Joy and laughter, tragedy and tears

Chief reporter MICHELLE FIDDLER begins our two-part look back at the year. . .

A NEW Year - but the traditional problems of teenage pregnancies in East Lancashire were personified by 14-year-old Donna Stanisavskis.

On January 3, we revealed new teen mum Donna's stark warning to youngsters about the consequences of under age sex after giving birth to her baby son, Scott.

Donna, who gave birth to her 9lb 8.5oz son at Burnley General Hospital, said: "I wouldn't recommend having a baby so young. The birth was horrendous - it's not something I would want to go through again."

January 10 signalled East Lancashire's first royal guest of the year when Prince Charles visited the Ribble Valley, an event which coincided with the announcement that the first Muslim state school in Lancashire could be opening in Blackburn.

A teddy bear sparked a bio-terrorism scare at Burnley sorting office on January 11 when a postal worker thought the parcel it was in contained a batch of anthrax.

The incident resulted in the Bank Parade sorting office being evacuated for two and a half hours.

Investigators initially thought it was the teddy bear package that was contaminated and contacted the embarrassed sender, a pensioner from the Fylde. But further investigations revealed the powder was coming from an A4 size envelope containing a circular leaflet and had been split before the letter was posted.

On January 15 Bank Top estate, Blackburn - the most dangerous in county for child accidents - spearheaded a £1.5million road safety campaign, but down-in-the-mouth health boss Gary Whittle was left disappointed after a bid to improve dental health in East Lancashire was turned down by the Government as "too ambitious".

On January 16 we reported how Lance Corporal Konrad Bisping, of Clitheroe, had been the victim of a pickaxe attack during army manoeuvres on Salisbury Plain. His attacker, Grant Kenyon, of Blackburn, was sentenced to four and a half years in jail in December after admitting GBH with intent. A jury had earlier cleared the teenager of attempted murder.

We raised a few smiles on January 20 when we revealed how Elizabeth Morrison made a mammoth 500-mile trip to Rossendale every six weeks - for a hairdo!

Elizabeth, who now lives in Bedfordshire, spends eight hours travelling to Headmasters, in Bacup Road, Waterfoot - a journey she has been making for the past 11 years.

She stays overnight in a hotel, enjoys an appointment in the morning and then travels back.

Elizabeth said: "I have tried other places as well but it's so relaxing here and that's combined with having a really good haircut."

On January 23 we reported how Iraqi Kurd asylum seeker Mokhliss Mostafer was stabbed to death in Blackburn. An inquiry was later launched by Home Secretary David Blunkett.

On January 27 bride-to-be Rebecka Atkinson created a stir when she arrived for her wedding to Christian Southworth at Mytton Fold - in a 24 tonne truck!

On January 29 it was announced that the National Front was set to target Blackburn, because BNP has 'gone soft'.

On January 30 17-year-old Eammon McDonough was found murdered behind the Moorings Pub, Blackburn.

Shane Manson, 23, the husband of Eammon's sister, Eileen McDonough, was later convicted of his murder and is serving a life sentence.

Eileen said: "The family are happy with the verdict. Justice has been served and Eammon can now rest in peace. Now we want to move on, put this behind us and live our lives."

ON February 1, firefighters rescued a baby alone in a house in Waterbarn Street, Burnley, following a late night blaze, while on February 3, the state-of-art, £7.3million police HQ opened at Whitebirk.

On the same day East Lancs soldiers Private Lee North and Private Duncan Smith were rewarded for their bravery after blaze rescue during the fire brigade strike.

Private Smith, 24, from Great Harwood and Private North, 24, from Duke Bar, Burnley, rescued 20-year-old mother Kelly Turner and her four-week-old baby Jay. Private Smith carried baby Jay to safety and as a fitting tribute to his remarkable bravery Kelly asked him to be Jay's godfather.

Private North and Private Smith were part of a crew from the Queen's Lancashire Regiment, which was manning a Green Goddess in Operation Fresco which covered the Kirkby area of Liverpool during a fire strike.

On February 4, we revealed how daredevil teenagers were dicing with death skateboarding on shop roofs in St James Street, Burnley, while on February 5, plans were announced by the Government to pump £500million into regeneration of poor housing in Lancashire.

Blackburn with Darwen council leader Bill Taylor was also named as one of country's top 15 performing elected members.

February 11 saw hundreds of council tenants in Delph Lane, Blackburn, having to move out of their homes after discovery of asbestos insulation.

Landlord Twin Valley Homes were left facing a massive bill to rid more than 100 houses of the white-brown asbestos mix which was used to insulate houses on the estate, when they were built in 1969. They have since submitted a multi-million pound claim to town hall officials in a move which his prompted fears that Blackburn with Darwen council tax payers may have to meet the cost of the legal battles.

The asbestos was first discovered when workmen moved in to renovate a house in Sandwich Close.

On February 17 a glider from Bowland Forest gliding club came down in a field, tragically killing two and on February 24, there was good news with the announcement of 1,500 jobs for Blackburn with the creation of three new call centres on the outskirts of town.

The Lancashire Evening Telegraph also joined the campaign to save neighbourhood chemists - a campaign which won major concessions from the Government later in the year.

ON March 4 Lancashire County Council agreed to GP assessments of the elderly before they were moved from its care homes - heralded as a major victory for the Evening Telegraph and those fighting the council's decision to close 32 care homes.

On the same day heroic Robert Ashworth beat off a pack of dogs attacking seven-year-old Sam Leverett in Tunnel Street, Burnley.

Following the rescue, which left the schoolboy with horrific injuries, the 56-year-old was nominated for a number of awards, including the Pride of East Lancashire Gift of Life prize.

He said: "I never thought of myself as a hero, I just did what came naturally. It was instinct."

Dog owner Jospephine Cox, of Albion Street, Brierfield, was jailed for nine months in December and banned from keeping dogs for 10 years after admitting an aggravated offence of keeping dogs dangerously out of control.

On March 5 a red-faced husband reversed his wife's X-type Jaguar into a shop window in Accrington while it was announced that the Mayor of Burnley, Coun Gordon Birtwistle, had paid for new ceremonial robes from his own pocket after a cash crisis.

March 7 saw the shocking news that HALF of the police 'hot list' of 20 most wanted criminals in Eastern Division were aged between seven and 16 and a tanker full of hydrochloric acid caused eight hours of traffic chaos after overturning in North Valley Road, Colne.

On March 12, controversial Muslim cleric, hook-handed Sheikh Abu Hamza paid a secret visit to Bangor Street community centre, Blackburn. Asian leaders condemned the visit, fearing it could destroy race relations, and urged him not to come back.

According to witnesses, he spoke for about an hour and a half against the UK and US governments and war with Iraq in front of about 100 people.

March 14 saw a second royal visit as The Earl and Countess of Wessex visited East Lancashire Hospice in Blackburn.

Teenager Shane Cook was tragically killed on March 16 when the car in which he was travelling in with four friends hit trees in Samlesbury.

Shane was living at a Blackburn with Darwen council home in Darwen at the time of his death and had repeatedly absconded from care.

Social Services did not know who he was out with on the night of his death, when he broke a curfew.

His dad Wayne Cook later slammed the announcement that the department had gained three stars from the Social Services Inspectorate as "disgusting".

On March 20 the second Gulf War began with a US-led campaign to topple Saddam Hussein.

Families across East Lancashire eagerly awaited news from their loved ones as hundreds of thousands of British troops, including Queen's Lancashire Regiment soldiers, were sent to the region to change the regime in Iraq as well as peace-keeping missions.

DAVE Whelan announced plans for a multi-million pound soccer and leisure complex at Shadsworth on April 2.

Rail bosses' decision to hang Blackburn Station's two Victorian clocks at Manchester Piccadilly left commuters and heritage campaigners steaming on April 7. The protests prompted Network Rail to return the ornate time pieces, which had clocked departures and arrivals since the station opened in 1886, but had been dismantled for improvement works.

On April 11 we reported on the Skipton funeral of Captain Philip Guy, whose wife was from Blackburn, and who was tragically killed in helicopter crash during the war in Iraq.

On April 12 came the news that two hundred jobs were set to be created in £2million project to create a small business centre off Furthergate, Blackburn.

Firefighters tackled moorland blaze on the Long Causeway above Burnley on April 15, the same day that we reported on the opening of Accrington's new £8million Pavilions market.

April 23 was the date that we reported how the Todmorden surgery where 'Dr Death' Harold Shipman began his career, was being put up for sale.

But April 24 brought another tale of heroism when apprentice electrician Paul Swift, 16, rescued a mother and child from the canal near the Moorings pub, Blackburn.

Paul and pal Leanne Duce, also 16, were walking along the Leeds and Liverpool Canal when they heard a moan from the water and dived in. Paul pulled the woman and girl from the canal and, with Leanne's help, put them in the recovery position until the ambulance arrived. Paul said: "I couldn't believe I did it, but I would do exactly the same again in the same situation."

The woman has since pleaded not guilty to attempted murder and is due to appear on trial in January 2004.

LOCAL elections on May 2 left BNP holding eight seats on Burnley Council and winning thousands of votes in East Lancashire.

Nine people were later arrested in violent demonstration when new councillors took their seats.

On May 3 a squirrel went on the rampage at St Mary's RC Primary School, Clayton-le-Moors.

On May 10 two security guards were tied and beaten by a gang who escaped with cash from the Co-op in Great Harwood.

We also exclusively revealed on May 17 how the Burnley nephew of convicted beauty salon killer, Rena Salmon, was serving a life sentence following the 'execution-type' murder of Burnley man Iain McKay in September 2000. May 19 signalled the launch of The Lancashire Evening Telegraph's largest-ever community campaign - the Pride of East Lancashire Awards - which attracted hundreds of nominations from across the region and captured the spirit and imagination of the whole community, culminating in a gala awards night at King George's Hall, Blackburn, on November 22.

On May 20 a massive factory blaze, tackled by 60 firefighters, left Leamington Road, Blackburn, shrouded the area in smoke for 24 hours, while on May 21 the congregation of New Row Methodist Church, Livesey, prayed for the vandals who destroyed two 100-year-old stained glass windows. May 21 also saw Blackburn with Darwen council launch their £1million blitz on its rubbish strewn street with their 'Thrash the Trash' campaign.

On May 22 came the announcement that the chief executive post at Hyndburn council may have to be scrapped because the council was too busy to find a new one. Three directors were later put in place to run the authority.

On May 29 we told the intriguing tale of Darwen pensioner Sigrid Green, 82, and her past as an undercover agent against the Nazis in occupied Norway.

Sigrid, known as Gusta to friends, had a Norwegian mother, but her parents and two brothers, one of whom was an RAF pilot, all died without ever knowing the truth about her wartime experiences.

Gusta, said: "It was not the kind of job where you made many friends. I was just sent off with a suitcase of used clothes. Luckily I escaped totally unscathed, physically. Lots of others didn't."

ON June 3 Great grandmother Kathleen Smith was threatened with eviction from her Great Harwood council flat -because she owed 3p. Council bosses later apologised for their "genuine mistake".

On June 9 a Pubwatch scheme was rolled out across Hyndburn after 46 problem drinkers were banned from Accrington centre while on June 10 thousands of pounds of fake notes were circulating Blackburn after a teenager found bag containing £50,000.

On June 10 heartless vandals wrecked a garden created by mentally ill volunteers at Greenspace, Colne, before their open day.

On June 12 a Rottweiler went on a three-hour rampage in Oswaldtwistle, attacking one woman and five dogs. The dog was later destroyed with the permission of its owner.

Lynette Evans' three-year-old Jack Russell was lucky not to lose a leg in the attack.

She said: "This is justice and I think the right thing has been done. A child could have been killed in an attack like that."

Blackburn with Darwen Council leader Bill Taylor received notification that he was to be knighted in the Queen's Birthday Honours List on June 14.

On June 28 firefighters were called into action to tackle a huge blaze at the Sweet Dreams factory, on Farrington Road, Burnley.