Repair

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1. Cold water doesn’t make your hair shinier

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2. No product can repair damaged hair

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3. Your hair won’t self-clean

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4. Dry shampoo isn’t a substitute for washing

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HELLMANN’S has stepped in to cover the cost of repairing a Spanish café set ablaze by an angry customer who couldn’t get mayonnaise with his sandwich.

The mayo giant pledged to foot the bill after the shocking arson attack at Cafetería Las Postas near Seville, Spain, last month.

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A Hellmann’s spokesperson said: “Cafetería Las Postas, we’re sorry we weren’t there. From now on, you can count on us.”

The brand promised to restore the premises and ensure the condiment will never be missing from its shelves again, Euro Weekly News reported.

Owner José Antonio Caballero called the incident completely “surreal” and said there was “no explanation for what he did.”

He explained: “First one waiter and then another the second time this gentleman asked for mayonnaise gave him the same answer which was that the bar didn’t have a kitchen and the sandwiches came ready-prepared and we didn’t have sauces.

“At that moment he walked to the garage opposite, returned to the bar with a bottle in his hand which we discovered afterwards had petrol inside, and asked the first waiter: ‘Are you sure there’s no mayonnaise?’ without giving him time to reply.

“There’s no explanation for what happened. It was awful.”

Horrifying CCTV shows the suspect storming inside, splashing fuel over the counter, and setting it alight with a lighter.

As flames shot towards the ceiling, terrified customers – including children as young as four – scrambled to safety while staff fought the blaze with an extinguisher.

Caballero said the fire left damage of up to £7,000 but praised “quick-thinking workers” for stopping it spreading.

He added: “The important thing is that nobody was injured. There were young children and elderly people around. Imagine if someone had been hurt.”

The 50-year-old suspect was arrested within minutes in a nearby square after burning his hand.

Police said he was taken to a health centre under guard and is due in court.

Investigators are probing why he started the blaze, with reports suggesting he was with two others at the time.

The mayo-fuelled attack has since divided opinion online after Hellmann’s public response.

Some hailed the move as clever marketing, while others blasted it as insensitive.

One local fumed: “Hellmann’s, it’s a little in bad taste, no? Will you get noticed? Yes. But at what cost? I don’t think a brand like yours needs to do this.”

Another said: “What happened is not a joke.”

A third remarked: “Taking advantage of someone’s misfortune to do marketing.”

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A $2.7-billion plan to expand the Los Angeles Convention Center is in jeopardy after a narrowly divided City Council committee opted on Tuesday to recommend a much smaller package of repairs instead.

Amid mounting concerns that the expansion could siphon money away from basic city services, the Budget and Finance Committee voted 3 to 2 to begin work on a less expensive package of upgrades that would be completed in time for the 2028 Olympic Games.

Councilmember Katy Yaroslavsky said the expansion proposal — which would add an estimated 325,000 square feet to the facility, spanning both sides of Pico Boulevard — is too risky for the city, both in terms of the tight construction timeline and the overall cost.

“The risks to the city’s finances are too great — and risks us having to cut our city workforce to offset the costs of this project for years to come,” said Yaroslavsky, who heads the committee.

Yaroslavsky proposed the less expensive alternative plan, drawing “yes” votes from Councilmembers Bob Blumenfield and Eunisses Hernandez. Councilmembers Tim McOsker and Heather Hutt voted against the proposal, saying it was a sudden and huge departure from the original expansion plan.

“I’m not comfortable voting on these recommendations today,” Hutt said. “The substantive changes have not been circulated to the committee members, staff and public — and the public hasn’t been able to give public comment on these last-minute changes that are very significant.”

Both proposals — the expansion and the less expensive package of repairs and upgrades — are set to go before the full City Council on Friday.

Council members have spent the last year trying to find a way to expand the size of the Convention Center, doubling the amount of contiguous meeting space, without also creating an excessive burden on an already stretched city budget. They have received increasingly dire warnings as Friday’s deadline for making a decision approaches.

Chief Legislative Analyst Sharon Tso, who advises the council on policy matters, told the committee Wednesday that she fears the project’s first phase won’t be done in time for the 2028 Games, when the Convention Center will host several competitions, including judo, wrestling and fencing.

Tso also warned that the ongoing cost of the project would make it much more difficult for the city to hire more firefighters, recruit more police officers and pay for such basic services as street repairs. Four months ago, the council approved a budget that closed a $1-billion financial gap, requiring cuts to city personnel.

“We just completed a budget process that was very brutal,” she said. “If you’re happy with the level of service that we have today, then this is the project for you.”

At City Hall, the Convention Center is widely viewed as a facility in need of serious repair, including new elevators and escalators, up-to-date restrooms and overall cosmetic upgrades. Expanding the Convention Center would allow the city to attract much larger national conferences, exhibitions and meetings.

The project, if approved, would connect the Convention Center’s South Hall — whose curving green exterior faces the 10 and 110 freeway interchange — with the West Hall, which is a faded blue.

The council has already pushed for several cost-cutting measures, including the removal of a plaza planned on Figueroa Street. Mayor Karen Bass and the council also have hoped to generate new revenue by installing digital billboards — two of them within view of drivers on the 10 and 110 freeways.

Even with the freeway-facing digital signs, the cost of expanding and operating the Convention Center could reach $160 million in 2031, according to City Administrative Officer Matt Szabo, a high-level budget analyst.

The cost to taxpayers is expected to average about $100 million per year over three decades, according to updated figures prepared by Szabo.

The Convention Center expansion has become a top priority for business groups, labor leaders and community organizations who say that downtown L.A. desperately needs an economic catalyst — one that will creates thousands of construction jobs and spark new business activity.

After the pandemic, office workers never fully returned to downtown, and dozens of stores and restaurants shut their doors. Homelessness and drug addiction also continue to plague portions of downtown.

“We want to see downtown recover. We want it to be a place Angelenos can be proud of, and this is the solution,” Cassy Horton, co-founder of the DTLA Residents Assn., said at the committee hearing.

Labor and business leaders told the council members that the city has a long track record of developing plans for upgrading the Convention Center, only to shelve them once it’s time for a decision.

“For more than a decade, we’ve studied this project, we’ve debated it, we’ve delayed it,” said Nella McOsker, president and chief executive of the Central City Assn., a downtown-based business group. “We’ve been deciding whether or not we are a city that can maintain and invest in this essential asset, and every time we make that delay, the cost increases.”

McOsker is the daughter of Councilmember Tim McOsker, who voted “no” on the repair proposal. An outspoken supporter of the expansion, he argued that the city took on a similar financial burden 30 years ago when it financed the construction of the Convention Center’s South Hall.

Yaroslavsky, in turn, said she was concerned not just about the project’s cost but the potential for it to pull resources away from the Department of Water and Power.

Dave Hanson, senior assistant general manager for the DWP’s power system, told the committee that deploying his workers at the Convention Center could result in delays on utility work elsewhere, including a San Fernando Valley light rail project and the installation of underground power lines in the fire-devastated Pacific Palisades.

“DWP may — we don’t know for sure yet, because they don’t know for sure yet — may have to sideline other critically important projects, including reconstructing the Palisades and all these other projects,” said Yaroslavsky, who represents part of the Westside.

Yaroslavsky’s alternative proposal calls for the city to regroup in four months on strategies for requesting new proposals for expanding the Convention Center, as well as other strategies to “maximize the site’s positive economic impacts.”

Hernandez, whose district includes part of the Eastside, said council members remain open to the idea of the Convention Center expansion as the project heads to a final vote.

“So it’s not that we’ve ruled out any options,” she said. “We’ve added more options to the conversation.”

The Repair Shop featured the case of grieving parents John and Margaret Ivin this week – but there was more to the tale than met the eye, and the fresh detail is tragic

A heartbreaking blog details a son’s brave journey with cancer – which this week led to an emotional restoration on BBC’s The Repair Shop which left viewers in tears.

Chris Ivin had written by hand a note on the wallpaper on his family home when he was 14 and, when this was discovered behind a cupboard when parents John and Margaret did some renovation work recently, they hoped to get it turned into a treasured memorial. This was because Chris since died following his battle with testicular cancer and his grieving mother and father were desperate for fresh mementos.

To their astonishment, the team on the BBC show was able to restore the crumbling pieces of plaster containing the message and able to frame it as a lasting tribute to Chris, who was a high-flying TV camera operator. Viewers were in tears during the programme this week but, since then, yet more poignant details around the tragedy have emerged.

A blog has come to light which, though dormant for years since Chris’ death in May 2012, detailed the man’s journey with the disease. He gave moving and often humorous accounts of the ups and downs of daily life with his parents and fiancée Inna – who he referred to as “The Russian” – at his side.

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In one entry, Chris told how he had “still got my chin up” while adding: “It’s not all beer and skittles, this ‘being off work for way over a year’ thing. What I’ve got at the mo does have its drags, let me tell you. There are some very low days indeed.

“The Russian and I call them bad cancer days It’s very upsetting to be back on chemo after such a long time of recovery. I know I was told things were bad again back in Feb, hence the trip up north.

“It’s very sad to know that I’m back to not understanding my body and being very unpredictable about plans and seeing any of you guys.

“The worst was to come. After being released from hospital there were times I couldn’t even muster the coordination to walk or climb stairs. Help was required on a permanent basis either from the Russian or my mum and dad.”

Chris, who started his career as a camera assistant recording videos of live music performances including AC/DC and Tina Turner as well as for comedians Eddie Izzard and Lee Evans, was diagnosed with the rare form of testicular cancer in January 2011.

The media professional, from southeast London, underwent a series of gruelling treatments but died less than 18 months after his diagnosis on May 29, 2012. Among the treatment, Chris had experimental mistletoe therapy treatment in northern Scotland.

In another blog post, he wrote: “Every week I got a bit better but to be that reliant really took some getting used to. Eating, drinking, fetching the smallest things. Impossible. I really had to be waited on hand and foot. Sounds great? No way!.”

READ MORE: Dad stunned after son makes incredible discovery in pockets of £6 charity shop jacket

Chris became a freelancer for the BBC, before landing a sought after job in Formula One providing coverage for broadcasters around the world. His blog also alluded to his illustrious career but later featured references to his dark days towards the end of his cancer battle.

And his dad left one of the final, devastating post in May 2012. Announcing the heartbreaking news of his death John wrote to followers: “For all those people that do not know that our beloved son, Chris ‘Milton’ passed away 13.26 this afternoon (29-05). He did not want to go, but when he did it was peacefully.”

John and Margaret, who are in their 70s, were overwhelmed with emotion when The Repair Shop team presented them with the restored message, complete with a tidy frame, in this week’s episode. Margaret gasped: “That’s amazing” at the treasure.

Rob Fraser, the heritage stonemason at BBC’s The Repair Shop, was tasked with a delicate restoration that required careful attention to detail, as he warned ‘this is not going to be easy’

The latest instalment of BBC’s The Repair Shop left viewers reaching for the tissues, as newcomer Rob Fraser was given the task of restoring an item with enormous sentimental value.

During Tuesday’s (August 26) episode, which recently saw one expert fret about their repair, heritage stonemason Rob Fraser was introduced to a couple, John and Margaret Ivin, who had brought along a fragment of plaster from their kitchen wall for restoration.

The damaged pieces of plaster bore writing on them, which prompted BBC favourite Dominic China to ask about its importance.

Margaret explained that during a kitchen refurbishment last summer, their builder had uncovered the message concealed behind one of the original cupboards. She said: “Where they’d taken one of the original cupboards off the wall, this was behind it and it was a complete shock to see it there.”

The message had been penned by their late son Christopher when he was approximately 14-years-old. It read: “This is original wallpaper. Friday 4:15 8th December 1989. Please leave this wallpaper, Chris.”

Margaret, clearly emotional, explained that Christopher frequently left messages for them. She then disclosed the devastating news that their son had tragically passed away from a rare form of testicular cancer when he was nearly 35.

She said: “It was 18 months from diagnosis to when he died. When you lose a child, you never get over it, you get through it and we’ve just got through it.”

Discovering their son’s handwriting once again on the plasterwork proved deeply emotional, and it became apparent that Rob was facing an enormously difficult task ahead.

Taking a closer look at the damaged plaster, he said: “There’s so much going on, the paper is really fragmented, so that’s very risky. I’ll have to take my time, I might need some help.

“It’s not going to be easy. I need to get eyes on all these pieces and work out what condition each individual piece is in. I’m really nervous about handling this. This is gypsum plaster, which is very brittle.”

In the end, Rob successfully managed to restore the plasterwork and the time came to show John and Margaret the final result as the expert called upon two more specialists from the workshop to help.

When the big reveal happened, they were completely amazed as Margaret gasped: “That’s amazing.” Both were moved to tears as John could be spotted wiping his eyes.

She added: “What can I say? What can I say? It’s funny handwriting, he would be chuffed to bits to see that. I mean, he was what, 14? and he would’ve been 48 this year.”

John said: “He was a lovely boy, yeah.” Both thanked the experts for fixing the damaged plaster as they stressed how incredible it was.

The Repair Shop is available to watch on BBC iPlayer.

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