The Isle of Wight Beacon – the Island's daily news sport and weather website

News Stories for September 2008


SIGN ON TO LOCAL HISTORY IN FRESHWATER
- Freshwater Library celebrates local history day, this morning, with a visit by a number of Island authors.
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GIRL BAND ROCK RYDE
- The Venue @ Ryde Theatre hosts pop act Booty Luv, on 4 Oct. They will perform their hits, including ‘Boogie 2Nite’ and ‘Don’t Mess With My Man’.
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GARDENERS' EQUIPMENT PLEA
- There is an appeal for unwanted gardening tools, as local people start to grow their own food in the gardens of a grand house off Court Road in Freshwater.  Once visited by the author Lewis Carroll, Freshwater Court has undergone a major transformation since it changed hands 4 years ago.  The new owners inherited 14 acres of empty fields, a collapsed wood and overgrown gardens.
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SCHOOL CONSULTATION CONTINUES
- Consultation over plans to change the education system on the Isle of Wight continues today, after a decision to extend the exercise.  The deadline for your comments will now be 5pm, on 10 October. 
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IS IT A BIRD....IT'S A GEOLOGICAL ARIEL SURVEY
- The British Geological Survey’s carrying out an airborne geological survey of the Isle of Wight, over three weeks. A specialist plane will fly at low levels, in lines 200 metres apart. 
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VILLA HOSTS BACK TO THE PAST STUDENTS
- Isle of Wight students are to first hand how our Roman ancestors lived.
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PROBLEMS ON WIGHTLINK'S YARMOUTH ROUTE
- Afternoon car ferry sailings between Lymington and Yarmouth will be disrupted on Sunday afternoon. 
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GERMAN VIPS ON THE ISLE OF WIGHT
- Hot on the heels of Prince Edward's visit to the Isle of Wight this week, dignitaries from Coburg in Germany are making the trip across the Solent, today.
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ROYAL VISIT TO ISLE OF WIGHT
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Prince Edward has paid a visit to the Isle of Wight, visiting places as varied as Brading Roman Villa (he is patron of the historical attraction), the Minster Church of Sts Thomas (he is patron on the church's restoration appeal) and Newport's Riverside Centre.

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ISLAND AUTHOR DIES
- Isle of Wight based author and teacher, Lin Sheffrin, has died after loosing her battle with cancer. 
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IW COUNCIL SLIMS DOWN
- The number of Isle of Wight Council members will be cut, from 48 to 40.
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CHARITY AWARD FOR RYDE LIFESAVERS
- The team behind the Ryde Inshore Rescue lifeboat has received a national award.
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KATE SETS OFF ON TRANS-SIBERIAN CHALLENGE Intrepid author Kate Young.
- Isle of Wight writer Kate Young sets off on a charity challenge to China, today.
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FIRE EMERGENCY AT WHIPPINGHAM EASES
- A cordon had to be placed around the scene of a major incident at Whippingham, on Thursday, when welding apparatus (including three potentially explosive gas cylinders) caught fire. 
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PAN SCHEME DEVELOPER ANNOUNCED
- Miller Homes has been appointed to deliver a new housing development at Pan.  More than 1000 energy efficient homes, 240 of them affordable housing for Islanders, are planned.
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NEW TOWN CENTRE JOBS Newport is one of the towns that has benefited.
- Town centre managers will be appointed Islandwide, following an announcement at the recent Power to the Parishes conference.
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MOUNT JOY ELECTION DETAILS ANNOUNCED
- Four candidates will contest Newport’s vacant Mount Joy seat.
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SHELLING OUT A REWARD AFTER BESTIVAL THEFT Stunt snails in action.
- A £500 reward’s being offered, following the theft of “essential equipment” for two “stunt snails”, during Bestival.
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GOLD AT CELEBRATORY BOAT SHOW
- A AND S WHITEWOOD say...congratulations to the readers of the IW Beacon magazines, who were lucky enough to win pairs of tickets giving them free entry to this year’s PSP Southampton Boat Show.  The event got underway on Friday, when Olympic gold medals for sailing were the order of the day. 
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THUMBS UP FOR MENTAL HEALTH SERVICE
- Adult mental health services on the Isle of Wight are amongst the best in the country, according to a survey by the Healthcare Commission.
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CYCLING FESTIVAL LAUNCHED ON RIVER
- The Isle of Wight Cycling Festival has been launched at Seaclose Park in Newport.  On Saturday, there was mayhem on the River Medina as teams battled it out on homemade pedal-powered craft.
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JOURNEY'S END FOR FIREFIGHTER TEAM The team in France.
- Up to 40 family members, friends and representatives from a number of organisations, along with Chief Fire Officer Paul Street, were expected to meet the Square to Square cycling team in Rome, today.
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COMPOSER'S ISLAND HONEYMOON REMEMBERED
- A walk between Shanklin and Ventnor will help mark the launch of a new book that commemorates the Isle of Wight honeymoon of composer Sir Edward Elgar.
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SCHOOL PROJECT WRAPS UP The state-of-the-art education block.
- A £1.7m Mathematics and Information Communication Technology block will be officially opened at Medina High School in Newport, today.  It marks the completion of a 3 year project that has also seen the construction of a state-of-the-art science block.
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RYDE GATEWAY TO MOVE FORWARD
- The Ryde Gateway project's to take its next step forward before December.  Work will get underway in the next few months, to meet planning application demands. 
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CYCLING FESTIVAL PEDALS INTO NEWPORT
- Forty four rides and something for every age and ability. That's the promise being made by the organisers of the Isle of Wight Cycling Festival, which gets underway on 13 September. 
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EAST COWES GETS TIDY
- It’s time to clean up East Cowes!

A community tidy up will be held on 13 September, organised by the Isle of Wight Council
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HAVE YOUR SAY IN WROXALL AND VENTNOR
- People living in Wroxall and Upper Ventnor are being given the chance to have a say about their communities.  Two community engagement forums are being held this month (the first since February).  The first is on 9 September at 7pm, at Ventnor Middle School.  The second is at Wroxall Community Centre, on 11 September, 7pm.
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DRUGS SOARING AT IW'S BESTIVAL
- Police say they seized more than double the amount of drugs at this year's Bestival, compared to 2007. 
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SEE THE ISLAND'S ATTRACTIONS FOR FREE! Isle of Wight Steam Railway is taking part.
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It's a once-a-year opportunity to visit some of the Island's best-loved attractions for free!

Heritage Open Days take place between 11 and 14 September

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42 YEARS OF SERVICE IN YARMOUTH HARBOUR Retiring Bryn (left) and John (right).
- It’s time to say goodbye and thanks for all the hard work to Yarmouth’s Deputy Harbour Master and Maintenance Operator.
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FUTURE OF EAST COWES REGENERATION SCHEME UNCERTAIN
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Work will continue to regenerate East Cowes, even though developer David Wilson Homes has pulled out of the project.  That's according to English Partnerships. 

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BESTIVAL 2008 MAKES A SPLASH Bestival - when summer was sunny!
- My Bloody Valentine will be working hard to keep Bestival-goers' minds off the weather, tonight.
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RNLI GARDEN PARTY IN TOTLAND
- The appeal to raise £200,000 to replace Freshwater Lifeboat, continues with a garden party, this weekend.
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SAFER NEWPORT - WITH DROP-IN SURGERIES
- The Newport Safer Neighbourhoods Teams are holding beat surgeries in September.  They take place on 10 September, between 10am-12pm, at Gunville Church Hall and on 19 September, between 6-7.30pm, at Nine Acres Primary School.
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APPEAL FOR INFORMATION ABOUT "NEWTOWN" PAINTING Where is this painting set?
- Can you help the curators of an art gallery in Dorset?

This watercolour by Charles Gregory is on show at the Swan Gallery in Sherborne
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COUNCIL HELP FOR ISLAND CHILDMINDERS
- If you are considering registering as a childminder, as the new school term gets underway, help is at hand. 
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CONFERENCE SETS OUT TO ANSWER QUESTIONS
- Members of parish and town councils, parish delegates and representatives from local authorities from the mainland will gather at Gurnard Pines, today, for a one-day conference. 
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FOLK SINGER'S ALTAR PERFORMANCE
- Ryde East Community Association’s celebrating the return of “Britain’s First Lady of Folk”, Julie Felix, to the Isle of Wight.
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BEACON URGES YOU OUT FOR A "WALKIES!"
- Walk your dog and raise cash for the Isle of Wight’s Earl Mountbatten Hospice!

Supported by the IW Beacon, the Dogs Walk the Wight challenge can be completed whenever you have some time
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TRUANCY SCHEME SPREADS TO BAY
- A scheme to cut truancy on the Isle of Wight is to be expanded to Sandown and Shanklin. 
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