Shropshire Star

From the Shropshire Star:

• Mothers who lost their children to addiction unite to call for action, external
• Telford school closed after pupil and staff member test positive for Covid-19, external
• Telford drug suspects deny running steroid racket, external

A police officer has been hurt after being hit by a suspected stolen car and rolling over the bonnet.

The grey Audi had been spotted driving erratically on the Black Country Route, Wolverhampton, on Monday night, West Midlands Police said., external

Officers stopped it at a junction but as one of them went over to the car, it accelerated towards him and hit him before driving off.

The Audi was later found abandoned on Mill Street and was taken away by the force.

It said the struck officer suffered minor leg injuries and received hospital treatment before being discharged.

BBC Radio Stoke

Several roads in Stoke-on-Trent are going to be turned into "red routes" as part of council plans to cut congestion and reduce poor parking.

Image source, Google

For the next two nights, part of Waterloo Road, between Wedgwood Street and Potteries Way, will have double red lines painted on them, forbidding motorists from parking or waiting.

The council said the measure would become enforceable in December.

The authority also plans to install "red routes" on parts of Victoria Road, King Street, Leek Road, and City Road.

Local Democracy Reporting Service

Plans for a tree-top "adventure play experience" at Coombe Abbey Park are taking steps forward with a contractor set to be appointed in the coming weeks.

Image source, Coventry City Council

Coventry City Council’s cabinet approved plans to spend up to £650,000 on the new pay-to-play facility last November but the scheme has been delayed.

A contract for the design and build is now due to be signed-off at the start of December.

About 100,000 children a year are expected to visit the facility when it is completed in 2022, the council says.

A second person has been arrested after a masked gang threw fireworks at a takeaway.

Staffordshire Police has been treating the incident on 8 November, external on Uxbridge Street, Burton-upon-Trent, as a hate crime.

The latest suspect, an 18-year-old man from Stapenhill, Burton-upon-Trent, was arrested on suspicion of affray and criminal damage and released on bail.

Officers had previously arrested a 19-year-old man from Burton-upon-Trent in connection with the attack.

Local Democracy Reporting Service
Gurdip Thandi

More than 1,100 new Covid cases were recorded in Walsall in a week, new figures have revealed.

Image source, Reuters

In the seven days to 12 November, there were 406 positive cases per 100,000 population - up from a rate of 362 the previous week.

Members of Walsall’s local outbreak engagement board were told at a meeting on Monday that the number of people testing positive for coronavirus continued to rise sharply in the borough.

Emma Thomas, from Public Health, said the main age groups being affected were young adults as well as those at an older working age.

Ross Ball died on 1 November last year after an attack on his flat in Sutton-in-Ashfield.

Second Lt Euan Lucie-Smith died while leading his men at the Second Battle of Ypres in 1915.

Worcester News

The Worcester News is covering these stories today:

• No Covid get-out-of-jail-free card for Worcester Facebook pest, external
• Worcester couple claim car park cameras are faulty after fine, external
• Worcestershire businesses warned to protect their assets as recession looms, external

The borough has the fourth highest Covid-19 infection rate in England.

BBC Radio Hereford and Worcester

A food bank in Worcestershire has seen a "phenomenal" demand for help since the start of the coronavirus pandemic, according to its staff.

Image source, Franche Community Church

The Wyre Forest food bank is currently delivering between 80 and 100 boxes each week to about 50 households in Kidderminster - a four-fold increase compared to uptake before lockdown in March.

A spokesperson said staff expected to see requests for help to keep rising in the coming months.

"The demand is just increasing and increasing as we get closer and closer to Christmas and we are experiencing the end of furlough and people needing support with their food," he said.

Four men have been arrested by police investigating disorder in Birmingham city centre last night.

Officers were called to reports of up to seven men fighting with a knife on Swallow Street just before midnight.

Two machetes were recovered from a car and the four suspects were taken into custody, the West Midlands force said.

The men, aged between 22 and 29, were arrested on suspicion of possessing an offensive weapon and remain in custody for questioning.

BBC Radio Stoke

A hospital will have to cancel more non-emergency work in the next few days if the rate of Covid-19 in Stoke-on-Trent doesn't reduce, an NHS boss said.

Image source, PA Media

The city has the highest coronavirus infection rate in the West Midlands, with 543 cases per 100,000 population in the week up to 12 November.

University Hospitals North Midlands Trust chief executive, Tracey Bullock, said Royal Stoke University Hospital was currently treating 304 patients with coronavirus, up from 186 at the end of October.

She told BBC Radio Stoke they had already "sporadically" stopped doing some non-emergency work or elective care and she expected more to be postponed.

"We know that we will have to cancel more elective activity if we carry on in this way and I would imagine over the next week, maybe even 10 days, we will be standing down much more elective and planned work."

Express and Star

Some of the Express and Star headlines today include:

• Police investigating rising levels of abuse aimed at region's politicians, external
• Seven women fined £200 each after travelling in limo from Bilston to Sedgley during lockdown, external
• Health chiefs warn lockdown could carry on into December if Covid case numbers stay high, external

A man was stabbed in the head and stomach in the Chelmsley Wood area of Solihull yesterday.

Police were called to Frensham Close just after 15:00. The West Midlands force has appealed for information.

The 23-year-old victim was taken to hospital in a serious condition, police said.

A man charged with murdering Marie Gladders is remanded in custody to appear in court next month.

BBC Weather Watchers

We've had several photos of waterways across the West Midlands sent in today by our local BBC Weather Watchers.

These three are from users Earlybird in Coventry, STFC Goose in Shrewsbury, and Sunny Sal in Kinver, Staffordshire:

Image source, Earlybird

Image source, STFC Goose

Image source, Sunny Sal

Local Democracy Reporting Service
George Makin

A school in Sandwell has closed its doors to all pupils amid a Covid-19 outbreak.

Image source, Google

The Q3 Academy in Great Barr has shut for seven days as there are too few teachers available to help run the school.

Parents were told over the weekend the Wilderness Lane-based building would not reopen on Monday after multiple cases were reported.

Sandwell Council has said it is working with teachers, governors and public health officials to protect pupils.

Bus services are being diverted away from a building on fire in the Digbeth area of Birmingham.

Bradford Street is blocked from the junction with Rea Street, according to travel company West Midlands Network.

The blaze involves underground electrical cabling, the fire service said.

"We are liaising with a power company to resolve the incident," it added.

A number of post boxes have been stolen from villages around Warwickshire, police say.

Image source, Staffordshire Police

They have been taken from Bishops Itchington, Chadshunt, Moreton Morrell and Princethorpe.

It comes after four were stolen from around Staffordshire.

Staffordshire Police said it had received reports that a dark-coloured pickup truck-type vehicle may be involved.