THE organisers of Thame’s first Arts and Literature Festival, to be held in June, were recently presented with a very welcome cheque by Thame Town Council.
Brian Pattinson, Luise Pattinson and Yvonne Maxwell, who along with Lyndsey Wright make up the Thame Arts & Literature Festival Board of Directors, were presented with a cheque for
RESIDENTS on Thame’s Lea Park Estate were woken in the early hours of Monday morning, April 5, by an incident involving four police cars, an ambulance and a riot van.
In a statement today, Insp Martin Ford, based at Thame police station, said: “Following an incident of criminal damage at a property in Marston Road on Lea Park in Thame, police officers were deployed and they apprehended two persons.
“During the arrest of one of these persons, a police officer sustained injury and was taken to the Hospital. The officer was released from hospital overnight following assessment and treatment.
“Subsequently overnight a further offender was arrested from another address in Thame.”
PHOTO: For illustrative purposes only – Courtesy of http://inspectorgadget.wordpress.com
THE next Late Breakfast event will be at the Four Pillars Hotel, Marcham Road, Abingdon OX14 1TZ, on April 7th 9.00 – 10.30 am.
There will be no presentation this month but a lively and enjoyable session of SMALL TABLE NETWORKING
You can book ahead and appear on the guest list or simply turn up on the morning. Either way the entry fee of
EASTER Farmers’ Market – Great Haseley village hall – 10am – 12pm – including painted eggs for sale and a raffle.
Great Haseley Farmers’ Market is held every second Sunday in the month.
A SERIOUS MAN – USA 2009 105 minutes; 15 certificate
Directed by Joel and Ethan Coen, starring Michael Stuhlbarg, Sari Lennick.
THE Coen brothers make films that are ostensibly so different to each other – westerns, film noir, slapstick comedies – but that all share a dark fascination with the nihilism and absurdity the human condition. Their latest is arguably their most potent analysis of this predicament to date. A sometimes savage satire on the Jewish communities of the Coen brothers’ own upbringing, A Serious Man is a sublimely funny but very serious film about a bleak subject.
Stuhlbarg is Larry Gopnik, a Midwestern professor of theoretical physics whose life is unravelling. His wife announces that their marriage is over and she wants a divorce. His increasingly unstable brother is camped on his sofa endlessly scribbling his own arcane mathematical thesis and dealing with some sort of unspeakable cyst. On the verge of securing long awaited academic tenure, anonymous letters are reaching his superiors on campus, slandering his professional practice. As life spirals further away from his grasp, Larry experiences an epiphany, a realisation that he needs to urgently reconnect with his faith and to re-ground himself in enduring truths.
But in seeking consolation in the wisdom of the rabbis, he gets little other than vacuous and facile platitude.
A Serious Man is about existential crisis, about coming to the realisation that we are each utterly alone and that control of one’s life is an arrogant fantasy. But hey, don’t let a little thing like that put you off. It is also hypnotic and mesmerising, visually sumptuous, periodically hilarious, strangely profound and quite unlike any other film you are likely to see for a while.
This Friday 9th April – Doors open 7.30pm Film 8pm. Admission
THIS is a Ringmaster message from Thames Valley Police.
The following burglaries have taken place over the bank holiday weekend:
Overnight between 4th & 5th April, Ormond Road, Thame. No signs of forced entry, a handbag & keys were stolen.
Overnight between 4th & 5th April, Montrose Way, Thame. It is believed entry was gained by putting an implement through the letterbox to open the front door. A handbag, games console and car keys were stolen, before stealing the aggrieveds Silver Vauxhall Astra Saloon car.
Monday 5th April, at 03:35hrs, Hazelrig Drive, Thame. Offenders were disturbed by the aggrieved who heard a noise and saw the front door open. The offenders made off and were seen getting into a Silver Vauxhall Vectra car. Three white male offenders were seen, one is described as being in his mid 20’s, 5’8″ in height, large build with a round face and short dark cropped hair.
If you have any information relating to this message, please call the police on 08458 505 505 and state you are responding to a Ringmaster message. If you have information but wish to remain anonymous, please call Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.
THE South East Oxfordshire Liberal Democrats have replied to overtures from Tory MP, John Howell, to support his Conservative party.
Responding for South East Oxfordshire Liberal Democrats, spokesman Andy Crick said: ?I am gratified that local Conservatives are worried about the election ? they should be. I am confident that Lib Dem voters know better than to trust Tory promises. David Cameron tried this ploy when he became Tory leader in 2005, it fell flat then and it has now.
?Why would Lib Dem supporters support a party which centralised most of our local services in the 1980s and which hobbled Councils with the hated Council Tax in the 1990s ? a tax the Conservatives still support but which penalises pensioners and people on lower incomes disproportionately?
?Why would Lib Dem supporters vote for a party which has opposed measures such as the Human Rights Act and which voted enthusiastically for the war in Iraq, a war which has set millions of people around the world against our country, threatening our safety?
?Why would Lib Dem supporters who care about the environment vote for a Tory Party in which 9 out of 10 candidates don’t even believe climate change is man made?
?I am confident that Liberal Democrats in Thame, Oxfordshire and across Britain will resoundingly reject the Tories who have failed to convince voters that they have changed at all and instead seem to be relying on ‘not being Labour’ to try to win the election. As the countdown to polling day continues, the Tories are increasingly exposed. They have nothing to offer people worried about our country, our economy and our environment. If residents want real change for Henley, Thame and South East Oxfordshire, I hope they will give their vote to the Liberal Democrats.?
*The Conservatives abolished metropolitan authorities and the Greater London Council in the 1980s. They reduced powers for local authorities, cut the amount of money Councils raised locally and introduced a range of new QUANGOs to run local services, taking decision-making away from local residents.
*The Conservatives introduced the Council Tax in England and Wales in 1992 (1991 in Scotland) to replace the disastrous Poll Tax. Council Tax was designed by Michael Heseltine as a stop-gap measure until a better system could be introduced. Neither the Conservatives nor Labour have any plans to abolish Council Tax, which takes up a far higher proportion of the incomes of those on lower incomes. Liberal Democrats have called for a fair local tax based on the ability to pay.
*A Populus poll of Conservative MPs and PPCs in February 2010 found that 91% do not believe in man made climate change.
PHOTO: Andy Crick
LEAGUE MATCH – 03/04/10 – Thame United 4 Vs Kintbury Rangers 0; MATCH REPORT – United strengthened their position as league leaders at Wallingford on Saturday with a 4-0 win over Kintbury Rovers. All four goals came in the second half.
The first 35 minutes were uneventful with neither side creating any real chances and very little to choose between the two sides. With about 10 minutes of the half remaining however, Thame left winger, Luke Ricketts and Right winger, Stuart Barr, swapped positions and United were immediately more of a threat. Thame found the back of the net when Mark Jones met a Ricketts free kick but he was ruled off-side. Minutes later another Jones header was cleared off the line by a defender. Both Barr and Jones forced good saves from impressive visiting keeper Kane Roberts before the break.
Three minutes after the restart Roberts made an outstanding save, with his legs, from a Ricketts shot. Thame were now in control but the game was still goalless. The breakthrough came in the 63rd minute when another Ricketts shot on the right was blocked by a defender but this time the ball fell to Jones who did well to hit a strong, acutely angled shot pass Roberts from 15-Yards. Thame?s second goal came with 15 minutes remaining when Lawrence El-Kassir met a corner near the far post and headed back across goal, where the ball struck a defender, and was deflected over the line. Following Barr?s substitution, Ricketts moved back to the left wing from where he created the third goal.
With nine minutes remaining, Ricketts collected a ball from Aaron Rogers and ran at goal before unleashed a strong shot which Roberts parried, but which then fell into the path of the onrushing Jones, who finished well from close range. Thame?s final goal came three minutes later and, if the TV cameras had been there, it would have been a strong contender for goal of the month. Talented striker Rogers robbed an opponent of the ball on the right, about 10-yards into the visitor?s half, and ran to the corner of the area from where he hit a superb shot over Roberts and into the top left corner. Although Kintbury tried to respond, they were a spent force and Thame kept another clean sheet.
This was United?s ninth successive win. They are now 15 points clear at the top of the league and are one of only three clubs who could now take the title.
Thame United: Searle, Newell, Meredith, Cowan, N. Rhodes, El Kassir, Barr (Hoskin), A. Rhodes, Jones, Rogers (J Way), Ricketts (Wakelin).
United are away to Newbury next Saturday (10th). Their next home game is on 24th April when Eton Wick are the visitors.
THAME’S MP, John Howell, has kicked off his party’s General Election campaigne locally by calling on Thame Liberal Democrats to support the Conservatives.
In a statement released on Monday, March 29, he said:
“It is clear on the streets that the vast majority of people do not want another five years of Gordon Brown. Why then would you want the outcome of your vote to be precisley that? Why too would you want to belong to a party whose leader has admitted that he is after Labour party votes which will shift the Liberal-Democrats further and further away from the centre? And why would you want to belong to a party which has so often danced to Gordon Brown?s tune when it comes to the economy and getting Britain back on its feet?
“You?ve only got to look at our policies on localism ? bringing real power over their lives back to local people, or at our belief that big government needs to be dismantled, to see how radical and progressive we Conservatives truly are.
“If you are worried about the nanny state, about the erosion of our civil liberties and the misuse of the terrorism laws the Conservative Party is your natural home.”
He continued: “You?ve only got to look at my proposals for the reform of the planning system to see how I am committed to bringing power home. There needs to be a big shift away from central and regional control to truly local decision-making. It always surprised me how Liberal-Democrats fell for the John Prescott line in supporting regional assembles and another tier of government.
“And if you are worried about the environment, so am I. One web-site already acknowledges that I have voted strongly for laws to stop climate change and I am an enthusiastic supporter of local energy projects such as proposed hydro projects along the Thames.
“As many local Liberal-Democrats in Thame already know I also share their concern for human rights around the world.”
Mr Howell claimed that the Conservative Party had seen a steady stream nationally of Liberal Democrats deciding to join the Conservative Party, including, he said, at least fifty councillors and at least nine former parliamentary candidates.
The MP concluded: “If you are fed up with the way Labour has debased Parliament; damaged an independent Civil Service; taken us to war on a false notion; eroded civil liberties in an over-reaction to terrorism; made a farce of the criminal justice system; and encouraged the press and media in the belief that celebrity is all there is to life, take that step and join the Conservative Party now. You won?t regret it and you will be made very welcome.”
PHOTO: Thame’s MP, John Howell pulls a pint a the recent opening of the new micro brewery at The Cross Keys in Thame.
HERE is the latest Thame neighbourhood update from Police Community Support Officers (PCSOs) Diane Jackson and Lucy Thorne:
During March, we have seen a rise in burglaries in the Thame area. The Lea Park housing estate has been targeted, with three burglaries reported on 8 March.
We are appealing for witnesses at this time, and would urge anyone with any information, to get in touch. I would also like to stress how important it is to ensure you are securing your property, making sure that doors are locked and secure. Between 16 February and 22 February, approximately 16,000 worth of Toshiba televisions were stolen from a lorry in Rycote Lane. If you saw any suspicious behaviour or have any information relating to this incident, please contact Thames Valley Police on 0845 8 505 505.
Crime mapping shows an increase in burglary, since this time 12 months ago due to the recent spate of burglaries in Thame. We will be carrying out extra patrols and routine stop and checks which should help to deter and reduce and incidents crime relating in our area.
On 22 February, an Aylesbury man has been charged with causing death by dangerous driving, in relation to a fatal crash at Kingsey, near Thame, in May last year. The man is due in court on 2 March 2010. Crime mapping shows that we have had a decrease in anti-social behaviour (ASB), robbery and violent crimes since this time 12 months ago. We have been working closely with young people who have been involved in ASB over the last month and will be conducting home visits to issue warning letters and talk with parents. We continue to conduct high visibility patrols at key times and locations, which has deterred/prevented higher level crimes such as robbery and violence taking place in our neighbourhood.
We continue to conduct high visibility patrols at key times at key locations to work to deter and prevent ASB. We engage with our young people on a regular basis, which allows us to build good relationships should we need to approach and deal accordingly with any ASB. However, there have been two separate seizures of alcohol from large groups of underage young people congregating in our designated non drinking zone. These seizures consisted of mainly cans of cider and bottles of beer, along with wine and vodka. As a result of these, warning letters will be sent out to those identified with the alcohol and extra patrols will be conducted in these areas over coming weeks.
PCSO Jackson has worked closely with PC Russell Hounslow, serving an Anti-Social Behaviour Contract (ABC) to a man in Thame relating to ASB.
Comments on all priorities:
The three NAG priorities for Thame are:
1. Speeding-Chinnor Road/High Street ?Further SID (Speed Indicating Device) operations are planned for these two areas and any other roads identified by Thame residents.
2. Parking.
3. Dog Fouling.
We continue to carry out monthly site inspections with South Oxfordshire Housing Association, South Vale Housing and A2 Dominion. Our site inspection with South Oxfordshire Housing Association during March went very well which resulted in victims of distraction burglary having their level of security reviewed.
Parking issues were also addressed in Chowns Close. All residents will be receiving a letter from South Oxfordshire Housing Association reminding them of acceptable parking arrangements. We have also worked closely to arrange suitable support of vulnerable tenants. Part of our inspection includes reviewing and monitoring the upkeep of gardens as we feel it is important to keep our residential areas looking tidy, providing tenants with a pleasurable place to live.