That's it from Local Live on Friday. We're back with the usual mix of news, sport, travel and weather updates from 08:00 on Monday.
- Updates on Friday 8 April 2016
- More news, sport, travel and weather from 08:00 Monday
Presenter, BBC Midlands Today
Government plans to turn every single school into an academy are being opposed by Birmingham City Council.
We'll have a look at all the Midlands runners and riders in the Grand National as well as look forward to the county cricket season and the weekend that could spell the end of Aston Villa's stay in the Premier League.
Join us for the Midlands Today on BBC One at 18:30.
Tony and Julie Wadsworth - the couple facing child sex offence charges we told you about earlier - had most recently presented for BBC Radio Leicester.
A BBC spokesman said: “Tony Wadsworth and Julie Mayer remain off air. We understand the charges do not relate to their conduct or position at the BBC. This is an ongoing criminal process and we cannot comment further.”
Married BBC presenters have been charged with sex offences against children, aged between 11 and 15, in Warwickshire in the 1990s, Warwickshire Police say.
Tony and Julie Wadsworth had presented for BBC WM.
Mr Wadsworth, aged 68, of Old Mill Road, Broughton Astley, Leicestershire, has been charged with five counts of inciting a boy under the age of 16 to commit an act of gross indecency and one count of committing an act outraging public decency.
Mrs Wadsworth, aged 58, of Old Mill Road, Broughton Astley, Leicestershire, has been charged with seven counts of inciting a boy under the age of 16 to commit an act of gross indecency and one count of committing an act outraging public decency.
They are due to appear at Warwickshire Magistrates' Court next month.
BBC Local Live
If you are just catching up on Friday's stories, here are the headlines from the past few hours:
- A rogue landlord has been handed a "landmark" criminal behaviour order, says the City of Wolverhampton Council
- A man has appeared in court charged with murder and attempted murder in West Bromwich
- The fallout of signalling problems at Birmingham New Street is still being felt by rail passengers after hours of disruption caused a backlog of services and knock-on delays
Journalist, BBC WM
Wolverhampton Council says it has won what it calls "a landmark court case" against a rogue landlord.
Jaspal Singh Sahota has properties in the city's Osier Place and Sherwood Street. According to the council, the ruling by Wolverhampton Magistrates Court upholds concerns he was harassing and distressing his tenants through the poor standards and management of his properties.
He has been ordered to bring in a third party agent to manage the houses on his behalf, and he must submit to the council a list of all his properties and his interest in them for rental purposes. If he breaches the order, he could be imprisoned for up to five years or face a fine.
Elections for the West Midlands Police and Crime Commissioner, 40 Birmingham city councillors and 24 parish councillors for Sutton Coldfield are all due to take place on 5 May.
You can find out all the candidates here.
West Brom manager Tony Pulis is in "no rush" to sign a new contract.
Pulis has a year left on his deal at The Hawthorns and says he will sit down with chairman Jeremy Peace in the summer to discuss his future.
Royal Sutton Coldfield Observer
A 115ft big wheel known as the Dudley Eye is here to stay for another two weeks, it has been announced.
The ride in the town centre has attracted criticism because of its views of factories and car parks.
The 35 metre-high giant observation wheel in Stone Street Square will now remain open for business until 18:00 on Sunday 24 April, the council has announced, so it will be there for the St George's Day celebrations the day before.
Health correspondent, BBC Midlands Today
An ambulance trust in talks with a neighbouring service about working together more closely has ruled out a full merger.
East Midlands Ambulance Service (EMAS) is struggling financially and has some of the worst response times in England.
It is thought the trust's non-executive directors had discussed merging with West Midlands Ambulance Service.
Pauline Tagg, chair of EMAS, said support from the West Midlands was being considered but a formal merger would not be pursued.
A man from West Bromwich has appeared in court today charged with murder and attempted murder.
Darren Parker died from stab wounds on Wednesday.
Another man, aged in his early 20s, also suffered stab wounds.
Demarco Martin, who is 19 and from Campville Crescent, has been remanded in custody and is due in Crown Court next week.
Express and Star
Network Rail says it's fixed the signalling problem at Birmingham New Street.
The trains have however backed up during the disruption and London Midland is warning it may yet take some time for the delays to be ironed out.
BBC Midlands Today
We start with breaking news this lunchtime, a man's been found guilty of causing or allowing the death of a 21-month-old toddler from Staffordshire. We will bring you the latest information on the case heard at Birmingham Crown Court.
And tomorrow marks the 169th running of one of the most famous horse races in the world, The Grand National. We will bring you the lowdown on the second favourite.
Join us for Midlands Today on BBC One at 13:30.
Frustrated rail passengers are turning to Twitter for answers to this week's latest train delays.
As we've been reporting this afternoon, today's problems, which follow severe disruption on Monday, are due to a signalling fault.
Newsreader, BBC WM
More misery for rail passengers unfortunately today - services on the Cross City line are currently suspended because of a fault with the signalling system at Birmingham New Street.
A replacement bus service is currently running between Blake Street and Longbridge.
Network Rail has warned disruption is expected for much of the day. Earlier this week, the line near Birmingham International was closed in both directions after issues with overhead lines.
National Express West Midlands said it was accepting London Midland train tickets due to the disruption.
An 87-year-old woman with dementia was pinned down in her West Bromwich home as five masked robbers removed her jewellery, police have revealed.
Appealing for information, officers said that during the break-in at Springfield Crescent, which happened about 21:30 on 30 March, a number of other items, including cash and medication, were taken.
A second woman aged 67, who was staying in the property at the time, had cash taken from her purse.
We are close to one of the biggest days in the UK sporting calender - the Grand National, which takes place tomorrow.
As ever, it is likely for many people to be the only horse race they follow this year and there's plenty of coverage to look out for on the BBC Sport website including:
- The BBC's horse racing correspondent Cornelius Lysaght assesses the Aintree Festival stories to look out for
- How Many Clouds could be the first horse since Red Rum to win two back-to-back Grand Nationals
- A Pinstickers' guide to the Aintree runners & riders in the Grand National
Find out how you can follow the race on BBC radio, online, mobile app and the BBC Sport app.
Political Reporter, BBC WM
Birmingham City Council has promised to fight government plans to make every school in the city an academy.
The Labour-run local authority says the proposals pose a danger to children in the city, while ministers say academy status is the best way to help failing schools.
The city council has passed a motion opposing the plan, saying there's no real evidence of academies being the best way to run or improve schools. The authority fears it's a pointless exercise that will cost millions of pounds to adopt.
A man from West Bromwich enjoyed his school bus journey so much, he ended up buying the vehicle with four of his friends.
The friends, called the 156 Bus Group, purchased the 38-seater, single-decker bus in 1967 and have spent time and money renovating the vehicle so it looks the same as they remember from their childhood.
The team are heading to Brownhills this morning to get their tyres checked before heading to Llandudno later in the month to showcase it.
Birmingham Bears have announced their signing of Luke Ronchi for the Natwest T20 Blast.
The club said it was pleased to secure the signing of the wicketkeeper/batsman who has experience in the IPL and Big Bash tournaments, as well as reaching the Final and Semi-Final of the 50 over and IT20 World Cups respectively with New Zealand.
A West Midlands Police Constable tried to incriminate two men over a "personal grudge" by claiming so-called Islamic State was planning to kidnap an officer, a court has heard.
PC Amar Tasaddiq Hussain, 29, is one of three men accused of conspiring to make a "false and malicious" 999 call to his force.
He denies two counts of conspiracy to pervert the course of justice.
Adil Bashir, 26, and Muhammad Ali Sheikh, 31, have also denied the charges at Stafford Crown Court.
It's the latest and probably the most unlikely tourist attraction in Birmingham, a demolition site in the heart of the city.
Giant machines are pulling down the old Central Library, with nearly 17,000 tonnes of concrete already removed.
Newsreader, BBC WM
David Cameron is being accused of hypocrisy by the West Bromwich East MP and Deputy Labour leader Tom Watson after the prime minister revealed he had owned shares in an offshore trust set up by his father - as revealed in the Panama papers.
Mr Cameron sold the shares in 2010, before he entered Number 10, and insists he paid all the relevant UK taxes. He has also promised to make his tax returns public.
Mr Watson says David Cameron needs to make clear exactly what shares he has held since becoming an MP in 2001.
He said: "The Prime Minister has been making speeches about tax reform for six years and has actually been holding his own guilty secret private that he was invested in the kind of schemes his government has been saying they have got to reform."
BBC Local Live
Here are the top stories on Friday morning:
- A man has been charged with the murder of a man stabbed to death at a West Bromwich house
- Tom Watson MP has dubbed Prime Minister David Cameron a hypocrite for having shares in an offshore trust set up by his late father as revealed in the Panama Papers
- Labour-run Birmingham City Council has voted for a motion to oppose government moves to convert all city schools into academies
A man has been charged with the murder of Darren Parker (pictured) whose body was found at a West Bromwich house earlier this week.
Mr Parker, 43, was stabbed to death in an attack in Campville Crescent, Stone Cross, at about 13:50 on Wednesday. Another man, in his 20s, was taken to hospital with serious injuries.
Unemployed Demarco Martin, aged 19, from Campville Crescent, Stone Cross, is due at Sandwell Magistrates Court this morning accused of murder and a second charge of attempted murder.
Two other people who were arrested – a 24-year-old man and a 23-year-old woman – have been released from custody and will face no further action.
BBC Weather presenter
BBC Local Live