Week ending Friday 24th April

Friday again, and time for our weekly awards for some rather strange categories.
Services to Journalism seems like a tough nut to crack in Boston, but the Boston Standard has earned it for a couple of contributions in recent weeks. Yes, the paper that warned "dosey" parkers about the risk of getting a ticket, has now been working overtime in the imagination department to come up with the idea that "you may as well refer to the Queen's daughter as the Pilgrims' Princess, due to the amount of time she spends in the town." We're as certain as we can be that her heart skips a beat each time she turns to her engagments diary and sees her day blanked out for a trip to "Boston, Lincolnshire." If the Standard likes a challenge why not try to ask HRH how she feels about her nominal link to the town's white elephant on Boardsides.
Then there are Statistics award goes to the Lincolnshire Fire Brigade for a piece of self-congratulatory nonsense concerning a fall in the number of deaths in accidental house fires which has been praised by the Audit Commission. The figures come after a 600% increase in home fire checks in the four years since the government pumped £36m into a national fire prevention initiative which has seen nearly 7,000 home fire safety checks carried out and 6,690 smoke alarms installed in the county. Chief Fire Officer Mike Thomas is quoted as saying: "The increase in our fire prevention work shows the dedication of our community fire safety team." The fall in fatalities? They were "halved." From four ... to two. Whilst every life saved is well worth the effort, we feel that such a low number has little, if anything to do with all this time and expense.
Port of last Resort award goes to former Boston United player Chris Cook who suggested on BBC Radio Lincolnshire that - rather than rely on FA judgments - the side preferred to go out and "do their business" on the pitch. Perhaps there should be an inspection before tomorrow's final game of the season so that there are no nasty surprises in store for visitors Cammell Laird.
Ask and you shall be answered....Eventually award. After our piece earlier this week in which we asked where we might find a copy of the Go Walking in Boston booklet, we found the answer in the local papers. They are available from the council offices in Worst Street or the TIC in the Haven .... both of them an inconvenient walk away for most people to got to collect!
Sorry is the hardest Word award. Perhaps we got it wrong when we mocked Chief Executive Mick Gallagher's suggestion that the Borough Council's management team was currently working six or seven days a week. One look at the frazzled individual in the photo on the front page of this week's Standard and you cannot help but believe that the claim might be true after all!

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