March began with Rotary Club Grantham’s annual Swimarathon going global – and winning a world record.
More than 5,000 swimmers from 100 clubs in 23 countries took part in the inaugural “Rotary Global Swimarathon”, which raised more than £65,000.
The Grantham swim took place at The Meres with a live Skype link to the other swimmers around the world.
The event also established a new Guinness World Record for the most people around the world swimming at the same time.
Grantham taxi drivers claimed they were missing out on trade due to new rules enforced by the local authority.
A new points system brought in by South Kesteven District Council in January – in which taxi drivers lose their licence if they accrue 12 points – forces taxis to pull to the front of the rank outside the Guildhall, where drivers say there are less fares to be taken.
The council said there had been complaints about double parking in the area and they had therefore asked taxi drivers to use the full extent of the rank.
A murderer on the run from HMP Sudbury was arrested by Grantham police in Dysart Road.
Forty-two-year-old Mark Lee absconded from the Derbyshire prison the previous month. He was convicted in 1994 of the murder of Grantham man Neil McMillan outside the what was the Rose Castle public house in Trent Road.
Financial services company Totemic was ranked ninth in the annual Sunday Times Top 100 Best Companies to Work For list.
Based at Totemic House in Springfield Road, Totemic is one of the largest employers in Grantham and has featured in the Sunday Times’ top 30 for the past six years.
The Government accused South Kesteven District Council of providing a “second-rate” service with its fortnightly refuse collections.
A spokesman for the Government’s Department for Communities and Local Government said that any council that does not collect waste weekly is “offering a second-rate service”.
SKDC told the Journal it had no intention of returning to collections every week.
Cabinet members at South Kesteven District Council approved a plan for 7,000 homes to be built in Grantham’s Northern and Southern Quadrants.
The plan was expected to create 2,500 jobs and lever in tens of millions of pounds across the district.
Nineteen-year-old Fulbeck swimmer Sophie Allen qualified to represent Great Britain at the London 2012 Olympics.
The former William Robertson School student finished second and won a silver medal in the 200m individual medley at the British Gas Championships in London. She recorded a new English record of 2min 11.71sec, one second quicker than the Olympic qualification standard.
Grantham Carnival’s annual parade through the town centre came under threat after Lincolnshire County Council’s highways department rejected every proposed parade route.
Carnival committee chairman Roy Wright had been working on the application for nine months. The final application, replete with the changes demanded by highways, was met with a flat “no” by the county council, with no explanation as to why.