Latest news with #JohnFitzgerald
BBC News
5 days ago
- General
- BBC News
'We've saved 800 items from landfill in a year'
Members of The Fix It Group 23 are getting ready for their largest ever repair event has been organised by the group, based in Mountsorrel, Leicestershire, to coincide with World Environment Day on estimated 800 items have been saved from landfill by the repair volunteers over the past year, the group have a mix of practical items, including scooters from a local school, and others with sentimental value, including a vintage one-armed bandit and "a doll wearing the clothing of a much-loved auntie who had died as a child". Group founder John Fitzgerald worked for Royal Mail for 20 years but had always enjoyed fixing neighbours' household items. He said: "I noticed how many people didn't have anyone to fix things for them. A lot of people haven't got tools anymore. "The old handy person who had a little corner shop where you could take something in to be fixed are gone."Mr Fitzgerald said the group had grown beyond his wildest dreams with about 20 repairers giving up their time for free every month. "To take Winston Churchill's phrase: never has so much been achieved by so few," he said. Jo Liversidge is the group's events organiser and loves helping the local community, for example when a primary school needed all its scooters fixing or a nearby care home brought along its broken bingo machine. She said: "We are restoring stories not just objects. We have a barometer from a Hull trawlerman, a camel saddle stool from Egypt, a 'dead mans penny' from World War One and a vintage one-armed bandit. Each has a tale."Sometimes people are embarrased [to ask for help], but you're stopping that thing from going into landfill." Residents at HC-One Mountview Care Home in Rothley were delighted when their bingo number generator was fixed by the worker Annette Bunney said: "It stopped not so long ago at number 70 and we couldn't get to the end of the game."We found the fix it group and they are amazing."It stops us throwing stuff into landfill and really in this day and age we really do need to consider that."The group's World Environment Day event takes places at Mountsorrel Memorial Hall between 09:00 and 13:00 BST on Thursday.
Yahoo
11-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
To The Point: Posthumus, Fitzgerald on contentious session
GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WOOD) — On this 'To The Point,' we talk with the majority floor leader and the Democratic floor leader about a session that is yet to produce much consensus legislation. State Rep. Bryan Posthumus, R-Rockford, weighs in, saying, 'Figures never lie, but liars sure can figure, right? The audacity of the individuals that espousing these lies is just ludicrous.' As does Democratic Floor Leader state Rep. John Fitzgerald, D-Wyoming. 'It's been an interesting change into the minority. It has been an interesting change now to have divided government, but I do think there is (an) opportunity, I am hopeful. I believe that we can do better and will do better,' he said. The view of a contentious session from both sides on this 'To The Point' episode for the weekend of May 10. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
10-05-2025
- Yahoo
Banned driver 'impulsively' decided to drive to work, court told
A BANNED driver from rural north Cumbria who was needed at his workplace in Carlisle 'impulsively' decided to drive there. John Fitzgerald, 36, from Walton, near Brampton, was given a 30-month disqualification for driving dangerously in August of 2023 and told he will remain banned until he passes an extended driving test. He was also given a ten month jail term. His formal ban was also scheduled to remain in force until at least May of next year, the court heard.. But on February 6 police spotted him at the wheel of a black Audi A3 as he drove along Brampton Road in Carlisle. 'The driver was stopped and admitted straight away that he was disqualified,' prosecutor Scott Parker told the city's Rickergate court. The defendant admitted the offence as well as driving while not insured. Read more: Brampton man's aggressive driving included using BMW to ram Audi Sean Harkin, defending, told the court: 'He is working man as a mechanic, and usually cycles to his place of work. This was a lapse of judgement. "He was keen to impress his employer. 'He was needed at work but would have struggled to get there, so he made the impulsive decision to drive. 'He knows that orders of the court must be respected and that must be a priority going forward. 'He has no relevant convictions. It was surprising that the author of the pre-sentence report said that she thinks this was not the first time he had done this. He is no longer on drink or drugs. 'He is also in employment and in a stable relationship.' Deputy District Judge Andrew Teate noted that the defendant had the 'good sense' to plead guilty to the offence at the earliest opportunity. But the judge said: 'When the court tells you that you should not drive, you are not to drive. It's disappointing that you find yourself back before the court, having made the decision to drive. 'You will have to pass an extended driving test before you get back on the road. These matters are extremely serious.' The District Judge imposed a 12-month community order which will include 15 days of rehabilitation. He must also pay £85 costs and a victim surcharge of £114. In addition, the judge added a further three months to the defendant's existing driving ban. Deputy District Judge Teate warned: 'For a second time offence, it is likely you would be sent to custody.'
Irish Daily Mirror
25-04-2025
- Irish Daily Mirror
Tears for 'lovely' Leaving Cert student killed in horror crash
Tributes have poured out for a 'lovely' young Leaving Certificate student who died when her car entered a river in Co Tipperary. The 18 year-old girl, understood to be from Clonmel, died after her vehicle collided with a wall and entered the River Aherlow shortly after 10pm on Thursday at Kilaldry Bridge in Kilmoyler, near Cahir. Her body was recovered from the water by members of the Garda Water Unit on Friday morning. It has since emerged that the young girl was preparing to do her Leaving Certificate this year - and that she is from a well known family in Clonmel. Her father is understood to have been abroad and is set to travel back to Ireland after learning the devastating news. Local Clonmel councillor John Fitzgerald, who knows the family, told the Irish Mirror that she was a 'lovely person' taken too soon. 'We are heartbroken. I personally knew her and she was a lovely person in every way possible. She was so nice and we are just devastated for her mother, father, brothers and sisters. She was doing her Leaving Cert and was such a special and nice person. There is a cloud hanging over the town over this loss,' he said. Local Cllr John O'Heney added: 'Late last night [Thursday] after 10 o'clock there was a single car collision and an 18 year-old girl diverted off the road. Unfortunately she passed away and the Garda Water Unit recovered her body this morning. I'd like to extend my deepest sympathies to the family and friends of this young girl. It is such a tragic event to have a girl so young taken so soon." The young woman's body was taken to a mortuary where an examination was due to take place. The road, the L3101, remained closed on Friday as Garda Forensic Collision Investigators carried out a technical examination of the scene. Gardaí are appealing for witnesses and are particularly keen to speak to anyone who may have been in the Kilmoyler area between 10pm and midnight on Thursday. Road users with dash-cam or other camera footage from the area during that time are asked to come forward. Anyone with information is asked to contact Cahir Garda Station on 052 7445630, the Garda Confidential Line on 1800 666 111, or any Garda station.
Boston Globe
20-03-2025
- Boston Globe
In Dorchester's Meetinghouse Hill, a jump in killings leaves residents feeling ‘left behind'
Boston is one of the safest big cities in the country, and today's numbers are But local advocates said today's citywide statistics, though worth celebrating, can elide a tragic reality: that in Boston, gun violence is deeply local. It occurs block by block, person to person. It often stems from gang rivalries and social media feuds, and then from retaliation when the victims or their loved ones seek revenge. Advertisement And it means that neighborhoods such as Meetinghouse Hill, whose largely Cape Verdean community has 'It's great that stats are down across the city — but not necessarily for the entire city,' said City Councilor John Fitzgerald, who represents the area. 'We could be doing a lot more, because hurt people hurt people. ' Fitzgerald said the concentration of violence in Meetinghouse Hill last year was jarring, and that much of it is driven by the drug trade and young people in neighborhood gangs. He pushed for more resources and welcomed a recent increase in police visibility in the neighborhood. Advertisement Mayor Michelle Wu, who celebrated the city's historic decline in murder rates at a The city is dedicating personnel and money to violence prevention in Dorchester and Meetinghouse Hill, Wu's office said in a statement. Those initiatives include direct outreach to previous perpetrators of violence, collaboration with neighborhood associations, grants to neighborhood violence prevention groups, and programs targeting 'Any incident of violence in our city is one too many and leaves lasting trauma on those impacted, so we will not be satisfied with anything less than ending violence in our neighborhoods,' Wu said in a statement. Boston ended last year with 24 homicides, its lowest number in 67 years. Wu said the city is not taking a 'victory lap,' but that the statistics validate years-long efforts to improve the city's data collection, police recruitment and retention, youth job programs, and community safety initiatives geared toward young people. At that December press conference, Boston police Commissioner Michael Cox said: 'In the entire time that I've been a police officer, going back since when I came on, the city has never been safer, period, when it comes to crime, particularly violent crime.' But the climb in murders in Meetinghouse Hill shows that those trends can vary, depending on where you live. Homicides in Dorchester's C-11 police district, which includes Meetinghouse Hill, increased from five to seven last year, with South Boston the only other district seeing an increase. Those increases in homicides occurred even as overall safety in the area improved, according to data provided by Boston police. The total number of shooting victims has declined in three consecutive years, for instance, even as fatal shootings ticked up. Advertisement Meetinghouse Hill is one of Dorchester's oldest neighborhoods. Behind the historic First Parish Church sits the Mather School, the oldest public elementary school in North America. It is home to a predominantly Black and mixed-race population, according to Census estimates. Immigrants, including many from Cape Verde, the Dominican Republic, and Vietnam, have built communities here, making homes in triple deckers on one-way streets lined with ash and linden trees. From atop the hill, Ronan Park looks out over the Dorchester Bay, beyond the pale headlights of cars crawling along Interstate 93. Residents there have also struggled economically. Meetinghouse Hill and surrounding neighborhoods in north Dorchester have poverty rates well above the city's average. A Last year, there were three fatal shootings within a quarter mile of First Parish, a center of Dorchester's civic life for 350 years, overlooking the neighborhood from atop Meetinghouse Hill. On a recent afternoon, Maria Hernandez walked her two young children from school to the Ridgewood Street triple decker they call home. Next door, a month and a hald ago, Kareem DaVeiga Booth , 20, was Police said they are still looking for the shooter in the Jan. 21 homicide, and no one has been arrested in the case. Hernandez didn't witness that shooting, she said, but she's heard others. Advertisement 'I've lived here two years, and I hear gunshots on different occasions, but I never know where or what's going on,' Hernandez said in Spanish. 'I stay in my house with my children.' There's a shooting, then press conferences, news articles, and promises to redouble antiviolence efforts. Those initiatives are important but they are not enough, she said. The same patterns of killing and revenge still exist, leaving families shattered. 'Homicides are still happening,' she said. 'People are still dying, and it's not private death, it's public death. And so for us, even the midst of our pain, we want to shift that narrative.' Finding solutions can be difficult. For Chéry, it means creating neighborhoods where violence is not just prevented, but peace is actively created, Chery said, an approach that includes teaching schoolchildren how to process their emotions and handle conflict in a healthy way. Until that happens, she said, reductions in violence will always be at risk and leave some parts of the city behind 'We want to celebrate, yet tell a mother whose child was murdered and tell a mother whose child is being arrested by the police that this is a safe community,' Chery said. 'When we stop the violence, what do we put in its place? Because the violence is going to come back.' On a recent Wednesday, a dozen members of the Meetinghouse Hill Civic Association gathered for their monthly meeting at First Parish. They listened as officers from Dorchester's C-11 district listed recent crimes in their neighborhood, watching for patterns and trends. Advertisement The Boston Police Department has deployed officers to the neighborhood in 'Community Interaction Teams,' which emphasize walking the beat, public visibility, and talking to community members, Boston Police spokesperson Mariellen Burns wrote in a statement. 'For any resident or neighborhood touched by violence, we understand that statistics can't capture the full picture of what their experience is.' Burns wrote. 'We work daily to prevent violence when possible and respond to it when it occurs, and our partnership with the community is a critical part of this work.' Residents have noticed the increased police presence and appreciate it, said Fitzgerald, the area's City Council member. 'The response to that has been great,' he said. 'The visibility is higher.' Jones, the civic association president, said she has noticed the added patrols and credited the department with keeping the community informed. 'They're just not riding by being visible in their vehicles,' she said. 'They're actually stopping, they're getting out and participating. It makes a big big difference.' But, she said, it still doesn't feel like enough. More foot patrols, perhaps. More police presence. 'I do feel like we've been left behind,' Jones said. Dan Glaun can be reached at
