Killer under surveillance led police to body
Vicar with hundreds of child abuse images jailed
Three deaths in string of crashes
Man will serve at least 17 years for Kidderminster murder
Churchill's partially smoked cigar goes for £4,800
Polling stations open until 22:00
Updates from Thursday 12 December
Here are three of the stories from the Hereford Times website today:
A cigar that was partially smoked by Sir Winston Churchill, which was valued at up £6,000 has sold at auction for £4,800.
Found at a valuation event in Newcastle-under-Lyme, it was sold at Hansons Auctioneers in a perspex display case bearing newspaper clipping relating to Churchill's visit to the London Coliseum.
Image source, HansonsIt was picked up in 1953 by an usherette who worked at the Coliseum and passed down to her great nephew Julian Lewis who said "It was her claim to fame. She was very proud of the cigar. She liked to talk about it and show it to people."
One of our reporters has just come back into the office and said "it's cold and miserable out there today", and she's not wrong.
Most of the region has got temperatures just above freezing and a day of rain forecast.
Here photos shared by BBC Weather Watchers in Hereford and Pershore.
Image source, Step Counter
Image source, PeakyBeakyAs voters go to the polls it's often their dogs that take centre stage as they accompany their owners to polling stations across the country.
In an election tradition, the hashtag #dogsatpollingstations has been trending as social media users share pictures of their "pawlitical" companions.
If you're taking your dog to the polling station, share your photos with us.
Allow Twitter content?
This article contains content provided by Twitter. We ask for your permission before anything is loaded, as they may be using cookies and other technologies. You may want to read Twitter’s cookie policy, external and privacy policy, external before accepting. To view this content choose ‘accept and continue’.
Allow Twitter content?
This article contains content provided by Twitter. We ask for your permission before anything is loaded, as they may be using cookies and other technologies. You may want to read Twitter’s cookie policy, external and privacy policy, external before accepting. To view this content choose ‘accept and continue’.
A man hit by a car in Wolverhampton this morning has died, with another pedestrian suffering serious injuries.
Image source, GoogleThe man was confirmed dead at the scene on Parkfield Road, after being struck at about 06:45.
A woman was treated for serious injuries before being taken to Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Birmingham.
Bystanders at the scene were already administering "excellent first aid" to both patients, West Midlands Ambulance Service said, when emergency crews arrived.
A spokeswoman said "despite everyone’s best efforts, nothing could be done" to save the man.
Earlier, we heard two car drivers had also died in separate crashes yesterday evening.
Christopher Goble "abused the trust" of the community, the Crown Prosecution Service says.
Read MoreMore than 80 people have been arrested and weapons and drugs seized during a crackdown on county lines operations and youth violence.
West Midlands Police said more than £60,000 was also seized as part of its week-long sting between 2 and 8 of December.
Image source, West Midlands PoliceA total of 81 people were arrested for offences ranging from drug dealing, gun possession, assault and violent offences.
Supt Rich Agar, from the force, said: "We are relentless in our pursuit of those responsible for these drug networks.
"They are not only behind putting illegal, and potentially lethal, drugs onto the street but often exploiting vulnerable teenage boys and girls to do their dirty work."
The Environment Agency has a number of flood alerts, external today, with the rain forecast to remain with us all day.
They cover the river Severn, Tern and Perry in Shropshire, the rivers Lugg and Wye in Herefordshire, the rivers Churnett and Tean in Staffordshire and the rivers Avon and Swift in Warwickshire.
Image source, Dave ThroupDave Throup from the Environment Agency said the ground in many areas was still saturated and a number of rural roads were under water.
A man has died in a two-car crash in Kidderminster last night.
West Midlands Ambulance Service said it was called to Spennells Valley Road just after 22:30 and one of the drivers was seriously hurt and died at the scene
The other driver suffered minor injuries.
Coventry Live
Some of the headlines on Coventry Live are:
A year five class in Wolverhampton has a teacher whose name will be very familiar to fans of the sci-fi movies!
Read MoreA man has died in a crash involving two cars in Stoke-on-Trent.
Image source, GoogleThe driver of one car was confirmed dead at the scene, on Cheadle Road in Alton, following the crash, which happened at about 16:55 yesterday.
A man who was driving the other car received care for serious injuries before being taken to Royal Stoke University Hospital for further emergency treatment.
A third man involved in the collision was described as "walking wounded" and treated at the scene before being taken to the same hospital as a precaution, West Midlands Ambulance Service said.
Two more Birmingham city centre tram stops are now operating in time for Christmas markets, three weeks ahead of schedule.
The new Town Hall and Library stops were added yesterday, following the opening of the latest extension to the Metro.
It is the first time in the UK that trams have used battery power, with sections of the extension specifically built without overhead wires, preventing the need to attach cables to historic listed buildings, West Midlands Metro said.
Transport for West Midlands is already working with the Midland Metro Alliance on the next section which will see services running along Broad Street to Edgbaston in 2021, stopping at Brindleyplace, Five Ways and Edgbaston Village.
BBC Midlands Today
Polling stations are staying open across the UK until 22:00.
Despite it being the third general election in five years, it's also the first to be held in December in almost a century.
Some of the first constituency results from the West Midlands are expected to be confirmed in the early hours of tomorrow morning.
We'll have all the results and reaction through the night and throughout tomorrow.
Some of the headlines in the Shropshire Star this morning are:
BBC Midlands Today
A partially smoked cigar belonging to Sir Winston Churchill, which was discovered in Staffordshire, is due to be auctioned today.
The 66-year-old cigar, alongside a letter from Downing Street, was found during a valuation event in Newcastle-under-Lyme.
It now belongs to the nephew of a woman who had served the prime minister at a cinema in London in the 1950s.
It's going under the hammer at an auction house in Derbyshire with a guide price of £5,000.
The oldest known record of amphibian tracks in the UK has been discovered in a sandstone fossil.
Image source, PA MediaNew research has revealed an ancient trackway, found imprinted on a block of sandstone from the base of Hardraw Force Waterfall, in Wensleydale, North Yorkshire.
Dating back 340 million years, it is the oldest record of amphibian tracks in the UK.
The tracks belong to the earliest relatives of modern amphibians, called temnospondyls, specifically the edopoids, or "glutton-faced animals".
In order to see it in further detail, the trace fossil, currently on display at the Natural History Museum, was 3D scanned.
This was done as part of a research project by a previous undergraduate student from the University of Birmingham, Hannah Bird, who said: "We used scanning and photography to make a 3D digital model, allowing us to better visualise and identify the footprints and invertebrate traces."
BBC Sport
St Andrew's gave a very well received minute's applause before Birmingham City's game against Queens Park Rangers for two former Blues bosses.
Image source, David CannonJim Smith [pictured], who also managed QPR, and Ron Saunders, who succeeded him at St Andrew's in March 1982, both died in the past week.
Smith died on Tuesday aged 79, while Saunders died at the weekend after a long illness, at the age of 87.
Blues have slipped to 15th place in the Championship following the 2-0 defeat last night.
The UK is going to the polls for the country's third general election in less than five years.
Image source, ReutersThe contest, the first to be held in December in nearly 100 years, follows those in 2015 and 2017.
Polling stations in 650 constituencies across England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland opened at 07:00 GMT.
After the polls close at 22:00 GMT, counting will begin straight away. Most results are due to be announced in the early hours of Friday morning.
The landmark steeple of St John's Parish Church, Halesowen, has gone dark after the bulbs blew.
Read More
