Kent County Show
Sunday, June 17, 2012
2:00 PM
Annual countryside, farming and produce event near Maidstone boasts number of new features
The Kent County Show is promising something for everyone, with spectacular arena displays, food, prize-winning livestock, a feast of flowers and even the chance to fly with a Spitfire.
Next month’s show boasts new additions including Dash ‘n’ Splash, a long jump competition over water for dogs; a beer and cider festival with local brews and a German-style bierkeller; a 4x4 off-road track; and children’s woodland workshops run by the Kent Wildlife Trust.
The event is at the Kent Showground, Detling, Maidstone, from July 13-15, 8am-6pm, Friday-Sunday. It is organised by the Kent County Agricultural Society, and attracts more than 80,000 visitors to one of the UK’s major countryside, farming and produce events.
The range of animals is a major draw and its equine and livestock judging attracts entrants and spectators from far and wide.
Special guests will be Secretary of State for the Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Caroline Spelman, on Friday; TV presenter Adam Henson will be there on the Saturday to present prizes to winners of the Grown In Kent initiative, which encourages schoolchildren to grow fruit and vegetables; and TV legend John Craven will visit on Sunday.
Arena displays will include the Bolddog Lings motorcycle display team, an historic vehicle display, the Band of the 24th Invicta Rifles, and parades of bloodhounds and beagles.
Special events include the chance to fly in a helicopter alongside a Spitfire, as it takes to the skies over the showground on the Friday.
Another major feature is the Flower Tent with renowned horticultural exhibitors demonstrating their expert growing and nurturing skills, with displays of roses, fuchsias, succulent cacti, carnivorous plants, shrubs, ferns, and much more.
The agricultural area is home to Why Farming Matters In Kent, which offers information about local produce, careers and training in agriculture. Visitors will also be able to see sheep-shearing demonstrations and cattle, horses and goats.
Tickets can be bought online at www.kentshowground.co.uk and via a booking hotline 01622 633060.
Kent Showground executive manager Roger Moore said: “With popular attractions returning and new events making their debuts, the Kent County Show has something for everyone. We would urge people to book their tickets as soon as possible and secure their place at Kent’s most exciting event of the year.”
Source: www.kentnews.co.uk
Ariz. Law Expected to Prompt Suits From Both Sides - ABC News
Police agencies that would enforce the most controversial part of Arizona's 2010 immigration law are expected to get squeezed by legal challenges from opposite sides if the U.S. Supreme Court upholds the law in the coming days.
Opponents of the Arizona law, known as SB1070, are likely to sue police departments on claims that officers racially profile people as they enforce the provision of the law that requires police to check the immigration status of people they stop for other reasons.
But legal challenges also are expected from the other side: from supporters who could claim that a police agency has broken the law if it restricts the enforcement of SB1070.
"There are people just waiting to challenge this law on both sides of the spectrum," said Tucson Police Chief Roberto Villasenor.
A little-known section of the law lets anyone sue an agency that has a policy that restricts the enforcement of immigration law. The provision was aimed at holding cities accountable for "sanctuary policies" that discourage or prohibit officers from inquiring about a person's immigration status. Agencies that are found by a court to have sanctuary policies face fines of $500 to $5,000 for each day such a violation remains in effect after the filing of the lawsuit.
The right to sue was among the parts of the law that were allowed to take effect in July 2010. But a federal judge has barred police from enforcing the law's more contentious sections, such as a requirement that officers check the immigration status of people they stop for other reasons.
The U.S. Supreme Court is expected to rule before the end of the month on Gov. Jan Brewer's appeal of the 2010 ruling. Legal experts expect that the court likely will uphold the requirement for immigration-status checks, siding with Arizona officials' legal argument that SB1070 is not trumped by federal immigration law.
Such a ruling will prompt groups that already have challenged the law to ask the courts to again prevent enforcement of the controversial sections based on other arguments, such as racial profiling.
While seven challenges to the law have been filed, no lawsuits have been brought to court so far that alleged that a police agency had a sanctuary policy.
The question about what types of immigration inquiries police can make came to a head in Arizona during 2007 when Phoenix police Officer Nick Erfle was killed by an illegal immigrant, who shot the officer as he tried to arrest the immigrant on a warrant.
After his release from prison and subsequent deportation, the immigrant sneaked into the country again and was arrested for misdemeanor assault in Scottsdale, but wasn't reported to federal immigration authorities. The immigrant was fatally shot a short time later by police as he pointed a gun at a carjacking victim's head.
Phoenix revamped its policy on officers inquiring about people's immigration status after a union representing 2,500 rank-and-file officers had complained that officers were tired of seeing crimes tied to illegal immigration.
Under the law's right-to-sue provision, officers are indemnified from having to pay attorney fees and other legal costs in such lawsuits unless they are found to have acted in bad faith.
Source: abcnews.go.com
Cabbie accused of causing man's death in crash walks free after claiming he had 'sneezing fit' at the wheel - Daily Mail
- Taxi driver said he sneezed seven or eight times which prevented him seeing car in front
By Amy Oliver
|
A taxi driver accused of causing a man's death following a car crash has walked free after claiming he was having a 'sneezing fit'.
Phillip Parker, 38, smashed into Malkit Khatkar's Vauxhall Vectra as he was driving home from work in the early hours of New Year's Day last year.
Mr Khatkar, 70, suffered serious spinal injuries in the accident on the A2 at Wilmington, Kent, before dying two weeks later.
Let off: Phillip Parker, 38, of Chatham, Kent, was left in floods of tears as he was acquitted for causing death by careless driving at Maidstone Crown Court
Mr Parker denied causing death by careless driving, claiming he only hit Mr Khatkar because he sneezed seven or eight times in a row, which prevented him from seeing the car in front.
The taxi driver, of Chatham, Kent, was left in floods of tears as he was acquitted for causing death by careless driving by a jury at Maidstone Crown Court on Friday.
Before the verdict, Anthony Prosser, prosecuting, told the court that Parker was at fault and not driving to the 'standard of a careful and competent driver'.
He said: 'The Crown say if he did have a sneezing fit there was at least 30 seconds of visibility of the car in front and plenty of time to brake and do anything to avoid the rear-end collision.
Tragic: Malkit Khatkar, 70, was initially taken to Darent Valley Hospital in Kent suffering spinal injuries but died two weeks later
'The Vectra was there to be seen on a straight stretch of road. The reality is he drove into the back of the car, causing the collision.'
Mr Prosser added if sneezing did not explain the cause, it could have been lack of concentration or tiredness.
There were no independent witnesses to the crash, which happened at about 5.20am on a long straight stretch of the coast-bound carriageway.
Off-duty PC William Parish arrived on the scene just after the collision on the inside lane.
The Vectra had been struck from the rear and spun around. Mr Khatkar had to be cut out.
He was taken to Darent Valley Hospital, in Dartford, Kent and then transferred to Stoke Mandeville in Aylesbury, Bucks, on January 16.
Parker, who denied the charge, said in a police interview of his sneezing: 'It didn't well up, it just - bang - happened.'
He said in evidence: 'It was just one after another.'
Asked by Mr Prosser how he missed an object in the road directly ahead of him, he replied: 'All I can tell you is I had a sneezing fit and the car was there.
'It looked like it was stationary and I went into the back of it. I did brake.'
Mr Prosser said it was not possible to say how fast Mr Khatkar was travelling and it was possible his car was stationary at the time of the collision.
Mr Parker, who suffered a broken collarbone, said his speed was about 50-60mph. He denied being tired.
Source: www.dailymail.co.uk
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