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Councillors have agreed to launch an informal consultation on proposals for two Bedlington first schools to convert to primaries.
At its meeting on Tuesday, Northumberland County Council's cabinet agreed to a request from the governing bodies of Whitley Memorial CE First School and Bedlington West End First School to carry out a consultation on extending their age ranges from September 2020.
If the changes were to go forward, it would require a statutory proposal to be published, followed by a formal consultation.
The Bedlington Partnership is currently a mix, with the majority having switched to a two-tier system of primaries and secondaries, while these two first schools and Meadowdale [Middle] Academy remain as a three-tier set-up.
Since changing from high schools to secondary schools, Bedlington Academy and St Benet Biscop Catholic Academy have retained two annual intakes each September - at age 11 and age 13 - to reflect the mixed economy within the partnership.
However, from September 2020, both secondary academies will only accept pupils at 11 (Year 7).
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Towns across Northumberland are to share in more than £55,000 of additional community clean-up funding.
This award for the county council comes from the Government's £10million High Streets Community Clean-Up Fund and will be used to help existing groups to carry out community-led street and town-centre cleans.
Around £12,000 of the funding will be used for graffiti-removal kits that will be offered free to community groups; litter-picking equipment for the existing loan scheme or permanently for litter champions; Love Northumberland-branded tabards; and prizes for winners at the Love Northumberland awards.
The remaining funds will be distributed through the towns of Morpeth, Alnwick, Berwick, Hexham, Blyth, Ashington, Cramlington, Ponteland, West Bedlington, Haltwhistle, Prudhoe and Amble to organise clean-up events.
Coun Glen Sanderson, cabinet member for the environment and local services, said: "I am grateful to the Government for this useful award of funding.
"We're so proud of our high streets and want to do all we can to keep them looking clean and tidy.
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Indie rockers Pigeon Detective and former Ocean Colour Scene member Andy Bennett have been announced as the headline acts for this summer's Northumberland Live festival.
The line-up is set to draw crowds to the beach in Blyth on June 22 where the free event will play out for the sixth year.
Organisers announced the return of the music festival to the town h just days after it was revealed the Bedlington leg of the two-part event has been renamed .
 
Also on its programme will be teenage singer-songwriter Chloe Rose who will be playing both festivals and Space who are best known for the hit  Female Of The Species.
Fans no doubt will be glad of a chance to catch up with The Pigeon Detectives, who released their fifth studio album Broken Glances  in 2017 and played Leeds Festival the same year, and rock favourite Bennet, who left Ocean Colour Scene in 2015 to embark upon a successful solo career.
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Murder accused Paul Johnson told a court the boss he is alleged to have choked to death was "very bad tempered" but "I loved him to bits".
Johnson is alleged to have strangled building firm owner Steve Coulson after turning up at his flat in the early hours - before raiding his safe as he lay dead or dying on his bedroom floor.
The 34-year-old denies murder and assault with intent to rob and is standing trial at Newcastle Crown Court.
Johnson went into the witness box to begin giving evidence in the case and said Mr Coulson was a good friend but claimed he had a short fuse.
He admitted he was taking crack cocaine last year, which he had begun using to try to cope with the fact his mum was suffering from cancer. She died around six months before Mr Coulson, he said.
John Elvidge QC, for Johnson, asked him: “How did you regard Mr Coulson?”
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Fans of The Beautiful South can catch up with former members of the much-loved band when they headline at the newly-named Gallagher Park Live Music Festival in Bedlington this summer.
The South - featuring Alison Wheeler and Gaz Birtles - will be heading north to get the party going at the free family-friendly festival - formerly part of Northumberland Live - on Saturday, July 27.
Besides having a new title - named after its town location - the festival will have a new look too, while the Blyth leg of Northumberland Live is set to continue as usual.
Also on its line-up for the day will be rising teen star Chloe Rose - a singer-songwriter who has performed at the likes of  Old Trafford for Wayne Rooney’s testimonial and - one bound to delight young ones - CBeebies presenter Sid Sloane.
Older music lovers will no doubt welcome a chance to hear favourite songs played live, courtesy of Wheeler and Birtle who front The South, which grew from the ashes of The Beautiful South - following its split-up in 2007 - and is now celebrating its 10-year anniversary.
Sax player Birtles now joins Wheeler in singing duties since Dave Hemingway left at the end of 2016 and the nine-piece band continue to keep alive all those original hits such as Song For Whoever - now a remarkable 30 years old - plus the likes of Perfect 10; Rotterdam and number one hit A Little Time.
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A Newcastle illustrator has been left in disbelief after one of his designs was used to mock Piers Morgan.
The outspoken TV presenter has not been shy in sharing his disdain for Greggs' popular vegan sausage roll.
So one viewer settled on the perfect wind-up for the Good Morning host - sending him a vegan-inspired birthday card.
The early birthday card reads "I love Greggs vegan sausage rolls more than you", and even includes a fake coupon for a free vegan treat.
Newcastle illustrator James Dixon - known under the business name Lines Behind - designed the card as part of his "I love you more than" card range to feature at Greggs festive bake exhibition last year.
The 30-year-old, from Bedlington , was woken by friends tagging him in the Instagram post.
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The Northumberland Labour leader has responded to the recent airing of concerns about council-owned Arch , again describing it as a "witch-hunt".
Coun Grant Davey, who will be standing down as the group's leader in May , also said that he has answered questions on these matters and "the ratepayers have already covered the huge costs of having me interviewed on three occasions".
It followed Friday's two-hour meeting of Northumberland County Council's audit committee to discuss a 98-page report into arrangements at the wholly council-owned development company under the previous Labour administration. Arch has since been replaced by Advance Northumberland.
This report was commissioned after the Conservatives took over at County Hall in May 2017 and completed in October that year, but has not been released until now at the request of Northumbria Police .
The force has since confirmed to the council that it would not object to the report's disclosure and have now said "no criminal offences have been identified".
However, having discussed a number of the issues in the report, which raised concerns around nepotism, collusion and a "culture of entitlement", as jobs and perks were handed out to "the chaps", the committee members still had questions.
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Cemetery-walking dog owners who allow their animals to foul graves and headstones are to be targeted by enforcement officers.
Northumberland County Council is stepping up patrols to combat an increase in reported incidents of dog fouling and owners failing to keep dogs on leads in cemeteries.
Enforcement Officers will be on patrol in cemeteries where dog owners have been sighted allowing their dogs to roam around cemetery grounds.
Council cemeteries are subject to dog control orders which require dogs to be kept on a short lead, not more than 1.5 metres in length, at all times and must be under control. An extendable lead is not permitted.
As in all other public places, it is an offence to allow a dog to foul and not clean up. Signs at all the entrances to the cemetery instruct dog owners to keep their dogs on leads.
The council has received an increasing number of complaints of dogs fouling in cemeteries, especially in the Bedlington and Blyth area and say this is particularly distressing for those visiting the graves of loved ones.
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It's been almost a year since Miss Newcastle took us on a magic carpet ride for its Arabian Nights themed final and now we know the identities of the first nine girls in the running for this year's title.
Over 300 girls from across the region applied to be Miss Newcastle 2019 , which is a record for the competition, and now the first nine finalists have been announced for the annual event which will once again raise money for The Chronicle's Sunshine Fund.
The theme for this year's glittering final, hosted by the Gainford Group at The County Hotel, is Aphrodite and the goddesses already in the running for the Miss Newcastle crown are:
Amy Conway, 21, Wallsend
Charlotte Moore, 23, Newcastle
Chelsea Simpkin, 19, Cramlington


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