Hello and welcome to Tuesdays Levy Letter. Its good to be back after my break last week, but what weather were having today! Its a damp day in Hull outside my window, but there are rumours of a warmer weekend. For the full forecast dont miss the programme tonight as usual. On Look North today were taking a look at how the postal strike has hit our region. We'll be reporting from small businesses and Royal Mail customers, and we want to find out how you're getting on. Wherever you are, however you've been affected, let us know. You can get in touch with us via email at [EMAIL PROTECTED], or text in at 07786 20 90 80. We want to hear your stories.
Hannah Moffat will be reporting today on the campaign by bakers to have a traditional local food protected under EU Food laws. And it's almost 20 years since the Hurricane of 1987 and tonight Ill be talking to Michael Fish, the forecaster who famously failed to predict the event. Well be discussing other severe weather over the decades and finding out if it's going to become a more common occurrence. Its a frightening thought, imagine regular repeats of this years floods. Dont miss that, its all coming up on Look North at the usual time of half past six on BBC One. It was a busy programme yesterday, thank you for all your comments on Street Pastors amongst other things. That was the story about Christian volunteers patrolling the streets of Lincoln to try and reduce anti-social behaviour. Now I read this out on the programme yesterday, but it warrants repeating here, this is what happens when you grasp completely the wrong end of the stick, although Im sure Matthew Johnson had his tongue firmly in his cheek when he emailed in to say: I am always starving after a few pints. I would therefore welcome a nice 'Street Pasty' at chucking out time. My favourite is a Cornish Pasty although my mate prefers a warm cheese and onion pasty. Not quite what the story was about there Matthew, but perhaps Street Pasties might reduce anti-social behaviour, who knows? Rocky Relationships Do you spend as much time fighting with your partner as you do living harmoniously together? If you have a volatile relationship it could actually be increasing your risk of heart disease. Yes thats right, a new study claims that negative relationships can boost the risk of heart problems by 34%. Thats incredible, and definitely something to think about. Previous research has suggested that if youre in a relationship youre likely to enjoy better health than your single counterparts, but now this study seems to be saying that a bad relationship is worse than not having one at all. I dont think thats a big surprise to be honest, but what is surprising to me is the extent to which your emotional life can impact your physical health. Apparently, the explanation for this is due to the wear and tear put on organs due to hormonal changes and disturbances in blood clotting, amongst other things. So there you have it, be a lover and not a fighter and your health could improve, as well as your relationship too I suppose. Elephants Now this is a strange tidbit of information from the news this week. What do you think frightens a six tonne elephant? Now Ive heard that elephants are afraid of mice, and theres a memorable scene in the Disney film Dumbo that would seem to reinforce that, but Im obviously wrong because the sound that frightens elephants most is the sound of buzzing bees. Its all part of attempts to protect farm land in Africa from marauding elephants destroying their crops. Researchers are now using recordings of bees buzzing, and strategic placement of real hives in order to scare away the animals. A lot of people dont like bees, and with good reason if you happen to live in Africa. It seems that although bees are tiny creatures on their own, a swarm of African honey bees can contain over 10,000 insects, which attack any creature thought to be a threat. Whats more, when an individual bee stings, it releases pheromones attracting any other bee in the area to attack. I dont like the idea of being stung by 10,000 aggressive bees, and neither do the elephants it seems. The studies have found that about half of elephants in range of the sounds moved away within ten seconds. Bees can inflict painful stings in an elephants trunk, and its thought that theyve learnt to avoid them. So now you know how to frighten an elephant, not with a mouse but with the buzzing of a honey bee. Thats about it from me, dont forget to join me for the programme tonight at half past six on BBC One, and also dont forget to send us your stories on how youve been affected by the postal strike. Send us your experiences at [EMAIL PROTECTED] and hopefully well be able to use them for the programme. Enjoy the rest of your day, bye for now. 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
