WITH all that sunbathing this week, you may not have had time to keep up with the news. So here’s a summary.
The ten things we learnt this week are:
1. It’s Flake news!
The last thing anyone wants to hear when it gets this hot is that the Island is running out of Flakes. But ice-cream sellers were faced with 99 problems this week when Cadbury’s suffered some very badly timed supply problems. Incidentally, have you ever wondered why a 99 is called a 99? Apparently, in the days of the monarchy in Italy, the King had a specially chosen guard consisting of 99 men, and subsequently anything really special or first-class was known as ’99’.
2. A beautiful yacht suffered an ugly end
Eleonora – a replica of TB Davis’ famous yacht Westward – sank this week in a Spanish port. In 1947, Westward was deliberately sunk in the Hurd Deep off Alderney after Davis died and a suitable owner couldn’t be found. Eleonora, meanwhile, was taken out by a supply vessel which apparently got its engines stuck in reverse.
… and here is the collision
3. Covid is back
Technically, it never actually went away. But during the last few of weeks, the number of cases in Jersey, Guernsey and the UK have started to tick up again. And a couple of party leaders – Reform’s Sam Mézec and Sir Mark Boleat of Jersey Alliance – have had their canvassing thwarted after testing positive.
4. John Nettles says he would love a cameo in the new Bergerac series…
… which may be filmed next summer. Or may not. Plans to develop the new series are apparently back on track following a reorganisation of the production companies involved. And any reboot of the detective series that doesn’t feature at least a glimpse of Mr Nettles would be a crime in itself.
5. If you are going to speed through the country lanes, don’t film it…
… because if the police get hold of it, you’ll get in a whole lot of trouble. Steven Caldeira Pacheco (27) found that out recently when he was locked up for six months after footage found on his phone showed cars racing at 80mph through St Peter and St Mary. Probably best to leave the phone at home. Better still, just stick to the speed limit.
6. Another bay, another development
A Jersey bay really isn’t a bay without luxury seafront home… The Café Romany site at Grève de Lecq has been advertised with approved plans for offers over £5 million – and over £11 million for the completed development.
7. Three individuals were saved following a 24-hour rescue
Three duckings were rescued by a lifeboat crew and young Islander Hattie Winchurch after they fell through gaps in a concrete grid at St Catherine. The trio were eventually reunited with their mother at the nearby pond.
8. We are being asked to name the places in Jersey where we don’t feel safe
The States police are asking Islanders to report the places where we feel most at risk of crime. The story sat below a separate article about petrol prices which featured a picture of a garage forecourt – a place where it feels like we are robbed every time we pull in.
9. ‘Miracle’ orang-utan Kea has left Jersey Zoo
The nine-year-old has been transferred to a zoo in Germany, where it is hoped she will start her own family. Kea, short for ‘Keajaiban’, meaning ‘miracle’ in Indonesian, was born at Jersey Zoo in 2013 to mother, Dana, and father, Dagu. She got the name because it was previously thought that Dana would never be able to conceive, following an earlier pregnancy where she suffered complications that resulted in a stillbirth.
10. Fisherman lands an eight-legged monster
A giant 18lb octopus was caught off Jersey’s south-west coast this week. They were once very common in local waters but were pretty much killed off during the big freeze of 1962/63. They may now be making a return. It is, at least, something to think about when you feel what you believe is seaweed tickling your toes while out swimming this weekend…
