Hello and welcome to todays Levy Letter for Wednesday. I hope youre having a very good week, and thank you for the busy response weve had on our message lines and email. Keep it up, and as usual if theres time tonight Ill try to read some of those out on the programme. If you want to have a say on anything on Look North or if you have a story for us, or an unusual picture to show before the weather then email us at [EMAIL PROTECTED] I look forward to seeing them, and of course we look at every one.
Coming up on Look North tonight, we'll have the latest on the trial of a 22 year old woman from Lincoln. Kelly Tollerton's charged with leaving a baby home alone for the weekend while she went out partying. It's almost a year since the summer floods that devastated Hull, environment agency bosses are in the city to explain what they've done to protect homes and businesses. We'll put flood victims questions to the agency. Well be asking should the age of voting be lowered to 16? Would teenagers take their voting responsibilities seriously? Well try to find out. It's one of Britain's most popular birds but a new report suggests the Puffin population could be under threat. The figures come from a breeding colony in Scotland, we'll find out what's happening on the East Yorkshire cliffs. Well also have the battle to save red phone boxes in Lincolnshire. BT wants to get rid of more than three hundred but villagers aren't going to lose them without a fight. And of course well have the detailed weather forecast as always tonight at half past six on BBC One along with all of the days news and stories from our part of the world. I hope you can join me then. Maths Are you one of those people who shies away from numbers and confesses to being useless at maths? If you are, then youre one of those targeted by a new report claiming that instead of a lack of number skills being fashionable, it should be something to be ashamed about. It sounds a bit harsh, but thats the claim in a new report from one of those think-tanks that specialise in these things. An amazing claim in the paper is that a lost generation of mathematicians has cost the economy £9 billion, and that those with a maths A level earn on average 10 percent more than those without. Over a lifetime that works out at about £136,000. Another consequence is that many firms are recruiting their number crunchers from overseas. It is true that a lot of us do cringe in terror when confronted by arithmetic, and freeze when we have to do sums in our heads, but I dont know if its considered fashionable to be like that, is it? The report says that we have to build on our countrys interest in games like sudoku to make maths cool. Its interesting because a lot of us think our problem with numbers is something were born with, but the study seems to suggest that its down to social attitudes. I wonder what you think about that. Parkinson Chat show legend Michael Parkinson collected his Knighthood today from the Queen at Buckingham Palace. Apparently he learned about the honour just two weeks after the final episode of his long running talk show. Well done to Michael, a true television legend, and I dont think talk shows are the same without him really. Biscuits According to a new survey, four out of five UK businesses believe that the kind of biscuits they serve to prospective clients could influence the outcome of the deal. It sounds too strange to be true, but that was the result in a survey of 1,000 business professionals. So, if you want to be a big success, what kind of biscuits should you serve? Apparently the chocolate digestive creates the best impression, followed by shortbread and hobnobs. Jammie Dodgers and Bourbons are also good if you want to sweet talk people into a deal. According to the research, Lawyers are the profession most impressed by good biscuits. Something to keep in mind. Crumbly biscuits are best avoided, with 30% of people frowning on a regular digestive in the workplace. I wonder why chocolate makes such a big difference in biscuit success as of course chocolate digestives come out top. And if youre in the awkward situation of not knowing how many biscuits is appropriate to take, two is the most acceptable number. But whatever you do, dont dunk them in your tea or coffee as thats also frowned on. Some very strange research there. Well thats about it from me for today, I hope you enjoy the rest of your afternoon, and dont forget to join me tonight for Look North at half past six on BBC One. 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
