Source: www.digitalspy.co.uk
Kent remains on flood alert after heavy overnight rain - Kent Online
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Heavy rain floods a road in Northfleet. Picture: Genny Jones
A weather warning remains in place for Kent today as the River Darent continues to be on flood alert.
Forecasters at the Met Office say they rain will last until at least lunchtime - and some showers could be heavy.
Water levels on the River Darent from Westerham to Dartford - including Otford, Eynsford and South Darenth - remain high after heavy overnight rain.
The Environrment Agency said the flood alert will be in force until at least 3pm.
The Environment Agency has issued 45 flood alerts, with more than 38 in the south east.
Meanwhile, Kent County Cricket club have moved tonight's Friends Life t20 match against Sussex Sharks to the St Lawrence Ground, Canterbury, after flash flooding in Tunbridge Wells.
Motorists are also being told to take extra care on the roads. There were delays on Kent's motorways this morning as traffic was slowed down by heavy spray.
Heavy rain flooded the junction of St Marks Avenue and Beresford Road in Northfleet.
A tree lies in the middle of the River Medway in Maidstone
And a tree ended up in the River Medway, in Maidstone, close to the bridge that is part of the gyratory road system.
The swollen river has claimed part of the footpath near the Kentish Lady mooring.
A fallen tree also blocked The Square, in Hadlow, at about 9am today.
Have you taken any pictures of heavy rain or flooding? Tweet us @Kent_Online or email them to multimediadesk@thekmgroup.co.uk.
Monday, June 11 2012
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mars 40 wrote:
And we are on drought restrictions! come on Southern water/South East water and Thames water stop being greedy, i have so much water stored i won't need to touch the hosepipe this summer at all?
11 Jun 2012 10:29 AM
Source: www.kentonline.co.uk
Volunteers pit their wits against the controversial Kent 11-plus - thisiskent.co.uk
AS DEMAND for places continues to soar for already over-stretched grammar schools across West Kent, pressure is increasing for pupils taking the controversial 11-plus.
Amid mounting criticism from parents and education groups over the strain the exam is piling on pupils at such a young age, the Courier invited a group of volunteers to try it out for themselves.
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BACK TO SCHOOL: Our volunteers sweat it out at Courier House
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EXAM PRESSURE: Volunteers sit the 11-plus at Courier House. Pictured are Amanda Manuel, Teresa Stevens, Jo Paine, Amy, and Graham Naismith TWGF20120525C-006_C
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EXAM PRESSURE: Volunteers sit the eleven plus exam at Courier House, Tunbridge Wells.
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EXAM PRESSURE: Volunteers sit the eleven plus exam at Courier House, Tunbridge Wells.
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EXAM PRESSURE: Volunteers sit the eleven plus exam at Courier House, Tunbridge Wells.
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EXAM PRESSURE: Volunteers sit the eleven plus exam at Courier House, Tunbridge Wells.
They ranged from parents striving to get their child into their school of choice to teachers keen to experience the ordeal their pupils are put through.
The group took three practice papers – mathematics, plus verbal and non-verbal reasoning – under exam conditions.
Father-of-three Graham Naismith was one of those inviting ridicule from his children by taking part.
He said: "I think it is wrong for a ten-year-old to be spending the summer revising. I accept the system, I just think it's too early."
He is going through the appeal process with his daughter, who passed the 11-plus but failed to get a grammar place.
Former maths teacher Teresa Stevens was a borderline 11-plus case and failed to get a place at a grammar school when she took the test 50 years ago.
She had strong views, saying: "I'm against the 11-plus and against dividing children at 11. I have taught children that come into their own much later and some who stop developing at 11.
"I just think it's madness to push children into exams when they should be enjoying their youth."
The Kent pass rate is about 25 per cent and this year 61 children who did pass still missed out on a grammar school place. Of these, 40 were from West Kent.
Margaret Tulloch, secretary of Comprehensive Future which campaigns for a fair admissions policy, slammed the system which makes many children feel like "failures", adding: "It puts needless stress on children and the majority get the message that they are failures. It's ridiculous.
"We should be opening doors for children, not closing them."
Critics say the 11-plus and division of children does not lead to better results or a more successful schooling system.
Michael Pyke, from pressure group the Campaign for State Education, said the top international schooling systems were all based on a comprehensive system.
He added: "Selection does not produce better all-round results. The most efficient education system is that which educates the most people. Systems that are elitist are inefficient."
Nevertheless, many parents turn to private tutoring to secure a place at a super-selective school, which allocates places due to scores, such as Judd School, Tonbridge Grammar School and The Skinners' School.
Tunbridge Wells Girls' Grammar School and Tunbridge Wells Grammar School for Boys allocate places to children who pass the test and live within a catchment area.
Chair of governors at the boys' school, Michael Reidy, defended the testing process, saying: "The pass rate doesn't really justify the criticism of the exam.
"We have got children in West Kent clamouring for places. It's not unreasonably challenging for them but it's a filtering process."
But mother of two and chairman of Sevenoaks Action for Community Education campaign group Amanda Manuel said the admissions process was "flawed" and welcomed a county council review.
Pass marks...
The Kent 11-plus pass mark was 360 last year
This year, Judd School in Tonbridge wanted 418, The Skinners' School in Tunbridge Wells wanted 414 and Tonbridge Grammar School wanted 412 for children out of area and 409 for children within the area
The Kent pass rate is about 25 per cent
There are 164 selective schools in the UK
36 out of 152 LEAs have a selective system or some selective schools
The results...
Name: Graham Naismith, of Hazelbank, Langton Green
Age: 44
Occupation: IT
Reason for volunteering: Father of three, his daughter recently passed the 11-plus but missed out on a grammar school place so he is currently appealing
Score: 99 per cent
Reaction: "I thought it would be a mental challenge, timing and technique play a massive role in the 11-plus. "I'm frustrated I got a couple of questions wrong."
Name: Teresa Stevens, of Lower Green Road, Pembury
Age: 61
Occupation: Former maths teacher
Reason for volunteering: Took the 11-plus 50 years ago, was a borderline case and didn't get a spot at grammar school
Score: 82 per cent
Reaction: "It's what I expected.
"I was very slow on the non-verbal reasoning paper, I think it was that paper I originally fell down on.
"My maths is fast but I'm a slow thinker and it takes me a while to absorb it.
"I was curious to sit it again."
Name: Jo Paine, of Tristan Gardens, Rusthall
Age: 44
Occupation: School secretary
Reason for volunteering: Her daughter is due to take the 11-plus in September
Score: 96 per cent
Reaction: "I thought it would be supportive to try the 11-plus, my daughter thought it was hysterical.
"I'm hugely surprised by my result.
"The questions were fine but I think some would be tough for an 11-year-old.
"If you are trying to do it quickly it's really easy to misread it."
Name: Amanda Manuel, of Wickenden Road, Sevenoaks
Age: 41
Occupation: Businesswoman
Reason for volunteering: Mother of two and chairman of campaign group, Sevenoaks Action for Community Education
Score: 93 per cent
Reaction: "I have never seen an 11-plus paper, my children aren't at that age yet and I come from out of the county so it's not something I am familiar with. I thought it would be interesting.
"The first question on the verbal reasoning paper took me forever to get my head around but once I worked it out it wasn't too bad.
"I messed up several maths questions from not reading it properly.
"If we go down this path with our children I will make sure my son knows to read the question carefully, check his answers and write out the maths."
Name: Amy De-Keyzer, resident of Sevenoaks
Age: 23
Occupation: Reporter
Reason for volunteering: Born and brought up out of county and unfamiliar with the 11-plus
Score: 82 per cent.
Reaction: "Having gone through lots of exams in relatively recent years I was optimistic about the test.
"Some of the questions seemed tough and I made a major mistake in answering more questions than necessary because I didn't follow the instructions."
Source: www.thisiskent.co.uk
Essex County rugby team wins state title - Newburyport Daily News
Rugby
Mass. Rugby Organization
The Essex County Bulldogs Rugby Football Club claimed the Massachusetts Rugby Organization's state championship with a 14-13 win over the defending champion Berkshire United Rugby Football Club Saturday in Pittsfield.
In 2008 the Bulldogs had just 22 kids playing flag rugby against each other. By 2010, they fielded a U19 team and began competing against other programs across Massachusetts.
Last season the Bulldogs lost their first match of the season to Berkshire by more than 40 points. That season, they improved enough to earn a berth in last year's state tournament, advancing to the finals versus Berkshire. The Essex County club was within 20 seconds of claiming last year's state championship. Berkshire scored in the final minute, winning the title 17-12.
Earlier this year, both teams met up again at Amesbury Sports Park in a regular-season match that ended in a 20-20 tie. After that match, the Bulldogs were perfect, scoring over 170 points against Seacoast RFC, Portland Maine and Arlington Catholic High School. Meanwhile, Berkshire did equally well.
Going into the state finals last weekend, the Bulldogs and Berkshire were ranked number one and two, respectively.
Led by coaches Dave Hill, Chip Lynch, Joe Stanley and Dennis Donnovan, the Bulldogs scored five times, including one successful try each from Amesbury's Matt Bell and Masconomet's MacKenzie Cashin, topping Worcester RFC in the semifinal by a score of 29-11.
On the opposite field, the speedy Berkshire club ran past the Springfield Rifles RFC, posting a 29-0 shutout, leading to a rematch of last year's championship.
In the final, Berkshire jumped out to a 5-0 lead on the first drive of the match, before Amesbury's Connor Norton pushed the ball in for the Bulldogs. Masco's Andrew Swimm gave the Bulldogs the 7-5 lead with the two-point goal kick after the try. Late in the first half, Berkshire's speedy backfield outran the Bulldog defenders for another try, and then added another three points with a goal kick to close the half.
The second half became a defensive grind with neither team giving much ground until the Bulldogs pushed the ball down the field in the final minute of the match. With 22 seconds left, Norton got his second try of the match, and Swimm nailed a tough goal kick to give Essex County a one-point lead. A frantic push by Berkshire was defended by the Bulldogs, giving them the championship.
Post 150 Junior Legion Baseball
Newburyport 5, Gloucester 4
Evan Habib pitched four innings, allowing six hits for Newburyport. He had six strikeouts. Tim Englehart pitched the final three innings, allowing one run on two hits. He had three strikeouts. Justin Snyder was 2 for 2 with a home run. Leighton Paradis was 1 for 3 with two RBIs.
Source: www.newburyportnews.com
Essex bid to start t20 campaign with a win - East Anglian Daily Times
Greg Smith, who is in a 13-man squad for Essex's match against Surrey and could make his t20 debut for the county.
Tuesday, June 12, 2012
10:00 AM
ESSEX Eagles turn their attentions to Friends Life t20 action for the next few weeks starting with a trip to the Kia Oval to face Surrey Lions tomorrow night for their opening match in this year’s competition.
Eagles head coach Paul Grayson has selected a 13-man squad for the match, start 6.30pm, and he is anxious to see his charges commence their South Group qualifying matches with a victory.
“One-day cricket is all about momentum and, obviously, we want to make a good start against Surrey Lions where we have a good record over the years,” he said.
“We know that the South Group is tough and there are some good cricketers in our section but I believe in our lads. We have some excellent players ourselves and if we get some good results early on in the competition, then I believe that there is every chance that we can qualify.
“Last year, we won seven and lost seven plus a couple of games were washed-out so we were inconsistent. Batting will be our strength this year in this format and so we’ve got to be very workmanlike in the way that we bowl. We’ve also got to be smart with our bowling changes and our spin options.
“We feel that we are better prepared this year than we were last year when we came straight off a four-day game and went immediately into the Twenty20 campaign. This time, we’ve had some time to prepare and practise our skills and we are hoping for a big performance on Wednesday night.
“Then we’ve got three matches in as many night next week, so the games come thick and fast and if you do lose a game, you can’t sit around feeling sorry for yourself, you might have to play again the next night.”
Essex will only have one overseas player for the competition despite intense efforts to sign another player to join James Franklin.
“We really tried to get a second overseas player in to join us but we have been let down by a couple of players,” Grayson explained.
“It’s proved a really difficult situation trying to bring someone else in but I’m happy with the squad we’ve got. I would have liked another one-day specialist bowler but we’ll live with that. It means that we’ve got to find a way to bowl well in the format and trust our batsmen to perform more consistently because last year, they didn’t do that.”
History favours for a winning start for the Eagles whose impressive record against Surrey in the FL t20 format includes victories in nine of the 13 matches with only two defeats while the other couple of games were abandoned.
Essex squad: J Foster, J Franklin, M Pettini, T Westley, G Smith, O Shah, R ten Doeschate, A Wheater, G Napier, T Phillips, D Masters, T Mills, M Chambers.
Source: www.eadt.co.uk
SEC Law Firm Named U.S. Law Firm Of The Year For International Securities Work - Yahoo Finance
LOS ANGELES, June 12, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- SEC Law Firm, a Los Angeles-based law practice representing growth companies around the world and their regulated professional advisory firms, has been named U.S. Law Firm of the Year - Foreign Investments by Corporate LiveWire in its 2012 Global Awards.
Presented annually by Birmingham, England-based Corporate LiveWire, the awards honor businesses, finance firms and professionals who stand out as leaders in their respective fields, showing best practice and innovation in their work. The directory of award winners can be found at http://www.corporatelivewire.com/awards.html.
SEC Law Firm's Managing Partner Lance Jon Kimmel said, "We are honored to be recognized by such a prestigious group as Corporate LiveWire."
Kimmel is actively involved in alternative public offering strategies, including reverse mergers for domestic and Chinese companies in the United States, and working with private and public companies going public or dual listing internationally in the U.K., Canada and Germany. He has frequently contributed his insights to NPR Marketplace, Dow Jones, Sky Radio, the Los Angeles Times, Bloomberg Forum and Financier Worldwide, among other mainstream and financial broadcast and print media around the world. Kimmel has written numerous articles and speaks at public forums frequently about current legal issues in the corporate finance and corporate governance arenas in the U.S., Europe and China.
About SEC Law Firm
SEC Law Firm represents emerging growth companies around the globe and the advisors who serve them. The firm's practice focuses on public and private securities offerings, SEC reporting, corporate governance, mergers and acquisitions, representation of companies before the SEC and stock exchanges, and SRO compliance for investment bankers, accounting firms and other service providers. The all senior-attorney law firm handles capital-raising at every level, from seed capital to initial public offerings, from reverse mergers to PIPEs, from equity credit lines to bank credit facilities. The firm's clients represent a broad spectrum of 21st century business, from pharmaceuticals to broadcast, from renewable energy to manufacturing.
About Corporate LiveWire
Corporate LiveWire provides business professionals and individuals in the corporate finance sector with information on global news and developments about corporate transactions, international markets, business strategy and changes in legislation, including a deal section covering transactions and companies involved in mergers, acquisitions, IPOs, MBOs and finance.
For more information, please contact:
Lance Jon Kimmel, Esq.
SEC Law Firm
310/557-3059
lkimmel@seclawfirm.com
Source: finance.yahoo.com
Chloe Sims is almost au naturel without make-up - Daily Mail
By Holly Thomas
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She's scarcely been seen without several layers of slap since she found fame on The Only Way Is Essex.
But it appears even Chloe Sims is capable of leaving the house (almost) au naturel sometimes.
The 30-year-old was seen leaving an Essex salon without make-up on yesterday.
Scrubs off well! Chloe Sims looked pretty without make-up in Essex yesterday
True to her TOWIE roots her appearance wasn't entirely without cosmetic aid- with groomed eyebrows and a slick of lipstick.
Chloe looked pretty with the low-maintainance look- proving that she could perhaps afford to dedicate less of her usual schedule to hair and make-up.
The brunette grinned as she headed for Boots, wearing a grey tracksuit and carrying a Chanel handbag.
Just a temporary lapse! The 30-year-old was seen stocking up on beauty essentials at Boots
Kept it low-key: Chloe wore a cosy grey tracksuit, though her Chanel handbag added a touch of glamour
Chloe stocked up on a few beauty essentials including hair sprays and body lotion, indicating that she is unlikely to make a habit of yesterday's nonchalance regarding grooming.
The mother-of-one must be thankful of the chance to relax a little, having only recently returned from filming the forthcoming TOWIE special in Marbella.
She appears to be throwing herself back into home life enthusiastically, and tweeted yesterday: 'Good morning!! Busy day sorting myself out first stop nails @belles_beausx need to buy a sofa today too!! 2 months without one #notime'
Pushed for time: Chloe hasn't had as much space in her schedule for grooming recently
Chloe hit the Windsor races over the weekend- but again was pushed for time preparation-wise beforehand.
She tweeted a few days previously: 'I need a fascinator for Saturday helppppp does anyone know any websites? No time to go to shops!! X'
Chloe certainly hasn't had many minutes to spare lately, having been out and about constantly while in Spain with her pal Lauren Pope.
Besides one notably low-key lunch, the pair were hardly seen without being done up to the nines.
Usual look: Chloe was done up to the nines in Marbella with pal Lauren Pope
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Source: www.dailymail.co.uk
