York libraries say, “We are hosting lots of exciting activities around late May and early June, so why not bring all the family and celebrate the Diamond Jubilee with us. Everyone is welcome to all our celebratory events. To find our what’s happening at your local library see below”.

Dringhouses Library

Diamond Jubilee Memories and Memorabilia Display. Ever been curious about past events? Come along and look at old photographs and read interesting facts about our Queen’s reign. Dringhouses Library, Monday 21 May – Friday 1 June.

Acomb Explore

Saturday 2 June 9am – 2pm at Acomb Explore

•Come along and show off your cake decorating skills and enter our competition. There will be prizes for the most creative! We will be judging at 12 noon for the best adult and junior entries. Or if you’re just a beginner, drop by and ice some of our cookies

• Not a baker? Then get creative with the kids and dress up as your favourite or most fearsome King or Queen…there will be a prize for the best dressed at 11.30am

• If you’re more of a cook, pick up one or more of our recipe bookmarks and mark the occasion with a tasty meal

• Are you more of a historian? Come along and find out what Acomb was like in the 1950s and what was happening

• The kids will be entertained all morning with activities and games, and for the brave visitors, a climbing wall

• Whilst the kids are getting messy why not pamper yourself and have your nails done and then relax and enjoy lunch with the family with 10% off all cafe prices

‘A Poem for the Queen’ competition

Ever fancied yourself as a poet? Write a poem for the queen and submit it to any York Library before the end of June for the chance to win a prize and have your work displayed at Explore York.

Jubilee Storytimes

Around the Jubilee, all of our libraries will be hosting special jubilee-themed storytimes for under 5s.

Explore Acomb, 7 June, 10.30am – 11.30am
Bishopthorpe Library, 7 June, 10.30am – 11am
Clifton Library, 29 May, 10.30am – 11am
Copmanthorpe Library, 7 June, 10.30am – 11am
Dunnington Library, 31 May, 2.15pm – 2.45pm
Dringhouses Library, 26 May, 11am – 11.30am
Haxby Library, 6 June, 2.15pm – 2.45pm
Huntington Library, 29 May, 2.30pm – 3.30pm
Fulford Library, 29 May, 2.30pm – 3pm
Explore New Earswick, 1 June, 2.30pm – 3pm
Poppleton Library, 8 June, 2.30 – 3pm
Strensall Library, 1 June, 3.30pm – 4pm
Tang Hall Library, 2 June, 10.30am – 11am
Explore York, 8 June, 10.30am – 11.30am

(more…)

Explore York Library Learning Centre are inviting ‘bumps, babies, children under five and their teddies’ to attend a special event on Wednesday 13 June between 10am and 3.30pm.

The city centre Explore Centre has a day planned full of events to celebrate being a child in York, with adults being invited along to share the adventure.

Workshops and taster sessions are happening throughout the day including:

• Baby signing
• Pamper yourself
• How to tell Stories and Share Books Together
• Maternity Reflexology and Indian Head Massage

Story and rhyme sessions will be taking place at 10.30am, 11.15am and 1.30pm with all participants being given a free book to take home and enjoy together. An unborn baby of 2- weeks can hear and enjoys the sound of books being read to them.

Children can also enjoy a teddy bears picnic, use the soft play equipment and take part in the teddy trail.

Come and find out more about Children’s Centres, Family Information, NCT, The Toy Bus, Family Learning and much more.

Free tickets and information about the sessions are available at Explore York Library at www.york.gov.uk/libraries

For the first time people in North Yorkshire and the City of York will be able to track online what happened after a crime was committed in their neighbourhood, with the introduction of new data published on the government’s crime mapping website today. Click http://www.police.uk/

In the next stage of development of the groundbreaking website Police.uk, residents will not only be able to access street level crime data but also see what action the local police have taken as a result.

The site will also start to show whether offenders went to court, increasing transparency in the criminal justice system.

The additions to the site come after the public showed a huge appetite for more information on every aspect of crime in their area, with more than 47 million visits on Police.uk since it launched in January 2011.

Police.uk has already undergone a series of innovative updates, providing the public with more criminal justice information than ever before. This includes mapping crimes at points of interest including supermarkets and nightclubs, introducing new crime categories such as shoplifting and increasing accuracy by placing crimes to within eight postcodes instead of 12. (more…)

North Yorkshire Police is issuing a warning and offering advice following the seizure of potentially lethal drugs in York.

Officers have recently seized a quantity of a Class A drug called 4-Methylamphetamine. This is the first time that this drug has been found in the force and has previously been linked to deaths across the United Kingdom and Europe.

The drug was found in paste form which is visually similar to amphetamine, of which it may also have the same taste and smell. It can be white, off white or yellow in appearance.

A man from York has been arrested in connection with this drug seizure and is currently on bail while police enquiries continue. (more…)

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The latest GCSE results for York reveal that girls are still more successful in achieving high grades than boys.

Both groups though improved their success rate in 2011 when compared to 2010.

Also beating the average were pupils from mixed ethnic backgrounds who achieved a 79% success rate in 2011.

As part of the Theakston Old Peculier Crime Writing Festival, best-selling author, Peter Robinson will be at Explore York Library on 6 June from 6.30pm.

During the evening Peter will be talking about his own novels and also introducing the audience to New Blood crime writers Steven Dunne and David Mark. (more…)

Liberal Democrats are urging City of York Council to bid for a share of £50million to improve broadband connectivity right across the City. The funding is available as part of the coalition government’s vision for broadband in the UK, which aims to ensure the UK has the best broadband network in Europe by 2015. (more…)

The Council has revealed that it has dealt with over 500 complaints about noise this year already.

With the fair weather arriving, this total seems likely to increase.

Worst affected ward is Westfield where 81 complaints have been received. The large number of flats in the ward may be partly responsible for the trend.

The Council has seized 5 items of equipment (radios, TV’s etc) connected with the complaints.

A “Freedom of Information” request has revealed the number of complaints registered over recent years.
• 2009 = 2557
• 2010 = 2434
• 2011 = 1819 (Recording methods changed so multiple complaints now recorded as one complaint)
• 2012 = 550

Noise complaints. click to enlarge

abatement notices issued. click to enlarge

Residents experiencing problems with noise can complain to the Councils Environmental Protection Unit, make an enquiry or seek advice during normal office hours as follows:
Telephone: (01904) 551555
Email: environmental.protection@york.gov.uk
Write to: EPU, c/o 9 St Leonard’s Place, York YO1 7ET
Call at: 9 St Leonard’s Place, York YO1 7ET

Residents also complain about noise on Friday and Saturday nights, between 9.00pm and 3.00am, by telephoning the Noise Patrol service on tel: (01904) 551555.
They can also investigate complaints outside of the above hours by prior appointment.

A step by step guide to dealing with noise problems can be found here http://tinyurl.com/Noise-in-York

North Yorkshire Police will be carrying out mobile safety camera enforcement on the following roads between Wednesday 30 May and Tuesday 12 June 2012 (two weeks).

•Strensall Road, Huntington, York
•A1237 Monks Cross, York
•The Village, Stockton On Forest, York
•A1036 Malton Road, York
•A64 east-bound Bowbridge Farm Tadcaster
•A64 west-bound Bowbridge Farm Tadcaster
•Temple Lane, Copmanthorpe, York
•A1036 Tadcaster Road, Acomb, York
•A63 Milford Hotel Newthorpe
•A1246 Ledsham (more…)

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As reported previously http://tinyurl.com/previous-care-article the Council is planning to withdraw care support from 160 mainly elderly residents living in York.

The latest figures issued by the Council (see right) confirm that the numbers seeking care support actually fell last year.

Despite this, the Councillor responsible for the service has been quoted in the media as saying care costs will increase by £3.7 million next year!

Residents will want to know where that figure has come from?

The Councils budget -agreed in February – forecast that removing care support from people with “moderate” needs would save £270,000 over 2 years.

A year ago the Council had embarked on a project which would have seen the techniques and efficiencies, applied by private sector providers, extended to all users. The effects of this programme (mainly affecting home care and the “enablement” service which helps former hospital patients become self sufficient) have not been reported back to residents.

In York, the majority of care users already choose the private sector to supply their needs (the Council having assessed an individuals needs, provides a budget to cover the costs. The customer can then either choose a Council or independent sector Care provider).

Now a “consultation” on the changes to eligibility criteria has begun. http://tinyurl.com/Eligible-in-York

Unfortunately it seems unlikely that many who are affected will complete an “on line” survey and if they do, with so many unanswered questions, the value of the exercise is questionable.