Around 160 street parties will be held across Devon to celebrate the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee. Councilor Stuart Hughes, Devon County Council Cabinet Member for Highways and transport said: “People across the province have been keen to put in order street parties to have fun with the Diamond Jubilee with neighbours, friends and family.

“It’s a great way to convey communities together and I’m satisfied that the County Council has been able to help so many people to be part of this great instance. I wish every accomplishment to everyone holding an event – I’m sure it will be a unforgettable weekend and I hope everyone enjoys themselves.”

Lane restrictions for the ongoing improvements at Junction 29 of the M5 will be removed from Friday 1 June until Wednesday 6 June for the bank holiday period. The right turn from A30 Westbound to M5 north will, however, remain closed and temporary speed limits will also remain in place for the safety of the travelling public.

This is part of the scheme to benefit the area with job, it is helped by new fiber optic broadband. This is great news as March 2012 the government has announced a £15 million investment for more job and businesses.

“We are supporting Devon and Somerset’s Rural Growth Network to help ensure that no great business idea is held back by the challenges of a isolated location. Local entrepreneurs will have new chances to achieve their business potential, boosting the rural economy and supporting a thriving neighboring community.” Say’s the environment secretary Caroline Spelman.

This will hopefully create more then 1,300 jobs and boosts the local rural economy by £58 million.

This is the first time an appeal has broken 1 million said Carole Arnold, community fundraiser.

The appeal raises fund for forces charity for the royal British legion. In 2010/2011 they raised £975,000. The money will support was vaterns and their family and award grants for services.

A 69-year-old woman who defrauded a Devon animal charity out of nearly £100,000 has been jailed for 14 months.

The offences were committed when she was voluntary treasurer of the North Devon Animal Ambulance.

Judge Philip Wassell said the offence was so serious he had to impose a custodial sentence.

The court had been told Colenso stole £99,500 from the charity, some of which was used to pay VAT and PAYE bills for her accountancy firm in Barnstaple.

She also used £23,000 to fund solar panels for a local yacht club.

In mitigation, the defence said Colenso, who was treasurer between 2009 and 2010, had paid all the stolen money back, by raising it through an equity release scheme on her home.

Judge Wassell said Colenso’s behaviour had been out of character and she had previously lived a life of “completely positive good character”.

“The simple fact is that this offence is so serious that I must impose a custodial sentence. I cannot avoid that conclusion because the breach of trust is so great,” Judge Wassell added.

Jennifer Colenso of West Yelland, Barnstaple, had admitted eight counts of fraud and one of theft at an earlier hearing at Exeter Crown Court.

Hiring, housing, consumer spending and manufacturing all appear to be improving, yet they remain less than healthy. Economists surveyed by The Associated Press expect growth to pick up this year, though not enough to lower unemployment much.

A clearer picture of the nation’s economic health will emerge today, when the government reveals how many jobs employers added in April.

“The outlook is for continued moderate growth,” said John Williams, president of the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco, in a speech Thursday. “Nonetheless, we have nearly 4 1/2 million fewer jobs today than five years ago, and the unemployment rate remains very high at 8.2 percent.”

The job market is gradually improving, though not as fast as it had been. From December through February, employers added a strong 246,000 jobs a month. That figure sank to a weak 120,000 in March. The April jobs report could clarify whether March was a one-month dud — or evidence of a more lasting slowdown in job creation like the one that occurred in mid-2011.

The housing market has been a dead weight on the economy. The single-family home market, in particular, is still struggling. House prices dropped for six straight months through February, according to the Standard & Poor’s/Case-Shiller home-price index. And Americans bought fewer previously owned homes in March.

The economists polled by the AP worry that the lingering effects of the housing bust are slowing the economy’s expansion. They say growth can’t accelerate until national home prices finally hit bottom.

Americans have proved willing to spend in the face of a wobbly economy. In the first three months of the year, consumer spending grew at an annual pace of 2.9 percent, the fastest in more than a year.

Manufacturing has provided much of the fuel for the U.S. recovery since the recession ended roughly three years ago. American manufacturing expanded last month at the fastest pace in 10 months. New orders rose to the highest level in a year, a signal of more production in coming months. Export orders also rose, despite worries that weaker economies in Europe and China could hold back U.S. exports.