Bright idea of shoppers... Is milk safe?...Wooed girls

Nothing pulls down a shopping centre more than the sight of ugly, boarded up shopfronts covered with graffiti.

They're an all too familiar sight, especially where businesses are struggling. The trouble is that they turn other shoppers off and help contribute towards a spiral of decline.

So it's good news that Brighton town centre manager Tony Mernagh is looking at the idea of putting portable boards up on these shops while they are empty.

They can then be painted with beautiful murals by some of the many talented artists who live in the town. The idea has been tried elsewhere with considerable success. Sometimes the boarded up shop can look one of the best in the street.

It's an attractive suggestion which is also likely to get the seal of approval from Brighton and Hove Council. The sooner the scheme starts the better so that empty shops are works of arts rather than eyesores.

Is milk safe?

Sarah Page from Wadhurst thinks she developed Crohn's Disease, a painful bowel complaint, from drinking infected milk.

Her suspicions have been backed up by research from a leading

professor at St George's Hospital in London. There's certainly enough evidence of a link for this to warrant serious study by Government experts.

And it's yet another indication, following the BSE crisis, that modern farming methods may not be doing either us or the cows any good.

The sooner we know the truth the better. Most people consume milk in one form or other and have a right to expect it to be safe.

Wooed girls

Sussex writers Philippa Gregory and Suzannah Dunn have been shortlisted for the title of Romantic Novelist of the Year.

But neither of them really likes the title, believing this makes their books seem trite, fluffy and lightweight.

Suzannah's book, Commencing Our Descent, doesn't even have a scene in which the characters kiss. So if either of them gets the £5,000 award, she's unlikely to swoon, falling fortuitously into the arms of the tall and darkly handsome chairman of the judges.

Converted for the new archive on 30 June 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.