Updates from Monday 9 March to Sunday 15 March
Here are three of the stories from the Shropshire Star today:
Lucy Letby is accused of killing eight babies while working on a hospital neonatal unit.
Read MoreA hit-and-run driver who admitted causing the death of a grandmother by dangerous driving has had his jail term increased.
Krishna Devi Droch, 62, was struck by a Vauxhall Zafira travelling on the wrong side of the road in Handsworth, Birmingham, on 9 November 2017.
But Court of Appeal judges have ruled Ishfaq had been given an unduly lenient sentence.
Image source, West Midlands PoliceHis jail sentence was increased to eight years.
Image source, Family handoutThe Shropshire County Show will go ahead this year but it will be limited in its scale because of coronavirus concerns.
Ian Bebbington, chief executive of the Shropshire West Midlands Agricultural Society, said there would be no marquees or entertainment in the main ring when the event returned to the West Mid Showground on 17 July.
Mr Bebbington said it was being scaled down to reduce the show's financial risk and added: "If we have to cancel the show at very short notice then our expenses are limited."
There will also be fewer trade stalls this year and he said: "It's the Shropshire County Show, Covid-style."
Here are three of the stories from the Hereford Times today:
People living in Newcastle-under-Lyme are being warned about callers posing as workers for the Environment Agency (EA).
The EA said it was aware of an incident where an individual was claiming to work for it.
It says staff will always carry ID and never ask to enter your home.
The agency has been carrying out checks in the area over continuing concerns about the odour surrounding Walleys Quarry, in Silverdale.
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The festival garden site will host comedy and music gigs as well as food outlets and a box office.
Read MoreA man has died after being hit by a car in Birmingham.
The pedestrian, believed to be 41, was struck by a white Range Rover in Spring Hill just before 19:00 on Monday, West Midlands Police said.
He was pronounced dead in hospital a short time later.
Image source, GoogleThe driver of the car stopped at the scene and is helping with police inquiries.
No-one has been arrested, the force added.
It has appealed for anyone with information to come forward.
Shropshire Council has voted in its first female leader since becoming a unitary authority.
Conservative Lezley Picton replaces Peter Nutting, who lost his seat in the recent council elections.
Image source, Shropshire CouncilMs Picton, who represents the Tern ward, was previously the member responsible for leisure and culture.
She was elected by her party ahead of the former deputy leader Steve Charmley and said she was "thrilled humbled and excited".
The forecast for today is for more of the same, with bright sunshine in-between rain showers.
Temperatures will reach 14C (57F) in parts of the West Midlands and tonight they will drop to about 7C (45F).
It's a similar forecast for the rest of the week, but for more informationgo to the BBC Weather page.
The photos donated at a photographic show are believed to have been found in an attic clear-out.
Read MoreSandra hasn't hugged her daughter Sam for more than a year due to coronavirus restrictions.
Read MoreGraduates Jack Merritt and Saskia Jones were killed at a Learning Together event in November 2019.
Read More
Sophie Madden
BBC News, West Midlands
A Shropshire bar-owner said the latest lifting of restrictions was the closest he had got to being able to properly reopen his venues.
David Gregg, who runs Telford's Albert's Shed, plus Albert's Shed and Albert's Pour House in Shrewsbury, said it was "a step closer to fully reopening".
Under the new restrictions, live performances will be able to resume at his Telford venue.
"There are still a lot of restrictions in place," he said.
"It will mean having a fully seated audience of 100 people, instead of a couple of hundred people jumping up and down in front of stage, but we had experience of it at the end of last year, we're all set up for it and it is something which is better than nothing."
Image source, Albert's Shed“One of our venues in Shrewsbury has not opened since the 20th March last year, but it will reopen on Friday for live music.
"It is the closest we have got to getting properly open in well over 12 months.
“We are hesitant really, there is no guarantee all restrictions will be lifted on 21 June, there is a chance we will have to carry on under the current restrictions for a little while longer, but.. it is a step in right direction.”
Liz McIvor explores the heritage of our canal network. After years of decline in the postwar period much of the network was eventually restored. Once places of labour and industry, they became places of leisure and tranquillity. The newly renovated canals were increasingly popular for boating holidaymakers. Liz visits the Pontcysyllte Aqueduct in Wales and travels to Birmingham where canals have become catalysts for property development and urban regeneration. Canals offer so many benefits today. Perhaps, Liz suggests, it is time to construct a few more?
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David Gregory-Kumar
Science correspondent, BBC Midlands Today
As ever with coronavirus, today is all about risk.
The government has decided that despite an incomplete vaccination campaign and the arrival and spread of the Indian variant (B.1.617.2) it is still opening things up today.
Image source, PA MediaThere are scientists who are very worried the new variant could be much more infectious meaning there's a real chance we will see another peak in deaths as big as any that have gone before.
But the government has decided to go ahead with relaxing lockdown. That's a risk on their part.
And now each of us have to make a decision about what sort of personal risk we are prepared to take with our health and the health of those around us.
Asking people if they've been vaccinated before deciding whether or not to hug them? Sitting inside a badly ventilated pub where people are shouting and singing? It's all about risk.
Whatever any of us decide today, we'll be watching the numbers as all those little decisions we all take add up to the big picture the government has to deal with in a few weeks' time.
The charges do not directly relate to the continuing fire at Greenway Polymers in Telford.
Read MoreAmong the businesses reopening today are cinemas, with some limits on numbers.
The Regal Cinema in Evesham has had a revamp during lockdown, including a new bar, new toilets and a new roof.
Image source, GoogleEva Moeskops, from the cinema said: "175, 200 max we can get in at the moment, when we usually do have 280 people.
"Already Friday might is looking really busy, the first Monday is looking really busy so we're very, very excited about that."
BBC Radio Stoke
Cheshire-based Gandeys Circus has been working with the government on pilot schemes for the return of live events ahead of officially reopening.
The projects have taken place at holiday resorts and led to suggestions of new measures to help tackle the spread of Covid-19.
Image source, Getty ImagesBinky Beaumont, from Gandeys, said it was great to get back to business.
“Everything is coming together,” he said.
“We have had artists flying in over the last two to three weeks who are in isolation, they have to have their Covid test, they have to be in isolation for 10 days, then they have to isolate and have daily test and temperature checks before they are allowed to start and join the rest of the cast for rehearsals, because it is such a big cast.”
BBC Radio Hereford and Worcester
The Dean of Worcester Cathedral says he cannot wait to reopen its doors.
The 800-year-old building will be open to general visitors.
Image source, Getty ImagesPeter Atkinson said: “It is one more really important and exciting step along the way to reopening and reactivating the life of the cathedral.
“We have been open for prayer for many months, we have been open for public services to a limited extent but we have not been open for general visiting and that is what has become possible.”
