Driver faces jail over girl's road death
Man and guide dog 'refused rides by Uber drivers'
Hijab row councillor steps down from cabinet
Man sentenced for coffee shop killing
Female boxer making history
Villa's Bacuna receives six-match ban
Updates from Friday 3 March 2017
BBC Derby Sport
Aston Villa's Leandro Bacuna has been given a six-match ban following his sending off against Derby County last month.
Image source, Rex Features#PeoplesCup
Cheeky chips, celebrations and managerial sackings - watch 10 magic moments from the first round of the FA People's Cup......
More than 6,000 teams signed up for the 2017 FA People's Cup, which has 16 separate categories
You'll be able to watch a highlights programme from the first round of the nationwide five-a-side competition on the iPlayer from 06:00 GMT Saturday, 4 March and on the red button from 14:10 GMT on Saturday and throughout the weekend.
Lee Thomas
Newsreader, BBC Radio Stoke
A man's had a "lucky escape" say paramedics after he fell around 50ft (15m) from a tree into the garden of a house in Cannock. , external
West Midlands Ambulance Service say it happened this morning on Watling Street, near the OK Diner.
Image source, GoogleThey say the man, thought in his 30s, suffered injuries to his left arm, lower back and head and was taken to hospital.
Paramedics say he was wearing a helmet and protective equipment without which he could have been more seriously hurt.
A driver has admitted killing a three-year-old girl as she walked across a pelican crossing in Sutton Coldfield with her mother.
Image source, PAJohn Place admitted causing the death by dangerous driving of Poppy-Arabella Clarke and causing serious injury by dangerous driving to her mother in Chester Road on 6 July.
A judge at Birmingham Crown Court told Place, 72, from Bakers Lane, in Sutton, his offences were so serious he faced an "inevitable" jail term.
The girl's parents described their daughter as the "the brightest, kindest, most caring" little girl, who was "simply a joy to be around".
The couple said they were now unable to have any more children, which made them "thankful for every second we had with her".
A 3.99% council tax hike as well as £13.5m cuts to tips, car parks and roads as well as other services in Wolverhampton have been rubber-stamped by councillors, external .
Rob Mayor
Black Country Political Reporter, BBC WM
Council leaders in the West Midlands have voted to agree a salary of £79,000 a year for the region's first elected mayor.
Image source, PA/DAVID JONESAn independent panel, which consists of representatives from the seven authority members, said when it recommended the figure it should be reassessed after a few years, when the responsibilities of the role had become clearer.
Ben Godfrey
BBC Midlands Today
A blind man from Birmingham says he has repeatedly been refused taxis operated by the online firm Uber because he travels with a guide dog.
And when Lauren Johnson took up boxing to lose weight and get fit, she never dreamt that one day she would turn professional. When she steps into the ring at Walsall Town Hall tomorrow, it is believed Lauren will become Birmingham's first female professional boxer.
Join us for more on these stories and others on Midlands Today on BBC One from 13:30.
Three-year-old Poppy-Arabella Clarke was using a pelican crossing with her mother when she was hit.
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BBC Business News
Plans to help nearly 100,000 small businesses due to be hit by changes to rates next month are being considered by Communities Secretary and Bromsgrove MP, Sajid Javid.
Out of those, some 25,000 firms face a "cliff edge" under the new revaluation of business rates, according to ratings agency CVS.
It presented a number of proposals to Mr Javid during a meeting on Wednesday.
Image source, Getty ImagesThe government is trying to come up with some additional help for small firms after an outcry from businesses.
Ministers have said that the revaluation - the first since 2010 - will mean three-quarters of firms will see their rates stay the same or decrease.
But Mr Javid and chancellor Philip Hammond have come under pressure to act to help businesses facing large rises in areas where rental values have increased dramatically.
Critics claim the situation favours large retailers and online firms over high street shops.
A Birmingham city councillor has stepped down from the ruling cabinet after he was criticised for accusing a school of breaching anti-discrimination laws when it told a four-year-old Muslim pupil she could not wear a headscarf.
Image source, AFPSt Clare's Catholic Primary School, in Birmingham, received a complaint from the pupil's family .
Waseem Zaffar, whose cabinet role put him in charge of equality and openness, was related to the pupil but did not make that public, the Birmingham Mail said, external .
He said speculation about him was a distraction for the council at a time when it had important work to do.
Aston Villa midfielder Leandro Bacuna is banned for six games following an altercation with an assistant referee.
Read MoreIt's a fair question.
Well we all know that top footballers really wanna be rock/rap stars deep down. And vice versa.
Stormzy and the world's most expensive footballer Paul Pogba, external will tell you that.
Now, Premier League side West Bromwich Albion have been re-working some classic album covers on their matchday programmes this season.
The Midlands club have paid homage to the likes of David Bowie's Aladdin Sane, Oasis's Definitely Maybe (scroll down for more on that beauty) and Genesis' I Can't Dance.
BBC Music sent bona fide pop stars The Vamps down to the club's grounds to find out more (and to guide the players through how to look mean on a band photo-shoot).
Premier League Burnley sign 1966 World Cup winner Ron Flowers' grandson Harry from ninth-tier Brocton.
Read MoreLauren Johnson is making history as Birmingham's first female professional boxer in 150 years.
Read More
BBC WM Sport
Birmingham City boss Gianfranco Zola believes the effects of last week's crisis meeting involving the players, directors and coaching staff continue to be felt.
Image source, EmpicsTonight the club look to follow up last Friday's win at Wolves with a good performance at home to promotion-chasing Leeds - a match you can hear live from 19:00 on BBC WM.
Zola told us he felt that clear-the-air meeting brought more of the squad onside.
A jobs fair at the sports hall at North Bromsgrove High School from 10:00 is being hosted by Sajid Javid, the MP for Bromsgrove and secretary of state for communities and local government..
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BBC WM Sport
Wolves boss Paul Lambert said both Kortney Hause and Jordan Graham had apologised after being disciplined last week .
Image source, PAThey reportedly "weren't able to train", which saw Hause dropped for the Blues derby last Friday.
The head coach has described it as a "one-off" occurrence.
Wolves go to Reading tomorrow looking to stop a run of five straight defeats that has left them two points off the drop zone.
You can hear full coverage of the game with BBC WM on 95.6FM from 14:00.
A man is detained for 13 years after a stabbing in Newtown, Birmingham
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Louise Hancock
Newsreader, BBC WM
Nearly 36 million journeys were made on the West Midlands' three biggest rail operators in the last quarter of last year.
Chiltern, London Midland and Virgin Trains West Coast have all shown strong growth in both passenger numbers and the distances travelled.
Equalities boss Waseem Zaffar has resigned as a cabinet member, external after pressurising a head teacher to overturn a pupil’s hijab headscarf ban - without publicly revealing she was a relative.
