Review of the Year 2012

Dec 27 2012 by Sam Yarwood, Runcorn and Widnes Weekly News

THE Weekly News revealed that Halton’s death rate was worse than war-torn Iraq.

A plan to make the forthcoming Mersey Gateway a national visitor attraction was revealed.

Halton Council leader Rob Polhill slammed the raft of vicious budget cuts that would mean scores of authority jobs faced the axe.

Stobart became Rugby League 2012 sponsor.

An animal group moved to allay fears about the disappearance of the swans at Spike Island saying it was a result of changing habits in the mating season.

Widnesian Colin Myler, the last editor of the News Of The World, became editor of the New York Daily News.

Jennifer Ellison, of Widnes, was named as one of the 15 celebrities to take part in Dancing On Ice.

Fears grew that cash to expand the 3mg site in Widnes announced by Nick Clegg would be withdrawn because of a row involving the Environment Agency.

Canadian Mounties were hunting for a Widnesian who masterminded a £650,000 fraud and fled the country.

A plan to replace the original Childe Of Hale tree statue with a bronze alternative was revealed.

A Runcorn brothel owner and his son were ordered to pay £125,000 of money made through their operation.

A Runcorn cannabis grower was ordered to cough up £22,366 of his ill-gotten gains.

Daresbury Labs was said to be key to Britain’s reputation as the ultimate place to do science

A Runcorn paedophile who set up a Facebook page in another man’s name so he could groom his victim was imprisoned

RUNCORN signaller Ian Sartorius-Jones died from a gunshot wound on an Army base at Nahr-e Saraj in Afghanistan.

Emergency measures were used to stop delays to the progress of the Mersey Gateway and force through a drilling investigation programme.

There was double delight at Ormiston Bolingbroke Academy with a positive Ofsted report and news that the school had broken its GCSE records.

Weekly News readers were invited to come up with a name for the new female Vikings mascot. She would be called Pollyma.

A former staff member at a Widnes care home was found guilty of abusing dementia patients.

Whistleblowers revealed a catalogue of problems at the Priory psychiatric unit in Widnes which would eventually be shut down.

A plan to open Runcorn’s Riverside College campus as a ‘University Of Runcorn’ offering degrees was unveiled.

A gang of three who carried out a high value burglary spree across Runcorn were jailed for 22 years in total.

One of the biggest drugs seizures in Widnes was made when police found a huge cannabis farm on Deacon Road, Widnes.

A Runcorn burglar who smashed a mirror across his victim’s face and then threw her over a table was jailed for nine and a half years.

A HEALTH chief claimed that a multimillion pound cancer centre in Liverpool could kill off Halton General.

Michael Starke of Brookside fame stepped into help the Glenda Hill Theatre works group after a burglary.

Councillors agree to apply for Mary Portas funding to regenerate Runcorn Old Town. It would ultimately fail.

Five motorboats contaminated with asbestos were stolen from a locked yard on Mersey View Road.

Workmates of an avid Widnes Vikings fan painted his van in the colour of the Warrington Wolves as a prank.

A huge campaign emerged to opposed plans for massive Halton boundary changes and creation of a ‘Mersey Banks constituency’.

A Runcorn solicitor was jailed for swindling £46,000 from the firm he worked for.

A £1m grant was announced for a revamp of Windmill Hill.

Halton had the highest rate of teen pregnancies in England and Wales.

An inquest heard that a Widnes reveller had died when he walked into a railway tunnel while on drink and drugs.

A coroner slammed security at the Brooker centre after another patient died.

Three teenagers were arrested on suspicion of murdering a Runcorn surgeon in Hale.

A CAMPAIGN was launched to raise £250,000 needed to repair the roof of historic St Luke’s Church, Farnworth.

Tesco Extra in Widnes, the biggest supermarket on Halton’s history, was opened.

Halton was revealed as England’s capital for head injuries.

A campaign to install a statue in tribute to Runcorn Victoria Cross winner Todger Jones got off the ground.

Motorists were warned to brace themselves for months of delays misery as a massive programme of repainting and bridge repairs was under way.

The Weekly News revealed that the Star Wars Jedi religion was alive and kicking in Runcorn and a small contingent of Sith Lords existed in Widnes who carried out charity work.

Vikings boss Steve O’Connor pledged £10,000 to save rivals Bradford Bulls from collapse.

Hundreds of extras flocked to Widnes for the filming of Spike Island, a movie about the iconic Stone Roses concert of 1990.

A youth accused of striking a victim’s face with a bottle came down from a rooftop on Balfour Street after a police siege.

A race was on to save the Buffs Club on High Street, Runcorn, a centre of social life for many elderly people.

A mother paid tribute to her son Christopher ‘CJ’ Jones who was found dead in his bed.

Retired Hale judge Inge Goldrein revealed how Britain saved her from almost certain death at the hands of the Third Reich.

It was a day of glamour and glitz as women on both sides of the river headed to Ladies Day at Aintree.

A woman feared a dognapper was at large at Wigg Island after her two pedigree dogs disappeared.

Resident Ken Williams had a rude awakening when a lightning bolt blew up his telly.

A robber who used a jar of mayonnaise as a weapon during a raid on a Runcorn shop was sent down.

Two Priory mental patients escaped and one went to Wetherspoon pub The Premier and refused to leave.

DEREK Twigg MP said that if an emergency lighting system had been fitted to an armoured Ridgeback vehicle driven by Runcorn soldier Martyn Horton, his death in a drowning accident could have been avoided.

Tributes were flooding in following the death of John Hyland, founder of the Widnes-based Irish Guards Singers.

Widnes birthday girl Hilda Mannion was thought to be Halton’s oldest person at the age of 106.

A devastating arson attack destroyed the iconic Widnes Recreation Club on Liverpool Road.

Captain Martin Hewitt was forced to retreat from his bid to conquer Everest with his team of wounded soldiers as a result of bad weather.

Opposition to Labour was virtually wiped out when the borough went to the polls in the local elections.

Runcorn’s Nicola Roberts was back in the studio with her former Girls Aloud bandmates.

The trial of a man accused of the murder of father-of-three Wayne Basnett in Hale was under way.

The final nail was put in the coffin of plans to construct a school at Upton Rocks, Widnes, when councillors approved a housebuilding plan for the land in question.

The Weekly News exclusively revealed a shocking account of toxic bursts from the ICI site between 1972-1983 after we forced the early release of archive documents detailing a catalogue of incidents.

WIDNES beauty queen Donna Hayes wore a dress made from back issues of the Weekly News when she vied for the title Miss North West. The dress was worn in the eco round of the competition.

The Heath School finally won its battle for a multimillion pound rebuild two years after Government cuts left previous plans in tatters.

Peter Kay made a surprise appearance at the Brindley, joining pal and ex-Squeeze front man Chris Difford on stage and buying chips for the some of the theatre staff.

MP Derek Twigg slammed the Government for refusing to ban pay day money lenders.

A court heard how an angry father drove his van through a pair of luxury gates and threatened to kill his ex-partner.

Thousands lined the streets of Halton to clap eyes on the Olympic Torch being carried through the towns. The Torch bearers included anti-loan shark campaigner Carol Highton.

A man was being treated for multiple injuries after he jumped from the Silver Jubilee Bridge.

Street parties were being held across the borough to celebrate the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee.

Widnes market launched its own currency with vouchers to be used on the market worth £11, but costing only £10.

Crowds were out in force for Hale Carnival.

Four hundred workers building the Ineos incinerator downed tools and walked out in a industrial dispute.

An inquest heard that Stobart lorry driver who was killed when his vehicle fell 20ft onto a carriageway below from a roundabout at junction 11 of the M56 would only have managed to travel at 28mph before the HGV toppled over.

An alligator and venomous snakes were discovered during drugs raids in Widnes and Runcorn.