Plan to cut operations defended by GP
Woman sexually assaulted by a man pretending to be a taxi driver
'Plague' skeletons found during church building work
Woman who beat muscle-wasting illness to row the Atlantic
Updates on Friday 27 January 2017
Each year Britons throw away two million tonnes of electronic waste - but a growing number of groups are helping people bring old technology back to life.
Read MoreA teenage girl who was touched inappropriately while watching bands wants action against offenders.
Read MoreEngland pair Haseeb Hameed and Ben Duckett are named in the MCC team for March's Champion County game against Middlesex.
Read MoreBBC commentators select and give the lowdown on county cricket's best XI of 2013.
Read MoreWho did BBC local radio commentators choose in their best XI of the 2014 county season?
Read MoreThat's it for our live updates today. We'll be back with our usual mix of news, sport, travel and weather from 08:00 on Monday.
Have a great weekend, whatever you have planned.
An ocean rowing world record holder who is training a Hereford woman for a solo row across the Atlantic says she "is made of steel, both mentally and physically".
Kiko Matthews, who lost 65% of her body's muscle mass to Cushing's disease in 2009, plans to start the 3,000 mile (4,800km) trip in a year's time.
Image source, Kiko MatthewsShe's being coached through a year of training by Charlie Pitcher, who broke the record for rowing solo across the Atlantic in 2013.
Quote MessageShe has gone on to embrace this challenge with more focus that anyone I have met in recent years. I have no doubt she will be successful in achieving this and breaking the world record."
Charlie Pitcher, Ocean rower
Elizabeth Glinka
BBC Midlands Today
On Midlands Today this evening - despite several national campaigns, some motorists continue to break the law by using their mobile phones while driving, putting lives at risk.
Image source, PABetween 2014 and 2015 our police forces issued thousands of penalty notices and I've spent the day on patrol with police to try to find out why drivers still do it.
I'll have more from 18:30 on BBC One.
Rebecca Wood
BBC Midlands Today
This evening should be dry but outbreaks of rain will begin early in the night, gradually turning heavier and more persistent, especially over higher ground.
Lows of 4C (39F).
Rebecca Wood has your forecast
The BBC's army of Weather Watchers have been busy with their cameras across Herefordshire and Worcestershire.
Here are a selection from Pugwash, Postmas Les, Janiejane13 and Toppo.
I'd love to feature your photos - you can email, tweet us on @bbchw, external or message via Facebook, external.
Slideshow: Sunsets, wild flowers and stunning views
Proposals to cut the number of people eligible for hip and knee replacements in Worcestershire mean "the right people get the right operation at the right time", according to a Shropshire GP.
Shropshire adopted the same system for assessing who should get the operations in November 2015.
Dr Julian Povey, clinical chair of the Shropshire Clinical Commissioning Group, says they have had "very few complaints or comments from members of the public" since they introduced the new criteria.
Quote MessageThere are things you can do to control osteo-arthritis without surgery. It was about improving the care for an individual, making sure the individual gets it in the right time at the right place."
Dr Julian Povey
Here are some of the stories we've been looking at:
- A doctor claims that a planned cutback in the number of hip and knee operations may benefit patients
- Skeletons found in a shallow grave during building work at a church could be plague victims
- A woman who's recovered after losing 65% of her muscle mass is planning to row the Atlantic in a record time
A Hereford woman who recovered from a muscle-wasting illness and is now planning to row solo across the Atlantic says she'd never sat in a boat until she decided to take on the challenge.
Kiko Matthews, who lost 65% of her muscle mass when she got Cushing's disease in 2009, plans to set the fastest time for a woman rowing solo.
Image source, Kiko MatthewsShe is now training for the 3,000 mile (4,800km) trip from Gran Canaria to Barbados, with the help of ocean rower Charlie Pitcher.
She'll begin the challenge in January next year.
Quote MessageNow it's just 12 months on the rowing machine, in the gym and all that sort of stuff."
Kiko Matthews, Would-be transatlantic rower
A doctor on the Redditch and Bromsgrove Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) claims new plans to limit the number of hip and knee replacements operations offered across Worcestershire may actually help some patients avoid surgery.
Three CCGs in Worcestershire plan to only treat the most severe cases where pain interferes with daily life and ability to sleep.
Image source, ThinkstockDr Jonathan Leach says doctors will be recommending alternatives to surgery to patients.
Quote MessageWhat we are being asked to do as GPs is that we will have a detailed conversation with out patients. What we will do to start with is recommending for example that they lose weight or perhaps increase the amount of exercise or perhaps have physiotherapy, which does work, before we recommend them to an orthopaedic specialist."
Dr Jonathan Leach, Redditch and Bromsgrove CCG
This weekend sees the RSPB hold its annual Big Garden Birdwatch, external, which helps the charity build "a picture of garden wildlife across the UK".
BBC Weather Watcher Morning Amble has got in ahead of the game with this picture taken in Ashton-under-Hill.
Image source, Morning AmbleCalls are being made for shopping units to be built on car parks, external in Worcester in a money making drive.
Listen to live BBC local radio commentary from Saturday's action in the National League and National League North.
Read More
Malcolm Boyden
Presenter, BBC Hereford & Worcester
I've been talking to a woman who is not scared of a challenge - she's planning to be the fastest woman to row solo across the Atlantic.
Kiko Matthews, from Hereford, has never rowed before, and has recovered from Cushing's disease in 2009, which caused her to lose 65% of her muscle mass.
Take a look at the challenge she now faces. .
Image source, Kiko MatthewsYou have been using Your Questions to ask about the West Midlands. Here are some of our answers in video
Read MoreHere are some of the stories we are looking at this afternoon:
- Police investigate a sexual assault by a man posing as a taxi driver
- Skeleton of possible plague victims and a lost crypt found during church building work
- Woman who lost 65% of her muscle mass to a wasting disease plans to row the Atlantic solo
