Chris Curtis

A dozen Northumbrian Water workers have bared nearly all for a charity calendar, with only a selection of strategically placed props to preserve their modesty. Read More

On Dec. 17 at Hutchins Street Square, the Lodi Police Partners celebrated their 16th year as volunteer members of the Lodi Police Department. Read More

"I admire the rigour with which Chris characterises the situation. But my difference of opinion springs from a couple of things. The first is that I don't believe that you can move from the current situation to a situation where every school is independent overnight. If you did do so you would actually in the end empower the educational establishment because some of those schools that you would transform into wholly independent state schools tomorrow would fail or falter. That would give ammunition to your critics. It's also the case that some of the people who have come from or been shaped by the "thought world" that Chris describes would depart even further from what the overwhelming majority of parents would like to see. Eventually, over time, if there were no politics in it, parental commonsense would eventually ensure that all of those schools improved. My view is that we're introducing the maximum level of parental influence, control and voice at the fastest possible rate consistent with ensuring that this system is still coherent and intelligible to parents, and that in areas where the system is palpably failing we can use the cash and expertise from people who really know what they're doing. Chris has described the Platonic ideal. I'm trying to find the Aristotelian practical golden mean." Read More

The Indianapolis Colts won't go undefeated this season. Read More

CROWDS of bargain-hunters flocked into Exeter on Saturday for the Boxing Day sales. Read More