17/02/2014 Look North (North East and Cumbria)

That is all from the BBC News At Six,

Hello and welcome to Monday's Look North. Tonight: We'll only close

fire stations as a last resort. The new plan on spending cuts at the

Tyne and Wear Fire Service. Murdered 18 years ago today, but

Kevin Nightingale's killer has never been brought to justice. Now there's

a new appeal for help. If anybody knows anything, anything

at all on it might be the tiniest piece of information that they might

think is irrelevant, please come forward.

A charity's bid to halve the number of children in care, here in the

North. Farewell to Frank, the popular local radio presenter who's

died on his 84th birthday. And how the story of the Pitmen

painters has inspired children across the North to create their own

artwork. In sport: Sunderland go marching on

after beating the Saints in the FA Cup. The Black Cats are now just a

game away from a second trip to Wembley this season.

It created a wave of anger and fears that lives could be put at risk.

Last month, Tyne and Wear Fire and Rescue Service announced more than

130 jobs losses and the closure of three stations, all in response to a

cut of ?9 million in government grants. But today the Fire

Authority's come up with revised plans. It says it's listened to

public concern, and fire stations will now only close as a last

resort. Our Political Correspondent Mark Denten joins us from one of

those threatened stations in Sunderland. So Mark, just what is

happening with the fire cuts now? A very good question on how revised

those plans actually are. This is a somewhat Central fire Station, one

of the stations that is slated for closing. This afternoon, the fire

Authority has come out with a statement saying it has been

listening over the last few weeks to a people have been saying, and they

say that there are three changes, number one, they are the shrub or

they will only close a last resort `` they will only close three

stations as a last resort, and they also say they will save those

changes in over a minimum of three years. Hasn't placated the critics?

Let's find out. The striker has that placated the critics. `` have that

placated the critics? Let's find out. What we saw was a mess. I have

never witnessed anything like that before. This was not about the

firefighter posts, this was shortly about the three stages of closure.

For what ever reason, an option was not taken. They still have to save

money. Is there any realistic way they can do that without making

dramatic changes? What you need to bear in mind is, the closure of the

station will only save ?140,000. Option three was the one with the

highest risk of fatalities. It has led to confusion and a workforce who

do not know where to go from here. Thank you for joining us. No`one

from the fire authority was available for comment tonight, but

there has been an angry reaction from Labour MPs. One and he said she

is very disappointed by the decision and says it will still put lives in

Sunderland at risk. `` one MP. He was murdered 18 years ago today,

but it's a crime that remains unsolved. Now, police have launched

a fresh appeal for information about the death of Kevin Nightingale, a

club doorman from South Shields. Mr. Nightingale was shot on his doorstep

after returning from work on the 17th of February, 1996. His family

are hoping this renewed appeal for help will bring his killer to

justice. Bob Cooper reports. He was only 33 and a father of two

children. Described as a lovely`natured man, who idolised his

family. Kevin was a lovely man. Heart of gold. Help anybody out, do

anything for anybody. Happy`go`lucky, family man. Everyone

of her members him his smile. `` remembers him.

But his life was cruelly cut short, when someone shot Kevin Nightingale

after work in front of his family home. That was 18 years ago today.

Since then, his widow Julie has been living in limbo.

The longer it has gone on the harder it is getting for me personally. It

is getting harder. Just waiting to see who did it and why. You know? We

have had bad health through it all. I lost my job and I have got

diabetes. I am losing my sight. It is just... That is what it has

done. His sister and Julie have got the same problems.

Three people were charged in 2000 and then again 2001 for Mr

Nightingale's murder, but the charges were dropped both times. Now

police are renewing efforts to find out who is responsible. Detectives

were on the murder for several years `` detectives worked on the murder

for several years, however, now there is an opportunity to look at

anything that happened at the time. Crimestoppers are also offering

?5,000 for information that might lead to a conviction. And if anyone

out there does know anything, Julie Nightingale has this message for

them. If anybody knows anything, anything

at all come it might be the tiniest, little piece of information that

they might think is irrelevant, please come forward, because it

might be a big deal to the police, so please, anybody that has any

information, please come forward. A nine year`old girl from County

Durham is recovering from emergency surgery, after a beer bottle was

thrown through the window of a car she was travelling in. Abbie Keers

from Stanley was being driven by her grandmother when the incident

happened. Police believe the bottle was thrown at the car from a

pedestrian underpass. In a statement her family said:

whether this was done on purpose or not, people need to think about the

consequences of what they are doing. Throwing anything to `` into a

carriageway can have serious consequences.

Durham Police are still questioning three men arrested in an armed

operation last night in Darlington. The three ` aged 30, 22 and 19 `

were arrested in the town's Yarm Road, after the van in which they

were travelling was brought to an enforced stop by officers. They're

from different locations in the North East, and are being held at

separate police stations. A police spokesman said today there were no

injuries and went on to reassure people in Darlington this was "an

isolated incident." Having the number of children going

into care, that's the ambition of a charity being piloted in the North

East. Christian philanthropist Sir Peter Vardy is funding the project,

which is training church`goers to help families before social services

are involved. It comes as the number of children in care in this region

soars. Once my husband had gone to prison, at first he left grieving,

in a way, and you just feel you are at the end of their tether. `` your

tether. Struggling to cope with three

children and a husband behind bars, Kate is one of 70 families in the

North East who've been supported by Sir Peter Vardy's new charity. They

came the night before I went into hospital and kept the middle child

for just under one week, so I knew he was safe and happy there, and I

could concentrate on me and the baby rather than worrying about where

everybody was. It's called Safe Families for

Children. It's based on a Christian movement sweeping America. It was a

no`brainer that if we could bring this to return, we could support

thousands of children and families and obviously save the government

billions of pounds. Just have a bit of a discussion. These are some of

the things I am concerned about if I am going to embark on this process.

The charity has trained more than 250 unpaid church volunteers in the

North East to help mums like Kate. They provide short term foster

homes, taking in children for up to 28 days while parents sort out their

problems. Attractive to cash strapped councils.

When Peter came to see me, I nearly jumped across desk.

In Middlesbrough, looked after children cost the council ?16.5

million a year, that's ?43,000 per child per year. But some are bound

to question the church's motivation. The suspicion might be that by

getting involved in this, you are trying to indoctrinate people. That

is not the case. The children we are working with are generally under

three. You cannot do much indoctrination with a young child.

What we're trying to do is provide support for a broken community.

The ambition is huge, but can he deliver? Sir Peter says we'll need

to wait a decade before we can judge.

And you can make up your own mind by watching Inside Out tonight, on BBC

One at 7:30pm. A public meeting's beginning in York

about now on the controversial issue of fracking. Dart Energy, which

holds the licence for fracking in the area, are meeting campaigners

who are against the idea. It involves drilling deep underground

to extract shale gas. The government says it'll create jobs and bring

cheaper energy in the future. Opponents say it damages the

environment. As many as 100 skiers helped shovel

through more than 20 feet of snow as avalanche warnings were issued

across parts of the Lake District Fells at the weekend. 15 foot high

snow drifts covered the Raise mountain near Patterdale, with heavy

recent snowfalls covering huts and the mountain side's ski tow.

The government's being asked to spend at least ?5 million on fixing

North Yorkshire's roads. The County Council says a quarter of its minor

roads, that's about 3,000 miles, are in urgent need of repairs, and it's

rapidly becoming a crisis. Council leader John Weighell has written to

the Transport Minister asking for investment.

Still to come on Monday's Look North: Dawn Thewlis joins me for

Teamtalk shortly. Plus: How the Pitmen painters are still inspiring

young artists 80 years on. And I will be here with a full

weather forecast looking forward to the middle of this week.

The former BBC Newcastle presenter, Frank Wappat, has died, on his 84th

birthday. Frank suffered heart failure at the Royal Victoria

Infirmary in Newcastle this morning. Sharon Barbour looks back at his 40

years as a radio host. Born in Hebburn, County Durham.

There was no mistaking the sound of Frank Wappat on the airwaves.

Putting at the heartstrings, and the song features a Wurlitzer organ.

For 40 years he broadcast and was BBC Newcastle's longest serving

presenter. He was unique, different from anyone else you would hear. He

always wanted to do it his way and he always did, and he got this

legendary status at the radio stations.

But he was more than a radio host. He worked with a number of musicians

and bands and was himself a singer. In his late 70s, Frank was still

broadcasting, only forced to retire by illness. But for his listeners

and those who worked with him, there was only one Frank Wappat. Here we

are again, Monday night. There is a phrase from Frank Sinatra, I did it

my way, he always does it his way. He died earlier today in hospital in

Newcastle, on his 84th birthday. Amazing character with an incredibly

loyal following as well. And many thanks for all your tributes to

Frank on the Look North Facebook page. If you'd like to add your

comment, why not log on? The details are on your screen now.

It started as an art class for a group of miners, and ended up,

famous the world over. The story of the Pitmen Painters became the

subject of books and a Broadway play. This year brings the 80th

anniversary of the Ashington group, whose work depicted life in a mining

community. Now their legacy is inspiring hundreds of children,

who've created their own artwork based on the famous pitmen. Peter

Harris reports. It is a desire to learn something. A

desire to do a little bit more than what you have been taught in school.

It's a story as famous as the paintings themselves. How a group of

Northumberland pitmen started an evening class and saw their work

become world renowned. 80 years on, that tale of

self`betterment is being used to inspire once again. Children

creating their own work, of life in the pits. It was a lot about

escapism and expressing themselves after a heavy day's work, and I

think young people really respond to that. None of us want to be

pigeonholed. We want to be seen as having lots of talents and itches

anybody can achieve anything. Fred Laidler was one of those

pitmen. His son George came to see the children's work for himself.

What do you think your dad would have made of it? They all would have

loved it, because at the end of the day, they were a bit like children,

I suppose, in as much as it was an exciting thing for them to do when

they found that they had a talent for it.

Somebody went down early on a Monday and lit this fire, which was a

roaring fire by the time we got there, and that is where they did

their stuff. This project has involved 1300

children from across the region learning about the painters and

having a go themselves. I have needed a little bit of help with

mine! It is really cool, actually. It inspires loads of little kids. I

think it is really good and interesting what they did and what

they achieved. I have enjoyed it but I think I messed it up a bit.

The exhibition at Woodhorn museum in Northumberland lasts all week.

They looked good, didn't they? Sport now, and on Wearside, all the

talk ` once again ` is about Wembley.

Sunderland will find out this evening whether it's Gus Poyet's old

club, Brighton, or their former manager Steve Bruce's Hull City side

who stand between the Black Cats and a second trip to Wembley this

season. That's right. They're already there in just under two

weeks for the Capital One League Final, all 31,500 Sunderland tickets

sold out, by the way, and if they beat Hull or Brighton in the FA Cup

quarterfinal then the semi will be at Wembley as well. Still don't

think that's right. What if it's two northern teams? Why drag them all

the way to London? It takes the gloss off of the final. But they

have to pay for the stadium somehow. You old cynic! And the cost of all

these extra Cup ties could go some way to explaining why, 50 years ago

to the day since Sunderland played and beat the reigning champions

Everton in the FA Cup fifth round at Roker Park in front of more 62,000

fans, there were just over 16,000 there on Saturday. But staying up

won't get you a statue like Bob Stokoe! You cannot afford it if

money is tight. They have been paying for trips to London hotels

and transport. The guy covering it on Saturday said it was only ?15 to

get in, but if you have a family... There was a debut. And we have seen

Craig Gardner do this many times. It shows how valuable he can be to the

team. He popped up with the winner this time. Gus Poyet still says that

the cop is not his main priority. I would prefer to stay in the Premier

League. Apparently you can be more famous. It is better to wind the

cup. I do not want any more people knowing me, I think they know me

enough, so I preferred to stay in the Premier League! Look at this,

one of Arsenal or Everton will go out in the quarterfinal. And you'd

fancy a semifinal against either of the Sheffield teams or Charlton,

wouldn't you? Could even be a repeat of the Capital One final with Man

City, if they can get past Brighton or Hull. A very disappointing result

for Middlesbrough, who passed up on the chance to climb to within four

points of the Championship playoff zone allowing Watford to leapfrog

them in the table. You've got to score goals to wind games though and

Boro haven't managed that in the last five. That gave us a laugh,

didn't it? They definitely had the better of a fairly low`key first

half and it looked like Jonathan Woodgate had put them in front when

he headed in Dean Whitehead's free kick, but it was ruled offside. Then

the nightmare began for Ben Gibson. He gave away a penalty after

bringing down Fernando Forestieri and Troy Deeney scored from the

spot. And you would have thought Middlesbrough would then have taken

advantage as Samba Diakite was sent off for this challenge on Whitehead

but although Danny Graham scored 27 goals for Watford four season ago

the on loan striker couldn't find the net for Boro and just four

minutes later Gibson was sent off for a second yellow card after

trying to stop goalkeeper Jonathan Bond from taking the clearing kick.

A rush of blood ` hopefully he won't do that again ` both sides had

chances to score after that but drew a blank ` Boro now without a goal in

more than eight hours and Aitor Karanka as sick as a chip after the

game as well he might be. It is difficult for me to do the meetings.

I said to the players at the meeting, we did not score any goals

and we did nothing that I told them in the meeting room. I am

disappointed with the job and with the game and everything. He looked

miserable. Now, with all the bad weather

they've been having down South, it was perhaps no surprise that

Carlisle's game against Crawley in West Sussex was postponed. These

were the scenes at Broadfield Stadium. Fans had been helping clear

water off the pitch but the referee decided it wasn't safe to play on

and called the game off three hours before kick off.

Better news in League Two, where Hartlepool moved up to eighth, just

outside the playoff places, although they'll have to go some, to unseat

Southend who're six points ahead of them. Newport dominated much of the

first half and Pools saw some frustration set in. Manager Colin

Cooper even getting involved before being advised to get back to the

dugout. Fortunately, Pools got back to doing their talking on the pitch

and a fabulous turn and strike from rising star Luke James put Pools

ahead just before the break ` it's his 13th goal of the season ` having

veteran striker Marlon Harewood around seems to be helping the

youngster. A defensive mix up in the box saw Andy Sandell put the ball in

the back of his own net to double Hartlepool's lead and Luke Williams

on loan from Boro took advantage of some sloppy defending to score a

lovely third goal in stoppage time. Good stuff. Well done to the 126

York City fans who made it all the way to Plymouth despite there being

no trains. York's top scorer Wes Fletcher put away an early spot kick

as Argyle were reduced to ten men after just 11 minutes when Ryan

Bowman was fouled in the box. John McCombe scored the first of two

goals on the stroke of half time heading in Bowman's cross. His

second and this strike from Josh Carson came in the last two minutes

of the game, a good way to celebrate his contract extension. York in the

top ten for the first time this season.

Looks like I did that drawing! And Gateshead's nine game unbeaten

run came to an end as they lost 2`0 to Woking.

Newcastle basketball is doing well. Just as special was the fact that

his proud mum was there, the first time she was there to watch him

play, and they were both in tears. She witnessed a tight game in the

end. 83 point ` `` 83`77. But Newcastle Falcons came this

close to beating Harlequins this weekend. Dean Richards's former side

were 12`0 up thanks to two first half tries from Ollie Lyndsay`Hague

and Sam Smith. But three penalties from Rory Clegg at his old stomping

ground got the Falcons back into it and a try from Alex Tait on the wing

then put Newcastle ahead for the first time in the game. Two late

penalties from Quins meant Newcastle had to settle for a bonus point.

Meanwhile on the first weekend in Rugby League's Championship there

were defeats for both Whitehaven and Workington.

Time for a look at the weather. There is more unsettled weather in

the forecast, but most of us have not seen much snow so far this

winter. There has been some on a decent covering on the North

Pennines. Thank you to Dave, who snapped this photograph over the

weekend. There will not be any snow tonight, not even a frost. Showers

and mist developing over the next `` North Pennines also it is very

showery in the West at first. Some drier spells tonight, but this is

developing for the Yorkshire Dales, North Northumberland and Lakeland by

dawn. The low temperature is between seven and five Celsius. Light to

moderate slow `` southerly breezes. Worst tomorrow, a little bit of ``

first tomorrow, a little bit of brightness in places. The mist will

be slow to clear. North Yorkshire will be dry and possibly even bright

and places for a time, and further showers are expected in the west

later. You will notice the temperatures, nine or ten Celsius,

possibly feeling almost springlike. More showery in the West, but here

too, there will be some drier spells. A wet and to the day for

West Cumbria, Bud Ryerson are most parts on Wednesday. `` but drier for

most parts. Heavy rains are returning from the south and west,

so a continuation of the kind of weather had during last week. Dry

for much of the North East and Cumbria and Wednesday, turning wet

and unsettled again, though, on Thursday.

Finally tonight a look at the headlines. Blocking an independent

Scotland's ability to share the pound could damage business in the

rest of the UK, according to First Minister Alex Salmond.

pound could damage business And the Tyne and Wear Fire Service

says it'll only close fire stations as a last resort. That is it for

now. We will be back at 10:25pm. On your birthday as well! You should

have been giving your day off. Goodbye.