Rebecca Wood
BBC Midlands Today

It should stay fine and dry through this evening and tonight, with lows of 3C (37F).

Dudley News

Some of today's Dudley News headlines include:

• Prisoner with links to Dudley and Sandwell absconds, external
• War memorial installed in time for Remembrance Sunday, external
• Black Country Living Museum chief hails Dudley tourism future, external

Sophie Calvert
Political Reporter, BBC Radio Stoke

A head teacher says his pupils are confused by a decision to cut school crossing patrols.

Staffordshire County Council is planning to stop funding lollipop crossings to save money. , external

Yesterday, pupils from St Luke's CE Academy, Endon, protested over concerns about their safety.

The county council says savings need to be made in order to pay for the rising cost of social care.

A recipient's name will be as critical as the account number and sort code when transferring money from July.

The West Midlands police and commissioner said an increase in violent crime in the region was "concerning" and blamed "short-sighted" government cuts for increasing pressure on officers.

The West Midlands force has fewer officers than at any time in its history and earlier this year the chief constable gave evidence to a parliamentary select committee about staffing numbers.

Yesterday, he and Police and Crime Commissioner David Jamieson hit out at increased pension contributions that they said added £20m to the force's budget and put cuts to officer numbers back in the frame.

Image source, Getty Images

Responding to today's figures, which show a 10% rise in recorded crime, and the number of murders in the region up by a third, Mr Jamieson said the force was investing £2m to tackle the "root causes of violent crime".

"These figures highlight the short-sighted approach of the government by continuing to apply real-terms cuts to police forces' funding at a time when the pressures on policing are increasing," he said.

"This is hampering the proactive policing in communities that helps to prevent crime."

Speaking earlier this year, then home secretary Amber Rudd said evidence did not back up claims that reduced resources were the cause of more crime.

Allen Cook
BBC News

A driver's crashed her car through gates and the doors of a historic building after it's thought her foot slipped on to the accelerator instead of the brake., external

Image source, West Midlands Fire Service

West Midlands Fire Service says she wasn't badly hurt after smashing her vehicle today into the Quaker Meeting House, on The Green, near Cadbury World, Bournville, Birmingham.

The building dates back to 1905 and was built by George Cadbury, part of the famous chocolatier family, as a place of worship, external, according to Birmingham Museums Trust.

Image source, West Midlands Fire Service

Vicky Norton
BBC Radio Stoke

Crewe Alexandra says the suspension of a youth coach while an investigation is carried out into a safeguarding issue is "totally unconnected" to his role with the club., external

Image source, Getty Images

Carl Everall, who is the League Two club's head of foundation, has been suspended after the club notified the Football Association over allegations.

He has been a coach with Crewe's academy since 2013, having previously been a coach at fellow League Two side Port Vale.

Crewe say "all relevant and appropriate procedures have been followed" and won't comment further.

Local Democracy Reporting Service
Christian Barnett

CCTV cameras could be upgraded in Worcester as most of them are almost a decade old and of varying quality, the city council says.

Earlier this month, the local authority admitted - after the body of University of Worcester student Thomas Jones was found - that the CCTV camera on the bridge where he was last seen alive, hadn't worked for more than a year.

Just three of Worcester City Council's 66 cameras are high definition and some of the cables for the whole system are nearly 20 years old in places.

If plans are approved next Wednesday, the council's communities committee will draw up a fully costed report on what can and needs to be done.

Friends of Amelia Eldred were ready with a group hug as she walked into school on her new leg.

Leamington Observer

Some of today's headlines on the Leamington Observer website are:

• Plans for transport hub at railway station welcomed, external
• Rare moth returned to Butterfly Farm, external
• MP writes about Brexit concerns in Westminster diary, external

A baby was taken to hospital after being hurt by broken glass when gunshots were fired at a window.

Allen Cook
BBC News

Two police officers could be charged with criminal offences in connection with the death of ex-Aston Villa star Dalian Atkinson who was shot with a Taser., external

Image source, Getty Images

Mr Atkinson died following contact with police in Meadow Close, Trench, Telford, on 15 August 2016.

The Independent Officer for Police Conduct (IPOC) says it's interviewed three West Mercia Police officers under criminal caution.

It's now decided to pass a file of evidence to the Crown Prosecution Service to decide if it wants to bring criminal charges against two of the officers.

The actions of the third officer haven't been referred.

The IPOC says the three police constables had been at the incident and were involved in detaining Mr Atkinson outside the address, involving the use of a Taser, restraint and other uses of force.

A scheme to plant a community orchard at Coventry's 14th Century medieval monastery has been praised in Parliament.

During questions to environment ministers, Coventry North East MP Colleen Fletcher highlighted the creation of the orchard which has been started within parkland at The Charterhouse in the city.

Schoolchildren and adult volunteers spent two days planting the orchard, the Labour MP said, "as part of a larger renewal and restoration project".

Environment Secretary Michael Gove thanked the MP for a reminder of "what young people can do to inspire us about the future of nature".

A charity claims a new scheme aimed at tackling depression among secondary school pupils is having an impact.

Image source, PA

Action for Children started its Blues Programme a year ago in 37 schools across the UK, including ones in Worcestershire, with the aim of giving early help for depression.

The charity says since then, 620 15 to 18-year-olds have been helped by the scheme and 420 filled in a questionnaire afterwards.

According to the organisation, by July this year, 70% of them had shown an improvement and there was a specific reduction in depression.

A moth stolen from a wildlife centre in Stratford-upon-Avon has been returned

Image source, Stratford Butterfly Farm

Stratford Butterfly Farm said it was alerted to the theft of the female Atlas moth when a woman posted on social media, earlier this week, that she had taken a cocoon from the farm.

Image source, Stratford Butterfly Farm

Warwickshire Police confirmed it had returned the moth today, and said a 19-year-old woman from Birmingham had been given a community resolution.

The farm thanked everyone that had been involved in its safe return.

Liam Nolan has been found guilty of professional misconduct at a teaching regulation hearing.

Local Democracy Reporting Service
Kerry Ashdown

A council's managed to turn a potential budget overspend of £3.2m into an underspend of almost £1.6m within three months, according to its latest figures.

In June, Staffordshire County Council was facing the projected overspend for this financial year, but its financial forecast by the end of September says that's swung into potentially ending up under budget for the 12 months.

Its cabinet examined the figures, external and heard that adult social care and children's services are still two of the main financial pressures for the authority.

It also revealed the council had to plough an extra £2.16m from contingency funds into the children's services budget in the first quarter of the financial year, to reduce a predicted overspend.

Oswestry & Border Counties Advertizer

The Oswestry and Border Counties Advertizer has these stories today:

• Shropshire farming could get Brexit benefit, external
• Poppies crafted for display, external
• Oswestry raises huge sum at charity masquerade ball, external

A baby was injured after shots were fired at two houses in the Alum Rock area of Birmingham today.

Officers were called to a home on Sandbourne Road at about 02:55, said West Midlands Police.

The force confirmed damage to the property had been caused by a gunshot and a baby in the house suffered a minor injury from broken glass.

Officers are also investigating a second shooting at a window of a property on Fernbank Road at about 03:00.

These graphs show how recorded crime has risen across the West Midlands region in the last year.

In all there were 446,822 recorded crimes (excluding fraud) in the year ending June 2018, a rise of 7%.

Some forces saw falls in certain crimes, such as a 10% drop in sexual offences reported in Warwickshire and a 13% drop in thefts in Staffordshire.

However, there were also big rises - a 30% rise in recorded homicides across the region, a 30% rise in robberies in Staffordshire and a huge 41% rise in stalking cases in the West Midlands force area.