Thanks to those of you who have clicked on the Pledge button in the past few weeks. It’s very much appreciated. I’d just like to share a few comments I’ve received. Hopefully a few more of you will do the same!
There is so much good stuff happening in the North East, but too often it gets obscured by all the clickbait and relentless negativity. I enjoy Eyes & Ears because it shines a light on the positive news and lets those stories breathe, without the usual histrionics or indignation. The exceptional quality of the journalism makes Eyes & Ears the go-to publication to find out what is really going on, with an additional twist of totally authentic North East story-telling and humour. It’s valuable to have a source of intelligent, thoughtful (and witty) journalism about the region. You bring a fresh and crucially informed perspective to regional reporting. I love what you're doing Brian. Thoughtful insight alongside a well-curated canter across the regional news landscape. Thank you. It's so hard to find objective information you can trust, so I am delighted to have found Eyes and Ears, thank you Brian. I value independent journalism and all the content you produce each week, thank you."
Final word on Jack
You may not have heard of Ibiza Final Boss before. It’s a person’s name. At least it’s the name now given to 26-year-old Jack Kay from Newcastle, someone only family and friends had heard of until an Ibiza club posted a TikTok of him dancing at their venue.
Sporting a black designer vest, oversized sunglasses, a chunky gold chain, and a blunt bowl haircut, there was something about Jack.
That was on August 3. Within days, the video had over 16 million views and thousands of memes, remixes, and tributes. Tourists began taking selfies with him, and brands like Greggs and Currys jumped in with parody posts and offers.
By August 7, the internet had crowned Jack a cultural icon, with one Facebook post humorously predicting: “Next week he’ll have a podcast. Next month, he’ll launch a crypto coin.”
Just so you know - and I didn’t - Final Boss is a playful term borrowed from computer games, meaning the ultimate character you face at the end. Not sure if that explains it any clearer to you than it does me.
Jack, who describes himself as “just a normal lad from the North East,” has now signed with Neon Management, a top celebrity talent agency known for launching reality stars like Joey Essex into millionaire status.
He and his mates have been flown back to Ibiza in a private jet and he has been booked for nightclub appearances across Ibiza and the UK for between £5k and £10k a time. He’s released a techno track on Spotify with a top producer, and PR experts say he will be earning six figure sums annually.
This, remember, is just two weeks after a TikTok of him dancing was posted on social media.
Dented Pride
The Reform-led Durham County Council has said it will not put money into next year’s Pride event in the city.
Deputy leader Darren Grimes, said: “Durham Pride won’t be getting a single penny from this council next year. The event can and will go ahead safely, but Durham County Council isn’t an ATM for contested causes. Our residents deserve bins emptied, roads fixed, and services funded - not more council-sponsored politics in fancy dress.”
Durham Pride has teamed up with the Durham Miners’ Association (DMA) and the Trades Union Congress to fundraise for future events. Stephen Guy, chairman of the DMA, said: “Reform councillors across County Durham have underestimated the resolve of the LGBT+ community and the support of allies across the trade union movement.”
No rescue
The UK's largest bioethanol plant, Hull-based Vivergo Fuels, will begin closing down operations tomorrow after the Government decided not to offer the sector a rescue package.
Owners AB Foods and Ensus, which owns the UK's second large bioethanol plant in Redcar, had both warned that without support they would be forced to close, after a deal to allow US ethanol to be imported tariff-free.
The Government has decided it is not “in the national interest” to provide them with taxpayer funds. The two plants employ 270 people, but their closure could affect thousands more in the supply chain.
There is hope for the 120 workers at Redcar, however, because it produces much of the high purity commercial carbon dioxide used to put the fizz in our fizzy drinks.
Labour ‘shambles’
Labour’s grip on Newcastle City Council slipped even further after coming third in a by-election on Thursday night - with Green Party candidate Sarah Peters emerging victorious in a tight vote with the Lib Dems.
“The Labour group on the council looks like a shambles,” says experienced journalist Peter Morris. “It has lost two leaders in the past three years – one through deselection by his ward party and one through resignation – and has seen six members, including the second of these former leaders, quit Labour and form an independent group.”
With all 78 seats to be contested in local elections next May, Labour now have only 37 councillors. The Lib Dems have 22.
Morris believes that a controversial low-traffic neighbourhood zone in Jesmond, which had to be withdrawn, was an issue, as was the timing of the vote.
“The by-election was held in August, when most of the students who make up a significant proportion of Jesmond voters, are away. It is widely believed in Jesmond that students tend to vote Labour while local residents support the LibDems.
“Be that as it may, the LibDems will be disappointed and perhaps surprised that most of the swing against Labour went not to themselves but to the Greens. As currently the largest opposition party on the council, the LibDems will be hoping to take over from Labour next year. That task now looks somewhat more difficult, though by no means impossible.”
United council
Elections for all 11 seats on Yarm Town Council were also held on Thursday following the resignations of all councillors in June, which Eyes & Ears reported on several weeks ago. Peace is now likely to break out with all the successful candidates belonging to the Yarm Independents group.
Against the odds
Four out of five A-level students at a school which is recognised as the worst affected by the reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete (Raac) structural issues will be going to their first choice university.
Students at St Leonard’s in Durham were forced to take lessons remotely and in alternative venues after Raac was found in the school in August 2023.
Around 40% of the school’s entries were awarded A or A* and just over half of the pupils will be going to a Russell Group university - 10% to Durham with five pupils going to Oxford or Cambridge.
Durham City MP Mary Kelly Foy said: “Almost a year ago, their school was crumbling around them because of the Raac crisis. At the last minute, they were put into remote learning, unable to retrieve books, coursework or use specialist equipment. We can’t forget, either, that these are pupils who went through disruption of the pandemic.”
Magic paused
Friday’s Eyes & Ears told you that Newcastle’s Magic Hat café will close its doors for the final time in November because the council is selling its city centre premises for development.
The people behind the café, which saves food bound for landfill and lets their chefs create an ever-changing menu, stress on their website: “This isn’t the end. If anything, it’s just the beginning.
“We're taking a pause in our mission to build a more conscious city, with people and food at its heart. After a much-needed recharge and rethink, we’ll be back in 2026 - stronger, clearer, and ready for the next chapter.
“It’s never been just a café - it’s a performance space, a teaching space, a gallery, a test kitchen, a business hub, a community resource, and a home to many.”
They had a message for the city’s planners and decision-makers: “Do better. Filling our city with office blocks and student accommodation might bring quick cash, but it won’t build prosperous, vibrant, and inspired communities - it will mute them.
“Independent venues for arts, culture, music, food, and community must be protected. Right now, you’re strangling them.”
In July last year, The QT commissioned Newcastle University intern Marketa Schulzova to write about the magic of the Magic Hat. You can read her story here.
Quality streets
Newcastle photographer Christopher Owens has secured a place in one of the world's most prestigious photography exhibitions at London's National Portrait Gallery.
He beat photographers from 51 countries to have his portrait selected for the Taylor Wessing Photographic Portrait Prize exhibition.
There were 5,910 entries and Christopher's photograph is one of just 57 works selected for the exhibition (surely Heinz should be the sponsor!) with the winner receiving a cheque for £15,000.