31/12/2016 Midlands Today

Staffordshire's multi-medal-winning Paralympic dressage rider

Lee Pearson says it will take him some time to get his head around

the "enormity" of being given a knighthood in the New Year

He's one of many of the region's sportsmen

and women to be recognised - along with campaigners

He already has just about every medal going -

an MBE, OBE and a CBE - not to mention 11 Paralympic golds.

But today's knighthood is the icing on the cake.

Sounds very strange, going to take quite a while to get

I'm unbelievably shocked, and honoured, excuse the pun...

Fresh from his third place honour at the Sports Personality

of the Year, there's a CBE for the Warwickshire

showjumper Nick Skelton, who became Britain's oldest Olympic

gold medallist for over a century in Rio.

And, completing an equestrian hat-trick, Gloucestershire's

dressage gold medallist Charlotte Dujardin

In fact, our athletes dominate the honours -

Herefordshire's multi-medal winning Paralympic swimmer Sascha Kindred

receives a CBE, while there are MBEs for the former Blues footballer

Karen Carney, Halesowen's Helen Scott, who piloted Sophie Thornhill

to tandem gold in Rio, and two Staffordshire

gold-winning Olympians, swimmer Adam Peaty and canoeist Joe

Away from sport, 14 years after her daughter Letisha

was killed in a New Year's drive-by shooting in Birmingham,

Marcia Shakespeare has been awarded an MBE for her work as a volunteer

I couldn't help her when she lost her life, but I swore that

I would do something positive to make her know that, you know,

although she's lost her life, that positive will come out of it.

Gurcharan Mall from Sutton Coldfield's been awarded

the British Empire Medal, for promoting Punjabi

He's released 50 albums, and performed at the Eurovision Song

Contest, but teaches his art to children across the West Midlands

But getting this medal, from the Royal Family,

from Her Majesty The Queen, to recognise...

You've caught me going through me cupboards.

..Janice Connolly, better known for her character Mrs Barbara Nice,

has also been recognised for her services to community arts.

A 20-year-old man is recovering in hospital after being stabbed

The victim, who's not been named, was attacked in the William Tyler

pub in Yardley at around half past eleven.

A 49-year-old man was arrested on suspicion of wounding.

On to today's football: Peter Crouch scored his first

Premier League goal for 19 months, but Stoke City couldn't

derail Chelsea's march towards the title, losing 4-2.

But victory for West Brom - Hal Robson-Kanu got their winner

In the Championship, Birmingham City drew 2-2 at Barnsley,

but Wolves were beaten 2-1 at home by Queens Park Rangers.

And in League One it finished goalless between Walsall and Oxford,

while Coventry City drew 1-1 at Peterborough.

No rugby action today, but last night Wasps guaranteed

they ended 2016 at the top of the Premiership table with

Wasps made the worst possible start by conceding two tries

in the opening three minutes, but inspired by Elliot Daly,

hit back to run in four tries, this one completed by Christian Wade

So what's the weather going to be like for the New Year?

Well, if you're out celebrating tonight, potentially

take your brolly with you, and certainly wrap up warm -

we've got a cold front sinking south over the UK,

So if we have a look at the detail tonight,

we'll start to see just a few of those showers creeping in,

and then in the early hours we start to see that rain drifting down

Lows tonight of around 3 degrees Celsius.

Now, tomorrow we'll start with all of this wet weather

in the way; just a few wintry elements possible, particularly over

higher ground, but it will start to move out of the way over

Noticeably cooler, though, with highs of 7 Celsius,

but a fairly bright start after that to the New Year.

That's it for this year; our next news bulletin will be at ten

From all of us here at Midlands Today, a very Happy New Year.

wonderful New Year. You can keep up with all the best. Happy New Year.

Good evening. As we head through the final few hours of 2016 the weather

is on the change. We've got called her swooping in and there is a

weather front bringing a