Live updates from Monday 2 January to Friday 4 January
Click Related Stories to read news from your area
Allen Cook
BBC News
Hundreds of homes and businesses are without power this afternoon in part of Birmingham.
Western Power Distribution puts the total at 574 in the Druids Heath area and says it's aiming to reconnect them by 17:00., external
Allen Cook
BBC News
Cutting the number of burglaries, robberies and vehicle thefts are among the main priorities for West Midlands Police this year, its chief constable says.
Image source, West Midlands PoliceIn his blog post for the new year, , externalDave Thompson says those crimes are the "big challenge" for his force in 2019.
He also says he wants his officers to deliver a "much harder punch" to organised crime in the West Midlands.
In the latest crime figures for West Midlands Police for June 2018, external, burglaries, robberies and vehicle thefts all increased compared to the year before.
Here are three of the headlines from the Worcester News today:
The One Show will be broadcast from Shropshire next week.
The BBC programme will be live from the Iron Bridge on Monday night to mark the work that's been done by English Heritage on the famous landmark.
As part of its restoration, the metalwork has been repaired and it has been repainted it in its original red colour.
BBC Radio Shropshire Sport
Shrewsbury Town captain Mat Sadler says the players are looking forward to their FA Cup match against Stoke City at the weekend, especially defender James Bolton who he revealed is a "massive Stoke fan".
He said his team-mate hasn't stopped talking about the game since the draw was made and that all his friends are Stoke fans too.
Image source, Getty ImagesSadler is also pleased with the draw against a team he said are "probably still seen as a Premier League team in many people's eyes".
Sarah Robertson
Journalist, BBC Radio Stoke
Last summer's heatwave is being blamed for a fall in the number of barn owls in Staffordshire.
Image source, ReutersThe Staffordshire Barn Owl Action Group says it recorded 63 breeding pairs last year, compared to 68 in 2017. , external
It says the dry grass resulting from the hot summer meant there was less for their traditional prey, such as field voles and wood mice, to forage in.
The group says that although it's only a small drop in the number, overall the future of the species in the county "still very much hangs in the balance".
Birmingham Live
From the Birmingham Live page:
A community group is asking for a rethink of plans to build houses on a Shropshire park.
Shropshire Council's development plan suggests 850 homes could be built on part of Stanmore Country Park, in Bridgnorth, and the authority said it would offset the loss by improving the remaining park and creating more open space elsewhere.
But the Friends of Stanmore say while they accept the need for housing, building in the park should be a "red line", describing it as an "asset for the local community" that will "never be given back" when it's gone.
Police say they seized tablets stamped with the Audi logo and containing high-purity MDMA.
Read MoreDerby County extend the loan of winger Luke Thomas to League One side Coventry City for the rest of the 2018-19 season.
Read More
Lee Thomas
Newsreader, BBC Radio Stoke
A sewing academy in the Staffordshire Moorlands is claiming it's helping to breathe life back into the textile industry.
Leek was once famous for its silk mills and home to some world-renowned textile manufacturers such as the Nicholsons.
It's thought TV show, The Great British Sewing Bee, has led to thousands of people taking up the activity.
The academy was set up by Lorna Knight four years ago in the town., external
Quote MessageHundreds of people have come through the doors to sew, I don't sew anywhere else now and it took off so quickly that my husband had to leave his job and come and join me as well."
Lorna Knight, Sewing teacher
Parks in the Wychavon District Council area could be getting a £200,000 revamp, if councillors back proposed improvement works.
The projects include a new cycle track in Charity Brook Park in Evesham (pictured below), a refreshed wet play area for Pershore and new five-a-side football courts in Droitwich's Lido Park.
Image source, GoogleIf councillors on Wychavon's executive board approve the plans at a meeting next week, most of the work will be carried out in the latter part of next year.
BBC Coventry & Warwickshire
Coventry saw a big increase in the number of people visiting the city centre in the week leading up to Christmas.
Data from the city's business improvement district group, which represents retailers, suggested an extra 48,000 people went to the shops, compared to the same week in 2017.
Image source, GoogleThe organisation said the opening of new restaurants in the Broadgate area and the range of food and drink on offer contributed to the increase.
Wolves are keen to sign striker Tammy Abraham who is on loan at Championship side Aston Villa from Chelsea.
Read More
BBC Midlands Today
A dog who was filmed being abandoned by the side of a road is now in a rehoming centre.
Millions of people watched the CCTV footage of Staffordshire bull terrier "Snoop", who was left by the side of a road a week before Christmas.
RSPCA hunt man who abandoned dog in Trentham
The RSPCA says he's since had hundreds of offers of new homes - including one from the rap star Snoop Dogg.
The charity says it's still trying to trace the man who abandoned Snoop.
BBC Coventry & Warwickshire Sport
Coventry City teenager Tom Bayliss has put in "three strong performances" in their recent winning run, his manager Mark Robins has said.
The 19-year-old scored the winner against Charlton on Boxing Day and made another in the 2-0 win over Wycombe on Tuesday.
Image source, Getty ImagesRobins said he'd seen the youngster's form wobble, but he had come back and was "involved in everything good" in the most recent win.
Chelsea agree to extend the loan of keeper Brad Collins to League One side Burton Albion until the end of the season.
Read MoreAllen Cook
BBC News
Police are hunting the ex-partner of a woman found murdered in her West Bromwich flat on New Year’s Eve.
Image source, West Midlands PoliceMichael Foran, 32, is wanted after the body of June Jones, 33, was discovered on Wyndmill Crescent, West Bromwich.
Officers say a post mortem examination failed to reveal the cause of death but there was evidence of a "brutal" attack with a weapon and they're treating it as murder.
Detectives believe Mr Foran may be in Liverpool and have released CCTV images of him in the city., external
Allen Cook
BBC News
A woman's suffered critical injuries after being hit by a car.
Image source, GoogleShe was struck outside a GP surgery on Bunbury Road, Northfield, Birmingham, yesterday afternoon, the ambulance service says., external
Paramedics gave her advanced life support treatment and then took her to hospital.
It was a cloudy start for much of the West Midlands but our local BBC Weather Watchers still got out snapping photos, including when the sun did break through.
These three are from users Foggy in Ludlow, Shropshire, OldStation in Lyonshall, Herefordshire and Scout of the Shire in Bromyard:
Image source, Foggy
Image source, OldStation
Image source, Scout of the Shire
