Updates from Monday 20 August to Monday 27 August
Click on related stories for updates from your area
We can go down by the river in today's photos picked from the dozens sent in by our local BBC Weather Watchers.
These two are from users KayakJennie in Penkridge, Staffordshire and Liams Eye in Shrewsbury:
Image source, KayakJennie
Image source, Liams EyeAmy Savage, 22, died at the scene of the crash in Onecote, Staffordshire in July 2017.
Read MoreRichard Bailey claims Charlotte Teeling died accidentally during "rough sex".
Read More
BBC Midlands Today
New research suggests the 2022 Commonwealth Games in Birmingham could boost the regional economy by at least £1.5bn in the first year.
Further benefits are expected each year after.
Image source, Commonwealth Games 2022The study has been carried out by former Treasury economist Chris Walker for the Mace Group, external, which worked on the 2012 Olympics and may well bid for some of the Birmingham 2022 projects.
It found there could also be a one-off economic benefit of £500m from construction work.
Image source, Commonwealth Games 2022There are plans to build the Games Village on the site of the former Birmingham City University campus in Perry Barr.
It would be big enough to accommodate the six and a half thousand athletes and officials coming to the city.
Plans have also been released for a £70m revamp of the Alexander stadium and a £60m new aquatics centre in Sandwell.
The Shropshire Live website is covering these stories today:
The GMB union has said a schedule of weekend strikes will be suspended to allow talks to commence.
Read MoreTelford and Wrekin Council says it's "extremely disappointed" after missing out on government funding to help vulnerable children, external.
The home office is handing out £13m to 11 local authorities across the country, including Rotherham, but Telford's application was rejected.
The episode's led to a row between the council's leading Labour group and the Telford Conservative MP Lucy Allan.
Image source, Getty ImagesMs Allan said the local authority should have engaged with MPs and "could have made a much stronger case for funding".
She urged the local authority to "take these funding opportunities seriously" and that a "small amount of funding can make a huge difference to people’s lives".
The council has responded by saying it had "repeatedly invited" Ms Allan to be "briefed on a range of issues around child sexual exploitation" but had "declined every invitation" and "chosen not to engage".
It said it would "continue to use all our available resources to do what we can on this issue" and had been encouraged by the Home Office to apply for funding from a different scheme.
Rebecca Wood
BBC Midlands Today
Any showers this afternoon should move away from the West Midlands, with a mainly dry night.
Here's how tonight and tomorrow are looking:
Rebecca Wood
You can get a latest forecast for your area at any other time by heading to the BBC Weather website.
Allen Cook
BBC News
People living near a fishing pool in Stoke-on-Trent where it's reported 200 fish have died say water levels need to be topped up.
Image source, Vikki SimsResidents had posted on Facebook, external saying the water level at Corkies Pool in Fenton started going down earlier this week.
Now, they've told BBC Radio Stoke they'd like to be able to top up the water using buckets and hoses, if the council lets them.
The city council says, for now, it'll keep monitoring the water and oxygen levels.
Charlotte Foster
Newsreader, BBC Radio Stoke
Alton Towers is the star of a documentary on Channel 4 tonight. , external
The programme will show how the theme park has put together its new rollercoaster the Wicker Man.
The programme will also look at how things have changed since The Smiler crash in 2015 in which four people were seriously injured.
Image source, PAQuote MessagePeople tell me that they have been coming since childhood. I think that comes through in the documentary and it sings to the tune of people's happy childhood memories and now in to adulthood and being parents."
Ian Crabbe, General manager, Alton Towers
Allen Cook
BBC News
An elderly woman has been threatened in her own home by masked burglars who are believed to have stolen a pearl necklace., external
Image source, GooglePolice say they got into the house on Portland Street, Weobley, Hereford, early on Saturday morning.
They say the men, who were wearing balaclavas, left the woman unharmed but shaken.
West Midlands Ambulance Service says it has generally beaten a nationwide "shortage" of paramedics by creating its own dedicated training academy.
Mark Docherty, from the ambulance service trust, said it had "invested heavily" five years ago in training facilities and this year had "an additional 300-400 student paramedics".
He said by employing and training local people the trust ultimately gets "some very good staff who stay locally and provide an excellent service for us".
Last November, the ambulance service said one advert for a trainee medic had been viewed almost 19,000 times, with applications boosted by the TV series Ambulance.
A paramedic is now said to be on "every ambulance" within the West Midlands to aid patient and transportation times, Mr Docherty added.
The Kenilworth Weekly News features these stories today:
Paul Smith breached a restraining order as he waited for his estranged wife, before stabbing her.
Read MoreHundreds of hotel staff in Telford have had training about recognising signs of abuse, police say
Read More
BBC News Travel
Two lanes remain closed northbound and one southbound on the M40 near Gaydon after a vehicle overturned this morning.
The crash happened before 09:00 between J11 and J12 and work has been going on throughout the day to clear debris and repair the barrier.
Highways England said repairs were likely to continue through the evening rush hour, external and warned drivers to leave extra time.
Carl Haddock punched the elderly man to the ground before demanding "where is the money?"
Read MorePolice believe the disappearance of John Robbins is linked to the death of another man.
Read MoreA woman who survived after being told she had days to live calls for more support for women with cancer.
Read MoreMore than 300 hotel staff in Telford have been trained to spot the signs of child sexual exploitation, a police report shows, external.
The local authority has commissioned an independent inquiry into child sexual exploitation in the town, after claims of widespread abuse dating back as far as the 1980s.
Taxi drivers, pub staff and even bin workers have also been given training in a bid to identify victims and those most at risk.
