Editor's Blog: Another packed KM is out now
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So
another packed edition of the KM has hit the streets today
following what has been a really busy week in the newsroom. We’ve
had a couple of very strong – and disturbing - court cases
involving a vicious stabbing at Dickens Avenue by a jealous husband
who launched a crazed attack on his wife’s lover. Then there was
the truly horrific case of a man, already convicted of rape and
manslaughter, attacking a young girl in Maidstone. Details of Bruce
Hill’s past were hard to come by so readers will no doubt be asking
the same questions we’ve been putting to the police and the Crown
Prosecution Service like ‘what was he doing here in the first place
and how on earth was someone with his record able to carry out such
terrible offences?’
We had to make a late change to our
story about the battle to retain full maternity services at
Maidstone when it appeared that the health secretary Andy Burnham
was going to refer the matter for investigation by the Independent
Review Panel. The story we had lined up expressed fears that the
complete opposite would happen. Happy to bring you some good
news!
To the British Library last night for a dinner
meeting to discuss the future of the press and be briefed on the
institution’s plans to move its gigantic archive of newspapers to a
new venue. The British Library houses virtually every paper that
has ever been published in this country – and many from abroad,
too. It is currently discussing with publishers how it can digitise
the content so that material from five centuries can be viewed
online. A mammoth task lies ahead. So if you’ve ever appeared in
the Kent Messenger, or indeed your ancestors have, your little
piece of history will be housed at the British Library. There’s a
thought. Last night’s event was hosted by a great friend of the
library, the soon-to-be-ex-MP for Sittingbourne and
Sheppey Derek Wyatt (ex, not because he’s sitting on a
majority of 79 but because he’s had enough). He proudly and
unequivocally describes the library as ‘the best in the world’.
The library is conveniently right next door to
St Pancras Station and the end of the High Speed Line. As I
travelled up I was struck by the incongruity of the announcements.
At one station you are told “change here for stations to Maidstone
and Paddock Wood”. Literally minutes later (at Ebbsfleet) the
message is “change here for Brussels and Paris”. The HS1 is a
fantastic example of how far we’ve come in terms of transport
infrastructure. It also is a constant reminder of the
shamefully poor service running on the parallel domestic line from
Maidstone and environs. I remember, as a reporter standing in a
field at the back on Molly Tipples’ farm near Aylesford some 20
years ago waiting for the then transport secretary Cecil Parkinson
to land in a helicopter to inspect part of one of the suggested
routes of the high speed line (or then CTRL). I recall Molly
berating her husband for marking out a ludicrously small ‘H’ on the
grass at the back of their home. Much later than that – about five
years ago – I stood near Gravesend with Bill Brett of construction
firm Bretts and being shown the colossal working going on to build
the rail huge tunnel under the Thames across to Stratford. To 2010
and I’m on a train going through it. Now that’s progress.
Friday, March 26 2010
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