These are some of the top stories you can find on our website on Tuesday, April 23, 2024
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00:00 Hello, I'm Neil Johnston, a reporter at the Edinburgh Evening News,
00:03 and these are some of the top stories you can find on our website today.
00:06 The wife of a heroic firefighter who tragically lost his life after tackling a blaze at the
00:13 former Jenner's department store has announced plans to launch a charity in his memory.
00:17 Barry Martin, a father of two, died in January last year, days after attending a serious fire
00:24 at the Prince's Street building. His widow, Shelley Martin, has now launched a fundraiser
00:30 to support people experiencing trauma and provide support to bereaved children.
00:34 She said, "All the services our charity will provide is based on my own experiences since
00:40 my husband died. I am on the fastest and steepest learning curve of my life. I have to use it for
00:46 something while my heart is full of love and my brain is working overtime." People can now donate
00:51 to a GoFundMe page which has been launched in the interim before the charity is launched at a later
00:56 date. Edinburgh's pavement parking ban has revealed the true nature of the capital's footpaths,
01:06 according to the council's transport convener, Scott Arthur. The ban, which came into effect on
01:11 January 29th, meant vehicles were no longer covering large parts of the pavements in some
01:16 parts of the city, and the poor condition of pavements have now been exposed to public view.
01:21 Councillor Arthur said, "Now that people can actually see the pavement on their street,
01:26 quite often they're finding that it's utterly destroyed by cars having parked on it,
01:30 so we've had a rise in complaints about footways because of this." He added, "While that's going
01:35 to cause us a problem, in a way it's a welcome problem because we've got these cars off the
01:40 footways and we're hopeful that in the coming years cars will do much less damage to footways
01:45 and we'll really start to feel the benefit of that in terms of the amount of money we have to spend
01:50 to keep them in good condition." The council is set to spend a total of £12.5 million on
01:54 improvements to roads and footpaths this year. And finally, an Edinburgh-born granny has vowed
02:02 to keep working despite winning a quarter of a million pounds in the lottery. Evelyn Evans,
02:07 who has 10 grandchildren, struck gold in the People's Postcode Lottery on April 20th.
02:11 The 71-year-old, who has lived in England most of her life and now lives in Warwickshire,
02:17 said it's just mind-blowing, adding, "I never ever thought I'd win such a big amount."
02:22 But despite the big win, Evelyn has vowed to keep her day job as a military maintenance
02:26 repairs specialist, which involves sourcing parts for military helicopters. She said,
02:32 "I was straight back to work after the Postcode Lottery visited. I keep on working, not necessarily
02:37 for the money, but because it's something to do. It keeps me busy and keeps my mind going."
02:45 For all the latest news from Edinburgh and the Lothians,
02:48 you can check out our website at www.edinburghnews.scotsman.com
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