Hello, its Peter here and welcome to Mondays Levy Letter. I hope your day is going well and I hope your weekend was good, despite the dreadful weather! I know there were loads of events organised, including a big event in Withernsea, but the weather was just horrendous wasnt it? And the rain was incredible, especially yesterday. But whatever you were up to, then I hope it went well.
On tonight's programme, while the cost of petrol and diesel has reached new heights of one pound a litre, we investigate what the future holds for motorists in the region. Look North will be meeting a bus company, who is planning on using old chip fat to power their vehicles. This is just incredible isnt it? I'll be asking if this is the answer as fuel costs continue to rise. Plus we'll be showing you the pictures of a night out in Hull with the new fast response paramedic team, who are out on the town to patch up drunken revellers. Ill have the full story on this one. Also, what would motivate you to go to work? Well, we'll be quizzing East Lindsey District Council about why they're spending thousands of pounds to get the most out of their staff. And as the number of millionaires is set to quadruple, I'll be talking to a local man, who knows how to live the high life. All this on BBC One at 6.30pm, including the full weather forecast from Paul. When is this dreadful weather set to end? Well, hopefully Paul will have the answers. I hope you can join me then. Political Correctness I very rarely write about this in the Levy Letter if I can avoid it, because some of this is quite political, but I had to read this one out, because it is just the most bizarre thing ever. For almost one hundred and thirty years, firemen have slid down poles to shave off vital seconds as they rush to tackle blazes and to save lives. But now they have been told to take the stairs instead. Health and safety officials have decided that poles are a hazard and argue that crews are being injured as they slide down. As a result they built Devons newest fire station without a pole. The move has left officers on the front line flabbergasted. They have warned that racing down a flight of steps will slow response times and could put lives at risk. But there you are. The new fire station at Devon has been built with no pole and just steps instead, because theyve decided that after one hundred and thirty years the pole could be dangerous! Desert Island Discs What was the one luxury item that you would take if you were stranded on a desert island? Well, Simon Cowell has many times insisted that he is not vain. He is, of course, Mr Nasty on ITVs X Factor programme. He has been chosen to go on Desert Island Discs this week. The multi millionaire impresario will be interviewed by Sue Lawley. But what is his surprise luxury that he would take to a desert island? He says, on the programme, which you can hear this week, that it would be a mirror, but he insists hes not vain! Talking of television, I see as well that the BBC is solving more crimes than the police. The BBCs Crimewatch programme has a great record for clearing up unsolved crimes, according to some figures to be released by the show. One in three incidents featured on the programme ends in an arrest, compared with one in four for the police during 2005 and 2006. Every single episode is apparently responsible for putting three or four criminals away. In the history of the series, theyve put in jail almost fifty killers. Thats the amazing work of Crimewatch. Crimewatch Solves is a special programme, which is on BBC One on Wednesday night on the 23rd August at 9pm. Ill certainly want to watch that one. Phones Well, millions of Britons have ditched their home phones in favour of mobiles. Theyve decided to only use their mobiles and are having their home phones disconnected. The growing addiction to cell phones is changing dramatically the way we keep in touch with each other, according to Ofcom. Almost a third of people will consider their mobile to be their main telephone, which is up from 21% two years ago. And a significant number of those say that its got to the point when they no longer make any calls from their home landline. One in ten households have decided to unplug their landline for good and make all their calls from the mobile. I suppose its only been a matter of time before this would happen. Ive got a friend of mine as well, who always rings me on the mobile, saying that they get free minutes and its cheaper than their landline. So there you are. Most of us at the moment though still have a landline as well, but in the future that could go. Thats slightly worr! ying I suppose for telephone companies. More Political Correctness I wrote the first story and then Ive come across this story as well. I thought I should mention it too. Scout leaders were condemned last night after it was revealed that they had banned helpers from putting sun screen on youngsters, unless they were already suffering from sun burn! The Scout Association made this announcement in the hope of preventing allegations of child abuse and explained that the ban didnt apply to cubs and scouts, who were already burnt. Because listen to this - if theyre already burnt, then theyre considered to be patients in need of first aid and thats ok! But if theyre going out in the sun all day, then theyre not allowed to have sun screen put on them by a scout leader of any of the helpers. One Conservative MP has condemned the ban and claims that the government and courts were responsible. Child abuse is a huge problem, but banning scout leaders from putting sun cream on children is not going to stop one single case of abuse. Its just ! one more example of political correctness and legal nonsense undermining voluntary workers. Your views on that and indeed on anything else, then get in touch [EMAIL PROTECTED] And dont forget, if youve got a problem or an issue that you think we might be able to tackle on the programme, then give me the details and a contact telephone number as well. If you want me to ring you, then its [EMAIL PROTECTED] Also, if you have any photos that you think we could show on the Big Screen, then let me take a look. Although, I suppose with the weather this weekend you werent given much opportunity to take any decent pictures, but send them to me as Id like to take a look. Join me tonight on BBC One at 6.30pm and look out for your Levy Letter again tomorrow round about the same time. Take care, Peter And for the latest news and more where you live, go to: http://bbc.co.uk/humber and http://bbc.co.uk/lincolnshire ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- To unsubscribe from the BBC Look North newsletter, go to http://www.bbc.co.uk/england/looknorthhull/newsletter/newsletter_index.shtml, enter your email address in the unsubscribe box. 1.94.4
