St Valentine's Day gift.

"THE final step in axing tolls on the Forth Road Bridge has been taken in the Scottish Parliament. MSPs backed overwhelmingly the scrapping of charges on the Forth and Tay crossings on Thursday and the bridges will be toll-free from 14th February. Transport Minister Stewart Stevenson said, “This is a great day for the people of Fife, Tayside and the Lothians."

With love to Fife, but Carnegie says the timing of the removal of tolls was a bit too tacky.

Carnegie's in the House.

Carnegie reads that "HRH The Princess Royal is to perform the official opening in Dunfermline on Wednesday 13th February, of the iconic new £2.9 million headquarters of the four British-based Carnegie charitable trusts. The Carnegie UK Trust, the Carnegie Dunfermline & Hero Fund Trusts and the Carnegie Trust for the Universities of Scotland this week began co-locating in their bespoke new building on the northern rim of Pittencrieff Park. Andrew Carnegie House – named after the trusts’ founder and the father of modern philanthropy – will be home to both a cutting-edge community-based trust and sister trusts engaged in higher education, research and policy advocacy, as well as support for injured heroes or their surviving dependents."

Carnegie thinks this is great but he wonders if he will get an invitation to the event? It would be good to meet The Princess Royal. Carnegie has read so much about her. Although Carnegie seems to recall that in his earlier incarnations he was wasn't exactly a big fan of the British Monarchy, which makes the decision of the Carnegie Trust to invite a Royal to open a building in his name somewhat ironic.

Police help me.

Carnegie reads: "POLICE have apologised for the way they handled an incident in Dunfermline which resulted in a pensioner being charged with assault for defending his own home. Peter Welsh (67), of Lilac Grove, was arrested and charged after two boys, aged 12 and 14, made complaints against him. The previous evening he and his wife Betty had been besieged in their house by around 20 teenagers. Chief Inspector Bob Baker admitted officers had not conducted themselves appropriately. And he told The Courier the matter would be thoroughly investigated."

An example of the police yet again treating the victim, who was trying to protect themselves and their property, as if they were the criminal. At least they had the good grace to admit they made a mistake, but it sends out the wrong signal to the real law breakers involved.

Murder.

Carnegie thinks there is a serious danger of reading too much into some statistisc.

"FIFE’S homicide rate has risen to its highest level in a decade, according to statistics published by the Scottish Government yesterday. Figures revealed five people were unlawfully killed in the region in the year ending April 2007—in the same period between 2005 and 2006 two murders were recorded."

It may be the highest for a decade but the total was thankfully only five. Five too many but a fraction of those recorded in other areas most notably Strathclyde where the rate is swelled by a prevalent knife culture. And given such a low number of offences recorded even one murder will result in a big percentage change in the figures.

It is other forms of crime that are the most likely for the average Fifer to come into contact with and that is what we should worry about.

Six weeks and counting.

Carnegie reads: "ON A day of history and high emotion, the Scottish Parliament yesterday passed the law to scrap the tolls on the Forth and Tay road bridges. MSPs voted by 122 votes to three, with one abstention, in favour of the Abolition of Bridge Tolls (Scotland) Bill, which will now go forward for Royal Assent. Parliament also backed a Scottish Tory amendment that will prevent bridge authorities from introducing tolls under the guise of congestion charging in the future. The £1 charge on the Forth Bridge and the 80p charge on the Tay bridge could be lifted at the beginning of February."

It's amazing what a difference a couple of years can make since the last time the Scottish Parliament refused to abolish tolls on the same bridges, at the same time as it was abolishing them everywhere else.

New icon anyone?

So, it appears to be official.

"A new bridge will be built across the Forth in Scotland's biggest construction project for a generation, finance minister John Swinney told MSPs today. The crossing has an estimated cost of between £3.25 billion and £4.22 billionAnd Mr Swinney said the bridge – which could open in about nine years time – would become an iconic structure.A new crossing is required because cables on the existing Forth Road Bridge are corroded, and there is a possibility it may have to close to lorries by 2013 and to all traffic by 2019.Today Mr Swinney told the Scottish Parliament that action was required to be taken now.'Doing nothing is not an option,' he said."

At long last we have an apparent decision, albeit one that will take nine years to bring to fruition, but better late than never. Fife will not be cut off. But the new Bridge gives Scottish engineering an opportunity to showcase itself once again to the world. We should make the most of the opportunity.

Rules? What rules?

So, "ELECTION WATCHDOGS are to speak to the Scottish Liberal Democrats in Dunfermline West after it emerged that the party spent more than was allowed at the Holyrood elections. In May the Lib Dem candidate Jim Tolson won a spectacular victory, snatching the seat from Labour. The expenditure limit set by the Electoral Commission for the seat was £11,111.51p. However, the party actually spent £11,125. The Electoral Commission said that no further action would be taken, although they do plan to speak to MSP Mr Tolson in due course."

What? Another politician, this time from Fife, who seems incaoable of obeying the rules and the law as it applies to election campaigns?

It would never have happened in Carnegie's day. Mr Tolson is a law breaker ... and a law maker.

All publicity is good ....?

Carnegie reads that "FIFE Council chiefs spent more than £1.7 million on publicity and communications last year, according to figures released by a tax watchdog. The TaxPayers’ Alliance have claimed that the exact figure for 2006/7 was £1,721,000 – the fourth highest sum of all Scotland’s local authorities. The sum is a staggering increase of 91.9 per cent on 10 years ago, which came in at £897,000."

The defence from a Fife Councillor really isn't just good enough, "A local authority has a responsibility to people. So while we always want to strike the best value, we have to keep people informed of what the council is doing. After all, it is their council.”

But did anyone ask if we wanted them to spend nearly £2 million on fluff and spin? Does it feel like your Council?

That's a Fife cracker.

Strange but true ... and only from Fife.

"A ROSYTH man fighting in war-torn Afghanistan with the Scots Guards won’t be having a cracker of a Christmas despite his father’s efforts – because of regulations on the carriage of ‘explosives’. Former Scots Guard, Major Iain Dalzel-Job, from Rosyth, helped to send more than 650 Christmas crackers to lift the spirits of troops, including his son Malcolm, to the north of Helmand province in Afghanistan, and also near Basra, Iraq. But the President of the Scots Guards Association Club was hindered in his festive greetings when he discovered that Christmas cracker snaps are forbidden from being transported on RAF planes because regulations class cracker snaps as explosives."

On the cheap.

At long last, the big cheeses at the Forth Estuary Transport Authority (FETA) are trying to save some cash on the "toll plaza debacle" by using a contractor who is already on site to demolish the canopy over the Bridge's tolls.

"THE MOST visible sign of the fact that motorists have to pay to cross the Tay road bridge—the toll plaza where the money is collected—could be gone by March ... Cleveland Bridge (UK) Ltd, which is working on a £19 million contract to replace the bridge bearings, has submitted a quote of £263,000 for the demolition work and the installation of subsequent traffic management arrangements on the southbound carriageway."

About time too says Carnegie.

Going bust.

Carnegie suspects that the journalist writing this story was having a bit of a laugh ...

"THE under-fire boss of Dunfermline’s lap-dancing club has been told to “say sorry to God” as a holy alliance prepares to stage a protest. MP Willie Rennie has already told Private Eyes’ Tony Cochrane to “pack up and go home” and this week appealed for people not to go in the hope the business goes bust." "Bust" and lap dancing ... get it?

Good to see that journalists can still have a sense of humour.

The Lollipop Rebellion.

"WEST FIFE could face a shortage of school crossing patrol officers, who say they might leave because of dissatisfaction with Fife Council’s ‘single status’ agreement. Crossing patrol officers were sent a letter in June by the council informing them of changes to pay and terms of employment under the agreement, details of which were explained at a meeting in August ... However, patrol officers claim the details were “not explained very well” – and were dismayed to discover that they would not be paid retainer fees or for school holidays."

Carnegie would like an answer to a question: why are so many of Fife's crossing patrollers positioned at pedestrian crossings? Surely given that each of them costs local council taxpayers several thousand pounds a year, either they could be relocated to places where there are no push button crossings or we could just save the money and employ a few more teachers.

Just a thought.

Feeling stressed?

"A COUNCIL have come under fire after they cut their care budget for the elderly - and introduced free massage sessions for their workers. Fife Council staff are being offered the expensive pampering sessions in a bid to cut absenteeism. The council have also been criticised recently for splashing out public money on other staff freebies such as lunches at top hotels, manicures, head massages and tarot card readings."

Mmmmmmm.

Carnegie is beginning to understand why Fife Council's taxpayers get such a raw deal. Looking after the welfare of employees is great, but so is the Council running itself properly. The first is not more important than the second. What about the stress levels of Fife residents?

At leisure.

Carnegie reads that Fife Council has launched a public information campaign about the £17.2 million worth of improvements it is planning to make to the Leisure Centre named after him in Dunfermline. Carnegie welcomes the commitment, the fact he gym will be doubled in size, introducing a pool with a move able floor, and a new cafe and play area.

Less welcome is the proposal that the centre will shut next summer and remain closed for two years to do the work. Surely it could have been done more quickly, inconveniencing users less?

Carnegie didn't have the time for "leisure."

Resignation.

So Carnegie reads that former Dunfermline Labour Councillor Bob Young has resigned his membership of the Labour Party after "30-odd" years and after serving as a Councillor for Abbeyview for 21 years, only to lose his seat at May's Council Elections, because of "party-infighting."

Very ominous for the Labour Party's attempts to win back the Dunfermline seat at the next UK General Election.

Carnegie respects Mr Young's decision to resign, and respects even More the fact he tried to stay on as a Councillor in May's elections when so many of his colleagues of all parties opted instead to take payments of up to £20,000 not to stand again.

Enjoy your retirement Bob. Here's hoping its a long one.

It's official.

So, Lauder College is no more and Carnegie College is born.

'About time to' says Carnegie.

Goodbye George Lauder. (He was Carnegie's uncle don't you know.)

£5 million up. £1 million down.

"THEY were built at a cost of £5 million and caused months of traffic disruption to motorists. Now, little more than a year later, a further £1 million will be spent tearing the Forth Road Bridge's hi-tech toll booths down again. Yesterday, it was revealed the project will also bring drivers at least another four months of misery as roadworks and speed limits usher in the abolition of tolls next year."

£6 million of your cash and mine, spent by a bunch of politicians and bridge bureaucrats who couldn't see beyond the end of their noses far enough to recognise that it was a case of when tolls would be abolished on the bridge, not if.

What a waste of public money.

Oor Wullie lives here.

Carnegie reads that the Labour Party has selected Thomas Docherty "(32)" as its candidate in the Dunfermline and West Fife Westminster. He apparently "narrowly defeated" local Labour Councillor Willie Sullivan in the selection contest, as well as many other "local" Labour candidates.

As well as being "local" (for two years) Mr Docherty manages to combine living in Dunfermline with working as a "PR man" for British Nuclear Fuels ... at Sellafield in Cumbria.

"Local" is a word Carnegie suspects residents of the city will be hearing a lot over the next couple of years until the next General Election, but is Mr Docherty really the best that Labour can do to try and win the Dunfermline parliamentary seat back from the Lib Dems and oust Willie Rennie MP?

If it is then they have already lost and Oor Wullie will be the victor at the next General Election. Carnegie thinks Labour has buried its head in Oor Wullie's bucket.