It is not often you get a press release from a fool. But this week it happened.
The Tom Fool party, possibly distilling the spirit of the Monster Raving Loonie, aims to "bring the spirit of the great British jester" into the general election campaign.
Will Tease from Hebden Bridge is the current fool at Muncaster Castle in the Lake District, where Tom Fool is said to have hailed from many hundreds of years ago.
Tease said: "We're putting ourselves forward to bring some levity to the campaign and to prick the pomposity of those who seek to govern us.
"Together with my fellow fools I have been trying to put together a manifesto which is even more ludicrous than the ones that have been published so far by other political parties."
They include introducing fool schools, putting laughing policemen on the beat and replacing the pound with Monopoly money. They will generate at least 25% of electricity from the hot air produced by MPs.
Workington bridges flood gap
Still in Cumbria, where there was joy as a temporary road bridge opened to reunite the divided town of Workington following last autumn's devastating floods.
The remains of Northside bridge were finally demolished. The bridge had been swept away, killing police officer Bill Barker, 44, who was attempting to direct traffic away from the area.
Since then, motorists attempting to cross the river Derwent in Workington have faced an 18-mile detour.
A tree planted in memory of PC Barker was blessed by the rector of Workington.
Cumbria county council said the replacement bridge would remain in place until the town again had two permanent crossings over the river.
A temporary footbridge, built by the army and named the Barker crossing, was built to help residents but motorists have been forced to use Papcastle bridge at Cockermouth for the past five months.
Market towns going under
In Lincolnshire, a startling claim that its market towns will die in 10 years unless they can be improved.
Lincolnshire county council is looking to carry out more research on how to improve market towns including Sleaford, Market Rasen, Horncastle and Alford.
But councillors say they want action rather than "intelligence gathering" with some of Lincolnshire's historic towns declining and not attracting investors or shoppers.
Independent councillor Jim Swanson said he believed markets towns needed more promotion.
He told the county council's economic scrutiny committee: "I'm pretty sure in 10 years time there will be no markets as there will be no customers.
"We have a situation where customers are drifting away to big supermarkets and, quite rightly so, everyone is driven by cost ... Above all it's a marketing issue. We have to market the market towns. We have to advertise."
Louth Wolds representative Charles Marfleet said council car parking charges in market towns created problems, while derelict and empty shops made it harder to attract new investors and businesses.
On the lam in Dam
From the Liverpool Echo, news that one of Britain's most wanted criminals has been arrested by Dutch police in Amsterdam.
Armed robber James Muldoon, 30, of Liverpool, was caught at a flat in the Amstelveen suburb.
The Serious Organised Crime Agency (Soca) said he was caught after a tip-off weeks. Muldoon was the first caught of six criminals named in March as thought to be hiding in the Netherlands.
He was convicted of stealing goods worth £41,000 from two lorries at a Grantham depot in which a security guard was attacked and given 13 years in his absence.
Senior officers suspect the Dutch city has become a popular haven for crooks looking to keep out of the reach of the law.
Fugitives are said to be attracted to the city because it is English-speaking with established and partially legalised drug and prostitution networks.
Greek bat defies ash cloud
A type of bat never seen before in the UK has been found visiting caves in Yorkshire and Sussex.
Myotis alcathoe, or Alcathoe's bat, was identified by a research team led by Professor John Altringham at the University of Leeds and Professor Roger Butlin of the University of Sheffield during a Europe-wide study of bat population ecology and genetics.
The bat – about the size of the end of a person's thumb – was identified in Greece nine years ago and is a native of continental Europe.
It has been found in a Forestry Commission woodland in Ryedale in the North York Moors national park and in the South Downs.
