Emma Shaw was hit with 240 volts as she tried to stop her flat being flooded in December, 2007

A young mum died of a catastrophic electric shock after negligence by two construction workers turned her flat into a death trap, a court heard.

Emma Shaw was hit with 240 volts as she tried to stop her flat being flooded in December, 2007.

Richard Matthews QC, prosecuting, told Wolverhampton Crown Court the negligence of electrician Christopher Tomkins and supervisor Neil Hoult resulted in her death.

Through their negligence an extremely dangerous situation was allowed to persist for at least 21 months until the events of 2007 unfolded, Mr Matthews said.

The court heard Miss Shaw, 22, was advised by her mother to turn off the stopcock, inside a cupboard, when she found flooding in her West Bromwich flat.

But she did not know the stopcock had become live after a screw penetrated an electric cable during construction work at her home in Grafton Road, West Bromwich.

Miss Shaw, who left her year-old son Brayden in the lounge as she tried to stop the flooding, was pronounced dead at Sandwell General Hospital.

Tomkins, 52, of Rowley Village, and Hoult, 53, of Dane Terrace, both Rowley Regis have each denied breaching Health and Safety at Work regulations by failing to discharge their duty correctly.

Mr Matthews said the pair were employed by Anchor Electrical and Building Services and had been engaged to carry out electrical work at the flats.

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Mum died of electric shock after 'negligence' by two workers, court told

From Kansas Works -- Here's Hot Job #1, as discussed on 13 News at 4:00 Position/ Location: Maintenance Technician Company: IRET Properties/ Villa West Apartments, Topeka

Responsible for minor and major repairs of mechanical or aesthetic issues; general building preventative maintenance; maintaining the environmental conditions of spaces; maintaining accurate levels of inventory related to the buildings mechanical systems; know and perform individual emergency procedures and duties as dictated by the site emergency procedure manual. Expectations Requires very little daily supervision.

Self-directed and self-motivated once trained on routine duties. Requires personal initiative and mechanical ability. Able to follow instructions, prioritize duties, and comply with deadlines. To Apply: online at http://www.iret.com/careers

Hot Job #2: Position/ Location: Night Warehouse Order Selector Company: U.S. Foodservice in Topeka

Processes work orders in the warehouse by manually selecting the correct products from the racks, palletizing them and delivering the merchandise to the dock secured and shrink wrapped for delivery in a safe and efficient manner. Education/Training: High School Diploma or GED required. Related Experience: Previous comparable warehouse experience preferred; experience with pallet jack or high lift preferred. Knowledge/Skills/Abilities: Ability to read and write legibly; basic mathematical skills (add, subtract, multiply, divide); good verbal communication skills; Must be team oriented and able to get along with others. To Apply: online at http://www.usfoods.com

Hot Job #3: Position/ Location: Heavy Equipment Mechanic Company: Midwest Concrete Materials, Manhattan

Local construction materials company needs responsible person to do shop work maintenance on diesel truck and earth moving equipment. Heavy Equipment Mechanic experience required. Will consider recent graduate from Technical School. Need CDL Class A Driver's License. Hours and days arranged by employer. Good benefit package available. Wage determined by employer depending on experience. To Apply: Contact Mike Sanson at 785-776-8811 or email mikes@4mcm.com OR apply in person at 701 South 4th St., Manhattan.4

Hot Job #4: Position/ Location: Senior Electrician Manhattan Must apply today! Company: Kansas State University (Deadline is March 20)

Skills experience/education with Transformers, distribution centers, new construction remodel, equipment trouble calls, national electric code & medium voltage 4160 VAC and 12.5 VAC. Performs journey level work in all areas of electrical maintenance, new construction & repair at the Kansas State University campus. Prefer experience working independently in planning & installation of electrical circuits using blueprints & plans.

Knowledge & ability to inspect & troubleshoot varied items of electrical equipment to provide necessary repairs needed. Position acts as lead worker in project coordination. Completion of Class I Asbestos worker training,8 hour Lead Safe Practices training & certification for respirator use during the probationary period required. To Apply: http://www.da.ks.gov/ps/pub/reqinfo.asp?id=176925

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Debra Rodenbaugh's Hot Jobs Listings

Earlier this week a slew of individuals and organizations, including the Animal Legal Defense Fund and the ACLU-Idaho, filed a lawsuit against Gov. C.L. "Butch" Otter and Idaho Attorney General Lawrence Wasden over the ag-gag law, which the governor signed into Idaho code earlier this month. Today, the AFL-CIO and Idaho Building Trades Council joined the fray, announcing their intention to file an amicus brief with the court against the controversial law.

Where the litigants in the case largely oppose the law because of the constraints it places on First Amendment freedoms and animal welfare, the unions worry that it creates a hostile work environment for construction and agricultural workers.

"With much of the conversation rightly focused on animal welfare, we want Idahoans and the court to also understand that this law has the potential to imperil workers, and infringes on workers' rights to a safe workplace," said AFL-CIO of Idaho President Rian Van Leuven in a press release.

According to the law, any unauthorized documentation of farm, dairy or ranch practices is a criminal offense, punished with a misdemeanor charge of obstructing agricultural production, a fine of up to $5,000 and/or a year in prison. Those who plead guilty to the charge must pay twice damages in restitution. That doesn't sit well with Idaho unions seeking to ensure that tens of thousands of agricultural, construction and engineering workers have the right to inspect real and potential workplace hazards.

According to Marty Durand of the Idaho Building Trades Council, the protection afforded to the agricultural industry by the new law also creates an imbalance in workplace safety between agriculture and other Idaho industries.

"If you're an electrician and you're looking at a box full of wires, you'd take a picture of it and send it to an engineer and say, 'What's going on?' That's a crime," she said.

Durand said that her beef with the bill is its breadth.

"Construction workers aren't there to photograph cows, but this law is so broad that it captures way more than I think even those who drafted it intended to capture. It's prohibiting helpful conduct," she said.

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Unions File Amicus Brief in Ag-Gag Lawsuit

Tudhoe Cricket Club looks for volunteers to help with new season spring clean

3:55pm Thursday 20th March 2014 in News

A CRICKET club is looking for volunteers to help it rejuvenate its sporting facilities for the coming season.

Tudhoe Cricket Club, near Spennymoor, is taking part in the Natwest CricketForce project for the fourth year.

The England and Wales Cricket Board volunteering initiative aims to help club members and helpers to tidy up teams facilities.

This year Tudhoe will take part on Friday, April 4, Saturday, April 5, and Sunday, April 6, between 10am and 6pm each day.

Lynne Newton, club volunteer, said: Its a general tidy up outside and a chance for a spring clean inside the clubhouse.

Anyone can come along and take part and were hoping to attract enough people to get the tea room decorated this year.

We have paint but if anyone wants to donate some they can call the club and well arrange to pick it up or they can leave it at the clubhouse.

Tudhoe Cricket Club, on St Charles Road, can trace its history back to 1866 and its first team plays in the Durham Cricket League Division One. The new season starts on Saturday, April 26.

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Tudhoe Cricket Club looks for volunteers to help with new season spring clean

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Charleston County

BEASLEY, William Russell, 77, of Charleston, a retired postal clerk with the United States Post Office and widower of Patricia D. Beasley, died Sunday. Arrangements by Stuhr's West Ashley Chapel.

BYRD, Rhonda Renee, 40, of Johns Island died Saturday. Arrangements by Palmetto Cremation Society of Charleston.

DAVIS, Hezekiah, 71, of James Island, a retired heating and air conditioning mechanic and husband of Sarah D. Davis, died Sunday. Arrangements by Pasley's Mortuary of Charleston.

KERR, Selvon Adrian, 38, of Charleston died Sept. 15, 2013. Arrangements by Palmetto Cremation Society.

McNEIL, Jerome Jerry, 67, of McClellanville, an Army veteran and retired cook, died Saturday. Arrangements by Smith-McNeal's Awendaw Chapel.

SHAW, Barbara I., 84, of North Charleston, widow of Ronald Shaw, died Saturday. Arrangements by Stuhr's Northwoods Chapel.

SIMMONS, John L., 70, of North Charleston, husband of Shirley Simmons, died Monday. Arrangements by Hilton's Mortuary.

WARREN, John England, 74, of Charleston, an Air Force veteran, former public service district employee and husband of Bernadette Warren, died Saturday. Arrangements by Simplicity Lowcountry Cremation and Burial Services of North Charleston.

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Deaths Summary for Tuesday, March 18, 2014

Each year, thousands of Arizona residents email or call Rosie Romeros radio show with questions about everything from preventing fires in their chimneys to getting rid of tree roots invading their sewer systems. His goal is to provide answers that suit the specific lifestyle wherever someone lives in Arizona. Here are questions about home maintenance and improvement from the Tucson area.

QUESTION: I have a bathroom shower that is lined with travertine tiles. There seems to be leaking taking place around the grout lines on the tiles, and the drywall seems to be wet after someone takes a shower. In addition, I think there might be a crack around the drain hole in the bottom of the floor. Can I seal the travertine to fix this?

ANSWER: It sounds as if you have multiple problems going on in your shower. Just sealing the surface of the travertine probably wont fix things, though it might save the current walls for a while if you apply several coats of sealer. In general, travertine is not a good choice for showers because it is softer than marble, for example, and more porous. Constant exposure to water and moisture can make the naturally occurring pits in travertine grow larger; then the travertine will begin to deteriorate.

If the floor is having problems, you may also have a torn membrane under the tiles on the bottom of the shower as well. Eventually, you may to have to retile the shower completely. We favor the use of porcelain tile in showers; its more durable than natural stone and is often manufactured to resemble many different stone products.

Q: I have a pond on my property that covers about a quarter of an acre; it was probably built in 1960. I recently made it somewhat deeper and built the walls higher, so that its now 8 feet deep. My problem is that since I did this work, the pond wont hold water anymore. When you fill it, the water seems to flush right out.

A: The easiest way to control water loss in a pond is by applying a pond sealer to the dirt surface of the walls and the bottom of the bond. These sealers contain sodium bentonite, a chemically unaltered clay that contains no additives but puffs up to many times its dry size when it gets wet. But first, of course, you will have to drain the pond in order to apply the sealer.

Q: I have a desert sage bush that is about 13 years old. Someone told me I could whack it down to about a foot high in March, and it would come back beautifully in three or four weeks and bear more blossoms. Is that true?

A: Thats right; cut it back hard in the spring and it will rebound in a short time once the weather gets warmer. The worst thing you can do for these bushes is to try to keep them at about half their size by shearing off the new growth all the time. You see landscapers do that quite often, and what you end up with is a bunch of bushes that are shaped like soup cans.

Q: I think I may need to replace the electric panel on my house, which I have owned for about a year. When a home inspection was done just before I bought the house, the inspector said the panel should be looked at. Do I need a permit from the city to fix the panel? And do I have to hire a licensed electrician?

A: It may be that all that is needed in your panel is to replace some of the breakers. Some homeowners are able to do that safely. But if you need to upgrade the panel for some reason, you will need a permit and a licensed, insured electrician to do the work.

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My Travertine Tile Shower Seems to Be Falling Apart

S 4 Solar has been installing solar power systems in houses and businesses for six years, and now the company is finding new ways to develop the industry.

"S4 Solar: it's like A for apple'," say managing director Ben Stanton. "We'll get it into alphabet books!"

Solar power is a rapidly growing industry, and if Green Party MP Gareth Hughes gets his way, the government will be pushing it as an alternative for households.

Stanton, an electrician, runs S4 Solar with his wife Madelyn, and has been specialising in solar power since 2008.

But Stanton isn't just an installer, he's an innovator, and he says his new technologies can make solar power justifiable for many Kiwi homes, even without government subsidies.

His product - the Feed in Fighter - controls the use of solar power during peak sunshine hours, making the best use of cheap solar electricity.

Any excess power generated by a solar system can be fed back in to the grid and sold to the power companies. "The problem is if you export a lot, they'll pay you 25 cents for the first bucketload, then only 10 cents a unit."

Power companies sell electricity for around 25 to 30 cents per unit (kilowatt hour).

Stanton says a lot of people expect to make money selling power to the grid, but the real profit is made by using the cheap power in-house rather than having to buy electricity off the big companies.

Unfortunately most people are out of the home during the day while the sun is shining, so not many appliances are being used.

See the article here:
Solar innovation paves way for savings

It was that casual, he says. That was Roy on his way.

As he watched him go, Alan Partridge did not know that he, too, would be heading to Canada to work in the vice-regal household within a year.

Roy Partridges first job on arrival in April 1946 was stewards room boy serving meals to the often cranky senior servants who werent shy about giving him a cuff or a few sharp words if the service wasnt up to their standards. Over the next five years, he would move up the ranks to second footman serving prime ministers and presidents, war heroes, celebrities and royalty all before his 20th birthday.

Just about a year after the family and staff had settled in to Rideau Hall, a staff member who had suffered frostbite during the war decided that Canada was no place for him and returned to England. That left an opening. Alan Partridge, the second youngest son of the Partridge family, sailed off to join his brother. The job had been arranged by Lady Alexander, who wrote Roys parents to say it would be a good idea if he had an older brother to keep him company.

When Alan arrived at the train station in Ottawa in 1947, he was greeted by his younger brother and a chauffeur.

I was wondering when you were getting here, Roy told him.

Change had been in the air before Alexanders appointment to replace the highly respected Lord Athlone, governor general from 1940 to 1946. By 1945, the still controversial idea of appointing a Canadian to the post of governor general was being widely discussed, but after historian G.M. Trevelyan turned down prime minister William Lyon Mackenzie Kings offer of the job, the search turned to England, according to R.H. Hubbards Rideau Hall: An Illustrated History of Government House, Ottawa.

In 1946, Alexander, who had been commander-in-chief of the Middle East during the Second World War and later supreme commander in the Mediterranean theatre, was appointed to the job.

Friendly and modest, he had an enormous charm and a boyish curiosity about everything, both of which stood him in good stead in Canada, wrote Hubbard.

Alex, as he was known, was a younger son of the 4th Earl of Caledon and the grandson of an officer who had been stationed at Quebec in the 19th century. His wife, Lady Alexander, the former Lady Margaret Diana Bingham, was the daughter of the Earl of Lucan. They arrived in Canada with three children and adopted a daughter during their time at Rideau Hall.

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Our own Downtown Abbey: Upstairs, downstairs at Rideau Hall

Ryan White, CTV Calgary Published Friday, March 14, 2014 5:42PM MDT Last Updated Friday, March 14, 2014 6:36PM MDT

The televised comments of one of Premier Alison Redfords closest allies have resulted in a quick and harsh backlash from members of the official opposition.

Sandra Jansen, Calgary-North West MLA, appeared on CTVs Power Play on Friday afternoon. During the interview, Jansen lashed out at former Tory MLA Len Webber and his accusations against Premier Redford, specifically her tendency to bully others.

I would say right now if Len had such a problem with what he perceived as bullying he should perhaps reconsider his decision to step into federal politics, said Jansen during the Power Play segment. Maybe he should go back to being an electrician.

Following the recording, Jansen tweeted an apology, not to Webber, but to electrical workers in general.

On Thursday, Len Webber, Calgary-Foothills MLA, announced his decision to sit as an independent citing the premiers spending of taxpayer dollars and her fits of rage and temper tantrums.

Immediately following the CTV Power Play broadcast, members of the Wildrose party demanded an apology from Jansen.

"Skilled tradespeople are the glue that holds this economy together, and for a PC minister to be so condescending and insulting towards them is completely unacceptable," said Wildrose Jobs, Skills, Labour and Training Critic Gary Bikman in a media release.

More here:
Calgary-North West MLA attacks Len Webbers accusations

It was that casual, he says. That was Roy on his way.

As he watched him go, Alan Partridge did not know that he, too, would be heading to Canada to work in the vice-regal household within a year.

Roy Partridges first job on arrival in April 1946 was stewards room boy serving meals to the often cranky senior servants who werent shy about giving him a cuff or a few sharp words if the service wasnt up to their standards. Over the next five years, he would move up the ranks to second footman serving prime ministers and presidents, war heroes, celebrities and royalty all before his 20th birthday.

Just about a year after the family and staff had settled in to Rideau Hall, a staff member who had suffered frostbite during the war decided that Canada was no place for him and returned to England. That left an opening. Alan Partridge, the second youngest son of the Partridge family, sailed off to join his brother. The job had been arranged by Lady Alexander, who wrote Roys parents to say it would be a good idea if he had an older brother to keep him company.

When Alan arrived at the train station in Ottawa in 1947, he was greeted by his younger brother and a chauffeur.

I was wondering when you were getting here, Roy told him.

Change had been in the air before Alexanders appointment to replace the highly respected Lord Athlone, governor general from 1940 to 1946. By 1945, the still controversial idea of appointing a Canadian to the post of governor general was being widely discussed, but after historian G.M. Trevelyan turned down prime minister William Lyon Mackenzie Kings offer of the job, the search turned to England, according to R.H. Hubbards Rideau Hall: An Illustrated History of Government House, Ottawa.

In 1946, Alexander, who had been commander-in-chief of the Middle East during the Second World War and later supreme commander in the Mediterranean theatre, was appointed to the job.

Friendly and modest, he had an enormous charm and a boyish curiosity about everything, both of which stood him in good stead in Canada, wrote Hubbard.

Alex, as he was known, was a younger son of the 4th Earl of Caledon and the grandson of an officer who had been stationed at Quebec in the 19th century. His wife, Lady Alexander, the former Lady Margaret Diana Bingham, was the daughter of the Earl of Lucan. They arrived in Canada with three children and adopted a daughter during their time at Rideau Hall.

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Upstairs, downstairs at Rideau Hall