Sunny outlook

May 15 2008 by Emma Johnson, Liverpool Daily Post

ANOTHER busy week at the Liverpool Daily Post, and the weather has been dominating the news somewhat this week. First it was the high temperatures, then the floods. Unsurprisingly, it was our coverage of the sunnier times which you seemed to like best.

“Thank you for the cheery picture in Thursday’s Daily Post,” writes Mrs E Mather, of Aintree. “It was so nice after months of downpours and even snow in April, to finally see some sun, and the picture of little Rachael playing at Crosby captured the day perfectly and must have brought a smile to the faces of many of your readers.”

Last Wednesday, feature writer Peter Elson penned an interesting profile of Professor Peter Toyne, former Vice Chancellor of Liverpool John Moores University, and the man who chaired the bidding committee for Liverpool as European Capital of Culture.

Prof Toyne is all set to leave Liverpool for London after more than 20 years here working on numerous projects and Peter’s piece reflected on his achievements and spoke of people’s bewilderment that he was dismissed from the Culture Company five years ago.

It prompted C Metcalfe to email in his thoughts. He writes: “Thank you for the revealing article on Professor Peter Toyne. How can the City of Liverpool treat such a benefactor so shamefully? Why has he never been honoured? Perhaps the least Liverpool could do is to accord him The Freedom of The City.”

Mathew Sloane's Sommelier column, which appears in our monthly food and drink supplement Menu, caught the eye of John Smallwood on Tuesday. In his column, Matthew referred to a national newspaper viciously and irresponsibly tearing apart one of our newest restaurants and our dining scene here in Liverpool, and the Sefton Park resident contacted us to say he agreed with Mathew's comments.

Mr Smallwood writes: "I completely agree with him about the terrible review of Liverpool's dining scene. It was inaccurate and an example of poor journalism. I have written to the restaurant critic to tell him what I think."

And he wasn’t the only one to write in after reading the sommelier column. Praise also came from Miss H Moore, who describes herself as an “amateur wine buff”. She writes: “I moved to Liverpool at the start of this year and I want to say how much I love your Menu supplement, especially the wine column. I have been to a few wine tastings and have been trying to educate myself more about what I drink, but Matthew’s column is funnier and more accessible than anything else I have read.”

Merseyside Police contacted us to clarify the situation regarding officers being sent to last night's UEFA Cup final in Manchester. Just two observational "spotters" from Merseyside were on duty to cover the match.

This was contrary to reports in the Scottish press, picked up by the Daily Post on Monday, that up to 200 officers might attend.