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        <tr> 
          <td colspan="2" bgcolor="#990000"><font size="1"><b><font size="1" color="#FFFFFF"><b>Local-news 
            January 2001</b></font></b></font></td>
        </tr>
        <tr> 
          <td valign="TOP" colspan="2" bgcolor="#990000"><b><font size="1"><a name="welcome"></a><b><font color="#FFFFFF">MyVillage 
            hits Chelsea and Kensington</font></b></font></b></td>
        </tr>
        <tr> 
          <td valign="TOP"></td>
          <td valign="top" width="100%"><font size="1">We've arrived! London's 
            first and only on-line community network, MyVillage, has expanded 
            from Notting Hill into Chelsea and Kensington. Add this website to 
            your favourites for a complete inside-out knowledge of everything 
            sexy, serious and useful in and around Kensington <br>
            visit the Chelsea site <b><font color="#CCFFFF"><a href="http://www.mychelsea.net/">www.chelsea.net</a><br>
            </font></b><font color="#000000">visit the Notting Hill site <b><a href="http://www.nottinghill.co.uk/">www.nottinghill.co.uk</a></b></font></font></td>
        </tr>
        <tr> 
          <td valign="TOP" colspan="2" bgcolor="#990000"><b><font size="1"><font color="#FFFFFF"><a name="cops"></a>Tops 
            Of The Cops </font></font></b><font size="1"><font color="#FFFFFF"> 
            - 29/01/01</font></font></td>
        </tr>
        <tr> 
          <td valign="TOP"></td>
          <td valign="top" width="100%"><font size="1"><font color="#000000">Kensington 
            & Chelsea police were named as the top division in London for challenging 
            crime and disorder in research published last week. <br>
            <br>
            The survey from Leeds University is based on the Home Office's most 
            recent crime statistics on social and economic factors. In the country 
            the Royal Borough came 14th overall.</font></font></td>
        </tr>
        <tr> 
          <td valign="TOP" colspan="2" bgcolor="#990000"><b><font size="1" color="#FFFFFF"><b><a name="delays"></a>Local 
            Commuters Face Underground Delays </b> -</font></b><font size="1" color="#FFFFFF"> 
            25/01/01</font></td>
        </tr>
        <tr> 
          <td valign="TOP"></td>
          <td valign="top" width="100%"> 
            <p><font size="1">F</font><font color="#000000" size="1">rom next 
              weekend the 50,000 people who regularly use the District line have 
              been warned to expect three months of increased journey times as 
              a result of repairs to a tunnel in Earl's Court. </font></p>
            <p><font color="#000000" size="1">The repair work amounts to the biggest 
              disruption on London Underground for two years. Services will be 
              closed between Earl's Court and High St Kensington, Earl's Court 
              and Olympia, and services on the Ealing Broadway and Richmond branches 
              are being halved.</font></p>
            <p><font color="#000000" size="1">Passengers and local authorities 
              are up in arms over the inadequate replacement services being put 
              in place by London Underground. Instead of laying on more trains 
              on other lines LU managers have told passengers to wait at stations 
              or find alternative means of transport such as bus and overland 
              train. </font></p>
            <p><font color="#000000" size="1">LU insists it is doing everything 
              it can to ease the disruption. A spokesman said "Past experience 
              has taught us that the critical factor in providing a reliable service 
              is simplicity. Complex new timetables with unfamiliar patterns run 
              the risk of unreliability with inevitable knock-on effects to other 
              parts of the network." </font></p>
            <p><font color="#000000" size="1">LU Managing Director said the work 
              with begins on Saturday 3 February and should finish by Monday 14 
              May was essential to avoid a catastrophe. The Earl's Court tunnel 
              being repaired was built in 1868 requires urgent strengthening work 
              to ensure that arches to not collapse. </font></p>
            <p>&nbsp;</p>
            </td>
        </tr>
        <tr> 
          <td valign="TOP" colspan="2" bgcolor="#990000"><b><font size="1" color="#FFFFFF"><b><a name="mark"></a>Mark 
            Knopfler<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"> is a 'dinosaur' 
            - Official </font></b><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"> 
            - </font></font></b><font size="1" color="#FFFFFF"><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">24/01/01</font></font></td>
        </tr>
        <tr> 
          <td valign="TOP"></td>
          <td valign="top" width="100%"> 
            <p><font size="1" color="#FFFFFF"><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" color="#000000">Kensington 
              dinosaur devotees will be interested to hear that geologists have 
              named a newly discovered dinosaur after guitarist Mark Knopfler. 
              </font></font></p>
            <p><font size="1" color="#000000"><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">The 
              skeleton of the 6ft tall predator Masiakasaurus Knopfleri which 
              lived 65 to 70 million years ago, has been recovered in Madagascar. 
              </font></font><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="1" color="#000000">Geologist 
              Scott Sampson said the name was chosen because songs by the Dire 
              Strait's frontman inspired expedition crews.</font></p>
          </td>
        </tr>
        <tr bgcolor="#990000"> 
          <td valign="TOP" colspan="2"><b><font size="1"><font color="#FFFFFF"><a name="fees"></a> 
            </font><font size="1" color="#FFFFFF">Deal on Free Museum Entry 'close'</font></font></b><font size="1"><font size="1" color="#FFFFFF"> 
            - </font><font color="#FFFFFF"> 23/01/01</font></font></td>
        </tr>
        <tr> 
          <td valign="TOP"><img src="../../images/goingout/naturalhistorymuseumS.jpg" width="100" height="100"></td>
          <td valign="top" width="100%"> 
            <p><font size="1"><font color="#000000">Yesterday's claim by the BBC 
              that a deal has been struck on free entry to museums and art galleries 
              has been denied by Treasury sources as 'pure speculation'.</font></font></p>
            <p><font size="1" color="#000000">However it is understood that the 
              move will still take place and will be announced in the next couple 
              of months, possibly in the spring budget.</font></p>
          </td>
        </tr>
        <tr> 
          <td valign="TOP" colspan="2" bgcolor="#990000"><b><font size="1" color="#FFFFFF"><b><a name="heli"></a>Fayed's 
            Helicopter Banned from Harrods</b> </font></b><font size="1" color="#FFFFFF">- 
            22/01/01</font></td>
        </tr>
        <tr> 
          <td valign="TOP"></td>
          <td valign="top" width="100%"> 
            <p><font color="#000000" size="1">John Prescott has personally stepped 
              in to prevent Mohamed Fayed, the Harrods chairman, from landing 
              his helicopter on the store's roof. Local residents who had expressed 
              dismay at the disturbance of Fayed's personal helicopter landing 
              up to 10 times a week are already expressing relief. </font></p>
            <p><font color="#000000" size="1">Lawyers representing Mr Fayed said 
              last night that the Environment Secretary overturned a planning 
              inspector's decision to allow a helipad to be constructed on the 
              building. </font></p>
            <p><font color="#000000" size="1">Mr Fayed had asked for an inquiry 
              after the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea refused him a 
              certificate to land his helicopter on the roof. In a letter to Mr 
              Fayed's lawyers, the department said that the use of the Harrods 
              roof for helicopter landing could not be regarded as "ordinarily 
              incidental to the main retail use of the premises" and that the 
              appeal "will therefore be dismissed".<br>
              </font></p>
            <p><font color="#000000" size="1">A Harrods spokesman said Mr Fayed 
              would appeal to the High Court to have Mr Prescott's decision quashed. 
              Mr Fayed said: "Perhaps if I had applied to land two helicopters 
              he might have been more sympathetic."</font></p>
            <p>&nbsp;</p>
          </td>
        </tr>
        <tr> 
          <td valign="TOP" colspan="2" bgcolor="#990000"><font size="1" color="#FFFFFF"><b><a name="police"></a>Prominent 
            ethnic minority police officer suspended </b>- 19/01/01</font></td>
        </tr>
        <tr> 
          <td valign="TOP"></td>
          <td valign="top" width="100%"> 
            <p><font size="1">Superintendent Ali Dizaei, legal adviser to the 
              Black Police Association and one of Britain's most prominent non-white 
              officers, was suspended yesterday morning. <br>
              <br>
              The 38-year-old Metropolitan Police officer had been under surveillance 
              by anti-corruption detectives for several months. The suspension 
              of such a high-profile and well-respected officer has been hailed 
              as a "disaster" for the force, which is trying to recruit more people 
              from ethnic minorities. <br>
              <br>
              It is understood that he is also being investigated for mixing with 
              "undesirable" people, which is believed to refer to alleged sightings 
              with prostitutes. He is accused of giving a false statement to the 
              police about a vandalism attack on his car in Kensington on 6 September 
              last year. It's understood he told officers he left his car close 
              to Kensington police station, when in fact it was parked at another 
              'embarrassing' location. <br>
              <br>
              Supt Dizaei, who has three children, joined the police service 14 
              years ago. He moved to the Met from Thames Valley police, where 
              he was responsible for day-to-day policing in Oxford.</font></p>
            <p>&nbsp;</p>
          </td>
        </tr>
        <tr> 
          <td valign="TOP" colspan="2" bgcolor="#990000"><font size="1" color="#FFFFFF"><b><a name="butler"></a>Diana's 
            Butler Arrested Over Theft</b> - 19/01/01</font><font size="1" color="#FFFFFF"></font><b><font size="1" color="#FFFFFF"> 
            </font></b></td>
        </tr>
        <tr> 
          <td valign="TOP"></td>
          <td valign="top" width="100%"> 
            <p><font size="1" color="#000000">Princess Diana's former butler has 
              been arrested for questioning into allegations that he stole some 
              of her belongings. Paul Burrell spent last night in the cells at 
              Runcorn police station after detectives raided his home at dawn 
              yesterday and ripped up carpets and floorboards in a 12-hour search.</font></p>
            <p><font size="1" color="#000000">A number of items were found at 
              the house and put in a police van. Mr Burrell, who worked for Diana 
              will be questioned today. A Scotland Yard spokeswoman said ' A 42-year 
              old man from the Chester area was arrested on suspicion of theft. 
              He was remanded in police custody at a police station in Cheshire 
              pending further inquiries. The arrest follows the receipt of information 
              after the discovery of an artefact allegedly stolen from a location 
              in central London.<br>
              </font></p>
            <p><font size="1" color="#000000">The 'artefact' is the gem-encrusted 
              model boat, a wedding present to Diana and Prince Charles from the 
              Emir of Bahrain, which was found on sale in a Chelsea antique shop 
              last year. It vanished from Kensington Palace in the months following 
              Diana's death in a Paris car crash in 1997. Now police fear many 
              other items may have gone missing. </font></p>
            <p><font size="1" color="#000000">Mr Burrell, a lorry-driver's son, 
              spent 12 years as a footman to the Queen before joining Diana's 
              staff. He became the most trusted member of her team. He was made 
              redundant from his �35,000-a-year-job with the Diana Memorial Fund 
              in 1998 but has since made a lucrative career on the talk show and 
              lecture circuit. He was left �50,000 in Diana's will. </font></p>
            <p><font size="1">He presented himself as the devoted keeper of the 
              Princess's secrets and promised : 'I'll never betray her trust'.</font></p>
            <p></p>
            <p></p>
            <p></p>
            <p></p>
            <p>&nbsp;</p>
          </td>
        </tr>
        <tr> 
          <td valign="TOP" colspan="2" bgcolor="#990000"><b><font size="1" color="#FFFFFF"><a name="rich"></a>South 
            Kensington Households are Richest in UK : Survey Reveals </font></b><font size="1" color="#FFFFFF">- 
            16/01/01</font></td>
        </tr>
        <tr> 
          <td valign="TOP"></td>
          <td valign="top" width="100%"> 
            <p><font size="1" color="#000000">South Kensington has been named 
              as having the wealthiest households in Britain, with 10% of households 
              earning more than �100,000. Other areas in the top earning bracket 
              include South Hampstead, Barbican and Belgravia. </font></p>
            <p><font size="1" color="#000000">The new Wealth of the Nations report 
              published today shows that nationally since the mid 90's the income 
              gap between the richest and poorest in Britain has grown. Although 
              the average income in Britain has risen to �23,000 and increase 
              of 8.6% in less than three years, some parts of the country have 
              seen a decline in real earnings</font></p>
            <p><font size="1" color="#000000">. The poorest people in Britain 
              are still concentrated in the North. The centres of Belfast, Liverpool, 
              Bradford, Blackburn and Middlesbrough have more than 60 per cent 
              of their households earning less than �10,000.</font></p>
            <p><font size="1" color="#000000"> However, Merseyside is a prime 
              example of how the income divide is more complex than North-South, 
              as it also has some of Britain's highest incomes. Elsewhere, some 
              of the poorest live alongside some of the richest. In Islington, 
              north London, one postcode in Highbury has an average household 
              income more than double that of another two streets away.</font></p>
            <p><font size="1" color="#000000"> Farming and rural communities have 
              joined the inner cities as among the poorest areas in Britain, while 
              already affluent areas, such as the South East, have grown even 
              richer. </font></p>
            <p><font size="1" color="#000000">Paul Winters, spokesman for CACI, 
              the information services firm which conducted the study said: "Most 
              of us are better off because our incomes have increased ahead of 
              inflation. The better off are becoming richer quicker, and there 
              are substantial minorities who are not sharing in this increased 
              wealth. </font></p>
            <p><font size="1" color="#000000">Retired head teachers, social workers, 
              and others with expertise will be recruited as paid "neighbourhood 
              managers" in the most deprived and run down parts of Britain. The 
              Government's move to tackle "social exclusion" will be announced 
              today, as Tony Blair and Cabinet ministers visit one of the poorest 
              areas in the East End of London. Labour's approach will be to inject 
              money where needed, but to set targets and demand results.</font></p>
            <p>&nbsp;</p>
          </td>
        </tr>
        <tr> 
          <td valign="TOP" colspan="2" bgcolor="#990000"><b><font size="1" color="#FFFFFF"><b><font size="1" color="#FFFFFF"><b><a name="bikini"></a></b></font>Bikini 
            Glimpsed in South Kensington </b></font></b><font size="1" color="#FFFFFF">- 
            15/01/01</font></td>
        </tr>
        <tr> 
          <td valign="TOP"></td>
          <td valign="top" width="100%"> 
            <p><font size="1" color="#000000">One of the most famous bikini's 
              in film history goes up for auction at Christie's South Kensington 
              next month. Ursula Andress, who played the part of Honey Ryder in 
              the James Bond film Dr. No decided to sell the white cotton bikini 
              after re-discovering it in her attic recently. <br>
              </font></p>
            <p><font size="1" color="#000000">Experts think that it may make as 
              much as �50,000 when it comes up for sale in the Bond Memorabilia 
              sale on Feb 14. Miss Andress said: "This bikini made me into a success. 
              As a result of starring in Dr No as the first Bond girl I was given 
              the freedom to take my pick of future roles and to become financially 
              independent." </font></p>
            <p><font size="1"><b><a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/et?ac=002549632124328&amp;rtmo=Qw33LeQR&amp;atmo=rrrrrrrq&amp;pg=/et/01/1/18/tlbond18.html">further 
              reading</a></b></font></p>
            <p>&nbsp;</p>
          </td>
        </tr>
        <tr> 
          <td colspan="2" bgcolor="#990000"><b><font size="1" color="#FFFFFF"><b><font size="1" color="#FFFFFF"><b><a name="tubetales"></a></b> 
            </font>Tube Tales </b>-</font></b><font size="1" color="#FFFFFF"> 
            11/01/01</font></td>
        </tr>
        <tr> 
          <td width="105" valign="top"></td>
          <td valign="top"> 
            <p><font color="white" size="1" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><font color="#000000">Revolutionary 
              vending machines offering short stories for &pound;1 are launched 
              next week at South Kensington tube station. Commuters tired of seeking 
              literary sustenance from tube advertisements will now be able to 
              properly feed their word hunger by consuming work by authors as 
              diverse as P.G.Wodehouse and Ruth Rendell.</font></font></p>
            <p><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="1" color="#000000">Delivered 
              in a handy map-like format, t he series of booklets published by 
              Travelman contain work of between 7.000 & 12,000 words which 
              mean they will take around 40 minutes to read - good news for tube 
              passengers facing increasing delays on the capital's underground 
              system. </font></p>
            <p><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="1" color="#000000">The 
              scheme's organisers Alexander Waugh, grandson of novelist Evelyn 
              Waugh and Ned Iveagh, heir to the Guinness estate eventually intend 
              to install the machines in selected tube stations across London 
              and then in British Rail stations. BR passengers are advised to 
              buy a selection of works before travelling any distance.</font></p>
            <p>&nbsp;</p>
          </td>
        </tr>
        <tr> 
          <td colspan="2" valign="top" bgcolor="#990000"><font size="1" color="#FFFFFF"><b><a name="underground"></a>Underground 
            Chaos - </b>11/01/01</font></td>
        </tr>
        <tr> 
          <td width="105" valign="top"></td>
          <td valign="top"> 
            <p><font color="white" size="1" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><font color="#000000">Royal Borough 
              of K&C Transport Liason Group will meet again today with representatives 
              of London Transport in an attempt to persuade them to provide extra 
              services to replace those lost when the District Line from Earl's 
              Court and High Street Kensington closes for repairs for 14 weeks 
              from February to May. </font></font></p>
            <p><font color="#000000" size="1" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">Councillors 
              are angry that London Underground has not as yet promised a satisfactory 
              replacement service.</font></p>
            <p><font size="1">Chairwomen of the Transport Liason Group Councillor 
              Frances Taylor (Con) said, 'London Underground has known for months 
              about the planned closure by still nothing has been done to remedy 
              the situation.</font></p>
            <p>'<font size="1">They seem to have the attitude of 'wait and see 
              how bad it is before anything is done'.</font></p>
            <p><font size="1">A spokeswoman for London Underground said although 
              the company regrets delays it can make no apologies for the repairs.</font></p>
            <p><font size="1">'The tunnels are 130 years old and if the repairs 
              aren't done, commuters can look forward to the buildings and roads 
              lying on the tracks. We will continue to hold regular meetings with 
              the borough so everyone is kept informed.'</font></p>
            <p>&nbsp; </p>
          </td>
        </tr>
        <tr valign="top"> 
          <td colspan="2" bgcolor="#990000"><font size="1"><b><font color="#FFFFFF"><a name="sparrows"></a>Only 
            8 Sparrows in Kensington Gardens - Shock survey reveals</font></b><font color="#FFFFFF"> 
            - 10/01/01</font></font></td>
        </tr>
        <tr> 
          <td width="105" valign="top"></td>
          <td valign="top"><font size="1">A recent survey has revealed a startling 
            decrease in the population of sparrows in Kensington Gardens and the 
            government are launching an enquiry into the reasons for their decline. 
            </font><font size="1">An 18-month research contract, costing �175,000, 
            will try and discover why the sparrow, once Britain's most common 
            bird, is vanishing from city centres.<br>
            </font> 
            <p><font size="1">In 1954 there were 544 sparrows in Kensington Gardens 
              and in 1925, 2,603. A survey on Saturday found eight. For many years 
              sparrows ate grain spilled from horse feed and their initial decline 
              in the Forties was blamed on the disappearance of horses.<br>
              <br>
              </font><font size="1">However the accelerated decline is something 
              of a mystery, as numbers of other small songbirds have remained 
              relatively stable. Some experts believe vehicle pollution kills 
              off the insects with which sparrows feed their young.<br>
              </font></p>
            <p><font size="1">However a survey in 1995 - when unleaded fuel was 
              less common - revealed 81 sparrows in Kensington Gardens, ten times 
              the current number. Others believe the birds are being attacked 
              by parasites, while a third theory is that they have suicidal leanings 
              - they simply stop breeding if numbers drop too low. </font></p>
            <p><font size="1">The inquiry, which will also look at the decline 
              of the starling, will be headed by Humphrey Crick, a senior scientist 
              at the British Trust for Ornithology. Environment Minister Michael 
              Meacher said: "The sharp decline of the house sparrow is unexplained 
              and it may be this precipitate decline is a warning to us all, like 
              the miner's canary." </font></p>
            </td>
        </tr>
      </table>
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            <p align="left"><b><font color="#000000" size="1">Local News<br>
              </font></b><font size="1"><a href="../../kensington/community-localnews-dec2001/"><b>December<br>
              </b></a></font><b><font color="#000000" size="1"><a href="../../kensington/community-localnews-nov2001/">November</a> 
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              <a href="../../kensington/community-localnews-oct2001/">October<br>
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              <a href="../../kensington/community-localnews-jan2001/">January</a> <br>
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              </b></font><font size="1"><b><font color="#FFFFFF"><a href="../../kensington/community-localfeatures-animalmon/">Animal 
              Monument Gets Go Ahead</a><font color="#000000"><br>
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              Your Local MP - Michael Portillo<br>
              <a href="../../kensington/community-portillo-news/#news">Latest news</a> <br>
              <a href="../../kensington/community-portillo-interview/#int">Interview with MyVillage</a> 
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              <a href="../../kensington/community-portillo-biography/#biog">Portillo-biography</a><br>
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              </a>Parks and Public Spaces</font><font color="#FFFFFF"><br>
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              in Kensington Gardens Now Legal</a></font></b></font><font color="#FFFFFF"> 
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              </font></b></font><font size="1" color="#FFFFFF"><b><a href="../../kensington/goingout-parks-kensingtongardens/#swans">Swans 
              Are Victims of Mystery Killer</a><br>
              <font size="1" color="#FFFFFF"><a href="../../kensington/goingout-parks-kensingtongardens/">Kensington 
              Garden & Hyde Park</a><br>
              <a href="../../kensington/goingout-parks-diana/">Princess of Wales Memorial Gardens<br>
              </a></font></b></font><font size="1" color="#FFFFFF"><b><a href="/#fears">Fear 
              Over Children's Safety at Diana Garden<br>
              </a></b></font><font size="1" color="#FFFFFF"><b><a href="../../kensington/community-localfeatures2/">London 
              Garden Squares Day - June 2001<br>
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              <b><font color="#FFFFFF"> <a href="../../kensington/community-kensingtonrevealed/#siege">Gunman 
              Take Over the Iranian Embassy in Kensington</a></font><a href="#history"><br>
              </a><a href="../../kensington/community-history-sketch/">Kensington and Chelsea 
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              <font color="#FFFFFF"><a href="../../kensington/celebs-diana-death/">Princess 
              Diana Dies In Car Crash</a></font> </b></font></p>
            <p align="left"><font size="1" color="#FFFFFF"><b><font color="#000000">Kensington 
              Revealed</font><br>
              <a href="../../kensington/community-kensingtonrevealed-ghosts/">The Ghost of Kensington 
              Palace</a></b></font></p>
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