Luke Webb
BBC Radio Guernsey

Islanders can expect to see changes to Guernsey's Market Street as plans are released to try to make it safer, more attractive and accessible.

The work has been planned by The Committee for the Environment and Infrastructure (E&I) and the Town Centre Partnership.

The asphalt will be replaced with granite paving, which E&I and the Town Centre Partnership hope will make it safer and easier to use for people with disabilities as well as those with push chairs or high heels, but stress that it will not be laid like the High Street.

They say they hope it will also allow businesses to be more creative in their use of the area, which could also include more al fresco opportunities.

It is hoped the work will be completed by the summer.

Image source, Google

Euan Mahy
BBC Radio Guernsey

Visit Guernsey says tour operators are reporting that forward bookings for 2019 are up by a fifth on the previous year.

It is being put down to the popularity of the Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society film.

Deputy Dawn Tindall - who's responsible for tourism - has previously said it takes a number of years for a location to see increased activity when it's the subject of a film.

Visit Guernsey's 2018 online survey shows far more people cited the film as an influence for visiting the island once it had been on general release, compared to the quarter before its launch.

Deputy Tindall says 2019 looks like a promising year for tourism and says the new open skies policy will see additional seasonal routes to the island open up. These include services from Southend, Liverpool, Bournemouth, Edinburgh and Groningen in the Netherlands.

Rob Byrne
BBC News Online

Sark's under-fire electricity provider says prices will remain at the current 66p/kWh until a government buyout is complete.

In November, the company threatened to switch off the electricity supply because it claimed it was not financially possible to power Sark at a lower government-enforced tariff of 52p/kWh.

Chief Pleas, the island's government, is currently looking to buy Sark Electricity, but the firm's director has told customers he is still awaiting a valuation.

It was thought prices would only stay at the higher tariff until 28 February, the deadline for a buyout to be struck. , external

"This price was put in place as part of the settlement agreement under which we agreed to help Chief Pleas to consider a possible nationalisation of the Company," David Gordon-Brown said..

"Although Chief Pleas has so far been unable to proceed, we intend to honour that price until the situation changes or we feel a transaction with Chief Pleas is not possible," he added.

Amy Gladwell
BBC News Online

Police say no one has been reported as injured in the serious house fire in Jersey.

Mont de Gouray in St Martin remains closed while firefighters damp down and make the area safe, officers said.

They urged people to stay away from the area until further notice.

Amy Gladwell
BBC News Online

An image has emerged of a building engulfed in flames in Jersey.

Emergency services are at the scene of the fire they have described as "serious" on Mont de Gouray in St Martin.

The road is closed and drivers are asked to avoid the area.

Image source, Ross Miklaszewicz

Jersey Evening Post

Strict ‘precautionary’ conditions have been placed on the use of a commercial pesticide, external in an effort to protect the Island’s water supplies.

More on this breaking story as we get it.

Freddie Miller
BBC Jersey political reporter

Tens of millions have been wasted under plans to rebuild Jersey's hospital, after politicians overturned the decision to develop a new health facility on the current Gloucester Street site.

Plans for the site-specific rebuild have already cost £27m of the £41m spent to-date. But supporters of other sites said they accepted the loss if there was a better long-term outcome.

Just seven of the island's politicians opted to stick with the current plans, which were agreed in December 2016.

But 39 politicians voted to look again at other sites.

The decision means Gloucester Street is no longer the chosen option - although it remains on a list of sites to be considered, again, from scratch.

One site not on that list is People's Park, which was saved for the second time in three years.

Ben Chapple
BBC News Online

To mark Valentine's Day 2019 the Guernesiais Learning Group is sharing a passage from Romeo and Juliet.

It was translated by Thomas Martin, who transcribed a number of well-known literary works into the Guernsey patois in the late 19th and early 20th Century.

Adam Clayton, from the group, said he wrote in the St Martin's dialect, which has "basically died out now".

He said: "It maybe something that people who are new to Guernsey French find surprising - not only do we have our own language, but there are different dialects within that language."

For anyone wanting to try to impress a lady the following may be useful:

Sh’aie ma dame; O! sh’aie mn’amour(It is my lady, O, it is my love!)

To read more head to the group's website, external.

Ben Chapple
BBC News Online

The States will need to support local businesses financially if changes to the island's maternity law are approved, Jersey's Chamber of Commerce says.

Plans have been put forward to double the amount of time new parents can have off work - increasing it from 26 weeks to 52, and increasing the number of weeks paid by their employers from two to six weeks.

President Eliot Lincoln says while the group supports what the proposal is trying to do, he's concerned about the financial burden it will put on businesses.

"The UK provided this but they also provide support to businesses, up to 103% of the costs of supporting their employees through this legislation," he said.

"We're not seeing any of that here and that's the thing we would want the Government of Jersey to really look at... how can they help certainly smaller businesses who are going to have a challenge here to make it work for everyone."

BBC Radio Jersey

People in St Helier districts three and four can vote by pre-poll in this month's by-election from Monday.

Pre-polling opens at 08:15 at Morier House in Halkett Place and is open until Monday, 25 February, meaning people in the districts can vote as long as they provide photographic identification.

There are 10 candidates standing for the position of deputy in the by-election on Wednesday 27 February.

More information can also be found on the official website here, external.

Hayley Westcott
BBC News Online

Image source, Twitter

HMS Victory sank in 1744 with the loss of 1,110 sailors - why have efforts to raise the ship stalled?

BBC Radio Guernsey

People from Alderney who want to live and work in Guernsey have been treated as second class citizens because of restrictive housing license laws, according to an Alderney woman.

Daisy Doardo lived in Guernsey for several years until she was 11, but due to a combination her mother not being legally entitled to live there and homesickness, she moved back to Alderney.

She now lives in the UK but said had the law been more lenient, she would probably still be there.

"When you're born, you're educated, you've grown up on and off Guernsey, it just seems very unfair.

"It seems as if Alderney residents, are downgraded to second class," she said.

Home Affairs says steps are being taken under its new residency rules to make it easier for people born in Alderney and Sark to move to Guernsey for education, training or work.