In Brief

The 016 telephone helpline, which offers free advice on domestic violence and legal advice to victims and their families 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, has taken over 4,800 calls from the Balearic Islands in the three years that it has been in operation.

Since the creation of the service in September 2007 and up until the end of this September, there were 4,887 calls from the region, 2.3% of the total of 209,000 received nationwide.

Another case of 'grooming' reported to Ciutadella police

The parents of a young girl in Ciutadella have reported a further case of 'grooming' via the Internet to the police. This brings the number of cases known to the National Police to at least nine. All the cases involve sexual abuse via Messenger's free instant messaging system.

Last week eight cases were reported by parents of young girls at primary schools in Ciutadella after their daughters had allegedly been sexually harassed via the Internet by a person claiming to be a famous singer from the Disney Channel, Lucía Gil, in order to win their friendship and confidence before making propositions of a sexual nature to them.

The alleged cases of 'grooming' have caused concern in the schools attended by the girls and talks are to be given to pupils, parents and teachers on the dangers of accessing social networking sites and messaging services.

Farmers still owed for August and September

The twenty farms which supply curd to the Quesería Menorquina factory (formerly Kraft) have not been paid since August. The factory's owners, Nueva Rumasa, have always paid suppliers in arrears but what used to be a delay of a matter of weeks has now become months. Farmers were not paid the May, June and July invoices until August and, since then they have received no further payments.

Following complaints from the farmers affected, the company has now agreed to pay August and September invoices with postdated cheques made out for 15th November.

The delays have caused liquidity problems for some farmers who have to pay the co-operatives they work with as well as personnel.

Ramps to save hedgehogs' lives

Calls for ramps to be provided in cattle grids to enable small animals, such as hedgehogs, tortoises, rabbits or pine martens, to escape the prison they have fallen into, appear to have had the desired result. The Island Council has announced that steps are being taken to solve the problem, with landowners and farmers being obliged to adapt cattle grids on their land and alter drinking troughs so that they are suitable for the local wildlife. The Highways Department will responsible for cattle grids located on public roads.

Until now, victims have had to rely on human intervention to rescue them; help from people such as Lana Johnson who, for the last 4 years, has regularly inspected three grids in the Cavalleria area and has rescued 106 hedgehogs, 2 tortoises and various other small animals.

School flag-rugby championship

The second day of play in the school flag-rugby championship will take place on Saturday at the Poliesportiu in Maó, starting at 1700 hrs. This will be followed by a demonstration of traditional junior rugby, organised by the Tramuntana Rugby Club, and the adult team will also be in action.

Anyone interested in playing rugby should contact the Club at the above venue on Saturday, from 1700 hrs.

Home victory for the Menorca Bàsquet team

The Menorca basketball team achieved their third win from six games on Sunday with a home victory over C.B. Granada, 60-57.

As a result Menorca Bàsquet have moved up one place, to 12th, in the ACB League.

Valeriano Allés remain at top of Superliga

It was also a good week for the Valeriano Allés Volleyball team, with a convincing home win over opponents CAV Murcia, the final score reading 3-0 in favour of the Ciutadella players.

The win keeps the Menorcan team in first place in the Superliga. The players travel to the Canaries next Saturday to face Fígaro Peluqueros Tenerife, currently in third place.