London hometown news of the day
Several weeks ago, I wrote a politically-incorrect blog about how sick I was of hearing about Madeleine McCann, the little four-year-old girl who disappeared from a Portugal hotel room while her British parents were out drinking and cavorting at the resort restaurant.
The worldwide media coverage has been unbelievable, and outrageous to say the least. Celebrities including David Beckham and J.K. Rowling appeared in television public service announcements pleading for information on behalf of Maddy. Her picture is plastered in every airport, train station and bus station in Europe. The smallest piece of information has been overblown into practically daily front-page stories in the British tabloids.
In my blog, I predicted, rightly as it turns out, that the parents would eventually be implicated in her disappearance (contrary to media and parental hysteria, kidnappings of children are actually quite rare, and kidnappings by strangers are even rarer). Today, Portuguese police announced that Maddy's mother, Kate McCann, was now their No. 1 suspect.
I hate to tell you "I told you so", but, I told you so!
So with that out of the way, let's turn to other London news from today's Islington Tribune, a weekly little freebie distributed in the London Borough of Islington. These are ACTUAL stories from today's paper. I am NOT making this up!
Today's lead story:
Streets of Angel Set to Smell Heavenly
Page 1
The streets of Angel will soon be smelling of roses udner a plan to wash pavements with a fragrant detergent, writes Peter Gruner.
Two mobile pavement washing machines will go into action next month to tackle unpleasant odours -- particular (sic) those created by boozey revelers -- with the smell of roses.
Jake the Police Dog Smokes out Tobacco Ring
Page 2
A sniffer dog has helped police smash a lucrative counterfeit tobacco ring in a national first.
Jake, a German Shephered, hauled in a batch of 2,000 fake cigarettes that were being sold by organized cartels of failed Iraqi asylum seakers in the Nag's Head area on Saturday.
'Turn down the noise' plea by karaoke club neighbors
Page 4
Growing conflict between high-spirited karaoke fans and residents in Clerkenwell who year for a decent night's sleep erupted in fury this week.
Neighbours accused the management of Murphis karaoke club in Clerkenwell Road of being deaf to their complaints about singing -- or attempts at it -- and loud music into the early hours.
Page 4: Fork Threat
Police are hunting a robber who threatened a teacher witha kitchen fork before stealing her handbag on Sunday.
And a few more memorable headlines:
--Old people's home opens
--Cashback delight for shopper who dropped purse in street: Owner bowled over by honest of passer-by who returned missing £200
--Fish shop damaged by fire
Now I remember why I enjoy covering and reading hometown news more than the big stories!