01/08/2014 BBC Channel Islands News

The fixed price of milk in Guernsey could be scrapped as part

of a major overhaul of the island's dairy industry.

It would give shops the powdr to charge what they want and ahms to

So this is where it starts ` the Guernsey cow.

The backbone of the dairy industry, although the cows themselves are

And the States want to not only protect this breed, but the

The dairy industry has of course changed over the xears

but the report, out today, says compared to a decade ago,

And the aim is to make sure that remains the case.

Firstly for farmers, with milk quotas scrapped.

Really they've put a false ceiling to anybody's business. Perh`ps

stopped any thoughts of exp`nsion. Whenever young people are interested

in coming into the industry, you need to have room for

To better protect farmers and the dairy, there won't be any

We find ourselves in a position where we can bring in robust

legislation so that we can ban milk imports and that gives farmdrs more

The big change for consumers is that the fhxed

price for milk will go, so shops can potentially charge what thex want.

retailers the opportunity to discount milk. What may comd about

is more and more milk sales drifting to the supermarkets who are able to

do that. So big changes but ones

which ultimately aim to makd sure the Guernsey cow earns its way

and is here to stay. A 65`year`old man from Guernsey has

been sentenced to 12 years hn prison for raping and indecently assaulting

underage girls in the 1970s and 80s. Neil Hastie, a former taxi driver,

was found guilty on three counts The judge said he lacked anx sense

of remorse for his actions There was heartbreak for thd Jersey

team in the Commonwealth Gales The lawn bowls women's pairs were

in a bronze medal play`off latch It would have been

the first Commonwealth Games medal And as Emma Chambers reports,

it went down to the last end. Jersey Pair Katie Nixon and

Lindsey Greechan were playing superbly in a match that cotld win

Jersey their first medal By the halfway point,

they were four points ahead of But this powerful bowl from

Northern Ireland's Barbara Cameron They were now level

at nine points each. With a bronze medal on the horizon,

Jersey needed to keep their focus. Their supporters were feeling

the tension. When they slipped behind

in the seventeenth end, Gredchan It would all come down to the final

end to decide the bronze medal. With one of Cameron's last bowls

of the match, she smashed Jdrsey's By just one point,

Northern Ireland had won It was a brilliant match and we

thought we had it. It went down into the last 2 bowls so we are

disappointed. You were leadhng and dominating the match and only fell

behind twice in the whole g`me. We got a 2nd bowl and skip plaxed a

good bowl and we hadn't really been dropping account so it was ` crucial

end and we dropped a 4. But it we are just

A disappointing and heartbrdaking end to what could have been Jersey's

Meanwhile the Commonwealth Games has been applauded

22 countries have sent disabled athletes to compete but nond have

In a special report, Mike Whlkins looks at the reasons why and whether

These para`athletes are havhng their chance to compete on a glob`l stage.

22 countries have sent para`athletes to the Commonwealth Games

One of those who would love to have been there is this Guernsey

Sarah started swimming when she was four

Following weeks in a coma, she suffered brain damage

She's one of the island's top hopes for the next paralymphcs.

But competing with the best comes at a cost, with travel,

specialist equipment and someone to physically hdlp her.

She says she doesn't really get any financial support on the island

They could make it more equ`l like, for the disabled. I have contacted

the sports commission because I want to swim in the national in November

but in February I asked thel and I still haven't got a definitd answer

Sarah is training hard behind me and it is not just the money. S`rah s

disability category means that in some games, she won't

Each disabled athlete falls into a category.

For swimming there are categories ranging from S1 to S10.

Sarah's classed as S5, but at the games in Glasgow, they're

For more categories to open up, more countries need to be

represented ` something the patron of Guernsey's Disability

Alliance and former paralympian Tanni Grey Thompson is callhng for.

Just a platform. There are ` lot of athletes competing here getting no

coverage at home, but the Commonwealth Games gives thdm that.

We need to get more countrids sending athletes and that mdans

and education for disabled people. having programs

So when will we see a Channdl Island para athlete competing

Well, speaking from Glasgow, Guernsey's Sports Commission says

efforts are under way but don't expect anything soon.

At the moment we are trying to create the environment withhn sport

that we can look to send a Paralympics team in the futtre but

Taking away the financial and category obstacles,

for athletes like Sarah, thd chance to compete is an opportunitx to be

Mike Wilkins, BBC Channel Islands News.

Good luck to Guernsey distance runner Sarah Mercier.

Tomorrow, Sarah takes to the field in the 5,000`metrd women's

Some of rain overnight across the channel islands and hopefully most

of the heavy rain will be dtring the night because tomorrow gets better.

Showery to start the weekend with frequent showers and blustery

conditions but much brighter as we move into Sunday. Plenty of showers

overnight, with more persistent rain and getting more windy. The

southerly winds increase, bdcoming fresh by the morning. For mtch of

the start of the day tomorrow, it is cloudy, breezy and with shower and

brighter conditions after ltnchtime with westerly winds and temperatures

down to 18 `19?C. Good visibility and a lot of dry weather to be had.

As we better day for a real see possibly

an isolated temperatures recover and it should

be largely dry with Good evening. For some of us turning

soggy this weekend. For others increasingly sunny. Don't make this

the last forecast you see this weekend T rain could cause some

problems. Sunshine will follow the rain from the south. Overnight a lot

of rain from south-west England and south-west Wales. One or two

thunderstorms, close to the London area, into East Anglia. Showers over

Northern Ireland. A largely dry start to the day here. Further

south, there will be rain around. Already signs of improvement across

the far south-west at 10am. Patchy outbreaks of rain elsewhere across

southern counties. Sharp showers through the day. Brighter spells

between. Heavy and persistent rain across west Wales, up through the

Irish Sea, into southern Scotland. The main focus of concern. Some

question mark about how far west that