THREE Barnsley schools ran up a £250,000 legal bill defending themselves at employment tribunals and disciplinary hearings.
One of the biggest spenders was Richard Newman primary school which spent more than £100,000 over the same four year period.

A NINE-year-old boy is hoping Santa will make a special delivery when he celebrates Christmas - on Sunday.
Nathan Padgett was diagnosed with leukaemia last December and was too ill to enjoy Christmas Day.

FIRE-fighters were called to a blaze at a derelict house on Victoria Road, Barnsley yesterday.
Two pumps from Barnsley and one from Mansfield Road attended Westfield at 12.55pm. It is believed the fire started when rubbish outside the building was set alight.
No one was inside the property.

WHAT a colossal cucumber.
The 2ft 2in whopper was grown by Bill Owen in an allotment in Royston near the leisure centre and given to Ralph Taylor.

FASHION designer Katie Newsome, 22, is showing clothes in London.
Her African and Indian dresses and men’s trousers and PVC and leather clothes will be on the catwalk at Bush Hall, Shepherd’s Bush.

AN ANXIOUS summer-long wait ended yesterday for hundreds of teenagers across Barnsley as A-level results were published.
But many were still left wondering if they had done enough to secure a place at university.

A CARE home in Barnsley has stopped taking new residents amid allegations of verbal and physical abuse by staff.
Manor Court, on Churchfield Lane, Darton, agreed to the embargo with Barnsley social services after 15 complaints of abuse or neglect in a year.

TWO brothers have started repairing a water damaged chapel at St Mary’s Church, Barnsley, which is home to a First World War memorial.
@body:Erny and Brooks Riddiough’s uncle Ernest was killed at Ypres and is included on the memorial column.

BIRTHS, deaths and marriages will be registered in a different venue while the Town Hall undergoes renovations.
The council’s registration service will move to Berneslai Close near St Mary’s Church on September 1.

A BLACK hole of £4.3m has opened up in the council’s budget for this year, on top of government-imposed cuts. Many of the council’s departments are either spending more than was agreed or achieving lower income than was expected when the budget was set in February.

MEET Jack the most disloyal cat in Barnsley who disappears for years at a time. He belongs to Philip and Angela Crossland, not that they see much of him.

ALMOST 2,000 people have signed a petition asking for urgent repairs to roads and footpaths in Barnsley. The signatures are predominantly from Cudworth, Darfield, Hemingfield, Hoyland and Wombwell. The petition was organised by James Hockney, the Conservative Party candidate for Barnsley East at the elections in May.

EVER wondered how carrots breed? The Chronicle has found the answer. Mum Nicky Morland couldn’t believe her eyes when she found these Mr and Mrs carrots in a bag of veg from a friend’s allotment.

DOCTORS have told a Barnsley man who plunged 200 ft into a field of boulders when his paraglider collapsed he will not walk 'for at least 12 months'. But Richard Jessop is determined to prove them wrong by being on his feet a lot sooner. He broke his back, legs, and every bone in both feet - at least 60 breaks in total. Full story in the Chronicle's town and Darton editions on Friday, August 6.

A BLIND woman claims she was banned from going into a shop – because of her guide dog. Judith Evans said she was left feeling angry and humiliated when she was told to leave H&A News on May Day Green. She had been shopping in the town centre when three-year-old Poppy led her into the newsagents.Judith, 33, of Worsbrough Road, Birdwell, said she was shocked when the shopkeeper told her to leave the dog outside. “I explained Poppy was a guide dog but he said ‘no dogs’,” she said. The shopkeeper said he did not realise Poppy was a guide dog. He said they would be welcomed back in the future.

YOUNG hiker Ryan Platts is one of the youngest people to complete the demanding 268-mile Pennine Way walk. Ryan, born in Summer Lane, Barnsley, but now living in Morocco with his parents, completed the hike in 19 days, taking only one day of rest half way through. Aunt Sue Field, of Dodworth, said: “It’s quite a remarkable achievement for someone so young. We’re really proud of him." Full story in the Chronicle on Friday, August 6.

THE Labour Party has selected a candidate to fight the next local elections in the Central Ward, following the news veteran councillor Mike Stokes is stepping down. The new candidate will be revealed in the Chronicle on Friday, August 6

WORLD number two paralympic table tennis player Sue Gilroy hopes to put her stamp on the 2012 games. The teacher, of Baslow Crescent, Dodworth, helped launch the Royal Mail commemorative stamps for London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games.

AN Alzheimer’s sufferer is being denied care because he is too young, his family claim. Ricky Firth, 59, was diagnosed with the degenerative brain disease three-and-a-half years ago but has declined rapidly since the start of the year.

PATIENTS cheered in delight when mum-of-three Nicola Green gave birth in a hospital reception. The 29-year-old had just got to Barnsley Hospital when baby Phoebe decided to enter the world last Tuesday.

THREE children from Barnsley have spent several days in hospital after contracting dysentery. Full story in the Chronicle, Friday July 30.

A 29-year-old man wielding a knuckle duster has been jailed for eight months. Full story in the Chronicle on Friday, July 30.

A TWIN will be able to visit her brother’s unmarked grave for the first time on their 43rd birthday after finding where he was buried. Paul Harvey was stillborn on August 2, 1967, and his family were never told where he was buried. But Carole Taylor, who spent a decade searching for her own daughter’s grave, helped them to trace Paul in a public grave containing an estimated 400 babies and paupers. Full story in the Chronicle on Friday, July 30.

A MARILYN Monroe dress, Fred Astaire shoes, Elizabeth Taylor earrings – and Becky McDonald’s pink wedding dress are on display in Barnsley. The iconic film and music props form part of a new celebrity exhibition at the Cooper Gallery. The private collection, which includes the original Sooty and Sweep, a jacket and cap worn by Michael Jackson, a pair of Geri Haliwell’s platform boots and a guitar signed by Chuck Berry, has attracted the crowds since it opened last week. The exhibition runs until September 4.

A NINE year old boy is joining the fight to save and restore Locke Park Tower. He is promising to complete a sponsored walk, cycle, swim and horse ride to raise funds for the tower he is so intrigued by. Full story in the Chronicle on Friday, July 30.

A FIVE-year-old girl who has never been to Germany and who doesn’t speak the language will need a German passport to leave the UK. Destiny Paris Shannons’ father Robert Reay has lived in Barnsley all his life while his German partner, Nadine Herrmann moved here 15 years ago. In 2005 Destiny’s birth was registered at Barnsley town hall. But last month when the couple applied for her first passport they were told she was not eligible. Full story in the Chronicle on Friday, July 23.

A 27-year-old admitted money laundering and mortgage fraud after police raided his home and found £147,000. Officers found £10,000 concealed in a music speaker, £15,000 in a laundry basket and £5,000 in a computer tower during the first raid in October 2008. Full story in the Chronicle on Friday, July 23.

WOODHEAD Mountain Rescue helped police search for an unexploded shell found by walkers at The Flouch. The shell was discovered on Margery Hill last Monday.

A GRANDMOTHER affectionately known as ‘Speedy Gonzales’ has been left stumped after thieves stole her and her husband’s mobility scooters. Sylvia Keen, 67, needs the scooter to get around since having a stroke two years ago.

BOUTIQUE owner Rita Britton was told off for ‘looking ridiculous’ in her graduation gown as she collected an honorary award from the University Campus Barnsley. Rita, who runs Pollyanna on Market Hill, was made an honorary doctor on Tuesday.