Sometimes, I really think we must be living on the point of the apocalypse - economic collapse, fuel all but gone, death, violence, mayhem.

Or maybe that's just Waltham Forest.

The appeal for good news looked like it might be picking up with a story about a woman who won "Best Morph in Show" at a recent "flashmob tribute" to Tony Hart and another about a no-longer-long-lost war memorial, but since then, things have taken a distinct turn for the worse.

Without going into too much detail or trying to evoke levity from tragedy, the paper looks to be very gloom-laden this week. There are a number of stories covering recent deaths in the area, which, necessary though they are, do not generally make for a week in which to cheer yourself up.

There are also a number of things that will probably raise people's hackles - which is good in a way, as it can often create more news - not the least of which being the approval of the new council budget. Inevitably, there are things in it to make people happy and things in it that will probably make people very unhappy, but of course, as ever, you can find out the full details in tomorrow's paper.

And as some of you may have read in a recent article in the Daily Mail, a Yorkshire MP has slammed Leytonstone School's adapted production of Romeo and Juliet, entitled Romeo and Julien, as "mindblowing political correctness". This is something else more or less guaranteed to divide opinion and I expect we'll have to brace ourselves for a lot of phone calls in the coming days.

At least it may never be said that the Waltham Forest Guardian shies away from the difficult end of the news agenda. If nothing else, good blogfans, you can be sure of a publication that does its damnedest to cover the issues that genuinely matter. And so we shall continue to do until the apocalypse really does arrive.

Finally, Waltham Forest has been Private Eye-d!

The notorious satire rag has apparently picked up the story about council leaflets being dumped in the street for its Rotten Borough section in the latest edition.

I'm not sure whether to be proud or slightly depressed by that...