Plans to build assisted living units are coming back for a second vote after councillors were incorrectly told the homes were too small.

A Codsall musician who found global acclaim in the jazz world while teaching guitar lessons has died aged 79.

With more than 878,000 deaths, the United States has the largest Covid-19 toll of any nation.

Most of the nation’s papers react to the news that Sue Gray’s report into Downing Street will be censored by police.

Here are 10 key changes to the code.

The new guidance means turning traffic should give way when pedestrians are waiting to cross at junctions.

Reports circulate of a potential outside challenger for the Tory leadership who is thought by some to represent the ‘best chance for a fresh start’.

People have been left feeling “fear and anxiety” after a series of “unacceptable” violent incidents involving guns and knives across part of the region, a councillor has said.

There has been a delay in resuming a full Metro service between Wolverhampton and Birmingham due to commissioning of some new trams taking slightly longer than expected.

While Athens and America have suffered serious snowfalls this winter, people here in the Midlands have enjoyed relatively mild temperatures.

When NASA’s rover Perseverance launched into space from Cape Canaveral in July 2020, it took a tiny piece of Shropshire with it.

He made his name promoting new music on Radio 1. And now Rob da Bank is hoping to do the same thing for up-and-coming artists from the West Midlands as he brings the Camp Bestival music festival to the region for the first time.

A leading Dudley councillor is calling for the support of the local authority in trying to bring back a full range of primary care health facilities, including the GP surgery, to Pensnett.

The figure apprehended in the central London street was distinctive.

Mark Andrews' wry look at what's been making the next this week.

Two friends have used their experiences of mental health issues to release a song to raise awareness.

Few rock stars are as funny or charming as James Blunt. The man who is simultaneously derided by musos and adored by fans is politeness itself.

A Shropshire physiotherapist hopes to help boost job hopes for fellow physio applicants in the wake of an increase in leaver rates from the NHS.

When John Sparry's timewarp house featured in a 1991 edition of style magazine The World of Interiors, behind him, above the fireplace hung a distinctive picture.

The gates of a popular Wolverhampton park have been left badly damaged after reportedly being deliberately driven into by vandals.

Plans to make Wolverhampton the UK’s home of bare-knuckle boxing have met with outrage from the leader of the city council’s Tory opposition.

A car smashed into a wall and ended up on its side on the same Walsall road where a teenage motorist was killed, prompting fresh calls for more safety measures.

Staffordshire police bosses have admitted that residents are waiting too long for calls to be answered after the average response time more than doubled in the wake of a surge in demand.

West Brom have signed former England international Andy Carroll on a short-term deal until the end of the season.

Pc Jack Green was found not guilty part-way through the evidence after a district judge said the case had not been proved.

A police officer's use of force went beyond reasonable when he hit a drunk man in the face with his forearm after handcuffing him, a court was told.

A man wanted for a double shooting and armed robbery has been jailed for more than 18 years after police tracked him down.

Council bosses have outlined plans to mark the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee later this year across a city.

Birmingham Erdington candidate Paulette Hamilton said she was giving Covid jabs while “Mr Johnson was having parties”.

More action is being called for to tackle poor air quality damaging the health of people living next to the motorway.

Residents are annoyed after barriers were installed at a park which are too narrow for mobility scooters and buggies.

A care home resident had a 101st birthday to remember thanks to a wonderful response to an appeal for cards.

Over £38,000 has been awarded to organisations in the West Midlands to raise awareness of schemes for the Windrush generation.

It's just six months to go until the opening of the Commonwealth Games and organisers are urging people to get in the starting blocks ready for the international sports event.

The rainbow art installation dedicated to hope and inclusivity unveiled in Wolverhampton two weeks ago has been destroyed by vandals.

A man and woman have been found dead after police forced entry into a family home in Birmingham.

Hundreds more nurses are set to be recruited from across the world in the latest drive to attract more staff to the Black Country.

Green-fingered pupils from have been planting trees at a town's new woodland site.

Birmingham continues to be a magnet for property investors - with the city ranked 22nd in Europe for overall real estate prospects.

The number of online job adverts in the West Midland has risen by 21.5 per cent since the start of the coronavirus pandemic.

Thousands of residents from the West Midlands have demanded Government action on spiralling energy bills.

A14-year-old schoolgirl who was killed when she was hit by a car on New Year's Eve died as a result of head injuries.

Giant maps championing the rich music heritage of Birmingham will be showcased at four sites around the city.

Patients considered for Paxlovid include those who are immunocompromised, cancer patients and people with Down’s Syndrome.

People living who test positive for Covid-19 are being encouraged to take part in a study providing life-saving antivirals to thousands of people.

The occupants of a car had a lucky escape on Friday morning when it burst into flames on the M5.

The top secret underground factory at Drakelow escaped the attentions of the Luftwaffe – but that doesn't mean it was spared wartime casualties.

A desperate appeal has been launched to get Walsall nine-year-old Alfie Jennings to the Dance World Cup finals.

Three more suspected Second World War bombs have been discovered at a Black Country site where explosives were found just days ago.

Not even the towering figures from history are immune from nervousness.

A sepsis nurse at Wolverhampton's New Cross Hospital has been recognised for her work in digital healthcare with a national award.

Lichfield’s historic Sheriff’s Ride is set to be reviewed and adapted in an effort to save money.

A man has been jailed for child sexual offences which saw him in possession of over 450 indecent images and videos.

Armed police and forensics staff swarmed around a stadium in a major incident exercise to prepare for this year’s Commonwealth Games.

The locations of ten memorial gardens where families and friends can write the names of those who have died during the pandemic have been announced.

Police officers have again been given extra stop and search powers after a number of violent incidents.

Tributes have poured in for a popular pastor who "put the community at the heart" of all he did.

Crime rates have increased more in the West Midlands than in any other region in the country - with surges in stalking, violence and sexual offences.

Scotland Yard said it has been in contact with Sue Gray’s team to ‘avoid any prejudice to our investigation’.

Sir David Thompson has led the force since 2016.

Boris Johnson’s wait for the findings of an official inquiry into alleged lockdown-busting parties in No 10 and Whitehall rolls into another day.

The number of shuttered shops has fallen for the first time since the start of 2018, figures show.

Churches worldwide faced an unknown crisis when lockdown hit, with congregations unable to meet and support each other as a community.

Care home bosses have welcomed the changes to Covid-19 restrictions in England, with unlimited visitors allowed from next week.

Many shoppers in Wolverhampton are planning to keep wearing masks despite Government rules meaning they are no longer mandatory.

A man accused of murdering Kemarni Watson Darby has denied attacking the toddler before his death and told a court he did not class his mother as a threat.

Visitors have been flocking to heritage sites during the pandemic, with a rural 17th century house celebrating its best year yet.

"We think about whether we'd know what to do if our children were suddenly ill, but what happens if a child's home alone with an ill parent?"

The ongoing fight against has been brought into sharp focus through a photographic art exhibition.

She survived wartime Britain and Covid at the age of 99 – and now Vera Carter has celebrated her 100th birthday.

Students at a school in Walsall have decided to give-up meat once a week.

Jonathan Chew was jailed for eight weeks at Westminster Magistrates’ Court

Jonathan Chew approached England’s chief medical officer as he walked through St James’s Park in Westminster.

The announcement of a Scotland Yard investigation into some of the alleged parties has complicated the process.

Kayley Mahood told the court in a note that she was truly sorry for the death of Oliver O’Toole.

Frontline staff will be required to have had both doses of a coronavirus vaccine by April 1 as a condition of deployment, unless they are exempt.

Bird flu cases have been confirmed at a nature reserve in West Bromwich.

Michael Gove said he was keen to sample Wolverhampton's nightlife as his Government department settles in the Black Country.

A window glazing boss from Oldbury has been convicted of breaching health and safety regulations after his own father fell 15 feet off scaffolding while working for him.

An 18-year-old has been taken into custody after a machete attack on another man outside a primary school in Walsall.

Take-up is likely to have been affected by the level of infections across the country.

Hospitality supporters at Wolves games are set to be contacted by the club about their tickets after a bar at the club was damaged by a huge fire.

The Office for National Statistics said there were 63,136 such incidents recorded in the year to September.

Opposition parties nicknamed the Foreign Secretary ‘Lavish Liz’.

Former Wolves goalkeeper Carl Ikeme is appearing in a charity event at a pub in the Black Country.

A police operation to reduce street racing was declared a success following a number of arrests.

The Prime Minister was pictured leaving Downing Street as the wait continued for the official inquiry into alleged No 10 parties to report.

Asian individuals applying to the Sandwell Conservatives have had their party memberships deliberately declined in an attempt to consolidate power for a small section of the party, a former Tory councillor has claimed.

A Second World War veteran has donated the book about Anne Frank he was presented in the Netherlands to his local library after seeing how interested schoolchildren were in the story.

A new system to combine health and care records for Black Country patients is to be launched in a bid to improve services.

Most appeals challenged teachers’ judgment or the selection of pupils’ work used to determine the result.

A busy bus route that runs between Wolverhampton and Dudley will now be provided by two different providers and operating on a revised timetable.

Plans to build 11 homes on a small area of green space have been withdrawn after objections from the community.

Preparations are well underway for one of the region's biggest and most spectacular charity events – featuring thousands of bikers.

Gambling company Rank has swung to a pre-tax profit after performances at its venues improved.

Fears have been raised that Covid anti-vaxxers could be causing the number of children being jabbed against other diseases to fall.

Female workers at Walsall Council going through the menopause are to be given support to help them through the “taboo” stage in life.

The Spanish-owned lender posted annual pre-tax profits of £157.5m against losses of £204.6m in 2020.

Superstar DJ Fatboy Slim and Brit Award winner Rag'n'Bone Man will be headlining a new four-day music festival being held at Weston Park.

A fire that caused severe damage to a Black Country wood factory is believed to have been started accidentally.