A row has blown up after a council used money intended to help jobs blackspots to fund a horse show.
Blyth Valley Labour MP Ronnie Campbell (pictured) branded the summer event 'a weekend out for toffs'.
He strongly criticised Northumberland County Council - which is in the midst of making budget cuts totalling £40m over two years - for earmarking £80,000 to stage the high-profile equestrian event.
A new bridge will be built over the River Blyth as part of an ambitious £5m "active travel" project in Northumberland's most heavily-populated area.
The bridge will carry walkers and cyclists across the river under plans to create a major new network of green travel routes, cut car use and promote healthier lifestyles.
It will be built near Humford Mill as part of a £2.3m scheme to improve walking and cycling links between the towns of Bedlington and Cramlington. The new bridge is a key element of a revised package of sustainable travel initiatives, building on £1.35m of Big Lottery funding which was allocated to Northumberland in 2007.
Parking fees levied on drivers visiting Northumberland towns has emerged as the hottest topic in the initial stages of a major review aimed at developing a county-wide parking strategy.
A progress report on the review reveals hundreds of people have made their views known on whether parking fees should be imposed across the whole county - rather than just in selected towns.
More than 560 people have signed three separate petitions calling for an equal policy across the board, with charges being made in all principal towns.
A popular guide aimed at helping older people in Northumberland get the most out of life has been published for the fourth time.
Previous issues of the Golden Guide have gone down so well with the over-50s that there was a waiting list for the latest 5,000-copy print run.
The free booklet, which is produced by community information specialists Clever Clogs Publishing in partnership with Age Concern Northumberland, the county council and care trust, has also been given a new design.
Meet Flick the border collie - one seriously lucky pooch. The dog narrowly escaped death when a game of "fetch" left a foot-long wooden spike embedded inside her throat.
Leaping to catch the piece of wood thrown by her owner Gordon Smith from Bedlington, the pet tripped and all 13 inches were plunged deep into her neck.
Distraught Mr Smith, 73, came running to Flick's aid, but was at first mystified when the stick was nowhere to be seen.
Her nose was bleeding and she was crying and shaking, but the stick had sunk so deeply into her flesh that Mr Smith wasn't aware of just how serious her injury had become.
Work is about to start on a £160,000 scheme to upgrade the gas supply to families and businesses in Bedlington.
The investment by Northern Gas Networks (NGN) will result in an improved mains supply.
It involves replacing 1.6km of old metal pipes with modern, more reliable, plastic ones.
Hero climber Will Close-Ash last night relived the moment he launched a daring three-hour rescue mission to save a walker who had plunged 250ft down an icy ravine.
Bedlingtonshire Community High School assistant headteacher Mr Close-Ash was trekking through the Scottish Highlands when he came across a stricken walker who had fallen from a narrow mountain path.
Cold and shivering, the terrified woman had shattered bones in her arm and shoulder after slamming into rocks as she plummeted down the mountainside.
A cut-price travel scheme for elderly and disabled people who are too frail to use buses looks set to become a victim of tough council budget cuts in Northumberland.
More than 800 vulnerable pensioners across the county use the scheme, which allows them concessionary travel in taxis because they are unable to use other forms of public transport.
They use council-issued vouchers, tokens or passes to pay for taxi trips to the shops, GP and hospital appointments or to visit relatives and friends.
People can learn more about the history of Bedlington at a special event.
Bedlington Remembered will take place at Bedlington Library, in Glebe Road, on Thursday, from 2-5.30pm
The event is free. For more information contact 01670 822056.
People in the former Wansbeck area of Northumberland are being invited to have their say on how their communities can be developed or improved.
Local community forums are about to start a six-month programme of public engagement, including public meetings, to help draw up community plans, which will influence future decisions and changes.
Meetings will take place in the Choppington, Newbiggin-by-the-Sea and Ellington, Linton and Lynemouth areas.
For further information, contact Lynda Fakir, Locality Development Officer for South East Northumberland on 0845 600 6400, email Lynda.Fakir@northumberland.gov.uk or visit northumberland.gov.uk.
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Journal Extra, Northumberland's free weekly, is inside copies of The Journal across the county every Thursday, and can also be picked up from these locations around Bedlington »
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