• Man dies three days after attack
• Hospital gun threat man is jailed
• Officer injured in robber arrest
• Police name family killed on M6
• Man guilty over birthday murder
• Stab man guilty of manslaughter

Is it too much to ask for a good news story just once in a while? Apparently so…

For the past two years, Oldham-based radio station, 96.2 The Revolution, has had an alternative music policy. Listeners could expect music from bands such as Fleet Foxes and Herman Dune, shows dedicated to genres including Northern Soul, rock and old-school house, and locally based presenters such as The Smiths’ ex-drummer Mike Joyce.

In the past week, however, Wham!, Justin Timberlake and Elton John have popped up on the playlist. The change may be due to a decline in listening figures and rumours are circulating that the station has new part owners. And we’re not the only one’s wondering what’s going on. A spokesperson from The Revolution admitted to Metro: ‘We don’t know what’s happening.’ This doesn’t bode well, does it?

Turns out that local TV and radio presenter Steve Penk bought the Rev out and has subsequently completely reprogrammed its schedule – including a weekday breakfast show hosted by him (so expect plenty more where this came from), and a Sunday show featuring, er, Pat Sharp.

The music policy has changed completely too, from interesting, radio-friendly indie (the kind of stuff many hoped XFM Manchester would bring) to pointless drivel. Penk, whose name is dropped practically between every track, cites listening figures plummeting from 80,000 to 17,000 as the reason for the change – but thousands of listeners now feel alienated.

To bring the story fully up to date, How-Do.co.uk reports that several of the Rev’s former presenters – including familiar names from the local music scene such as Mike Joyce, Mani and Martin Coogan – have formed a breakaway group, codenamed Radio Republic. They’re currently looking for investors to help get their phoenix out of the flames.

UPDATE: As pointed out in a comment, Radio Republic now has its own website, http://www.revradio.co.uk, with a test broadcast. It’s hosted by Manchester Radio Online.

Last year it was shortlisted for the prestigious Paul Foot Award for Campaigning Journalism and earlier this year it was named the north west’s Magazine of the Year at the inaugural How-Do Awards – not bad for a part-time concern.

Now it’s celebrating its second full year with a bumper issue number eight. This 100-page special revisits some of the magazine’s previous stories, plus there are fresh profiles on locally born and educated actors Robert Powell and Maxine Peake, as well as features on job prospects at MediaCity:UK and ‘day trips in Salford’. Now there’s a thought…

You can find a copy in several good places in Salford (The King’s Arms, for example) or you can guarantee receiving a copy by subscribing (£20 for six issues). They’ve also just introducted a digital subscription, offering PDF copies of four issues for just £6.

It’s actually about Leeds, though the same could be said for Manchester, with the property developer-coined Green Quarter and – worse still – the Southern Quarter, which seems to incorporate anything that’s cool between the university and Portland Street. I spotted that one in Itchy Manchester, for your information.

Anyway, today BBC Manchester is reporting that the Museum of Science and Industry – or MOSI, to give it a cooler name – is getting a £54m revamp. MOSI, the Beeb says, will form part of a so-called ‘Museum Quarter’ in the city. So get out your OS maps and marker pens:

The museum quarter will stretch nearly a kilometre from the River Irwell to the Hilton tower.

Here’s MOSI director Ian Griffin with some more:

‘The newly-redeveloped MOSI would create a modern, environmentally sustainable museum while transforming an under-appreciated area of the city into a vibrant new quarter with its own distinct character.’

Which got me thinking about other areas of the city and what they might eventually become: Castlefield as the Quiet Quarter, Cathedral Gardens as the Kids’ Quarter, Chorlton as the Over-friendly Quarter and… well, leave a comment with your own suggestions.

This meeting of loveable geeks in home-made Dalek suits was arranged to set a world record for ‘the biggest number of people dressed up as daleks in one location’. Strange, I thought, that such a record didn’t already exist…

Anyway, there’s a Flickr photo set of the occasion and a YouTube video of this ‘proper Dalekfest’, as one commenter calls it. Check out the related videos if you’re after 25 minutes of non-stop Dalek footage.

Thanks to MoSI worker Unpopular Superhero and super-blog BoingBoing for the tips.

Anthony H Wilson’s funeral took place today at St Mary’s Roman Catholic Church – the Hidden Gem – before 200 mourners, including several familiar faces.

There’s a floral tribute outside the Hacienda but the BBC reports that there are plans to create a permanent memorial in the city. On Facebook I noticed a campaign group for a statue – and an online petition already has over 900 signatories.

I never met Tony, though I did hold the door for him at last year’s In The City. I didn’t think much of it at the time – he was a permanent fixture in Manchester, I thought, and he wasn’t going anywhere soon.

The Manchizzle’s already said all that needs to be said about it so, in the true spirit of originality, here’s one blogger quoting another blogger:

The best part is that the Arthur Brown, he of The Crazy World of Arthur Brown, will be performing his scary 1968 song “Fire.” Also performing will be a whole slew of musical acts including… Mr Scruff, The Unabombers (who’ve graciously put up with their 24 Lever St. offices being the alternate entrance for the entire building for weeks), Polytechnic, Broke n’ English, Marc Riley, Rita & Sue, Magic Arm, Peter & the Wolf, The Mekkits and the deejay stylings of clans Fat City, Tramp, El Diablo, Rockers, Jayne Compton, Solja and Flotsam & Jetsam. Loads of these people work in or around the buildings, or are otherwise connected with them.

Burnt to the Ground runs from 4pm til 11pm and even if only a fraction of the square’s 5,000 capacity pay the £2 suggested donation then I’m sure a lot of fire-affected people will be much happier than they are today.

Naked Bike Ride 2007 Manchester

June 8 at 7pm we will be riding naked to protest oil dependency.

We will meet at 6pm at The basement, 24 Lever street, then ride naked through the streets of manchester.

Hope to see you Bare!

Meg Fenwick
Manchester Naked Bike Ride Coordinator

Full details available on World Naked Bike Ride’s Manchester wiki entry. You can also watch a documentary about the event on YouTube and see a few photos of what to expect on June 8 [not quite safe for work].

I think it’s more a case that people have been unusually slow to react, however: Manchester Clubbing has found a few videos on YouTube, for example, and Mamucium is already talking about the aftermath – including looting and an inquiry into the blaze.

On If you’re sad and like beer, Kate posted a very personal first-hand account of that firey morning – and about not knowing what to do when your office is full of smoke. She’s followed it up too, with some of the confusing lines those involved are being fed:

Different degrees of destruction; the sprinklers went off, the fire spread, the smoke damaged, just looks like someone had a really good party, smells a bit, needs demolition, the chimney’s unstable, the roof might cave in. You’ll be let in next week, you won’t get in for a fortnight, closed for three months, you have half an hour to go in and grab your stuff. Dramatic access by torchlight up dark stairwells flanked by fire officers.

Morag over at Twangorama is appealing for help. The Basement on Lever Street avoided the fire but suffered smoke and flood damage from the sprinkler system.

Some of us were able to briefly go in and salvage important items; the scene that greeted us was grim but rather less apocalyptic than we first feared. There were puddles of water rather than the 2 metres we were warned about but many books, leaflets and art works are well beyond repair. Ceiling tiles have come down and we can not yet be sure how badly affected the IT hub and kitchen are.

They need any help on offer, including cleaning up the place and donations to cover an inevitable insurance shortfall. You can register your support on the Basement website.

CIDS continues to take a strong lead in the situation and has now published a list of temporary and permanently office space available for those displaced. I guess the mashup of Manchester’s wireless hotspots might come in hand right now too.

Though the fire started on Dale Street, it eventually spread to Lever Street, which, as the Manchizzle notes, is home to many record labels, publishers and other creative companies.

One of these – D:percussion organiser Ear to the Ground – has been quick to draw up plans for a music event in the neighbouring Stevenson Square on May 28. It will raise money for traders and businesses affected by the blaze and has the support of the council.

Ear to the Ground’s John Drape told today’s Manchester Evening News: ‘Ten years ago when the IRA bomb went off we delivered a similar event and we feel it is appropriate now to hold a fundraising event.’

CIDS, the Northern Quarter-based creative industries development agency, has also offered support in the form of a Mac and desk in its Oak Street office, and has asked anyone affected by the fire or anyone with office space to spare to email info@cids.co.uk.

[The image above is one of several great shots taken by Flickr user root-2]