children's home has come under the microscope as Sandwell Council probe why £400,000 was spent on its makeover months before it was closed for good. The former Tame Rise Children's Home, on the Brandhall estate, has become
Nature lovers are invited to celebrate £115,000 worth of improvements at Warrens Hall Nature Reserve in Rowley Regis. A free Woodland Craft event on Sunday October 8 will mark the facelift at Warrens Hall Nature Reserve and families can watch horse
Traders in Halesowen have welcomed a new one-hour parking charge - the fruition of two years of campaigning. Halesowen Chamber of Trade spearheaded moves to get the new 50 pence charge - which has now been introduced in borough shopping centres. Businesses
Development in Old Hill suffered another setback this week as plans for a block of shops and flats were withdrawn. Proposals could have seen a scheme of three shops topped off with ten flats on the now-flattened site of a derelict curtain shop in Halesowen
Sandwell's Youth Offending Team are steadily improving, according to government watchdogs. The positive feedback comes after a scathing report last year, when inspectors from the Probation Service said the team were urgently in need of `significant
Hurst Green Family Church is staging an evening of dance, music and drama in support of The Lighthouse Project later this month. The Beaumont Road church is putting on a play called City of Gold, telling the tale of Kristiana, a young pilgrim, and all
An intrepid 11-year-old Hurst Green trekker has raised £1,272 by walking along one of England's most historic landmarks. Robert Lowes, of Valley Road, raised the cash by completing the 84 mile `Hadrian's Wall Walk' from Wallsend in Newcastle to Bowness
A 51-year-old Halesowen man hung himself in his garden shed after arguing with his wife whom he was set to separate from. David Barber, was found by his wife Anita, hanging by a rope in the garden shed at the couple's home in Fairfield Road, on May
A 38-year-old Halesowen woman was fined £100 by Halesowen magistrates on August 21 after she was convicted of speeding. Sarah Louise Barker, of Cranmoor Crescent, was also ordered to pay £43 costs and four points were added to her licence. Also
Quinton residents are invited to attend the next Quinton Ward Committee meeting at Quinborne Community Centre at 7pm on Thursday September 14. Agendas will be available five working days before the meeting at www.birmingham.gov. uk or from libraries
A Wall Heath girl got to meet her Halesowen Town football heroes when she led the team out after naming the club's Lion mascot. Chloe Bailey, a pupil at Maidensbridge Primary School, won the chance to be mascot for their home match against Tiverton
A concerned Halesowen man is appealing for people to report sightings of a dog which he claims wanders the streets terrorising other dogs and their owners. Rod Palmer said the light brown Boxer cross regularly pounds the streets around Long Innage,
A Halesowen teacher who was arrested after an allegation of assault by a former pupil has been released from police bail without charge. Elizabeth Conlan, a teacher at Lapal Primary School, was arrested on July 26 after the allegation and was released
Flashing signs warning drivers of the 30mph speed limit are set to put the brakes on motorists who speed down a busy Cradley street where there were four crashes in one week. One speed visor has recently been installed and it looks like more are on
Exhibitions will be staged in Halesowen this month as part of a consultation to see how residents think the ailing town centre can be improved. Dudley Council is splashing out cash to ask people how the shopping centre and its transport links could
Educational psychologists are set to lift the lid on the behaviour of Sandwell's primary pupils as they begin one of the biggest projects of its kind. Borough kids are among around 12,000 across the country who will be observed by psychologists from
Plans to uproot the borough's archives to a derelict Kingswinford building are underway but it has caused a stir with one councillor who says he will fight to stop tax payers forking out for the move. Kingswinford North and Wall Heath councillor Dave
An Iraqi bomb blast victim who has no eyes faces jail after he was convicted of dangerous driving for going on a half-mile trip around Oldbury. Omed Aziz (pictured right), who lost both eyes and three fingers from his right hand in an explosion in Iraq
Blackheath bookworms were treated to an afternoon of road safety tips to round off the library's summer of activities. The event called `The green man and the case of the missing stripes', saw children aged four to seven years, learn more about the
Sandwell is bottom of the recycling pile in the West Midlands, according to a new report. Clocking up a measly 10.76 per cent recycling and composting rate, the borough compares poorly to green neighbours Lichfield - which topped the table with a massive
The recent public meeting at Cradley High School was well attended and shows local people are keen to save their secondary school. A variety of points were made in defence of the school and there were plenty of volunteers for the campaign committee.
Fantastic results for the pupils of Cradley High - a whopping 73 %. Looking at the past history the results are improving year on year. That speaks volumes for the Head and all staff involved. Yet here we are again Dudley Council intend to close a
Well done to Dudley Borough's children for their excellent GCSE Results! It was fantastic to see Cradley High School scored 73% second only to Oldswinford Hospital School and it is a crying shame as one of the top scoring schools to be considered for
Re: Proposed Closure of Cradley High School I would like to start by congratulating the pupils of Cradley High School on their fantastic GCSE results this year. We should all be very proud of them. They produced the best results of any comparable
The boss of Cradley Heath's market has said he is confident of the traders' futures - and says Tesco will boost trade even more. Four units are currently vacant in the entrance to the market but market chief Peter Cope said the arrival of Tesco would
An artist is using his latest exhibition at Halesowen Library to get away from the lonely life of a landscape painter. Tim Nash, from Greyhound Lane, Norton, says his current show gives him chance to meet people and chat about art. Tim, aged 44, has
A modest Quinton headteacher has played down his chances of bagging a top teaching gong at a national awards ceremony. Bernie Smith, of Four Dwellings High, won `Headteacher of the Year' in the regional event in July at the annual Teaching Awards after
Green-minded Gisela Stuart MP was joined by a leading Government minister to launch a campaign to clean-up Quinton. The clean-up campaign was launched by Ms Stuart and Secretary of State for the Environment David Miliband MP outside the Village Inn
A popular Quinton policeman was "shocked and surprised" after being shortlisted for a prestigious national award. Pc Bernie Flynn, based at the Quinzone Centre, Quinton Road West, has been selected as a nominee for a QIA STAR Award in recognition of
Masterchef students from a Quinton school have been given a boost after receiving a new set of professional cooking equipment. Four Dwellings High School has scooped the chef equipment from bakery firm Warburtons and now delighted students are looking
A night of non-stop laughter is on offer for Quinton folk at the area's monthly History Society meeting which kicks off their jampacked autumn programme of events. Trevor Genge will give a talk on `Origins of Black Country Humour' at Quinton Parish
Plans for a long-awaited multi-million pound Tesco store in Quinton are finally on course after builders started work on the eight year project. Blueprints for the Ridgacre Road supermarket were first unveiled in 1998 and have hit numerous stumbling
