York police are appealing for help to identify two suspected shoplifters following a theft of showers in the city.

They were caught on CCTV in the B&Q store on Osbaldwick Link Road, at 6.45pm on Thursday 3 January 2013. It is believed that they stole 18 Mira shower units valued at around £3,500.

Following on from the revelations about the increase in the number of gifts and the amount of hospitality being accepted by some York Councillors, figures have emerged about the costs of the travel that they are undertaking.

There has been a long tradition of openness at the York Council about expenses. Lists are published each month on their web site with a summary produced at the end of each year.

Last years produced no surprises with the amounts claimed being modest. The trend continues with the monthly reports which can also be found on the Councils web site

The Councils says on the web site, “As part of our commitment to be open and transparent we will publish Councillors’ expenses and allowances on a monthly basis”.

Strange therefore that it has taken dogged work by one back bench Councillor to reveal the true cost of expenses being claimed by some of the Councils “Cabinet”.

A total of over £6000 has been paid to cover travel costs. The payments do not appear on the Councils web site, but were released following questions raised at the Council meeting held in December. Most of the 200 journeys in themselves are unexceptional although some will question why a Councillor earning around £30,000 a year needed to have a £3 train fare paid for by taxpayers.

Disguises on recent London trip to meet Minister?

£40 on taxi fares to Huby seems a lot as does a similar amount for a taxi to Sand Hutton.

Few will however doubt the value of the £251 spent on a one way train ticket from London to Leeds which allowed the Council Leader to meet Nick Clegg.

In total Cllr Alexander has accumulated £2492 in travel costs. Cllr Laing cost £1516, Cllr Crisp £669, Cllr Gunnell £482, Cllr Merrett £351 and Cllr Leven £165.

In future, the Council should for completeness, make sure that these costs are included in the monthly expenses returns that it publishes on its web site.

A full list of costs is published below.

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With snow and icy weather forecasted to sweep into the region this weekend, North Yorkshire Police is advising drivers to take every precaution to keep safe.

The cold snap is predicted to last around two weeks so it is important to be prepared and respect the dangers that such conditions can bring.

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Young people between the ages of 11-17 years old who are interested in politics are being invited to represent York as a member of the UK Youth Parliament.

The UK Youth Parliament (UKYP) provides young people with a platform to have their voices heard and listened to by local and national government, services and agencies.

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The Council has published the results of its monitoring inspections of local care homes.

There are 44 residential and nursing care homes in the City.

There are 4 Homes which currently have compliance issues listed against them. Two homes have one improvement action, one home has two improvement actions and one Home has three improvement and one enforcement actions. All the information from CQC is within the public domain and customers can also access details regarding inspection reports from the Council’s website.

In addition the Council is monitoring 38 organisation which provide home care in the City. 14 have issues requiring attention in the Councils view.

93% of all providers in York are meeting all essential standards. The equivalent figure nationally is 72%.

The Safer York partnership are reporting a continuing decline in levels of crime in the City

There was however a steep increase in October – the only month doing which crime levels were above targets.

There are some problem areas with “assault without injury (up 17%) Aggravated vehicle taking (up 75) and gun crime (up 250%). The gun crimes represented only 5 incidents.

There have been big increases in auto crime in Clifton, Huntington and Rawcliffe.

Burglary is a growing problem in Haxby, Heworth and Hull Road.

Within the last seven months there have been approximately 195 burglaries of garages within York.

These account for 28% of all burglaries in York as they can be recorded as a domestic or non-domestic burglary depending on if the garage is integral to the house or external.

• 30% of these garages were insecure

• 30% of these garages were entered by bending back the main door

• 15% of these garages were entered through breaking or removing a window

• 15% of these garages were entered by forcing the back door

• 10% of these garages were entered by other means such as having a key, using an external door, removing bricks or coming through the roof.

Despite reductions in the volume of material sent to land fill, Council Taxpayers face a bill of £3.3 million this year. It is the highest ever and reflects the failure of the Council to achieve its recycling targets.

The report does not take into account the recent problems with waste collection at Christmas but they do reflect the Councils decision to close the Beckfield Lane recycling centre last spring.

The Landfill Tax bill in 2008 was less than £2 million.

York’s nationally-renowned archives will remain open for longer ahead of refurbishment works to move them from the City Art Gallery to their new home at York Explore Library Learning Centre.

These temporary measures form part of the Gateway to History Project, and only affect material currently held at the Art Gallery. Local history material already held at York Explore will continue to be available for public access until building work begins.

As part of the Residents Festival, on Saturday 26 January residents will be able to book a tour of the archives, where they have a last opportunity to see behind the scenes of the old storage and learn more about the Gateway to History plans for the future. Tickets are available from York Explore and are free with a York Card.

Click here for more information on when public access to the archive collection is available during January and February.

Police in York are appealing for the public to help their search for a missing man.

Jeremy Malarkey, aged 49, of Lancaster Way, Clifton, was reported missing by his son-in-law at around 6pm on Tuesday 8 January 2013. He was last seen at his home address at around 8.30am earlier that day.

Officers have been making extensive enquiries in an effort to locate Mr Malarkey since his reported disappearance and are now asking the public for their assistance.

Mr Malarkey is described as white, around 6ft 2in tall, with a stocky build, green eyes and grey shaved hair. He has the letter ‘J’ tattooed on his right arm.

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Acomb Explore Library

Labour are pushing on with controversial plans to sell-off libraries in York. The plans will see the library and archive service transfer from council ownership and management to a new social enterprise model run by a board of volunteers.

Labour’s six-week consultation on libraries last year was criticized after residents were not asked about potential management or ownership changes. In October, Labour said that current staffing levels could not be guaranteed under the new arrangements and the report approved by the Labour Cabinet last night confirmed that further funding cuts to the service are likely in the coming years. The report also confirmed that current libraries may be closed under a relocation programme.

Councillor Nigel Ayre, Liberal Democrat spokesperson for Cultural Services, commented:

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