The London Minute ⏰ Wednesday 25 September 2024
Council spends £16m on temps, Tower Bridge closure, pedicab fire drama, Tamagotchi shop opens + conker tournaments around the city
🌞 Good morning London. Plenty happening today. Here’s Wednesday’s London Minute.
🚔 Two people have been arrested for the murder of 15-year-old Daejaun Campbell in Greenwich on Sunday night. - The Met Police published this update.
⮑ ‘London teen murders 2024: Names and faces of every young person killed in the capital this year’. - Lynn Rusk, LondonWorld.
🚦 Tower Bridge was shut to road traffic after a vehicle hit a pedestrian yesterday, creating gridlock either side of the river. - Charlotte Anderson, News Shopper.
⮑ A woman was taken to hospital after the collision. - Rafi Mauro-Benady, MyLondon.
🚅 A deadline of ‘before 2025’ has been set on whether to green-light or cancel the proposed HS2 high-speed track between Old Oak Common and Euston. - Simon Calder, The Independent.
🚨 More than 8,800 rapes were reported to the Met last year - a rate of one an hour. But experts warn this is just ‘the tip of the iceberg’ and that the true extent of sexual offending will be far higher. - Jessica Ure and Jacob Evans, BBC London News.
🚑 A 13-year-old boy was rushed to hospital after being stabbed on Kentish Town Road. - Lydia Chantler-Hicks, The Standard.
✏️ Six more primary schools in Hackney are under threat of closure or merging– despite four already shutting their doors permanently this summer. - Anna Davis, The Standard.
🛝 Parents say they are ‘heartbroken’ after the closure of a Brockley community centre and nursery. - BBC London News.
💰 Kensington and Chelsea Council is spending £16m a year filling temporary roles through an agency. - Exclusive by Adrian Zorzut, Local Democracy Reporter, MyLondon.
🎁 Details of gifts accepted by city councillors have been revealed in a report by Herbie Russell in the Southwark News, who writes:
“In fact, most of the ‘gifts’ accepted sound more like punishments. Anyone fancy a ticket to the British Parking Awards?”
🏠 Regeneration schemes on major estates are pushing up social housing rents for low-income Londoners, a new report from the Public Interest Law Centre claims. - Claudia Lee, South London Press.
🚲 Most of the riders who had illegally modified e-bikes seized in the City of London in the past year were food delivery riders trying to get a faster vehicle to do their job, new figures show. - Michael Sheils McNamee, BBC London News.
🔥 A person had to jump from a window after a fire at a pedicab storage unit in Southwark’s Union Street. - Rafi Mauro-Benady, MyLondon.
🦪 Oysters (real living ones, not discarded old travel cards), eels and otters may return to the Thames as part of a ten-year plan to clean up the capital's rivers. - Tony Grew, BBC London News.
🗞️ Last week’s closure of the daily Evening Standard print paper led to widespread reports that ‘proper London journalism’ is dead. These deadlines are misleading, writes Dave Hill of OnLondon, who says ‘there’s lots of London news about, and it’s getting better.’
“Even at its worst the Standard has had some excellent reporters. I hope my current favourites don’t disappear. One of them has told me that no longer needing to produce copy for both a printed product and a website could make it easier to strengthen the latter – another possible reason to be cheerful.” - Dave Hill, OnLondon.
🌰 There are two conker tournaments in the calendar next month; one at Hampstead Heath and one in Peckham. - Will Noble has more details in Londonist.
🔊 The O2 Academy in Brixton is now back in full swing, with more shows confirmed for October 2024. - The listings are on Brixton Buzz.
👾 Tamagotchi’s first ever official London store has just opened inside Camden Market. - Sydney Evans, Time Out.
⮑ The comeback of the 1990s digital pet craze is covered by Mubarak AlSabah in Retro News.
🖼️ An exhibition of work by four artists shortlisted for this year’s Turner Prize will go on display at Tate Britain tomorrow. The nominees are Pio Abad, Claudette Johnson, Jasleen Kaur and Delaine Le Bas. The winner will be announced at an award ceremony at Tate Britain on 3 December. - The Tate published full details here.
⮑ Does art need an award? - asks Darren from London Art Roundup. Today’s edition also includes four ‘must see’ shows, exhibitions to avoid and the weekly gallery door game.
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