The newly bought Marine and Ports tug Edward M. Stowe made an 85 mile rescue sail to assist the crew of a converted Scottish fishing vessel yesterday.

The crew of the 75-foot long wooden Margaret Reid placed a report with Harbour Radio on Wednesday, saying it had suffered a breakdown and was having fuel problems, and requested a tow.

?It was on a voyage leaving St. Vincent on December 8 on route to Bermuda,? a spokesman for Harbour Radio said. ?We worked out a tow for them with the Edward M. Stowe.

The Margaret Reid arrived in St George?s Harbour at 12.15 p.m. yesterday. The five crewmen are ?all okay? the spokesman said. They did not run out of fuel as it was believed there was plenty on board.

Police responded to reports of a violent disturbance in Middletown yesterday evening at around 5.30 p.m.

Police media relations spokesman Robin Simmons declined to say whether any arrests had been made, confirming only that the incident was ?effectively? dealt with by officers attending the scene and inquiries are now underway.

$800 in cash was stolen from a Second Avenue, Pembroke home on Thursday, Police said. The home was broken into sometime between 9 a.m. and 5.45 p.m. Police said inquiries are underway.

A bag containing $130 was stolen from a classroom at the Heron Bay Primary school, Middle Road, Southampton, Police said. It was taken sometime between 8.20 a.m. and 8.25 a.m. Police said, and inquiries into this incident are underway.

The Waste Management Section of the Ministry of Works and Engineering and Housing has reported it is fully booked for bulky waste collections for this year. They will resume taking bookings for bulky waste collections on January 17, 2005.

The Bermuda Audubon Society will be carrying out its 30th Christmas Bird Count (CBC) today. About 15 members of the society, all experienced birders, will be out from dawn to dusk counting every bird they can find on the island.

Results of the count will be entered directly into a database on the National Audubon Society?s website in the US, which collates all the results for the Americas, something they have been doing for 105 years since the first count.

The purpose of the count is to look at the health of bird populations and to determine whether there are any long-term trends with particular species. The count may well provide evidence of the effects on bird populations of global warming and habitat loss. In Bermuda, we average about 8,000 birds of about 90 species.

There are many more birds on the island, but the observers walk similar routes each year covering as much of the island as they can in the time available. Results of the Bermuda CBC will be made available at: www.audubon.org/bird

More Scots would prefer spend the festive season in sunny Bermuda than shiver through a white Christmas at home, the Scottish Daily Record has reported.

The newspaper said most ? 53 percent ? dream of spending the holiday season in Bermuda, according to a survey by NatWest Black credit card. It also found three quarters of Scots still want turkey for dinner on the 25th.

Celebrity chef Jamie Oliver was top choice to cook the meal, followed by Nigella Lawson. NatWest?s Fay Hogg said: ?It seems no one is really dreaming of a white Christmas and we?d all prefer a Caribbean one.?