29/12/2011 East Midlands Today

And now the news for the East Midlands, I'm Carolyn Moses.

First this evening. Thousands of pounds have been raised for two

teenagers whose parents and younger sister died during an incident at

their home. It's believed former police officer Toby Day attacked

his family before killing himself. Three weeks on from the tragedy,

and the police don't know what exactly happened. It is believed

that Mr Day stabs his family. His wife, and his six-year-old daughter

died. The older children, 13-year- old Adam, and 15-year-old Kimberly,

survive the attacked. -- survived. They were taken to hospital, and

had been discharged, spending Christmas with family. The children

are slowly recovering, the police are yet to interview them, though

family liaison officers have been on hand. The local community has

raised thousands of pounds for the teenagers. The funerals are

expected to take place next month. The headquarters of Leicester City

Council is to be demolished. The city's Mayor has revealed that two

New Walk Centre towers will be bulldozed. It follows an inspection

last year which revealed the offices are structurally unsafe.

There's a call for Nottinghamshire County Council to re-think plans to

switch off some of its street lights to save money. The

opposition Labour group on the authority says the scheme has led

to fears over public safety. The council says it'll listen to

feedback from the public. Next - A Derbyshire soldier who was

almost killed, twice, says he's missing life on the front line.

Chris Parrott was blown up in Afghanistan, two years after being

shot. Let's have a look at your leg?

Martin Whitely was 18 when he got his first war wound. A bullet

shattered his leg, in a battle which claim to two of his comrades

lives. His next tour of duty left in even more injured, fragments of

a grenade had to be removed from his head. There was a tiny gap

which the traveller went into. They went into my brain. -- shrapnel.

could have been in his grave. making a new start, studying

horticulture, studying to become a landscape architect. He would

prefer to be back in Afghanistan. He by no chance, I would go back, I

miss the camaraderie. You cannot get adrenalin anywhere else. I know

it sounds weird, being shot that, things like that, but the adrenalin

is unbelievable. The army gave him opportunities he will never have

again. His parents are relieved, and delighted Batty's say. -- that

he is safe. An MP is warning the East Midlands

could lose out on future government funding because the region's voice

struggles to be heard. Now local MPs are being urged to form a

powerful new group to speak up for the East Midlands.

On BTO to a production line, the Prime Minister on a high-profile

visit. -- Toyota. Does the region need to raise its profile? That is

the opinion of Jon Ashworth. think all the politicians need to

come together. We need to pressurise the government to get a

better deal for the East Midlands. The region is the have its own

government minister, but that role, along with the regional assembly,

all created by Labour, there was scrapped by the coalition. -- was

scrapped by a coalition. Has the East Midlands lost its voice?

think the government had missed a trick by abolishing them. We have

some issues that we need to discuss and debate. By the time the Prime

Minister next visits the the region, the next parliamentary group will

be off the production line. Electric cars could become a more

common sight on Leicester's roads in the future.

New mums at Leicester's hospitals are being shown a specially

designed DVD before they're discharged. Around 15 mothers and

their babies are sent home from the Leicester General maternity ward

every day. The short film was the brainchild of one of the hospital's

midwives to give them more time to spend with each patient. The DVD

advises on the care of their baby and explains which health

professionals will visit them over the next few weeks.

Onto sport - and Derby County's teenage defender Mark O'Brien will

miss the rest of the season after getting injured in training on

Tuesday. He damaged his cruciate ligament. O'Brien has made 21

appearances this season and won a long term contract. Two years ago

he had a long lay off after heart surgery.

Now - This time of year many birds and mammals have the right idea of

hibernating or migrating to warmer climes but, of course, many choose

to spend winter here in the East Midlands. And there is plenty for

US to do to look after them - as the Sally Goes Wild team has been

finding out. Over the winter months there are

plenty of things you can do to help your winter wildlife. We asked our

experts for tips. I will the ensuing mess material at the these

boxes. They are puller parasite. It is vital you do this. -- they are

full of parasites. I'll put a zinc sheet on the floor. Plant cuttings

over the top. It is nice, warm and insulated. It is easy to feed the

birds in your garden, a dozen need to be expensive. It can mean the

difference between life and death. Our experts have given you some

useful tips, by doing them, you cannot help encourage more visitors

your back garden. For more ideas, log on to your local BBC website.

Well should we be hibernating perhaps for the rest of this year

perhaps for the rest of this year or not. Sara can tell us.

A very blustery day. Quite a lot of showers. Some standing water on the

roads. Take care if you're travelling anywhere. Gradually we

start to see those showers fizzling out. Clearer skies later on tonight.

Temperatures down to two Celsius. A little more cloud around, that is a

head of a band of rain coming in tomorrow. That will keep us very

wet, well into the afternoon, and partly overnight as well. A lot of

partly overnight as well. A lot of water on the roads. A cold day,