Latest news with #SeanParr
Scotsman
4 days ago
- Business
- Scotsman
Edinburgh coffee caravan closes suddenly as owner issues ‘deep sadness' statement
A coffee caravan that relocated almost 300 miles from the Scottish Highlands to the Edinburgh seaside has been forced to shut – just weeks after it opened. Sign up to our daily newsletter Sign up Thank you for signing up! Did you know with a Digital Subscription to Edinburgh News, you can get unlimited access to the website including our premium content, as well as benefiting from fewer ads, loyalty rewards and much more. Learn More Sorry, there seem to be some issues. Please try again later. Submitting... The Isle of Coffee caravan was a popular fixture on the Isle of Harris before its move to the Capital last month. The small coffee shop, built in a 1961 Swift caravan, has been trading on the corner of Morton Street and Esplanade Terrace in Joppa since mid-May. But now co-owner Sean Parr has informed locals they will be closed until further notice, due to 'irreconcilable differences' with Edinburgh City Council. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad In a post on Facebook, Sean wrote: 'It is with deep sadness that I have to let the great customers of Joppa know that we are having to shut the Isle Coffee caravan on Morton St and Esplanade Terrace. 'In trying to satisfy the needs of the council we have sadly not met the needs of the community and at this stage these seem to be irreconcilable differences. We hope in the future to find a workable solution and that we may be able to return to our new home. 'In the meantime we are heading back to Harris (good news for our Hearachs) at the end of the week and we will try and sort this all out from there. We are devastated to have caused so much consternation, it was never our intention to bring anything other than good vibes and great coffee when we moved to Joppa. 'We have loved meeting so many wonderful, friendly and joyful locals – it is a truly fantastic place to live and we have been made to feel so welcome by so many people, we just hope we can sort things out and come back to Joppa.' Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad Locals expressed their sadness at Isle of Coffee's sudden closure in the comments. One local wrote: 'Really sorry to hear this, I enjoyed my post-swim coffee and was looking forward to many more. Your caravan was an asset to the Joppa end of the prom. Hope you manage to sort something out soon.' Another said: 'Please don't give up! Your coffee and your happiness and upbeat look on life has been such a joy to have. Hope to see you back on Morton Street very soon.' A third commented: 'Sean, this is such rubbish news. I was so hopeful that this situation could be resolved. Really such a shame – you were a welcome addition to Joppa. Hopefully it will get sorted in the future.' Edinburgh City Council has been approached for comment.
Yahoo
28-05-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Manchester school board letter urges Ayotte to veto so-called 'book ban bill'
Manchester school board members have voted to send a letter to Gov. Kelly Ayotte to veto House Bill 324, which critics charge is a book ban that violates local control and will have a chilling effect on what librarians and teachers decide to introduce that could be considered sexually graphic, but have significant literary value. In the letter, school board members say the bill is 'essentially a book ban.' 'It prohibits materials 'harmful to minors in schools' but it fails to define these materials adequately,' the letter says. 'In its reach, the bill encompasses curricular materials, library holdings, and anything presented in schools, online or in-person. This is not only an overreach of state authority over local school districts, but also an egregious constraint on academic freedom and educational content. 'Although the bill attempts to define certain terms, such as 'material,' 'nudity,' 'sexual content,' and more, it fails to delineate the arbiters of the implementation of this proposed policy. 'This bill is unworkable, unnecessary, and even dangerous, to our students, our faculty, and our community. It is a solution in search of a problem and greatly diminishes the local authority of New Hampshire school districts.' School board member Sean Parr said he views the bill as an 'overreach of state authority over local school districts' and a 'constraint on academic freedom and educational content.' 'The bill attempts to define certain terms, but it fails to delineate who makes the decisions about the implementation of the proposed policy,' Parr told fellow board members Tuesday. 'The guidelines are extremely vague. It does not say what constitutes materials that appeal 'to the prurient, shameful or morbid interest of minors', it doesn't define what materials might lack serious value, and it doesn't say what counts as inappropriate. 'It does not indicate who makes these decisions.' School board vice chairman Jim O'Connell said he finds the 'preoccupation with issues of sexuality and people's anatomy' by officials in Concord 'shocking.' 'I find it shocking that a legislative body would spend its time defining the various pieces of human anatomy, most of it female,' O'Connell said. 'They're less concerned with the male anatomy clearly. To think that's what our House is doing in Concord, I find it appalling. I wish that the people in Concord would spend a tiny bit of time talking about academic outcomes, supporting our public education, how we improve state educational financing — the things that actually matter to the students in our schools. 'Instead, they are busy in back rooms having closeted conversations. Who spent the hours writing this bill?' The vote to send the letter was 10-2, with school board member Joy Senecal and Mayor Jay Ruais opposed. School board member Carlos Gonzalez was absent from Tuesday's meeting. Ruais, who said his office has received "several" calls voicing concerns with certain books, said he would have crafted the letter differently. 'I wouldn't presume that there's a preoccupation with sex on behalf of individuals that I think have legitimate concerns about what might be in our schools or in our libraries,' Ruais said. 'I wouldn't inherently assume that there's a preoccupation there, but rather there are legitimate concerns, and I think recognizing that by speaking with parents is something that's important. I also have concerns with the language in the letter as well, because it — just to me — there was nothing in that letter that was constructive. 'If there was an offer in there, like, 'Hey, we have concerns, we would like to work with you to address those concerns. Here is what we do in our district to address concerns that have been brought to our district previously.' 'Rather, this letter does not read in a constructive sense to me, and more 'We oppose this and urge you to as well.'' O'Connell disagreed with the mayor's comments, saying HB 324 is 'an answer in search of a problem.' 'I wish our legislature was more concerned ... about education,' O'Connell said. 'I wish they were concerned about lots of things. This isn't one of them. This is politics, and it doesn't belong in here.' School board member Peter Argeropoulos said it's 'really sad to me' that public education has become 'this thing for political people to fight over.' 'It's become kind of this toy, and sometimes we lose sight of that when we're looking at certain things,' Argeropoulos said. 'It is a little bit disheartening as an educator to listen to the things that are going on in Concord or in Washington, D.C., and they won't come and talk to us. We're going to welcome you into the school anytime you want to come and talk to us. I'll give you my opinions. I'll give you my feedback. I'll have a conversation. I'll talk to anybody.'
