Category: News

A potential £1 million pledge from just 4% of people in Montrose has been described as yet more evidence of the community’s desire for a cinema.

The Montrose Playhouse Project embarked on its most successful event to date in the form of a DIY SOS style strip-out at the old pool in November.

Volunteers had helped save the project £250,000 and the team are now working behind the scenes to raise the capital funding required for the rest of the renovations which amounts to around £2 million.

Chairman David Paton said: “Once we have a commitment to capital funding from one or more source, we intend to raise the balance through a reward based crowdfunding scheme.

“In anticipation of this, we have carried out a two week survey of just over 500 respondents asking them what, if any, of our proposed rewards they’d be interested in with an indication of prices.

“These ranged from a ticket to the opening night at £30 or a brick in the Playhouse Wall of Fame for £50 all the way up to a main sponsor at £50,000.

“In the two week period we had ‘raised’ a theoretical £1 million from around 4% of the town’s population which is yet more evidence of the community’s desire for the facility.”

Local lads Graeme Thomson, Gary Jamieson and James Kennedy are giving the project a further boost by signing up for a 25-mile kiltwalk in Glasgow on April 29.

On June 30 Montrose Driving Instructors Association are holding their annual mock driving test fundraiser with all proceeds going to the ambitious project.

Mr Paton said: “The MDIA do this every year for a local charity as a way of giving back to the community whilst promoting good driving awareness.

“The entry fee is £25 for which you get a 30 minute mock driving test with a qualified …read more

Source:: Evening Express – All articles

The Calgary Flames have fired their old coach and hired a new one. The New York Rangers fired Alain Vigneault. The Chicago Blackhawks made it clear long ago they were sticking with Joel Quenneville. Ken Hitchcock retired in Dallas. In Anaheim, Randy Carlyle is apparently staying put but assistant Trent Yawney was let go.

Things are starting to move when it comes to NHL coaches, so why is it taking so long for the Edmonton Oilers to take action?

This particular impatient Oilers fan would certainly like to know what is up.

There’s been a lot of speculation, including this on Monday from Bob Stauffer of the Oilers organization in regards to Yawney: “Trent Yawney has an excellent track record of developing young defenceman. My guess is that he will be a coach that multiple organizations look at. Yawney is a former teammate of Oilers Head Coach Todd McLellan in Saskatoon, spent 3 years as AC with McLellan in SJ. Yawney has been an NHL and AHL HC and oversaw a Ducks PK unit that has been top 5 last 3 seasons. He checks off a lot off boxes here.”

From Stauffer’s tweet, it sounds like the “about to be hired by the Oilers” box will soon be checked off as well. That’s how my Cult of Hockey colleague Kurt Leavins sees it, as he said on Twitter: “I imagine the Oilers are much, much closer today to being ready to unveil their new coaching staff. (Former Flames coach) Glen Gulutzan would replace Woodcroft. Yawney would replace Johnson. Maybe 1 or 2 more pieces to come. And keep in mind Todd McLellan and Trent Yawney were teammates for 2+ seasons on the Saskatoon Blades in the ’80s. Known one another well for a long time.”

My take
The Oilers are taking so long, it’s …read more

Source:: Edmonton Journal

A north-east lifeboat was launched twice within the space of three hours.

The RNLI Peterhead Tamar Lifeboat The Misses Robertson of Kintail was initially requested to launch yesterday at 4.14pm with its volunteer crew, to assist a creel boat which had lost power east of Boddam.

The crew took the boat in tow to Boddam Harbour and the lifeboat was returned to its berth at 5.25pm.

They were once again called less than two hours later, at 7pm, to assist a pleasure boat which had lost power south of Boddam.

The lifeboat was then returned to its berth at 8.25pm.

…read more

Source:: Evening Express – All articles

Some Chinese Muslims hoping to go on the annual Hajj pilgrimage must first pledge their allegiance to the Communist Party before they will be allowed to exit the country.
Uyghur Muslims from the Xinjiang autonomous region, must create a profile online applying for permission to travel on the Hajj.
China has been cracking down on Uyghurs’ freedom, limiting their ability to travel, communicate, and use technology.

Chinese Muslims from the autonomous Xinjiang region hoping to embark on the annual Hajj pilgrimage must first pledge their allegiance to the Chinese Communist Party.

A government website, operated by the Urumqi City Ethnic and Religious Affairs Committee, requires local Muslims to submit a travel request to attend the Hajj by setting up an online profile.

The site asks users to register their age, job, health, and economic status and provides strict guidelines for applicants, who must be aged between 50 and 70 and have lived in Urumqi, the region’s capital, for at least five years.

Users must also pledge allegiance to the leadership of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and national unity.

Registration appears to now be closed but was open between September 1 2017 to November 1 2017. This indicates applicants for the 2018 Hajj, taking place in mid-August, may have been required to make the pledge.

China closely controls and vets applicants for the Hajj each year. Authorities seem to believe that religious travel for minority groups could act as “potential cover for subversive political activity,” Human Rights Watch has reported.

But while other regional government websites list similar conditions for Hajj applicants, these applications don’t appear to require CCP allegiance. This indicates China is more concerned about subversive activity by Uyghurs in particular.

Uyghurs face strict travel laws and restrictive policies

The Chinese government is increasingly monitoring and restricting travel by Uyghur Muslims in an attempt …read more

Source:: Business Insider