The Snow Queen arrives..Stage left.

In picking the Snow Queen as pantomime for the 2010 performance The St Giles Pantomime Society showed an unerring gift for predicting one of the most extreme and extended periods of severe weather that the district has experienced in years.

We saw snow and we saw ice and we had ice and snow. The 2008 and 2009 decisions to reduce the overall coverage of roads in the gritting plan by 120 kms and six gritting vehicles from nineteen to thirteen meant that a number of people could not get to work, schools closed and small business people who deliver had huge problems. Central government stepped in to dictate where the supplies of grit should go linked to concerns that supplies needed to be regulated as the salt mines struggled to keep up.

Santa IS coming

Compliments of NORAD

Visit the North Pole play some Christmas games and also be ready to track Santa as he sets out on his journey on Thursday night.

Season greetings and best wishes to you all!

Normal politics will resume shortly

Geoff

Cameron Direct

David Cameron on tour Winter 2009

Airedale & Ferry Fryston Election

The date for polling is confirmed as Thursday 21st of January and at this point it looks like five potential candidates, although that will be confirmed by the Electoral Officer at 12 noon on the 22nd of December.

January looks like being a busy time and political anoraks will be getting wet.

Result

Montpelier Orchestra - The Bells

Absolutely brilliant - Enjoy

Local Election

You will have read my earler post about the sad death of Cllr Graham Phelps on the 17th of November. One of the outcomes is to be a By-Election for the ward that Graham represented. The Councils CEO has announced that there will be an election called for for a date later in January 2010.

I assume the main driver for this has been the change in balance of power at Wakefield from 32 Labour Councillors / 31 Opposition to 31 / 31 or a position of no overall control.

The Leader of the council has called for parties to fight fair.

Clearly the political classes and the media will be paying more attention to Airedale & Ferry Fryston than is normally the case, I hope that the electorate will benefit.

First law of journalism

Minding my own business listening to the Today programme on Radio 4 this morning, I was startled to hear a confession from John Humphrys. In an interview which I believe was talking about climate change, he broke in to state what he described as the first law of journalism. "First of all simplify, then exaggerate" about 11mins 20secs in.

All of a sudden that explains a lot about some of our local papers, our local golden MPs the Cooper and Balls duo. Any of my savvier media readers like to comment?