Hospice Isle of Man’s fifth annual midnight walk will be held on Saturday, September 27, setting off from PokerStars building on Onchan Head at 10.30pm.

The route will cover Douglas promenades, Peel Road and then Ballafletcher Sports Ground in Braddan where participants will enjoy a glass of pink fizz and a cupcake.

Organiser say every walker will make a difference to the charity – with 85p of every £1 donated or raised being spent directly on patient care.

This year there is the option of signing on online – click the link www.sientries.co.uk/event.php?event_id=1476 – or you can download a form from hospice.org.im

Entry is just £16 per person. Once you have registered you will receive all the necessary information, including a wristband as proof of entry which needs to be worn on the night.

Marshals are needed – contact fundraising@hospice.org.im if you can help.

The story about the end of an era for the horse trams was the most-viewed on iomtoday.co.im last week.

Our readers are obviously interested in developments on the promenade because the second most-viewed was about the looming charges for parking on the seafront walkway.

Reports about the Steam Packet always get a lot of hits. Four out of the top 10 stories on this site last week concerned the company.

Around 150 reports are uploaded on to iomtoday.co.im every week. That figure includes all our news, sport, business and entertainment stories.

The top 10 last week (September 7 to 13) were:

1. {http://www.iomtoday.co.im/news/isle-of-man-news/end-of-an-era-for-horse-trams-1-6824513|End of an era for horse trams} 6,757

2. {http://www.iomtoday.co.im/news/isle-of-man-news/prom-ready-for-paid-parking-1-6830508|Prom ready for paid parking} 5,086

3. {http://www.iomtoday.co.im/news/isle-of-man-news/talks-between-steam-packet-and-government-are-not-going-well-1-6829329|Talks between Steam Packet and government are not going well} 4,784

4. {http://www.iomtoday.co.im/news/isle-of-man-news/soon-you-ll-have-a-choice-for-fixed-line-telephone-provider-1-6829203|Soon you’ll have a choice for fixed line telephone provider} 3,942

5. {http://www.iomtoday.co.im/news/isle-of-man-news/manannan-delay-due-to-medical-emergency-1-6828672|Manannan delay due to medical emergency} 2,803

6. {http://www.iomtoday.co.im/news/isle-of-man-news/taxpayers-cash-for-railway-to-be-cut-1-6830523|Taxpayers’ cash for railway to be cut} 2,412

7. {http://www.iomtoday.co.im/news/isle-of-man-news/police-hunt-for-three-females-after-assault-1-6827863|Police hunt for three females after assault} 2,206

8. {http://www.iomtoday.co.im/news/isle-of-man-news/assault-on-board-the-manannan-1-6829976|Assault on board the Manannan} 2,203

9. {http://www.iomtoday.co.im/news/isle-of-man-news/passengers-not-satisfied-with-onchan-buses-1-6824387|Passengers not satisfied with Onchan buses} 2,102

10. {http://www.iomtoday.co.im/news/isle-of-man-news/talks-stall-over-steam-packet-s-linkspan-user-deal-1-6833174|Talks stall over Steam Packet’s linkspan user deal} 1,857

The future of state-provided services in the Isle of Man is under the spotlight like never before.

In this week’s Isle of Man Examiner, the Minister for Policy and Reform, Chris Robertshaw MHK, outlines why there needs to be a ‘Big Debate’ about the issue.

His explanation is in his own words inside the paper.

But the news about the ‘Big Debate’ is the basis of the lead story in today’s paper too.

People will be invited to a series of meetings throughout the island and have the chance to vote using an electronic gadget.

Also in this week’s paper, we have been invited to see the railway station with trains boss Ian Longworth.

Two weeks ago, the Isle of Man Examiner revealed that the station could be knocked down if work wasn’t done on it.

In spite of the fact that the information came as a written statement from his own department, the minister, Phil Gawne, described it as a ‘throwaway comment’.

So what is the situation and how bad is it?

A petitioner at Tynwald called for the Isle of Man to allow assisted suicide. We hear what she has to say and ask if the bishop agrees.

There’s a page devoted to that.

We also join the last horse tram of the season. It’s the last for some time because of the work that’s planned on the promenade.

The paper also looks back at the Film Festival and there’s the second part of our feature on the island’s involvement in the slave trade. {http://www.iomtoday.co.im/news/isle-of-man-news/isle-of-man-s-role-in-18th-century-slave-trade-1-6833224|Part one is here to whet your appetite.}

Our sports pages include a review of the rally, while our 12-page business coverage reveals why the island has made history with digital currencies.

With our lively letters page, a page of news reports written by readers, Terry Cringle’s nostalgia column and details of the latest property sales, the Isle of Man Examiner is an indispensible part of the Manx week.

It’s in the shops now.

A man fell into the sea after a fight in Ramsey.

Police are appealing for any witnesses to the disturbance, which occurred on Queen’s Promenade, opposite King’s Court, at about 4.10pm on Friday (September 12).

The incident involved two men fighting in the roadway and then on the seaside pavement.

One ended up falling from the sea wall into the sea below.

Police first released information about the incident today (Tuesday).

Anyone with information about this incident is urged to contact Constable Mark Kerruish at Ramsey police station on 812234 or ring Crimestoppers on 0800 555111.

New meditation classes are being offered at the Hub Club, run by the Southern Communities Initiatives (SCI) in Thie Rosien, Four Roads, Port Erin.

From this Saturday for those that have already started meditation, there are free regular Saturday evening sessions from 5.30pm to 6.30pm.

For those who have never tried meditation or would like a refresher, a series of introductory courses are being offered by Joanna Kitto, island co-ordinator for Brahma Kumaris, who will lead the Raja Yoga Meditation, supported by Anthony Murphy; and Mike Kewley will be taking mindfulness sessions.

Introduction to Raja Yoga Meditation by Joanna Kitto is on September 27 and October 4 and 11 from 4pm to 5pm.

‘Like any skill, a regular meditation habit takes practice to achieve,’ said Joanna. ‘Having some dedicated space available for meditation is such a valuable asset for the community, so we are hoping that people will come along and join us and learn to enjoy the benefits of meditating.’

It is advisable to attend all three sessions to get the most out of the course, which is free of charge, donations are welcome.

Introduction to Mindfulness workshops with Mike Kewley will be held September 27 and October 18 from 2pm to 4pm, costing £15 each. A six-week mindfulness meditation course will then follow in November.

‘Mindfulness is the practice of being fully available to our present moment experience, without habitually being dominated by our thoughts,’ said Mike. ‘By learning to pay attention to our actual experience as it happens, we step out of our fears, worries and stories about how things should be, and taste life – perhaps for the first time – as it actually is.’

There are said to be many benefits that can be experienced with regular practice of mediation, such as increased feelings of calm, peace and balance.

‘When you meditate, you clear away the information overload that builds up every day and contributes to your stress and reducing negative emotions,’ explained Joanna.

‘Meditation might also be useful if you have a medical condition, especially one that may be worsened by stress,’ added Mike. ‘Some research suggests that meditation may help people manage symptoms of conditions such as anxiety disorders, asthma, cancer, depression, heart disease, high blood pressure, pain and sleep problems.’

The meditation is another initiative being introduced under the auspices of the SCI, which was formed a few years ago to tackle gaps in the community. One of the issues identified was a significant number of people suffer from loneliness and isolation.

‘This can be a major cause of stress and if not tackled early on can spiral into anxiety and depression,’ said SCI coordinator Janet Bridle. ‘Learning to manage those thoughts can go a long way to bringing us out of that danger zone of anxiety. Meditation groups are a positive way to be with others and learn valuable life skills.’

For further information contact: Joanna, phone 626940, www.brahmakumaris.org/uk/isleofman; Mike, www.myfreemind.im; or Janet, phone 838180, email admin@hubclubsci.im.

The Department of Economic Development has launched an important survey which will be used to assist in the calculation of the Isle of Man’s National Income as measured by Gross Domestic Product (“GDP”).

The Isle of Man is making alterations to the way in which it calculates national GDP by recognising Research and Development activity (R&D) in its own right which is consistent with international standards. It means that R&D is now considered as a product in its own account for GDP measurement purposes.

Minister for Economic Development Laurence Skelly MHK said: ‘I would encourage Isle of Man businesses to participate as this is a survey of upmost importance.

‘It will be central not just in calculating the island’s GDP but will also inform key government planning activity, such as economic growth planning and VAT revenue sharing arrangements with the UK.

‘The department is issuing the survey with the intention of getting as many returns as possible from industry.

‘Even if a business conducts no R&D, they can simply answer ‘no’ and return the survey as this will help develop an average R&D-by-employee figure.’

Considering R&D as a product in its own right will bring the Isle of Man in line with the European System of Accounts, which is used by the European Union and revised to reflect the changing nature of national economies.

The brief survey needs to be completed and returned by the end of September 2014. The data collected will be treated in the utmost confidence, be anonymised for analysis purposes and only the aggregated figures will be used in the National Accounts.

The survey can be accessed at www.whereyoucan.com/ibweb/res/general/Survey/IOMDED-RD-Survey.xls or by request from David Orders at david.orders@gov.im

Backbencher Alfred Cannan has announced he has resigned from his role as MHK with responsibility for housing - claiming his department is being sidelined by the Cabinet Office.

Mr Cannan accused the Cabinet Office of a failure to democratically engage with elected representatives in respect of local government reforms and significant matters relating to social housing.

He also criticised the Big Debate saying many people will find it unacceptable that attendance at public meetings is by invitation only. ‘People have not delegated their democratic rights to their fellow citizens chosen at random by the Cabinet Office and yet it would appear that major government policy is about to be decided in such a manner,’ he said.

In his letter of resignation to Social Care Minister Howard Quayle, Mr Cannan wrote: ‘Although I have been in the role only a matter of months, it is clear to me major housing policy decisions are being managed through the Cabinet Office and not through the Department of Social Care and yet we (you and I) are expected to take political responsibility for those decisions. This is not acceptable to me.’

A total of 12 tourist accommodation units and a replacement farm complex including a five-bedroom home can be built in Lanjaghan Road, Abbeylands.

Roy Tilleard’s application (13/00547/B) for the development at Lanjaghan Farm was approved following an appeal.

Approval was granted despite concerns raised by Onchan Commissioners, Onchan MHK Peter Karran and local residents.

Onchan Commissioners said there was insufficient evidence to support the need for the tourist development ‘in such a remote location’.

Mr Karran registered ‘deep concern’ for the large-scale development, mainly because of problems with Lanjaghan Road. Meanwhile, Mr and Mrs Watterson of neighbouring Slieau Ree said it would be better to build the new farm complex on the site of the existing one.

No work can take place on site until the road improvement works are carried out and a plan to mitigate noise from the farm is approved.

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For legal reasons the commenting system has been disabled on this story.

An informal meeting covering public transport timetables will be held at Willow House, Onchan, on Thursday, October 9.

It is being organised by Onchan commissioner Rob Callister and will be attended by Keith Watterson, chairman of the IoM Road Transport Licensing Committee, and Kate Beecroft, MHK with responsibility for public transport.

Rob said: ‘The meeting will give people an opportunity to discuss their concerns directly with those who have an input into future public transport timetables.’

Places can be reserved by emailing robcallister@manx.net with name, mobile phone number and email address.

Tracey Bell has submitted a second application for a dental surgery at 12 Malew Street, in Castletown.

Her first application was turned down by the government planning committee due to concern the proposed flat roof would ‘result in an unattractive and incongruous addition which would be harmful to the conservation area and perception of views from the castle’.

Her latest bid (14/01032/B) remains to change the use of the shop, for internal alterations and a single-storey extension at the rear.

But this time the flat roof has been replaced with a lean-to pitched roof.

The surgery would comprise a reception, three surgeries, two cross-infection rooms – one with a stock room, an x-ray room and a staff area.

It is anticipated there would be eight full time members of staff.

Opening hours would be 8am to 6pm Monday to Friday and 8am to 5pm on Saturday.

Parking would be in disc zones and other public car parks.

In June 2014, planning approval was granted to Mrs Bell for the conversion of 10 Malew Street to a dental aesthetic clinic or to a cafe.

How does it feel to win an award at Isle of Man Newspapers’ Awards for Excellence? Some of last year’s winners tell us.

‘It’s like getting a hole in one in golf!’ says Ged Power.

Ged and his business partner Martin Young stepped up on stage at the Villa to collect the award for Marketing and PR Effectiveness on behalf of their company, Isle of Man Golf Tours, at last year’s Awards for Excellence.

Ged said: ‘From a personal point of view, that moment when they open the envelope and the words spill out and you’ve won – I looked at Martin and it’s one of those moments you’ll never forget.

‘It was amazing to be recognised in such fantastic circumstances and the night itself was wonderful for the Isle of Man.’

Since winning the award Ged has also noticed positive benefits for the business.

He said: ‘For us, top of the tree is confidence – confidence in the company and the product, and it’s great to have an Award for Excellence on our CV.

‘We also have the winner accreditation on our emails which is good for the business as the majority of our clients are off-island and all our business is done by email.’

Crossroads Care was established in the island in 1988 and has since grown and expanded its services to meet the needs of local carers. As a charity, Crossroads relies on fundraising and donations to provide seventy per cent of its projects.

Chief executive Jackie Betteridge described picking up an award as ‘a very proud feeling,’ and said the best thing about the award has been the publicity and the recognition, adding: ‘Winning the award has made a big difference because it’s raised the organisation’s profile.

‘It’s just fantastic a sense of pride because, as an organisation, we do fantastic work and it gave us a big pat on the back for that.’

The Family Library won the award for Medium Enterprise of the Year following a difficult 12 months as it left the public sector to become a registered charity.

Sandra Henderson, librarian in charge of the Mobile Family Library, said that simply having survived the year was an achievement and that winning an award was ‘the icing on the cake’.

The judges were impressed by the sheer resilience of Sandra and her team and their determination to keep providing this vital service against the odds.

The Family Library encompasses not just the well-loved children’s library in Westmoreland Road but also the Mobile Library which is out every day of the week, providing a lifeline to people who are confined to their homes.

‘Some of them don’t see anybody else, apart from the postman and us,’ said Sandra.

And all her members, she added, were thrilled when they found out about the award. She said: ‘The response was fantastic and they all said it was really well-deserved!’

The public sector is always well represented at the Awards for Excellence and last year was no different. The award for Public Sector Achievement was won by the Manx Electricity Authority for the work that was done to restore power following the worst snow storm to hit the island in more than 50 years.

Bobby Leece and Juan Crawley went up on stage to be presented with the award on the night.

Bobby said: ‘We were extremely honoured to collect this on behalf of the team at MEA. The award helped recognise the incredible achievement of a team working in extraordinary circumstances supporting the community.’

Juan added: ‘Thanks once again to the judges, customers and those who attended on the night. Finally, best of luck to all the entries for 2014!’

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Have You Entered Yet?

Business Person of the Year is one of 16 award categories at this year’s Isle of Man Newspapers’ Awards for Excellence, offering opportunities for companies, individuals, public sector teams and charitable and cultural organisations to enter.

You can find full details and download entry forms at www.iomtoday.co.im/afe

Entries close on Friday, September 26.

Police are investigating after a sheep was killed in a road accident.

It happened on the Tholt-y-Will road near the Bungalow early on Tuesday evening.

Parts of what are believed to be a metallic dark grey vehicle were left at the scene.

A driver has now come forward to the police after the incident was reported in the island’s media.

A motorist hit a lamppost with his or her vehicle and knocked it to the ground.

Then the culprit drove off without reporting it.

Police are asking members of the public for their assistance in tracing the person involved in a hit and run road collision.

The incident happened on {https://www.google.com/maps/place/West+Dr,+Isle+of+Man/@54.1740867,-4.467634,17z/data=!3m1!4b1!4m2!3m1!1s0x4863852a8701eee3:0xb82846dd8f0b6153|West Drive, Onchan,} near to Government House, between 9pm on Thursday, September 11, and 8am the next day.

The cost to the Department of Infrastructure to rectify this damage is estimated at about £2,000.

Police are asking anybody who may have witnessed the incident or knows the identities of those involved to contact police headquarters on 631212.

A parked vehicle was damaged in a hit-and-run collision in Ramsey.

It happened in the area of Cronk Elfin, Ramsey sometime between 8pm on Saturday (September 13) and 7.30am the next day.

Ramsey police are appealing to the public for help in finding the culprit.

Two sixth-form students from the island experienced an adventure of a lifetime at NASA’s United Space School in Houston, Texas, this summer.

Caitlin Pinder from St Ninian’s High School and Kitto Maddrell from Castle Rushen High School joined students from 21 other countries for two weeks after winning the annual scholarships awarded by ManSat Ltd.

The scholarships, which ManSat has been awarding since 2000, are supported by the Department of Education and Children, and Caitlin and Kitto visited the DEC’s headquarters at Hamilton House in Douglas to meet Minister for Education Tim Crookall MHK and receive a certificate marking their achievements.

‘The trip was just amazing, by far the best thing I’ve ever done,’ said Caitlin. ‘I’m so lucky to have been given the opportunity. I’ve been given friends for life all over the world, and we’re all meeting up in October and then again next year. It was hard to say goodbye to all the people there who I’d become so close to, but we all still keep in touch.

‘We had to present our work to the Space School board members, and it was nerve-racking but everyone did so well in planning our “mission to Mars”. It was a lot of hard work, but it all paid off when we received our certificates.

‘I learned a great deal about the whole industry and the science behind it. Within my group, Mission Control, I took on the role of looking after the psychological aspects of the project, as that’s what I enjoy the most, and this reinforced my goal to become a psychologist. I want to continue to be involved in programs like this, hopefully returning to the Space School when I’m 21 to mentor a team.’

Kitto said: ‘The trip was a life changing event for me and I genuinely can’t think of a greater experience in my life so far. To work with students from around the world and develop friendships while receiving lectures from industry-leading professionals, well, it’s like nothing else.

‘During the two weeks we visited places like the Houston Space Centre, Ad Astra and the Mars Society. To have an in depth view into both the past and future of the space industry was eye opening and incredible. We also had the amazing opportunity to meet three astronauts who gave first-hand accounts of their times in space.

‘The bonds you make with the people you meet there will stay with you for life. Being able to move past language and cultural barriers to perform well as a team mirrored the space industry in real life. In that environment you get a feel for what it must be like to take part in such an international collaboration and the satisfaction that comes from it.’

ManSat chief executive Chris Stott said: ‘This is the 15th year we have offered these scholarships, and Caitlin and Kitto have followed in the footsteps of some wonderful students who have represented the island so well down the years.’

The competition to win the scholarships is open to year 12 students at the DEC’s five high schools. ManSat’s finance director, Ian Jarritt, will visit each of the schools in the coming months to talk to students about the USS and invite entries for the 2015 scholarships.

In addition to the USS scholarships, ManSat sponsors and supports the annual Spirit of Innovation competition for Manx high schools, in cooperation with the Pete Conrad Foundation. The company also awards an annual ‘ManSat Fellowship’ grant, for Manx students seeking to further their studies in space, and scholarships to programs run by the International Space University in Strasbourg.

Visit www.unitedspaceschool.org for more information about the USS and www.mansat.com for details of the company’s scholarships.

Numbers were up for this year’s Festival of Motoring.

The Steam Packet has already reported an 11 per cent increase in motorcycles travelling on the ferry for this year’s festival compared with the corresponding fortnight last year.

Passenger numbers were also up on 2013, by 1,100 to 29,460 – the highest number for this fortnight in more than a decade.

The total of 3,697 motorcycles by the Steam Packet carried represents the highest figure since 1993, when the Steam Packet began recording comparable data.

The Isle of Man Airport Authority has reported an increase of almost 12 per cent this year in the number of inbound and outbound passengers through Ronaldsway Airport during the festival fortnight, following on from a similar increase of over 11 per cent for the inaugural event in 2013.

The Festival of Motorcycling event consists of the Classic TT, the Manx Grand Prix Races, the Classic and Two Day Trials and the Vintage Motorcycle Club Rally including their Festival of Jurby.

The government has calculated that the event contributes more than £6million to the local economy and £1million to the taxman.

The Isle of Man Treasury is scheduled to carry out a further economic study during the 2015 Festival.

The extra money has come from visitor numbers and revenue from sponsorship, event and Grandstand ticket sales, corporate hospitality, trade sites and other commercial revenue generating activity have all shown significant year-on-year increases.

David Cretney MHK the politician with responsibility for motorsport and tourism, said: ‘Commercial income and visitors numbers, with their contribution to the local economy, are the only way that we can justify investing public funds on an event.

‘These encouraging figures are an effective benchmark of the success of the rebranded event and, combined with increased media interest, give us a platform to build on to secure the event’s long term future and deliver a tangible return on the investment.’

The Classic TT commercial programme run by the Department of Economic Development’s motorsport team has seen new sponsors Dunlop, Vauxhall, and VP Fuels join the commercial partners while the Manx Motor Cycle Club secured a title sponsor, IMGold, for the first time in the event’s 93-year history as well as further sponsorship for the Senior Manx Grand Prix from local company Full Factory Winners Wear.

The Grandstand sold out all tickets on both Classic TT Race days while the department’s hospitality programme, which also ran on both race days, entertained more than 600 guests, generated additional income streams.

The official event programme and retail trade site inventory posted record sales while special events including the Classic TT Party, Classic TT Legends Dinner, the Classic Racer Magazine Lap of Honour and the MGP Reunion Lap all provided additional income to offset the costs of staging the Festival and reduce the public funds required to stage the event.

Meanwhile, the government is bragging that the Classic TT format has proved to be a major hit with the media with many UK and international titles visiting the island for the 2014 meeting.

Mr Cretney said: ‘Media buy-in for the Classic TT concept is really important to deliver the long-term objectives that we have for the Isle of Man Festival of Motorcycling. The positive coverage and level of media interest from this year’s event will help us to achieve our objectives of attracting more visitors to the island and generating additional commercial income from the event.’

The quarterly magazine MCN Sport has produced a ‘retro’ special profiling this year’s festival.

The 28-page feature includes Valvolene Racing by Padgett’s Motorcycles boss Clive Padgett’s Classic TT diary, a look at the ‘unsung heroes’ and ‘Classic TT nobility’ as well as profiling the stories of many of this year’s leading figures. The MCN Sport coverage alone has an advertising rate card equivalent value of £42,000.

MCN Sport’s editor Rupert Paul describes the meeting in his editorial column as ‘a phenomenon’ and goes on to state that the meeting ‘already feels like the best classic race in the world’.

Motorcycle correspondent Mike Nicks, who now works as a freelancer for titles such as MCN, BSN, Classic Bike and UK national newspapers as well as international titles in France, the USA and Australia believes that the event has become ‘one of the biggest events - if not the biggest event - in the classic diary’.

Other titles to visit the island during this year’s festival include Classic Bike, Practical Sportsbike, BSN, Bike and event media partner Mortons Media, which publishes genre titles including Classic Racer.

Motorrad from Germany, MCN Australia, New Zealand’s Motorcycle Trader, Moto Magazine in France and a number of Irish newspapers and magazines were also represented.

The Classic TT also featured in a dedicated ITV4 show, which aired on August 29. The show, which was produced by North One TV, was repeated twice, and generated a total cumulative audience of more than 500,000.

Cat Turner invites readers to a free screening of Disruption – an event taking place worldwide in the run up to crucial

decisions affecting many aspects of how we will live our lives

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At 7pm on Friday (September 19), our film group Rebel Cinema’s coming to the Manx Museum. We’re showing Disruption, a newly released movie which aims to spark some real debate - and action - around what we can and should be doing, to respond to damaging climate change.

Are you not convinced that manmade climate change is actually ‘a thing’? Or are you worried by it, but don’t believe you can make a difference?

Disruption might just change your mind.

In the lead-up to the worldwide People’s Climate March (on which more, later) the film highlights the painful consequences of ignoring climate change – consequences which we’re already feeling here, through price rises in many of the food products you’ll find in supermarkets, through extreme weather events, through changes in the types of pests we’re seeing – and a host of other environmental impacts.

But others around the world are feeling the pain much more keenly, with climate refugees displaced from their homes and rising world food prices contributing massively to conflict, hunger and poverty in many areas.

The film features well-known environmental leaders such as Bill McKibben and former NASA scientist Dr James Hansen, and along the way it documents many activists’ efforts to mobilise people for what may be the largest climate change march in history.

At the time of writing this column, some 1,700 events have been planned around the world.

‘We’re the first generation to feel the impacts of climate disruption, and the last generation that can do something about it,’ the film’s synopsis reads.

Disruption was produced and directed by the same team that produced Do the Math, a 2013 film documenting McKibben’s fight against the fossil fuel industry.

It’ll be free to attend, though if you want to help cover the costs of hiring the museum, we’ll have a donations bucket out!

Please come even if you’re broke, and can’t donate – we’d always rather see you than not.

In a draft of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change report released earlier this month, the United Nations stated that ‘continued emission of greenhouse gases will cause further warming and long-lasting changes in all components of the climate system, increasing the likelihood of severe, pervasive and irreversible impacts for people and ecosystems’.

These include rising sea levels and an increase in extreme weather, ocean acidification, flooding, droughts and heat waves, the report says.

After the film, at about 8.45pm, we’ll have time for a short sharing of ideas.

Peter Taylor, a well-known local businessman with a great deal of experience in renewable energy, will be one of our panelists, as will Alice Quayle, who’s steeped in the Transition movement and ways of engaging communities in making things just generally, all-round, better.

Oh, and me, of course! Friends of the Earth rarely passes up an opportunity to get on a microphone!

Separately, but as we’ve mentioned above, the People’s Climate March will take place all around the world on September 21 – and as part of this, the Green Centre will be at the Isle of Man Food and Drink Festival at the Villa Marina.

We want to explain why climate change is having a huge effect on food prices and food security, and why it makes sense, from an environmental perspective, to support our wonderful local food producers.

So if you’re able, come and see us – we’ll be aiming to make some noise at around 1pm, when the global event kicks off.

For more information, see our Facebook Page or contact us on 1omfoe@manx.net

The government has hit a stumbling block in its plans to means-test public housing tenants.

It means that it won’t be able to means-test tenants from April 2015 as had been planned.

It has discovered it needs to change the law before it has the power to do it.

Minister for Health and Social Care Howard Quayle MHK said: ‘Assessing people’s ability to pay for services will undoubtedly play a significant role in ensuring that essential services are targeted at those most in need and are sustainable in the long term.

‘It remains the department’s intention to support the cross-government approach to means testing services which undoubtedly will involve ensuring that rents are equitable and reflect both the property and the tenant’s ability to pay.’

Tomorrow’s Manx Independent will report a lot more on this story.

Individual bedside televisions are now available for patients at Noble’s Hospital thanks to donations..

A total of 260 bedside televisions have been installed.

Barbara Scott, director of hospital operations, said: ‘A television by each bed has been a long-term aim for Noble’s Hospital.

‘The quality of care and patient safety are our primary concern, but we’re always looking for ways to improve the comfort of patients during their stay. None of this would have been possible without generous donations from the Noble’s Hospital Gift Trustees and the Noble’s Hospital League of Friends, for which we are extremely grateful. By funding the project this way we’ve been able to ensure that there are no usage costs for patients.;

Each patient admitted to a ward now has access to their own television with headphones and remote control as well as access to subtitles.

The positioning of the equipment and the provision of headphones and subtitles allows patient treatment and recovery to continue without distraction to other patients, visitors and staff.

Barbara continued: ‘The Department of Infrastructure’s estates services team, in partnership with the local contracted provider, Colebourn’s, installed the televisions across the hospital. They have worked hard to complete the project without disrupting patient care, for which we are grateful.’

The chairman of the Noble’s Hospital League of Friends, Chris Kelly said: ‘Understandably, being a patient on a ward can be stressful and worrying. Bringing television entertainment and radio stations to the bedside can help to reduce anxiety and speed up recovery. In partnership with the Gift Trustees, we hope that this service will enable patients to feel more relaxed and comfortable during their stay.’

After the disappointment of a false start in August, a small team from the Lonan Gentlemen’s Fellowship will be returning shortly to the Bonneville Salt Flats.

The full team faced disappointment last month when they arrived at Bonneville hoping to contest up to seven speed records.

On that occasion they took two bikes, two riders, Paul Hodgson and Chris Proctor, and support teams but arrived only to find the famous salt flats under several inches of water. With no immediate prospect of any racing, organisers Southern Calafornia Timing Association took the decision to cancel the event, which was the centenary.

Since then, the water has receded and the salt flats have dried out rapidly and events have been taking place there since late August.

Now, part of the original team are to make a swift return trip to tackle what they see as unfinished business.

Ann McGrath said she would be returning along with rider and mechanic Paul Hodgson and Bob Watson to Bonneville this year. They are to fly out for the last week in September and will again be aiming at four records.

‘It was still a lake when we were there before and some of the organisers got a poor reception but they had a difficult decision to make. We have local people keeping an eye on things for us and we know it is dry now and the forecast is for 80 to 90 degrees.’

Both bikes are currently still out there in secure storage so the team will be collecting Paul’s bike, a Yamaha (which uses a Yamaha frame and engine), the day after they arrive and travelling back to Bonneville.

With the reduced manpower in the team this time they will be helped by members of another team who they met on the last trip in 2012.

‘Paul and I kept in touch with them by email from two years ago and they are being kind enough to travel 500 miles to help us out. They have been fantastic so we have their names on our bike.

‘They are hoping to visit the Isle of Man for the TT next year.

‘We arrive back in the Isle of Man at the end of the first week in October and we hope to bring another four records with us back to the island,’ Ann said.

When the team visited Bonneville in 2012 they were the first rookie team to top 200mph on a production based 500cc bike. Both bikes will travel back to the Isle of Man after the event later this month. The other team members will make a decision about returning with the second bike in future, possibly next year or in 2016.