Latest news with #Grays
Yahoo
25-05-2025
- Yahoo
Armed officers called after reports of gunshots
Armed police responded to reports of gunshots in a residential area after people reported a confrontation between two groups. Essex Police was called to the Seabrooke Rise area of Grays, after numerous calls from members of the public after 19:00 BST on Saturday. They reported a confrontation between two groups of people with witnesses also hearing gunshots. The force said it has found no injuries consistent with a gunshot, but it was treating the reports extremely seriously and "a number of armed units arrived on the scene very quickly". Reports also said a dark-coloured vehicle was being driven suspiciously in the area. The force said officers have carried out an extensive search of the area, but no-one matching the descriptions given has been identified. The force remained in the area overnight, and said it was following up "a number of fast-paced and targeted lines of inquiry". It appealed for anyone with information which they have not reported yet to come forward - particularly dashcam and doorbell footage. Follow Essex news on BBC Sounds, Facebook, Instagram and X. Essex Police
Yahoo
25-05-2025
- Yahoo
Armed officers called after reports of gunshots
Armed police responded to reports of gunshots in a residential area after people reported a confrontation between two groups. Essex Police was called to the Seabrooke Rise area of Grays, after numerous calls from members of the public after 19:00 BST on Saturday. They reported a confrontation between two groups of people with witnesses also hearing gunshots. The force said it has found no injuries consistent with a gunshot, but it was treating the reports extremely seriously and "a number of armed units arrived on the scene very quickly". Reports also said a dark-coloured vehicle was being driven suspiciously in the area. The force said officers have carried out an extensive search of the area, but no-one matching the descriptions given has been identified. The force remained in the area overnight, and said it was following up "a number of fast-paced and targeted lines of inquiry". It appealed for anyone with information which they have not reported yet to come forward - particularly dashcam and doorbell footage. Follow Essex news on BBC Sounds, Facebook, Instagram and X. Essex Police
BBC News
25-05-2025
- BBC News
Armed officers called after reports of gunshots in Grays, Essex
Armed police responded to reports of gunshots in a residential area after people reported a confrontation between two groups. Essex Police was called to the Seabrooke Rise area of Grays, after numerous calls from members of the public after 19:00 BST on Saturday. They reported a confrontation between two groups of people with witnesses also hearing gunshots. The force said it has found no injuries consistent with a gunshot, but it was treating the reports extremely seriously and "a number of armed units arrived on the scene very quickly". Reports also said a dark-coloured vehicle was being driven suspiciously in the area. The force said officers have carried out an extensive search of the area, but no-one matching the descriptions given has been identified. The force remained in the area overnight, and said it was following up "a number of fast-paced and targeted lines of inquiry". It appealed for anyone with information which they have not reported yet to come forward - particularly dashcam and doorbell footage. Follow Essex news on BBC Sounds, Facebook, Instagram and X.
The Guardian
17-05-2025
- Business
- The Guardian
‘It feels like we never left': questions over Brexit linger in Essex constituency
When Keir Starmer was asked last week whether he thought Britons had finally moved on from the issue of Brexit, his answer was a definitive yes. It's not difficult to see why the prime minister would hope to settle the question, before a week in which he hopes to reset the UK's relationship with the European Union, clearing a way for easier access to a marketplace that could help increase the economic growth he badly needs. But at a different kind of marketplace, in one of the most stridently Brexit-backing parts of the country, the answer was not so clearcut. Gazing up from the display of scented products at his family's stall on the high street in Grays, Thurrock, Nigel Guest briefly pondered. 'It feels like we never left the EU to be honest,' replied Guest, 56, a lifelong native of the Essex constituency who, along with an overwhelming 72% of local voters, voted to leave the EU in 2016. Only three other districts backed Brexit to the same extent. 'I just feel that it was a missed opportunity. Yes, people were sometimes fed bullshit. But they were asked if we wanted to come out and people around here literally voted in their droves for it. We've never really seen the investment we were promised.' His partner, Sarah, went further, accusing successive governments of a 'betrayal'. Money that she believed had been saved by exiting the EU should have been channelled into improving it and other public services, she said. Such sentiments were not hard to find behind the bustle of Friday market day in Grays, nestled on the north bank of the Thames, a short drive and even shorter train ride from Tilbury docks, part of the Thames freeport. In the period before the EU referendum, Thurrock recorded the lowest levels of life satisfaction of any place in the UK, while hostility towards immigration was tapped into first by the BNP and later Ukip. With similar messaging, Reform UK is now eyeing its electoral prospects here, where it came second in last year's general election. But for the postponement of local elections, it could also well have added the Thurrock council – declared in effect bankrupt in 2022 – to the list of those it won on 1 May. Yet economic green shoots have emerged, not least in Tilbury, where plans were submitted last week to expand the thriving port by as much as 40 hectares (100 acres). 'Thurrock is very much like a red wall seat. It just happens to be in the south rather than the north,' said Jackie Doyle-Price, who was the local Conservative MP between 2010 until last year, when Jen Craft won the seat back for Labour, which had held it for most of the period after the second world war. 'It's close to London, but Brexit was still an opportunity for those who felt politics was leaving them behind to voice their dissatisfaction,' Doyle-Price said. 'People have moved on from the vote in many ways, but one thing which really cut through during the referendum campaign – the immigration debate – has got worse. What was promised hasn't materialised, because immigration has continued to remain high.' Those shifts in demographics are vividly illustrated by the changing face of Grays' high street, where a diverse range of new restaurants, food stores and other retailers have arrived over the past decade. Those newcomers included Hassan Naeen, who was optimistic about the town's future since establishing Sabina, a supermarket selling hair and body products to African-Caribbean customers and others. 'There's a good community here, and we have been promised that regeneration of the town is coming,' he said. As for the question of potential tensions over immigration, he had praise for the government's plans to toughen policy. At a west African restaurant next door, there was a candid if careful reflection from Father Paschal Uche as he fetched lunch with a fellow Catholic priest, Tochukwu Okonkwo. 'It shouldn't be overstated but sometimes you see divides that might be there even within our community. So, there are certain masses that might have more white, older crowds and others where you've got mainly west African or a migrant community.' As for Brexit, he said of his experience working elsewhere in Essex: 'I think, speaking personally, that some people might have been hit by the realities, whether that's about travel, certain conveniences or whatever else, and feel they are still waiting to see the benefits.' While they wait, however, house prices and rents in the area have been rising to levels beyond the reach of local people, a point emphasised by Neil Woodbridge, whose social enterprise employs 200 staff supporting local disabled people. 'I don't pick up on a huge amount of regret from my staff who voted Brexit. As with elsewhere, it was an 'up yours to the government' and I think they would do it again. 'Keir Starmer might be right to the extent Brexit is in the past for them, but the reality is that they're struggling. There's a thing called the 'Thurrock shrug', and it's where people go 'yeah, whatever' because they always feel let down by government. 'There are such great opportunities, whether it's the ports expansion locally or the direction the economy hopefully is going, but people need to be brought along. Otherwise it's just storing up big problems.'
Yahoo
13-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
NM early childhood educators call for higher wages
Olga Grays, owner of Mrs. Olga's Daycare in Las Cruces, speaks during a "Day Without Child Care" event on May 12, 2025. (Photo by Leah Romero / Source NM) Olga Grays has cared for hundreds of children since she became certified in 2025 as a home daycare provider in Las Cruces, but her experiences have not been without difficulty. Grays owns and operates Mrs. Olga's Daycare near the west side of the city where she cares for 15 children throughout the day. She described the business to Source NM as a 'family' with her adult children working with her, as well as long-time employees. Grays joined the national 'Day Without Child Care' movement on Monday, where early childhood centers closed their doors for a full day to bring awareness to the necessity of childcare and the low wages teachers are paid to care for children. Albuquerque-based advocacy organization OLÉ New Mexico hosted three events in the state, including at Grays' home. Organizers, educators and parents spoke in Las Cruces about the need for a guaranteed $18 per hour base wage for early childhood educators; expanding the industry to recognize experience as well as education teachers have; and ensuring child care is accessible and affordable in the state. Maria Ruiz, a long-time employee of Grays, explained that she entered the early childhood education workforce soon after moving to the U.S. from Mexico and has at least 20 years of experience working with children. However, because she does not have a degree, she is stuck only making minimum wage. 'All my kids were so little and I saw them grow here,' Ruiz said in Spanish as an interpreter translated. She became a widow several years later and left the daycare to make more money to sustain her family, but returned to Olga's where she enjoyed better working conditions. She said her years of experience should qualify her for higher wages. 'We can't afford this kind of life. Everything is so expensive.' Marc Cordova, a single parent with two young children enrolled at Olga's Daycare, emphasized the flexibility a smaller daycare provides him so he can get to work early and ensure his children are cared for. Marc Cordova is pictured with his youngest children, Evalynn Codova, 5, and Marc Cordova Jr., 3, at Mrs. Olga's Daycare in Las Cruces on May 12, 2025. (Photo by Leah Romero / Source NM) 'Mrs. Olga and her employees have always gone that extra mile for our children. Mrs. Olga has even offered to get my Evalynn ready for school and drop her off, knowing my situation of being a single father. I don't know any other daycare programs willing to help like that,' Cordova said. Grays explained to Source that not only has she looked after and taught children during the day, but she's also done emergency foster care for children who, for example, do not get picked up or who need a safe place to stay while their guardians deal with other factors. She said she took in one four-month-old boy until he was 8 years old. 'It's my passion. I feel like kids that are the most in need, who lack the resources because either both parents are addicted or they don't have that support, that those are the kids who [don't get] seen. I understand there's parents who could afford expensive daycares with better quality,' Grays said. 'I chose to get a pay cut and stay in this because I feel like that's who needs it the most. And who sees them? Nobody really. And so I make sure that I tell my employees, my kids, they have the same heart as me.' SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX
