Century house into a community centre.

The Department of Youth and Sports is spending $500,000 on the project to renovate historic Springfield House in Somerset.

Former Youth Minister Tim Smith unveiled the proposals in January as part of a new battleplan to combat youth violence.

He said the 1720s house, owned by the National Trust, would be refitted as a community centre with day-care facilities for young people, counselling rooms, a senior citizens' room and a basketball court.

MEMBER OF PUBLIC THWARTS WOULD-BE THIEF CRM Member of public thwarts would-be thief An alert member of the public prevented a theft from a Suzuki jeep at Bulls Head car park.

Police said a youth was spotted walking up and down the car park on Wednesday afternoon.

He was then seen unzipping the back window of the jeep.

When he saw that he was being watched, however, the culprit -- described as dark-skinned, of thin build, wearing beige shorts, a white school shirt and carrying a green backpack -- quickly left the area.

Nothing was stolen from the vehicle.

But a woman who left her handbag inside her car parked at Long Bay Beach on Wednesday morning was not as fortunate.

Police said the woman returned to the car some two hours later to find that someone had stolen her wallet from the handbag. The wallet contained an undisclosed amount of cash, credit cards, and other personal items.

A thief or thieves also stole a handbag from an apartment at West Side in Sandys Parish.

The bag and its contents, including some cash, were later recovered on the lawn of the next door neighbour whose home was also targeted. However, nothing was stolen in the latter incident.

BERMUDA OFFICIALS TO MISS ILO MEETING CON Bermuda officials to miss ILO meeting Bermuda officials will not attend the annual International Labour Organisation meeting in Geneva, Switzerland next month.

Labour and Home Affairs Minister Maxwell Burgess said he planned to spend the next few weeks familiarising himself with his new responsibilities.

The advantages of doing so outweighed the advantages of the ILO meeting, he added.

In making his decision, Mr. Burgess also took into account that neither the president of the Bermuda Industrial Union, Derrick Burgess, nor Bermuda Employers Council executive director, Malcolm Dixon, were able to attend the ILO meeting.

LITTERBUG APOLOGISES FOR DROPPING NAPKINS CRM Litterbug apologises for dropping napkins A litterbug was caught dropping paper napkins on Mullet Bay Road in St.

George's.

Police said a member of the public spotted the 18-year-old St. George's man dropping the napkins as he drove along the road last Saturday afternoon.

The concerned person reported the incident to Police and they were able to contact the driver who initially denied littering.

But he was cautioned after he apologised for his actions.

Police said no further action would be taken against him.

THIEVES CUT DOWN TREE FROM BLUE HOLE PARK CRM Thieves cut down tree from Blue Hole park A fully mature Cedar tree was stolen from the Blue Hole park in Hamilton parish.

It is believed the thieves used a chain saw to cut down the tree, leaving a three foot stump, sometime between Friday evening and Monday morning.

Another tree was also cut down but left because it was split in the process.

Meanwhile, thieves stole six boxes of crystal ware and a Technics receiver from a house in Rosemount Avenue, Pembroke, on Sunday.

And several boxes of Sobe ice tea were stolen from Thel's cafe on Somerset Road, Sandys.