ESSEX: Firefighters vote to strike
8:00am Friday 15th June 2012 in News By Clare Hardy
FIREFIGHTERS have voted to go on strike amid fears a new swathe of cuts will put the communities they serve at risk.
More than 500 members of the Fire Brigades Union in Essex decided to take action over plans to cut an extra 100 full-time fire fighters and 60 retained staff from across the county by 2016.
Assistant brigade secretary Nick Mayes said the plans could leave crews unable to tackle emergencies like house fires.
“One of the statements our chief made recently was that he would like to see up to three crew members on an engine,” he added. “The norm is four.
“If you go to a house fire, two people need to be on breathing apparatus to search for people and an officer in charge. It can’t be done.”
He said crew members would end up taking on more shifts to cover for the fewer positions.
“We’re all under economic constraints,” he said. “People will put pressure on themselves to work extra hours and this isn’t just some factory.
“You can go out, your shift will finish at 9am and you could be on a road traffic collision until 1pm and you’ve got to be awake and alert for the next one.”
He added that there had not been any consultation on the changes and that Essex Fire Brigade was pushing them through despite not taking a budget cut.
“The fire authority seems to be rubber-stamping it,” he added.
The chairman of the Essex Fire Authority, councillor Anthony Hedley, said: “The fire authority has invested heavily in front line services and will continue to do so.
“We have assured the public and our staff that there will be no fire station closures, no enforced fire fighter redundancies and continued investment to modernise the service.”
Fire services bosses recently decided to sell of homes for crew members at Waltham Abbey Fire Station as staff move out.
Click here to follow the Epping Forest Guardian on Twitter
Comments(2)
Batey K says...
9:25am Fri 15 Jun 12
word of mouth says...
1:07pm Fri 15 Jun 12
Source: www.guardian-series.co.uk
Chicago Matrimonial Attorney Jeffery Leving Praises Michigan Governor for Signing Law Increasing Fathers' Legal Rights - Yahoo Finance
CHICAGO, June 15, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Chicago Matrimonial Attorney Jeffery Leving (http://dadsrights.com) announced his support for a new Michigan law that expands legal rights for biological fathers.
This week, Governor Rick Snyder signed legislation into law giving biological fathers the right to parent their children, even if the mothers were married to other men at the time of birth.
"Governor Snyder is to be commended for recognizing the moral right of biological fathers to be parents to their own children," said Attorney Leving.
The new law makes it easier for biological fathers to challenge Michigan's legal rebuttable presumption that a mother's husband at the time of a child's birth is the child's father.
"Biological fathers will now have the right to file suit and seek a court order determining who the actual father is," said Attorney Leving. "Even more importantly, they will have the opportunity to secure a court-ordered DNA test validating their biological relationship to the child."
The law also modifies the Estates and Protected Individuals Code and allows for children to inherit the estate of their biological fathers.
The legislation will weaken the rebuttable presumption under a 1956 Michigan law that a woman's husband at the time she gives birth is the father of the newly born child. The presumption not only places the responsibilities and obligations of fatherhood on men who are not biologically connected to the child—it is also archaic and unconstitutional.
For more information contact Jennifer Whiteside at (312) 296-3666.
Source: finance.yahoo.com
TOWIE gang out in force at wrap party - The Sun
Series five of the hit ITV2 reality show finished last month, but the cast were seen being reunited on Wednesday night in a one-off Marbella special.
Lydia Bright was spotted arriving at the bash sporting a new choppy bob and fringe.
Earlier the 21-year-old had tweeted: "Love my new hair, my hair guru did me well once again thank u @robertkirbyuk @sanrizzsalons rocking out the fringe at the Towie wrap party x."
Lydia, who wore an off-the-shoulder mustard yellow frock, also posed arm-in-arm with new boyfriend Tom Kilbey, 21.
And the blonde later tweeted a pic of herself with mum Debbie, who also attended the bash, with the caption: "Me and my beautiful mother at the Towie wrap party."
Joey Essex, 21, donned yet another daring outfit for the party, teaming a tiny pale blue jacket with a shirt and tie, jeans and brown boots.
But the discomfort of his super-tight blazer obviously didn't stop him from enjoying himself last night, he tweeted: "Towie wrap party = SICK."
And he later added: "Towie wrap party was fun. Nice to see everyone happy x."
Sam Faiers, also 21, arrived at the do with sister Billie.
The girls looked stunning as Sam matched an off-the-shoulder white top with a multi-coloured sequinned skirt and Billie, 22, flashed her ample cleavage in a clingy light green and gold-studded Lypsy dress.
Both sported skyscraper sling-back peep-toe heels to the do.
Sam later tweeted a snap of Billie pouting at the camera writing: "Aww @BillieFaiers."
The photo also showed off busty Billie's incredible assets.
This morning Billie tweeted: "Morning everyone :-) had a brilliant time at the wrap party last night .. For all those asking, my dress i wore was lypsy xx."
Boutique co-owner Sam also posted a pic of her kissing boyfriend Joey.
She captioned the cute snap: "Just got home from the wrap party .. A tad drunk ?? Great night x x."
Charlie King, 26, who was pictured hanging out with pals "Little Chris" Drake, 25, and Bobby-Cole Norris, 24, tweeted last night: "What a great evening with amazing people- night all Or good morning x."
Charlie and Little Chris went for a smart-casual look, teaming suit jackets with jeans.
While Bobby opted to go a little bit more upmarket in a bright blue suit.
Cara Kilbey posed for a pic with close friends Frankie Essex and Billi Mucklow.
But she revealed she wouldn't be hitting the booze with her castmates at the bash, she wrote: "Being a good girl tonight on the water... #oooOoooOooo #H20."
The girls, all 24, looked gorgeous in a series of glam frocks.
Gemma Collins, who stripped off to her swimsuit to tell love interest Arg "You ain't ever gonna get this candy" in The Only Way Is Marbs, missed the bash.
The 31-year-old tweeted: "Gutted to have missed the Towie wrap party tonight hope everyone had fun off to the airport soon xx."
Newly-engaged Mario Falcone and Lucy Mecklenburgh were also absent, as they are currently in Dubai.
Source: www.thesun.co.uk
Jude Law and Judi Dench confirmed for season of plays at Noel Coward Theatre - Daily Telegraph
Speaking about the launch of the Michael Grandage Company and its first run of plays, Grandage, along with his business partner, producer James Bierman, said:
"“We are delighted to announce a programme comprised of new writing alongside the classical and twentieth century repertoire.
"This unique West End season brings together writers, actors and other artists in a single venture over fifteen months dedicated to presenting work of the highest quality."
Over 200 tickets per performance will be available at £10. As Grandage and Bierman explained:
"At [the company's] heart is a commitment to reach out to as wide an audience as possible with over 200 tickets for each performance at £10 – over 100,000 across the season and through our schools’ and access work we aim to appeal to new theatregoers and help build audiences for the future."
Grandage, 50, was previously attached to the Donmar Warehouse, where he produced 66 plays during a 10-year stint as artistic director, winning a plethora of awards in the process.
Bierman worked as a producer at the Donmar during Grandage's tenure as artistic director, where he helped orchestrate several multi-award winning productions.
The Michael Grandage Company's season at the Noel Coward Theatre will begin with Privates on Parade on 1 December 2012.
Source: www.telegraph.co.uk
Mark Wright says a tearful farewell to volleyball player Chelsea Rashoff - Daily Mail
|
He's only know her for a few weeks, but Mark Wright is clearly head over heels about Chelsea Rashoff.
The reality TV star was seen saying goodbye to the U.S. volleyball player at LAX airport yesterday and looked very sad to be leaving her.
Mark, 25, and Chelsea, 22, met each other in Los Angeles while the former TOWIE star filmed his latest reality show, Mark Wright's Hollywood Nights.
Time to say goodbye: Mark Wright and Chelsea Rashoff say a tearful farewell at LAX airport yesterday
The ITV2 show didn't exactly receive great reviews when it aired for the first time last Sunday but viewers may be eager to tune in this weekend as the second episode will include how Mark and Chelsea first met.
Their romance is clearly more than just an onscreen film, as the pair of them appeared to be tearful as they said farewell outside the airport terminal.
When he appeared on This Morning today, Mark spoke publicly about his relationship with Chelsea describing her as 'great.
Hard to let go: The former TOWIE star gave the 22-year-old a big hug and also kissed her
'It's a difficult one because she's got so many commitments out there, but we met, we had fun, but it was never meant to be like that,' he said.
'She's great, we got on so well. We started out as friends but then it developed into something else.
'She liked me for me because she didn't have a clue who I was.'
Outside LAX, Mark - who was wearing blue skinny jeans and a white T-shirt - was seen hugging Chelsea and kissing her as she flung her arms around his neck.
Don't be upset: Mark appeared to be reassuring Chelsea and may be planning a trip to Essex for her
Back to reality: Mark was pictured leaving the ITV studios today following his appearance on This Morning
She was also wearing dark jeans and a white T-shirt and gazed at the Essex-born star as he prepared to catch his flight back to the UK.
The pair have obviously become quite close over the past six weeks, and perhaps Mark is considering letting Chelsea visit his hometown some time soon.
Confirmed couple? Chelsea tweeted this photo of her and Mark looking rather cosy recently
Svelte: Chelsea in her volleyball 'uniform' - a red bikini top and patterned blue bottoms
However, once he's touched down in London, Mark was no longer feeling so blue and instead headed straight out to Essex hotspot, Faces, to enjoy a night out with his friends.
But Mark didn't stay out all night, and later tweeted: 'I'm being good. On the way home 2 my bed 4 the 1st time in 6weeks. Faces was great as per usual but I'm on this morning 2mo so have 2 b good.'
Good times: Mark and Chelsea socialised a lot together in Los Angeles such as when they went to a baseball game
Source: www.dailymail.co.uk
Comment now! Register or sign in below.
Or