THIS new production is a cross-cultural exploration for ACE Dance and Music as the Digbeth-based company blends its African and Caribbean roots with Japanese choreography by Akiko Kitamura.Read
BIRMINGHAM’S first dedicated food bank is set to open its doors to cater for families left too poor to feed themselves in the depths of the downturn.Read
A GROUP of musicians will be marching to a different tune when they play their saxophones while taking part in the Birmingham Memory Walk in aid of the Alzheimer’s Society.Read
FUTURE J K Rowlings and Ian Rankins are being offered the opportunity to pick up tips from experts in the publishing world with a one-day literary festival in Moseley.Read
A BIRMINGHAM primary school set to be expanded to help cope with a 30 per cent increase in pupils has been ordered to find ways of avoiding traffic gridlock in the area.Read
RESIDENTS and traders in Kings Heath are celebrating after plans to convert a historic cinema into a 700 seat restaurant and wedding banquet suite were thrown out by city planners.Read
COUNCIL leisure boss Martin Mullaney has pledged a ‘massive investment’ in the city’s swimming pools – including the rebuilding of Sparkhill Baths.Read
TRADERS in a city suburb are to fund their own survey into the impact of a supermarket development after claiming that the council has failed to back them.Read
PARENTS concerned for the health of their families demanded to know when a Birmingham swimming pool would reopen at a packed council meeting. About 100 people attended the Springfield Ward Committee meeting to seek answers about the future of Sparkhill pool, which closed a year ago after asbestos was found in a ceiling tile. Last month the Mail revealed the fitness centre had also been forced to close amid concerns over the building’s structure. Councillors tried to reassure residents they were committed to building a new £9m site. Coun Tanveer Choudhry (Lib Dem, Springfield) said: “We are 100 per cent committed to making sure these baths reopen as quickly as possible.”Read
A FINAL business case for a new £17.7 million mental health hospital in Birmingham has received the go-ahead with work set to get under way later this year to bring services up to 21st Century standards.Read