Here are some of the entrants, curated together onto one page for your easy viewing!

The Gift

Our own entry to the competition!

Paradise Place

By our friend Dan Squier.

The Chase!

By Nick Cave.

CBSO Animation

By Stuart Taylor.

Birmingham Blooms

By Charlotte Jackson.

Street Act

The winning entry, by Gareth Hirst.

Which one’s your favourite?

• Eddie Halliwell at Gatecrasher Birmingham for Toolroom Knights album launch party – TRANCE DJ Eddie Halliwell is bringing his Toolroom Knights album launch party to Gatecrasher Birmingham tomorrow night. After a sold-out performance last year the Broad Street superclub is welcoming Eddie back, this time accompanied by his Toolroom Records stablemates Kim Fai and futuristic dance music producer Kryder. Internationally recognised for his explosive DJ sets, Eddie’s new album promises to capture the flavour of his live show.
• Stephenson Tower comes down brick by brick – A LANDMARK tower block has bitten the dust to make way for Birmingham’s new John Lewis store. Stephenson Tower, built as part of the 1960s redevelopment of New Street Station, was taken apart by 1,000 construction workers over six months to make way for the retail giant’s biggest store outside London. The shop, due to open in 2014 and create 650 jobs, will form part of the New Street Gateway scheme that will transform Birmingham’s main transport hub.
• Councillors unite in praise for Birmingham’s Grand Hotel plans – PLANS to restore Birmingham’s historic Grand Hotel have received the unanimous backing of city councillors. The architects behind the refurbishment of the eight-storey Colmore Row building were praised for providing a shining example of sympathetic restoration. The historic Grade II* listed Victorian hotel has been closed for a decade.
• ‘You are so obsessed that you can no longer see reason…’ – A TAMWORTH man with an “obsessive” grudge against Barclays Bank pelted the Colmore Row branch with paint and sent them a threatening letter, an appeal judge heard. Father-of-three Alan Price blamed the bank for the collapse of his business after he was taken seriously ill.
• Review: Life Is A Dream, Birmingham Opera Company, Argyle Works, Digbeth – Birmingham Opera Company has long cherished the ambition of commissioning and producing a new opera. The result – Jonathan Dove’s Life is a Dream – is inspirational. Dove and librettist Alasdair Middleton have created a big, richly dramatic opera with a compelling plot, peopled by fascinatingly human characters. In short, it’s the real thing, performed with bravura by a company at the top of its game.
• Billboards? – While using billboards as public art has been done before, in early April, 48Sheet (named after the number of sheets it takes to cover a standard billboard) will transform up to 100 of them in Birmingham and beyond. While much of the art will have been created digitally beforehand, four artists will paint live on launch day, the 2nd April.
• Mobile money app ‘settles’ on Birmingham for global trial – Birmingham will be the first City in the world to trial a new free app that allows you to send payments via a mobile phone text. Settle, which has been created by tech entrepreneurs Will Grant and Steffan Aquarone, allows you to load cash onto your phone and send payments to anyone in the world for free. Following an initial private beta trial, the mobile money app will officially launch to the public on April 30th where you will be able to pay for things in City Centre shops and longer-term enjoy great brand discounts and loyalty offers.
• Midland Metro agreement signed – Centro and Birmingham City Council have signed a Memorandum of Understanding that recognises and acknowledges the council’s support to facilitate Midland Metro development on land and highway that it owns.. Further agreements with the authority will still be required to deal with the transfer of land and highway works but the Memorandum underpins the partnering commitment.

• Woman appeals for information on stunning stained glass showing Birmingham industrial scenes – THE owner of a series of stained glass windows showing Birmingham industrial scenes wants to bring them back to the city. Ann Lees, 70, a stained glass artist from Essex, bought the windows on eBay last November from a family in south Birmingham. They told her the windows had been abandoned in the garage when they moved in.
• Clubber attacked after night out at Gatecrasher in Birmingham – A REVELLER may need brain surgery after he was attacked after a night out visiting one of Birmingham’s top nightclubs. The 21-year-old man, who has not yet been named, was found with serious head and face injuries on the forecourt of the Shell petrol station, Bath Row, at about 10am on Sunday morning.
• Largest Hampton by Hilton to open in Birmingham – The largest Hampton by Hilton outside the USA is set to open in Birmingham on 1 May. Situated in the former derelict Cumberland House in Broad Street, the 285-bedroom budget hotel is to be operated by Sanguine Hospitality. It will offer free Wi-Fi throughout and complimentary hot and cold breakfast.

• Hockley-based Theatre Ark brings Shakespeare to life – A GROUND-breaking theatre group run by young people from across Birmingham is to bring Shakespeare to life when it stages a performance of The Tempest in a disused factory. Jewellery Quarter-based Theatre Ark is working on a new production of the Bard’s final play to mirror the lives and experiences of young audiences. The Tempest is on at AE Harris Warehouse, Hockley, from April 4-7. Tickets are £5.50-£8.50 and can be booked at http://theatreark.eventbrite.co.uk
• Birmingham Jewellery Quarter to vote on BID – A BID works by charging businesses in that area with a turnover of £10,000 or more an annual fee of an extra 2% on their business rates. This money is then invested back into the area to attract investment, increase visitor numbers and encourage a more vibrant economy, while making the area a better place in which to work, invest and live.
• Birmingham hosts world premiere of ambitious new opera – Birmingham Opera Company is celebrating 25 years of success with its latest show ‘Life is a Dream’ which has its world premiere at the Argyle Works in Digbeth tonight. Life is a Dream is based on the famous Spanish play by 17th century playwright Caldéron de la Barca and features an international cast headed by American baritone Eric Greene. He will be supported by a vast chorus and acting company drawn from the local community in the West Midlands.
• Future of Wholesale Markets will not be debated by Birmingham City Council despite huge petition – BIRMINGHAM Council may not debate the future of the city’s Wholesale Markets – despite receiving a petition containing more than 20,000 names. Under the rules of the authority, the submission of any petition bearing 20,000 signatures should automatically trigger a debate by the full council. But the organisation claimed the petition, backed by the Birmingham Mail, was flawed on several counts and instead passed the issue to a smaller scrutiny committee to discuss.
• Mayoral hopeful John Bull in Red Light Zone pledge – A RED light zone in the Jewellery Quarter and a cannabis cafe on Broad Street are among the controversial manifesto pledges from a would-be elected mayor of Birmingham. Retired policeman Ray Egan, known to many as John Bull, wants to create tolerance zones for prostitution and cannabis after seeing their success in Amsterdam. He has made the pledges the centrepiece of his manifesto for a potential November mayoral election where he could square up against big hitters from the major political parties.
• Broad Street bar keeps its licence after mass brawl involving So Solid Crew member – A BROAD Street bar that was the scene of a mass brawl allegedly involving the founder of rap outfit So Solid Crew has been allowed to keep its licence. Police ordered the review after a brawl inside and outside the Sugar Suite on February 18. Dwayne “Megaman” Vincent was quizzed by West Midlands Police officer in connection with the incident.

• Birmingham’s new £189m library will open on 3 September, 2013. – The new building, in Centenary Square, replaces the Birmingham Central Library in Chamberlain Square. The public is being asked to nominate the first book to be placed on the new Library of Birmingham’s shelves, in a competition being run on Twitter. The present library was once described by Prince Charles as looking like “a place where books are incinerated, not kept”. The REP theatre will also reopen to the public in Centenary Square in September 2013.
• Birmingham’s high speed rail station set for name change – THE name of Birmingham’s proposed city centre high speed rail (HS2) station could be changed, it has emerged. Transport and business leaders were told that plans for the station, at Curzon Street at Eastside, will be drawn up over the next 18 months and that architects and developers have the opportunity to create a magnificent and inspiring building for the city.
• Caution urged over Birmingham Jewellery Quarter plan – Plans to knock down historic buildings in Birmingham’s Jewellery Quarter and replace them with more than 100 new homes have been given a cool reception by heritage watchdogs. Developers want to demolish a number of Victorian buildings and build 25 town houses and 86 apartments.
• London 2012: Birmingham and Black Country torch relay route – On the journey to Birmingham, runners will carry the torch through parts of the Black Country, including West Bromwich and Smethwick. It will then cross into Birmingham and make its way past Warwickshire County Cricket Club’s Edgbaston Ground to Cannon Hill Park. On Sunday, 1 July, the torch will resume its journey and set off from Victoria Square in Birmingham city centre.
• Firefighters tackle blaze at Birmingham City University – FIRE crews were called to Birmingham City University this morning following reports of a blaze at a city centre campus. A “small fire” is believed to have broken out in the carpentry department at Corporation Street’s Institute of Art and Design. Firefighters were sent out at around 7.30am. No injuries were reported.
• Peak time Birmingham city centre rail passengers face fare hike – RAIL commuters arriving in Birmingham at the busiest time of the morning face a major fare hike – designed to convince them to travel at a different time. A new “high-peak” fare could apply to passengers arriving at New Street, Moor Street or Snow Hill when trains are at their most crowded, between 8am and 9am. And standard season tickets used by many people who work in the city centre, would no longer be valid at “high-peak” times.
• Fresh plans launched to pedestrianise Birmingham city centre – TRANSPORT bosses have unveiled proposals for greater pedestrianisation in Birmingham city centre – but denied they are planning to banish the car. Instead, they say they could ‘rebalance’ the relationship between walkers and motorists by turning parts of Broad Street, Moor Street, Old Square and Smallbrook Queensway into more open boulevards, where motors and people mingle.

• Shabana to Save our Markets! – Our local MP, Shabana Mahmood, has been a vocal supporter of Digbeth Residents Association, attending the Digbeth Summit in February; fighting our corner regarding the proposed Digbeth Enterprise Zone by writing to Birmingham City Council on our behalf; and questioning what happened to our application for Community Chest Funding way back in Spring 2011 (more on that soon!). Now, Shabana is helping to support our campaign to save the Bullring Wholesale Markets, by putting further pressure on the Council to reconsider their proposed actions.
• Birmingham pub is tops for best St Patrick’s Day pint – Birmingham’s Lamp Tavern is top bar none when it comes to the best St Patrick’s Day pint in Britain. For the last three years our anonymous reviewer Stout has supped his way from pub to pub all in search of the country’s tastiest pints. But this St Patrick’s Day we chose three apprentices and sent them out in London, Manchester and Birmingham with one goal – to find Britain’s best pint of Guinness.
• Birmingham Broad Street bar Sugar Suite could have licence suspended after brawl – A BIRMINGHAM bar on Broad Street could have its licence suspended after a mass brawl left two teenagers with stab wounds and a woman with a broken ankle. Trouble broke out at the Sugar Suite during a performance from a member of controversial rap group So Solid Crew.
• Opera in the Birmingham sky as part of the London 2012 Cultural Olympics – A string quartet will perform in helicopters while flying across the Birmingham skyline in one of the highlights of an Olympics arts festival. The flying instrumentalists will be the centrepiece of a world premiere of Karlheinz Stockhausen’s spectacular five-hour opera Mittwoch/Wednesday, staged by Birmingham Opera Company as part of the London 2012 Festival, the culmination of the nation’s Cultural Olympiad.
• VIVID to close – Yesterday VIVID announced it’s set to cease trading due to funding cuts imposed by Arts Council England. The news comes a year after Ikon Eastside announced its closure due to cuts in public funding, it’s incredibly sad to see two of Digbeth’s major creative spaces go within the space of a year. Let’s hope current discussions to keep The Garage project space going will come good – it’s a versatile venue that’s been used for exhibitions, concerts, hackerspaces, club nights, festivals and much more over the years, its loss would be a blow for Digbeth.
• New square named after Birmingham author Kathleen Dayus – Dayus Square in the Jewellery Quarter has been named after the late Kathleen Dayus who was born in Hockley in 1903. Her works include novels about her experiences growing up in the city’s back-to-back houses. Birmingham City Council said her books won critical acclaim for the way they described the social history of the city.
• Birmingham heritage watchdogs back £30m plan to revamp Birmingham’s Grand Hotel – HERITAGE watchdogs have given the thumbs-up to a £30 million scheme to bring Birmingham’s most iconic hotel back to its former glory. Plans have been submitted to re-open the Grand Hotel in Colmore Row with 166 bedrooms and eight rooftop suites. Yesterday members of the city council’s Conservation and Heritage Panel gave the ambitious scheme their approval, saying the proposals were “amazing” and would be an “asset to Birmingham’s social life”.

• Jewellery Quarter residents and business owners urged to shine in Neighbourhood Plan – Residents and business owners in the Jewellery Quarter are being given the opportunity to influence changes in the area by developing a Neighbourhood Plan. Neighbourhood Plans, which were recently introduced in the Localism Act, are designed to give local people more power to decide the future of the places that they live and work in.
• Former major ITV studios in Birmingham to be replaced with hotel – The ATV Centre in Birmingham, which opened in 1969 and was one of the most advanced colour studios of its time, is to be finally completely demolished to make way for several new buildings. The complex, which closed in 1997 when final occupiers Central Telelvision, Carlton International, Sky News Midlands and an ITN News office all finally moved out, remained disused until demolition finally began in 2009. However with economic issues the transformation of the area has been on hold for two years.
• St Patrick’s Day parade: Crowds line Birmingham streets – More than 85,000 people turned out for Birmingham’s St Patrick’s Day parade, the city council said. There was an Irish sporting theme to celebrate the 2012 Olympics and the council said the event was helped by “fantastic weather”.
• Jobs boost as Francesco Group invests in Birmingham – Dozens of jobs are being created in Birmingham City centre after a Midland based hair group revealed plans to invest £850,000 in the city this year. Stafford-based Francesco Group says it will create about 60 jobs in the city through an expansion that will see a new salon open this week and a hair academy in the city centre in September. The £500,000 salon, which opens on March 10, will have 1,600 sq ft on the ground floor of the flagship House of Fraser store on Corporation Street.
• Thousands of visitors flock to Birmingham for St Patrick’s Festival parade – IRISH eyes were smiling as thousands of people from around the world flocked to Birmingham for the city’s St Patrick’s Festival parade. Digbeth was a sea of green, orange and white as more than 85,000 revellers donned fancy dress and painted their faces to take part in Sunday’s celebrations.

I found it so difficult to choose just 10 minutes out of all the footage I captured to edit into one piece that I decided to make two videos instead!

• Occupy Birmingham protesters pack up Centenary Square camp and move out – MEMBERS of Occupy Birmingham have packed up their protest camp – a day after their London counterparts were given their marching orders. Anti-capitalist campaigners took down their tents in the community gardens behind Centenary Square yesterday, after nearly five months of protest in the city centre.
• Sartori can keep rent income from land outside Birmingham lapdancing venue The Rocket Club before Appeal date – Former Birmingham nightclub boss Allan Sartori will get to keep a lucrative income stream from a strip of land that fronts the Rocket Club lapdancing venue as a bitter legal battle over who owns it builds to a showdown at the Court of Appeal. Mr Sartori has successfully fought off a bid by the Rocket Club’s owner Balevents Ltd to freeze a rental income he receives of around £1,000 a week from a fast food facility based on the disputed piece of pavement outside the Broad Street venue.
• Second World War hero’s statue to get new Broad Street location – A STATUE of a Second World War hero is set for a new home after plans for the £100 million transformation of a run-down office block and shopping centre were approved. Field Marshal Claude Auchinleck, known as ‘the Auk’ will be moved from inside the vacant Edgbaston Five Ways shopping centre to a site fronting Broad Street.
• New Street Station hotel designs slated as ‘bland and anonymous’ – ARCHITECTS behind plans for what was described as Birmingham’s blandest big building have been urged to go back to the drawing board. City planners welcomed a scheme to convert the Ladywood House office block, above New Street Station, into a hotel but slated the flat glass design as “anonymous”.
• Property  /  Half a dozen firms compete for £90m Post & Mail job – SIX of the country’s largest construction firms have submitted bids for the first phase of a £90m redevelopment of the former Post and Mail building in Birmingham city centre. Balfour Beatty, BAM Construct, Morgan Sindall, Skanska, Thomas Vale and Vinci have all submitted bids for the £20m first phase, according to reports.
• Property  /  Two Snowhill developing nicely – THE Two Snowhill development in Birmingham city centre is on course to be finished by the end of the year. The 14-storey, £45m development will soon be clad in Welsh slate. More than 1,700 sq m of dark blue grey riven stone slate from the Cwt-y-Bugail quarry in Snowdonia is due to be installed between now and May.

• Restaurant Review: Marco Pierre White Steakhouse and Grill in The Cube, Birmingham – Never in the history of Birmingham gastronomy have so many come to worship at the restaurant of a chef who doesn’t cook. Marco Pierre White’s new franchise at the top of The Cube in Birmingham is undeniably the place to be seen at the moment. When I rang, last week, to book a table for a Friday or Saturday night, I was told I would have to wait until the second week in April. For steak and onion rings.
• Birmingham New Street Station haunting revealed: The ghosts of platform four – IN the still wee hours, long after commuters have fled and the distant, dull thunder of approaching trains cuts through the air, New Street Station’s platform four is no place for the faint-hearted. Away from the glow of the vending machines one elderly man, in rail uniform, sits alone, seemingly lost in thought. He is Walter Hartles, and he is dead.
• Floor Levelling At Cumberland House – As part of a regeneration of Broad Street, Birmingham, Cumberland House is being modernised and re-designed within the constraints of the existing building structure. What once was an obsolete building will be upgraded and reopened as a hotel.
• Lawyers slammed for touting for divorce – FAMILY campaigners have slammed a firm of no-win-no-fee solicitors who are touting for divorce business from people who are ‘unhappy with their partners’. Lawyers2you have been accused of ‘exploiting the vulnerable’ after putting up a special pop-shop in the bustling city centre of Birmingham – offering the thousands of passers by free advice if they are unhappy in their relationships and seeking divorce.
• Stephenson Tower demolition draws YouTube clicks – The demolition of a Birmingham landmark has become an internet hit with more than a thousand people logging on to website YouTube to watch its demise. Stephenson Tower finally disappeared from the city’s skyline earlier this month after a pain-staking six-month operation to carefully remove it brick by brick. The demolition of the 22-storey residential tower block was filmed second by second, and a speeded up version of its downfall was posted onto YouTube at the beginning of February.
• La Tour to open with 500k in advance business floor sales – Hotel La Tour, the new 24m hotel in Birmingham City Centre, will open its doors to meetings business on Monday 26 March. The Albert Street venue, which has 174 bedrooms and suites, is creating 100 jobs and is the first development underway in the city’s Eastside district.

• St Patrick’s Festival Parade – As you all probably know, the Birmingham St Patrick’s Festival Parade will be taking place in Digbeth on Sunday 11th March 2012. Digbeth Residents Association will have a walking group taking part in the parade; if you would like to participate, please contact DRA Secretary Pam by email.
• Brand new venue to open in Digbeth – win a pair of tickets for the launch night – On Saturday March 31, a brand new Digbeth venue is set to open – occupying the old Space 2 / Custard Factory address. Gibb Street Warehouse is a new, bespoke clubbing space located in Digbeth, the heartbeat of Birmingham’s electronic music pulse. It has been conceived by some of the industry’s most respected names who, collectively, have delivered numerous high profile events across the globe include clubnights, sell out festivals and some of the nation’s most loved and revered clubbing spaces.
• Save Island House campaigners ask questions of Birmingham City Council as Quintain Estates demolish the building – Quintain Estates are wasting no time with their demolition of Island House after Birmingham City Council declared the Section 106 agreement campaigners hoped could save the building is unenforceable. However the Save Island House Action Group are still questioning the legality of the demolition (claiming that the Hotel La Tour ‘activated’ the Section 106 agreement) and Birmingham City Council’s handling of issue.
• Birmingham charity shop launches clothing hospital to operate on cherished clothes – Birmingham’s first retro and vintage charity shop is calling on people across the city to recapture the ‘make do and mend’ attitude of the 1940s with the launch of a clothing hospital to repair items for shoppers. Forgotten Vintage, in Great Western Arcade, Colmore Row, was recently opened by city charities Trident Reach the People Charity, which provides houisng and support to vulnerable people across the region, and homeless charity Sifa Fireside to raise money for tackling homelessness in Birmingham.
• City centre bus stop changes - Bus passengers in Birmingham are warned that some stops are to move as part of works to transform the network in the city centre. Carrs Lane is closed to traffic from Monday 27 February, with all bus services that previously stopped there being relocated. This is to allow for gas main replacement and bus stop upgrades as work begins on six new interchanges around the city centre for bus passengers.

Against

Councillor James Hutchings, writing in the eGov Monitor:

Ever since Oliver Cromwell, the English have been opposed to concentrating too much power in one person.

The Irish, Scots and Welsh were opposed even earlier. Joe Chamberlain was a very powerful mayor and achieved great things for Birmingham but he was an elected councillor and worked with the committee system.

Today the Leader of a big city is already extremely powerful.  Under the existing system Birmingham Councils of various political leadership, working in partnership, have achieved, and are still delivering, big projects such as the National Exhibition Centre, the International Convention Centre, the National Indoor Arena, the new Library and New Street Station.

Read more.

For

Mirza Ahmad, writing in The Chamberlain Files:

Let me make it clear for the record: I have supported the principle of having a strong directly elected mayor for major cities of Britain since I visited the USA on a study tour, with other top local government officials, in search of the “enabling council” in the early 1990′s.

Working within a local authority from 2000 to 2011, whose elected members have been hostile to elected mayors has, of course, prevented me from making such a positive public statement before. Those close to me, though, have known for a long time my private views and support for a directly elected mayor for Birmingham.

Read more.

What do you think?

• Barber Institute of Fine Arts director to head up newly merged Birmingham Museum & Art Gallery and Thinktank – The director of the city’s renowned Barber Institute of Fine Arts has been appointed to take over the soon-to-be-merged Birmingham Museum & Art Gallery and Thinktank. Professor Ann Sumner, a former head of fine art at the Museum of Wales, will lead Birmingham’s two major museums from April and strive to boost visitors numbers.
• Birmingham brothel madam turned artist launches new show – A BROTHEL madam turned artist has launched her first show. Donna-Marie, from Solihull, hopes the exhibition will lead to a lucrative new career where the only oils used are on canvas rather than the massage table.
• Protester tells of prison hell as Lib Dem Birmingham banner charges are dropped – A student official who said he spent ten nights in prison after unfurling a protest banner at the Liberal Democrat conference in Birmingham has spoken of his “hell” after his court case was dropped. Edward Bauer, vice president education at the University of Birmingham’s Guild of Students, walked free from the city’s crown court on Tuesday.
• Helium balloon tangled in power cables at Birmingham New Street Station causes rush hour chaos for rail commuters – EVERYBODY’S heard of leaves on the line but commuters in Birmingham faced a headache this morning because of a helium balloon. Trains from platform 12 at the city’s New Street Station were suspended for around an hour after the balloon became tangled in overhead cables. Power to the lines had to be shut down while engineers raced from Sandwell to disentangle the inflatable.

• Birmingham’s Five Ways regeneration continues with office conversion – No.1 Hagley Road, the 19 storey landmark tower comprising 140,000 sq ft of office space in Birmingham, is the latest building to benefit from regeneration plans for the Five Ways area. The building’s owners, Henderson Global Investors, have submitted a planning application to ensure the building’s viable future and to develop an underutilised car parking area. Local architecture practice, Associated Architects, who masterminded the Mailbox, has developed plans to ensure the building will be an icon for a future generation.
• Birmingham City Centre office tower bought for £19.7m by Bruntwood – Commercial property provider Bruntwood has bought the Centre City office tower in Birmingham for £19.7 million, marking the firm’s third office space acquisition in the Midlands location. The 20-storey building will add to Bruntwood’s existing office portfolio in the city centre, which includes the McLaren and Cornwall buildings. Comprising of 208,000 square feet of office space, the tower is home to Ofwat and Legal & General.
• Birmingham techno night TRMNL re-launches at new club LAB11 – After nearly three years away, the notorious Birmingham-based techno club night is back; re-launching as a multi-platform techno brand next month. Based at the brand new LAB11 club in the heart of Birmingham’s Digbeth district, TRMNL will showcase the finest underground artists on the electronic music scene today, with some of the best names in house and techno taking to the decks in the custom built surroundings of Birmingham’s newest music venue.
• Demolition of Birmingham’s historic Island House set to begin – THE battle to save a 100-year-old landmark city centre building from demolition looks lost after claims workers are to begin pulling it down within days. Island House, on Moor Street, has been wrapped in scaffolding and plastic sheeting for a week. But the Birmingham Mail understands the demolition work is due to begin imminently.

Anti badger-cull / NFU demonstration outside ICC this morning:

• Birmingham Irish Quarter regeneration plans fade – THE final nail has been driven into the coffin of £150 million plans to regenerate Birmingham’s Irish Quarter, it has been revealed. The 4.5 acre Connaught Square development site in Digbeth, just 200 yards away from Birmingham’s Bullring, is to be sold by Ireland’s National Asset Management Agency. The proposed sale follows 18 months of uncertainty over one of Birmingham city centre’s highest profile schemes.
• Police seek Northampton rail passenger over homophobic abuse – A TRAIN passenger who allegedly shouted homophobic abuse at another man, after a journey from Northampton, is being sought by police. British Transport Police yesterday released CCTV images of a man they believe could help them with their enquiries following the abuse, which happened as the men arrived at Birmingham New Street Station at about 5.20pm on Monday February 6.
• Birmingham police braced for up to 2,000 protesters in Victoria Square demonstration over Congo elections – UP TO 2,000 protestors were expected to descend on Birmingham city centre this morning as part of the latest demonstration over elections in the Congo. West Midlands Police said they were aware of plans to hold a protest in Victoria Square at 11am.
• JLS: We love visiting Birmingham – but our fans chase us out of the Bullring – JLS have revealed they have become good friends with Birmingham Bullring security staff – in case they need to make a quick exit from fans. Hunky singer Marvin Humes revealed the chart-topping group loved visiting the second city.
• Police chief calls for riots training review – The number of police officers trained to deal with public disorder needs to be reviewed following summer riots that broke out across the West Midlands, a report revealed . Yobs rampaged through the streets of Wolverhampton, Birmingham and West Bromwich for two nights in August, causing millions of pounds worth of damage, ransacking stores and stripping shelves of stock.
• Birmingham Children’s Hospital could be moving, NHS boss Sarah-Jane Marsh claims – BIRMINGHAM Children’s Hospital could be moving after little more than 20 years at its current city centre base. Health bosses said the 300-bed Steelhouse Lane site had ‘huge limitations’ – just two days after unveiling a new £2.5 million paediatric assessment unit.

• Deploy community leaders claim in riots report – Teachers and community leaders could be brought in to help police tackle future riots in Birmingham by speaking directly to young people taking part and urging them to go home, an inquiry commissioned by the city council has suggested. The city council could also be ready to arrange alternative activities for people caught up in riots and looting because of the “party” atmosphere – including official clean-up sessions or even outdoor raves complete with professional DJs.
• Consumers urged to show shops their love in bid to turn around Birmingham’s ailing high streets – Hundreds of small businesses are to take part in a campaign to save Britain’s ailing high streets inspired by a multi-millionaire entrepreneur who believes failed firms only have themselves to blame. The 14 Days of Love campaign – brainchild of Solihull-based Nigel Botterill – aims to raise awareness of the plight faced by small firms.
• Citizen Inquiry into cause of Birmingham Riots – TEENAGERS are to have their say on the Birmingham riots during a “Citizens’ Inquiry” into the violence and looting. The youngsters will be part of a team investigating the causes of the disturbances, which erupted on the city streets last summer.
• Birmingham records its highest hotel occupancy rates in four years – Hotel occupancy in Birmingham experienced an increase in the last six months of 2011, according to recently released LJ Forecaster data. November crowned a highly successful six months, reaching 74% during November 2011 – the highest rate since October 2007 – with average hotel occupancy for July to December 2011 reaching 64%, 2% higher than the same period during the previous year.
• Birmingham Mail Top Ten: The best Birmingham gigs – BIRMINGHAM is a music city – some heavy rock fans would say THE music city. For decades bands spawned in the Midlands such as Black Sabbath, Led Zeppelin, Duran Duran, Ocean Colour Scene and UB40 have struck out to find worldwide fame and success, and in return the greatest artists from across the globe have come here to make their mark on a scene noted for its legendary venues and passionate fans.
• Hilton Garden Inn launches in Birmingham – Hilton Garden Inn today announced the opening of its latest UK hotel in Birmingham’s prestigious Brindleyplace development. The former Mint Hotel has been converted to Hilton Garden Inn Birmingham Brindleyplace and is located in the heart of the city centre within close proximity to the National Indoor Arena, International Convention Centre and Symphony Hall.

• Flagship Hotel La Tour to open in Birmingham, further UK expansion revealed – Hotel La Tour, the £24 million flagship development in a new chain of UK city centre hotels, is set to open its doors next month on the doorstep of the Bullring development in Birmingham city centre. The 174-bedroom hotel will comprise a restaurant, bar, street café and conference room as the new Group plans to open five properties around the UK over the next five years.
• Birmingham New Street retail plan – Network Rail and Birmingham City Council have appointed retail consultant Keith Stone to lead the leasing of the Pallasades shopping centre, which is being upgraded and remodelled as part of the redevelopment of Birmingham New Street
• Urban Coffee full of beans after rave review in the New York Times – The glowing report, published last week, came about after a NYT travel writer was impressed by what he saw (and tasted) during a visit to the Warstone Lane cafe last September. It’s yet another nod to the city from the illustrious publication after it placed Birmingham 19th on a list of the world’s 45 must-see places to visit in 2012.

• Noise fears over Birmingham city centre karaoke bar – A CITY centre karaoke lounge has been given the go-ahead despite fears over noise and nuisance to neighbours. Red Secret Ltd want to turn a former furniture store in Hurst Street into the bar and Chinese Tea Rooms but have been urged to watch the noise levels.
• Severe Snowfall in Birmingham – Despite severe weather warnings from the Met Office yesterday, many in Birmingham’s city centre were unprepared for the sudden heavy snowfall that hit at approximately 1.30pm today. Shoppers were seen bracing the cold on New Street with scarves and woolen hats while others sought shelter in the nearest shop and the snow became heavier. Some young girls had clearly not listened to their parents when they left the house this morning having decided to wear thin cardigans and tights as they shrieked at the blustery snowfall.
• The Radisson Blu Birmingham turns six in style – The Radisson Blu Hotel, Birmingham, a landmark hotel in the heart of the city centre, has celebrated its sixth anniversary in style, with over 100 guests enjoying an Italian themed party at the hotel. Many of Birmingham’s finest, including the Lord Mayor Cllr Anita Ward, were on hand to share in the celebrations of one of the city’s premier hotels.
• Student avoids prison over clothes stolen from JD Sports during Birmingham riots – A TEENAGE student with ambitions to become a midwife was discovered with clothes taken from a shop looted during last summer’s riots. In sentencing Le’deanne Williams to a 12-month community order, Judge Melbourne Inman QC said he accepted she had not encouraged the burglary at JD Sports and made a “bad decision” in allowing a friend to bring the goods into her room.
• Birmingham IWW Solidarity Picket with IWW Pizza Hut Union – On Saturday 4th February, members of IWW West Midlands General Membership Branch picketed Pizza Hut on New Street, Birmingham, in Solidarity with Sheffield workers who are fighting for improved pay and conditions. This was part of a national day of action, with pickets also held in Sheffield, London, Bristol, Liverpool and Hull.