Cumbria's courts are trying to make up a shortage of magistrates by recruiting another 25 to serve in Carlisle, Barrow and Workington.

Image source, Philip Woolmuth/Magistrates Association

Chris Harris, a magistrate sitting in the Barrow court, said: "We’re appealing to that same spirit of giving back by doing something for people around you, punishing offenders, helping to get people back on track and supporting the victims of crime.

“We’re looking for people with all sorts of backgrounds, aged between 18 to 65 years-old, and we’re particularly keen to hear from young adults."

You can find out more here, external.

BBC Cumbria Sport

Carlisle's head coach Chris Beech says the absence of forwards JJ Kayode and Gime Toure is an "opportunity" for the other players in his Brunton Park squad.

Toure's serving the last game of his suspension, while Kayode's on international duty, and so will miss tomorrow's Carlisle game at home to Cheltenham, who he says will pose particular challenges.

• Temperature at 3,000ft (900m): Around 3C to 5C (37F to 41F)
• Winds: There will be a fresh south-westerly with gusts reaching 40 mph on western fells and 45 mph on eastern fells in the afternoon
• Cloud: There will be variable amounts through the day, with a base around 2,000ft to 2,500ft (600m to 800m)
• Weather: Mainly cloudy, with some rain lingering at first, but becoming mostly dry for the rest of the day, with some sunny spells at times but also the chance of the odd shower
• Visibility: Poor at times above 2,000ft (600m) in cloud, but good in the valleys.

BBC Cumbria Sport

Carlisle United are in for a big cash windfall - after Cumbria's Dean Henderson made his England debut in last night's 3-0 friendly win against the Republic of Ireland.

The pay-off is part of the deal that took Henderson to Manchester United, from Carlisle, as a teenager.

Image source, EPA

A driver was injured in a rush-hour crash in Carlisle this morning, police say.

She was taken to hospital with injuries that are not thought to be life threatening, after her Audi collided with a Vauxhall Corsa outside the Coach and Horses in Kingstown Road.

Cumbria county council is proposing to increase council tax from next April by 1.99%, which would add around 55p a week to the typical Band D household.

Officials say this would raise about £5m a year, but would mean the authority had to reduce its spending by £17m a year to allow for extra costs, some from Covid-19.

Over the previous three years, councils have been allowed to raise an extra 2% on the tax, earmarked for social care, but a consultation document, external says it is not yet clear whether this will apply in the coming year, so it has not been built into the budget.

West Cumbria is top of the list of possible sites for a series of small nuclear power stations.

A consortium, led by Rolls Royce, wants to build 16 small, modular reactors (SMR) in the north of England, and the Midlands.

Tom Samson, the chief executive of the UK Small Modular Reactor consortium, says he is is a fan of the way Cumbrians work with nuclear energy, and the county might also be a good location for the factory that would prefabricate the reactors so they could be more quickly assembled.

Image source, Sellafield Ltd

BBC Weather

Any early rain will soon clear away to the east this morning, leaving spells of sunshine through the day.

However, there will be one or two showers in places.

Temperatures reaching 10C (50F), in moderate to fresh south-westerly winds.

This evening will have clear spells with a few well-scattered showers.

You can find the latest BBC Weather, for where you live, by searching for your location here

Cumbria's northern and western districts, Carlisle, Eden, and Copeland, all saw increases in the rate of Covid-19 infection in the week to Tuesday, according to the latest county council figures, external.

Carlisle saw the largest increase, with 293 new cases, a rate of 270 new cases per 100,000 population, significantly above the national average.

But in South Lakeland and Barrow, there were fewer new infections compared with the previous week, and the county's director of public health, Colin Cox, said: “We can see from the data for Barrow that the infection rate does come down when everyone takes action and I’d like to recognise the effort that people in Barrow have made to achieve that significant reduction."

Hospitals in the county have seen another sharp increase in the number of patients suffering from the coronavirus, reaching 222, compared with 159 last week, a 40% increase.

• Covid-19: How will university students go home for Christmas?
• Covid-19: Who will have the Pfizer vaccine first and when can I get it?

BBC Weather

A band of squally rain will move in from the west from around midnight onwards but it should ease before dawn with skies clearing from the west and lowest temperatures from 5C to 8C (41F to 46F).

You can find the latest, hour-by-hour, BBC weather forecast for where you are, by searching for your location here.

Carlisle United sign former Peterborough defender Rhys Bennett on a short-term deal until January.

The knifeman believed his victim had taken his Canada Goose beanie, but it was later found elsewhere.

Children in need of adoption should have a better deal under a new partnership announced today between Cumbria County Council, Durham County Council and Together for Children, which delivers children’s services on behalf of Sunderland City Council.

The three authorities have set up what is known as a "regional adoption agency", and the aim is to have a larger pool of potential adopters so children can be placed more quickly with a suitable family.

County councillor Anne Burns, Cumbria's cabinet member for people, said: "This is all about ensuring that children have the best chance of being matched with the right adoptive family."

Police say the case of a drug dealer jailed today for 12 years for stabbing to death another man in Carlisle after mistakenly believing his victim had taken his expensive beanie hat, highlights the lethal danger of carrying knives.

Image source, Cumbria Police

The judge told Carlisle Crown Court, as he passed sentence, that Blair Dixon (pictured), 25, of Welsh Road in the city, admitted carrying a knife "at all material times".

Afterwards Det Ch Insp Jenny Beattie, the senior investigating officer in the case, said: “This is a tragic case that appeared to start with a low-level dispute over a piece of clothing."

Martin Lewes
Reporter

The role played by the buildings that are now now the Ambleside campus of the University of Cumbria in establishing modern primary education methods is being marked by building links with the Charlotte Mason Institute in the US.

Image source, University of Cumbria

The buildings are what was created from the work of Charlotte Mason, who established a child-centred philosophy of education that is now followed by millions of teachers and home-school families in countries including Australia, New Zealand, Canada, Japan, India and the United States.

The campus was a teacher training college named after her until the end of the last century.

The Charlotte Mason Institute is based in Roanoke, Virginia, and three prominent associates, the founder, Dr Carroll Smith, Dr Jennifer Spencer, the institute’s curriculum project director, and Dr Deani Van Pelt, president of Ontario-based Edvance Christian Schools Association, are intending to visit Ambleside next year.

Dr Spencer said: “I want to pull Charlotte Mason back from the fringes and showcase her as a woman who was so forward-thinking that she is still in the vanguard of educational thought, even a century after her death."

As we reported earlier, a trial date has been set for a driver accused of causing a north Cumbria schoolgirl’s death by dangerous driving, and “deliberately discarding an SD card” containing dashcam footage of the collision.

Image source, Cumbria Police

Thirteen-year-old Ingrid Messenger died in the collision involving a Citroen in which she was travelling with her mother and elder teenage sister, a Land Rover and a Mercedes Sprinter van, between Stoneraise and Ivegill south of Carlisle.

Tony Packenham, 47, of Station Hill, Wigton, faces a charge of causing Ingrid's death by driving a Land Rover Defender dangerously, two charges of causing serious injury to her mother, Catriona, and sister, Erikka, by dangerous driving, and an allegation of committing an act with intent to pervert the course of justice, involving the SD card.

Mr Packenham was committed to appear at Carlisle Crown Court, on 18 December.

BBC Weather

A band of squally rain will come in from the west from around midnight and be quite heavy at times.

The rain should ease before dawn with skies clearing from the west and lowest temperatures from 5C to 8C (41F to 46F).

You can find the hour-by-hour BBC weather forecast for where you are by typing in your location or postcode here.

BBC Cumbria Sport

Barrow face the prospect of up to five games in just 10 days after the Football Association rescheduled their FA Cup 1st round tie against Wimbledon for Thursday 26 November.

The winners of that match will face Crawley on 28 November, and in the run-up to that, the Bluebirds will play Cambridge, Forest Green and Oldham Athletic.

Tony Packenham faces four charges including causing Ingrid Messenger's death by dangerous driving.

• Temperature at 3,000ft (900m): Around 4C (39F)
• Winds: Near gale force westerly winds this morning, backing south-westerly later, gusts reaching 50mph through the day
• Cloud: Extensive early this morning and again in the late afternoon with a base of around 1,300ft to 2,000ft, (400m to 600m), becoming well-broken through the middle part of the day
• Weather: Mostly cloudy early this morning with patchy rain but gradually turning brighter with spells of sunshine and only isolated showers, turning cloudier again in the late afternoon with further patchy rain
• Visibility: Poor at times above 1,300ft (400m) but mainly good in the valleys