Museum reopening - 'It promises to be one of the best in Britain'

Amid all the joy about Edinburgh Zoo's imminent new arrivals, it is easy to forget the pandas are not the only exciting new attraction heading our way.

There is just as much reason to eagerly anticipate the reopening of the National Museum of Scotland in July following its 46 million revamp.

Where else will you be able to see the skeleton of a Tyranosarus Rex, ancient Egyptian mummies and specimens collected by Charles Darwin all under one roof?

The reinvented museum promises to be one of the biggest and best in Britain, with 20,000 exhibits spread across 36 galleries.

If that is not enough to pique your interest, then here are 40 million more reasons to cheer - that is the number of pounds the revamped museum is expected to generate for the wider city each year thanks to the extra visitors it will attract.

If that sounds like pie in the sky, then just look at Glasgow's Kelvingrove Gallery, which instantly leapfrogged Edinburgh Castle as the most-visited attraction in Scotland - although the Castle, of course, remains the nation's top paid-for tourist destination - following a similar revamp five years ago.

With the museum and the zoo so dramatically on the up, the on-going modernisation of the Portrait Gallery is simply the icing on the cake.

Significant public funds are being spent improving the city's attractions, but the pay-back will undoubtedly come, in extra tourist spending.

When that does happen, there will be another good reason to consider the merits of some form of "bed tax" levy to protect the future funding of the city's tourism industry.

Topping the class

IF any parents of St David's RC High School pupils were worried that junior didn't eat much at the family dinner table, they now know the reason why.

As the News reports today, scores of kids have been gorging themselves on pizza at lunchtime, courtesy of "home" deliveries - to school.

Our photos of youngsters swarming around the two delivery vehicles needed to handle the order are amusing at first look, but the scene has more serious implications.

Now, no-one has broken any rules. The school lets older pupils make their own meal choices and the pizza firm is entitled to satisfy any demand - though, following our inquiries, school deliveries have been halted.

However, if this is more than just an occasional treat, clearly something has gone wrong in the way that the healthy eating message is being taught, by schools and parents.