HERE’S a selectiuon of stories as they appeared in the Chronicle back in October 2000.
ANGRY mothers fed-up with the activities of drug pushers in Barnsley have decided to take matters into their own hands.
A newly-formed group is planning to harass and intimidate dealers in an effort to flush them out of town.
Members will picket pushers’ homes and stage silent protests on street corners where they believe people are dealing in heroin and other hard drugs.
The zero-tolerance team will only involve women on the front line - because they say men could get too violent.
Mothers Against Drugs (MAD) was launched this week by independent councillor Sandra Birkinshaw because she said she had been inundated with complaints from residents.
But police say the idea is fraught with danger - and warn that the vigilante mums could end up in trouble themselves.
A GANG of thieves has been blamed for snatching £10,000 worth of top-class golf clubs and sportswear from Silkstone Golf Club.
Police believe it’s the same gang who carried out raids on several golf clubs across the region.
The attack at Silkstone’s pro shop - at 4am last Friday - comes in spite of extra security being fitted to the premises as a result of the other raids.
Half an hour before the Silkstone burglary they had struck at Grange Park Golf Club in Rotherham - where they stole £3,000 worth of equipment and designer golf clothing - and were seen driving away by the club steward.
THE new refuge for women and children suffering domestic violence was officially opened last Thursday.
Judith House. named after former Mayor of Barnsley Coun Judith Watts, will give shelter to up to eight families in self-contained units far superior to those of the first refuge.
The £300,000 building has been made possible with the help of English Churches Housing Group and Barnsley Council and consists of a kitchen and sitting room with separate bathroom and cooking facilities in each unit.
THE jobs of up to 30 disabled people are at risk due to plans to alter protected employment schemes.
Barnsley Central MP Eric Illsley and Barnsley West and Penistone MP Mick Clapham want an urgent meeting with the government over the proposals which threaten jobs at Moorland Plastics.
The plans - outlined in a paper by the Department of the Environment, Transport and the Regions - would put pressure on disabled people to take mainstream jobs.
The firm is owned by Barnsley Council and funding means that disabled people’s jobs were safe. But the new proposals, which may be approved by Parliament next April, would only guarantee jobs for two years.
THE Mayor and Mayoress, Coun Arthur and Margaret Whittaker, launched the £2.4m Wharncliffe Colliery development at Carlton. They switched on a Biogenie pump which will rid the area of contaminates, watched by Biogenie’s Paul Garret and Yorkshire Forward chief executive Martin Havenhead. The proposed enterprise park will create hundreds of jobs when it is completed in around two years.
