Talk of the Town: Headline gaffe is right up our street

PRINTING a headline with an unintended double meaning is an ever-present peril for newspapers, but it is not just the inky-fingered hack that needs to watch out.

When the city council issued a press release about its plan to bring the army on to city streets, we were initially alarmed.

"Military personnel to help clear the streets of the most vulnerable in Edinburgh," it proclaimed.

It seemed a bit harsh.

Surely the bad weather was not the fault of the most vulnerable, so why would the army be clearing them off the streets?

Fitness dance craze braves the city's bleak midwinter

AT THIS time of year, the most frenetic activity most of us can bear to get involved in is a little snowball fight or clearing the front path.

So we're impressed to see that exercise company Fitness Around The World is arranging an outdoor Zumba class in Burdiehouse Burn Valley Park this coming Sunday, December 19.

The fitness dance craze is everywhere at the moment, but taking your enthusiasm outdoors in midwinter shows an astonishing level of dedication.

If you want to go along, the free class starts at 2pm near the skate park, but we recommend wearing more than just your leotard.

Gray pushed off the rails

WHEN MSPs debated the proposed new powers for the Scottish Parliament recently, Scottish Labour leader Iain Gray was keen to make much of the cross-party consensus among his own party, the Liberal Democrats and Conservatives in support of the plans to extend devolution.

But First Minister Alex Salmond reminded him: "The last time there was the same degree of cross-party unity was when they voted for the Edinburgh trams, which cost the Scottish people 500 million."

It's nut an easy task

IT'LL BE a picture competition harder than most given the current weather conditions.

But Edinburgh Zoo is appealing for visitors to take a snap of their resident albino squirrel in exchange for a couple of free entry passes for the winners.

Usually a rather easy-to-spot animal, it has proved extra difficult to catch a glimpse of the attraction's bright white squirrel of late.

However, those who do manage to grab an image are invited to submit them to staff, along with a name suggestion for the nutty chap.

Bosses have pointed out that they won't be calling the camouflaged creature Snowy under any circumstances.