Editor’s Pick of the Week: Cattle rustling in Ripley and a political advertising dilemma

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A short email to the Stray Ferret office triggered a ferocious debate this week: would we accept an advert from a political party?

We canvassed the views of readers, and a moral and ethical minefield appeared.

Eventually we decided against it — all very laudable, you might think, but it doesn’t butter any parsnips. Come on guys, if you don’t already, stump up 14p a day and subscribe please do so we can continue to publish 100 local news stories a week, including articles politicians would prefer we didn’t, such as this one about a local MP accepting a Formula 1 freebie.

We also reported on a row between Reform UK and Liberal Democrats ahead of Thursday’s Harrogate Town Council by-election.

Our ferret-themed publication has featured a wide range of animals this week.

There has been cattle rustling in Ripley, a chicken farm in Melmerby and, today, a person dressed as St Wilfrid will ride a donkey around Ripon for the annual St Wilfrid’s Procession.

Last week, Harrogate was the place to be for its annual crime writing festival, which put the icing on the cake of a blockbuster month for hospitality businesses. With floats, free entertainment and facepainting, it’s Ripon’s turn today.

Ripon celebrated a new boxing professional this week, when Ben Julian has joined the paid ranks. Ben is managed by York fighter Henry Wharton, who older boxing fans will recall fought for world titles against Nigel Benn and Chris Eubank in the 1990s.

A few people felt reacted as if they’d been punched in the guts this week by the news that plans to extend the Otley Road cycle route have been revived.

Only one of three planned routes have been built so far, and its zig zagging design didn’t exactly endear it to anyone, even cyclists. Now there are plans to extend it all the way to Beckwithshaw — which is quite a slog uphill, but great to ride downhill. Will it happen? We will keep you posted.