Barrow taxi driver charged with sexual assault
 A Taxi driver has been charged with sexually assaulting a pensioner.

Darren Muir, 43, of Lowther Crescent, Walney, did not enter pleas to the charge when he appeared before Furness Magistrates’ Court yesterday.

He is charged with sexual assault on June 15 and knowingly trespassing on premises with the intent to commit a relevant sexual offence on June 18.

The allegations involve a 73-year-old woman.

The case was adjourned to Preston Crown Court until August 30.


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New York, follow the money.

Campaign contributions from taxi and livery car companies have flowed into mayoral candidates' coffers in recent weeks, as an industry that has clashed repeatedly with the Bloomberg administration over regulation and new technology tries to secure its standing with the next administration.


The contributions reflect the fault lines of Mayor Michael Bloomberg's most controversial changes in the way passengers pay for a ride around the city, leaders of taxi and livery companies said. And they demonstrate how they are jockeying to make sure the next mayor understands their needs.

Some liveries, which operate from bases and respond to calls for customers requesting rides, have thrown money and support behind former Comptroller Bill Thompson. He supports the recently launched borough taxi program allowing livery cars to accept street-hail customers outside Manhattan's central business district.
That includes several contributions that came after Mr. Thompson's public scrap in July with former U.S. Rep. Anthony Weiner, who opposes the launch of the so-called borough taxis. Since joining the mayoral race, Mr. Weiner has received more than $35,000 in contributions from people directly employed in the industry—largely with the yellow cab companies that fought the program. Mr. Thompson has received nearly $50,000, mainly from the livery industry.
A Thompson spokeswoman, Dani Lever, said the candidate "is proud to fight for the millions of outer borough New Yorkers who won the same right to hail a cab as people in Midtown Manhattan."
Mr. Weiner said: "It should come as no surprise that people who agree with my positions would donate to me."

Public Advocate Bill de Blasio has taken in more than $120,000 in contributions from individuals linked to the yellow cab industry, much of it early in his campaign, according to city campaign finance records. Mr. de Blasio, once a supporter of the borough taxi plan, unsuccessfully tried to block it in court, on the grounds that the administration improperly bypassed the City Council to get it passed.
It is common in mayoral elections for participants in the vehicle and other industries to send money to candidates. In the current race, Council Speaker Christine Quinn has taken in at least $23,000 from the industry, campaign records show.
A spokesman for Ms. Quinn said the borough taxi plan would help city residents, and said it was slated to raise $300 million in next year's city budget, through the auction of new taxi medallions. The council, under Ms. Quinn's leadership, did not pass the borough taxi plan, and it was eventually created via state legislation. The spokesman criticized Mr. de Blasio for reversing his position and suing to stop the plan.
A de Blasio spokesman said that his objection had been to the process by which the state law was passed to allow street hails, not to the underlying program. Mr. de Blasio wouldn't seek to roll back the program, the spokesman said.
Mr. Bloomberg's changes to the vehicle industries in the city have infuriated its various factions, though even some of his most vigorous opponents have supported other changes. "The Bloomberg era has been a hostile era for the taxi industry," said Ethan Gerber, executive director of the Greater New York Taxi Association, which has battled the administration on several key initiatives.

                           

David Yassky, chairman of the Taxi and Limousine Commission, said the regulators have worked to improve services for passengers, while taking the concerns of the industry into account with each of their changes.
"I think taxi and car service passengers have benefited enormously from this administration's willingness to act independently and without bowing to the special interests," he said.
Mr. Bloomberg battled with cab drivers over his mandate that all cabs take credit cards, using new terminals linked to taximeters that helped boost the Taxi and Limousine Commission's data-collection efforts.
A bid to let cabs begin using smartphone apps to secure customers has launched, with limits, over the objections of some of the same livery drivers who have blessed the borough taxis.
Some parts of the industry have been more closely aligned with Mr. Bloomberg's goals. "He understood the need of residents of New York City because he actually said 'I need everybody to have access,'" said Cira Angeles, whose family runs Riverside Radio Dispatch, a livery business, referring to the borough taxi law. Ms. Angeles bundled $5,175 in contributions for Mr. Thompson in late July.