Monday holidays – Drugs arrests – Story Shop at the Book Festival – Edinburgh International Festival news – Out of the Blue Drill Hall
Presumably you were all up late last night at Beltane on Calton Hill and have now been up Arthur’s Seat to wash your face in the morning dew? Well done if you have! And send us your photos when you wake up….
May Day is a holiday in other parts of the world, but in Edinburgh we will have to make do with two holiday Mondays in May, one on Monday 6 May and the other on Monday 20 May when schools will be closed and council offices open…..
If you are as confused as we are then there is a whole page on the council website where the holidays are listed.
***
Police in Edinburgh have this morning carried out a series of raids as part of an operation targeting alleged drug dealers in the Capital.
Over 100 officers have been involved in raids on a number of addresses in the south and east of the city, and in East Lothian, with 16 people currently detained.
The enforcement activity comes as part of Operation Amend, a Police Scotland initiative targeting those suspected of involvement in drug dealing and serious and organised criminality in the Capital.
Since last year, officers have been gathering information on suspected drug dealers operating primarily in the south and east of city.
This morning’s raids resulted in approximately £30,000 worth of heroin being seized from one property in Edinburgh, and a further quantity of heroin valued at around £1,000 from another address in the Capital.
Around £200,000 in cash was also recovered from a property in Musselburgh as part of the operation.
Detective Superintendent Gareth Blair, of Police Scotland, said:- “Police Scotland is committed to keeping people safe, and improving the quality of life for residents in communities throughout Edinburgh.
“People should be reassured that Police Scotland is committed to making communities safer and more secure through targeted and intelligence-led policing, alongside work with local partners.
“We will be relentless in our pursuit of drug dealers and serious and organised criminals whose activities cause so much harm, and we would encourage the public to play their part in this effort by providing us with information.
“Anyone with information on drug dealers and serious and organised criminals operating in their community should contact Police Scotland on 101, or make an anonymous report through the charity Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.”
Justice Secretary Kenny MacAskill said: – “Drug dealing and serious organised crime are blights on our communities and the malicious actions of a small minority can have a devastating effect on the wider population.
“Today’s activity shows the police are taking a tough approach to crime and disrupting the criminal actions of a small minority – getting them off our streets and out of our neighbourhoods.
“The Scottish Government has committed over £4 million of funding over two years through the Serious Organised Crime Taskforce to allow Police Scotland and other enforcement agencies to continue to tackle the scourge of those making money through criminal activity and ensure they face the full force of the law.
“This activity is a fantastic example of this money being used to good effect.”
Councillor Cammy Day, Community Safety Leader from City of Edinburgh Council, said:- “We are committed to working with Police Scotland and supporting them to tackle drug related crime.
“People have the right to feel safe living in their own communities and we will take strong action against any tenants convicted of drug-related offences.
“Through our participation in Operation Amend we will help to strengthen community links with the Police and we would encourage people to come forward if they have any information that might be helpful.”
Professor Alison McCallum, Director of Public Health and Health Policy, NHS Lothian, said:- “We continue to work closely with Police Scotland, health services and other agencies throughout Lothian by providing a broad range of services to help and support individuals to address the causes and consequences of problematic drug use.”
***
You only have two weeks left if you want to apply for a slot at the Edinburgh International Book Festival’s Story Shop in August.
The City of Literature Trust is looking for new, emerging writers to read their work as part of Story Shop at the Edinburgh International Book Festival (EIBF) this August.
Story Shop is a free, un-ticketed event produced by the Edinburgh UNESCO City of Literature Trust and will take place in the Book Festival’s Spiegeltent. It is a showcase for new writing and new writers from Edinburgh. Each day features one author, giving them a ten minute slot to read either two 4-5 minute ‘flash fiction’ pieces or one 8-10 minute piece of fiction. The idea is to give a free taster of your writing to a new audience.
More details on how to apply here on The City of Literature website.
***
On 10-11 August 2013 as part of Edinburgh International Festival, the Philip Glass Ensemble will perform Glass’s magical re-interpretation of the soundtrack to Jean Cocteau’s 1946 film La Belle et la Bête (Beauty and the Beast).
Here is a short trailer of the piece:-
And here is where you can book tickets.
***
And only a couple of days to see the current photography exhibition at Out of the Blue Drill Hall which finishes on Saturday 3 May 2013.
‘Place’ are two exhibitions featuring a selection of work from Edinburgh Napier’s Photography degree exploring the notion of place.
What does place mean? Is place different from what we think of as simply, space? How and why do we imbue places with significance? What is it that makes one place special and another not?
The individual photographers’ examination of these and related questions has culminated in an exhibition which combines a wide array of styles and approaches.
More information on the Out of the Blue website.
Founding Editor of The Edinburgh Reporter.
Edinburgh-born multimedia journalist and iPhoneographer.
