In this week’s Manx Independent, we reveal details of how many extra staff the government now employs.

It comes as another highly-paid top civil service job is created.

Also this week:

People who don’t believe in God could lead prayers before sittings of the House of Keys in future.

A group of local divers will attempt to place a memorial plaque at the wreck of a German U-boat, which sank near the island’s territorial waters.

New headteachers for Queen Elizabeth II High School and Ballakermeen.

Prisoner Mark Phillip David Galbraith has been sentenced for vandalising his cell while claiming he was trying to find a mouse.

Dandara’s plans for 138 new homes Lower Milntown near Ramsey have been rejected by the planning committee.

Members of another teaching union – the NAHT – will take part in a consultative ballot to see if they wish to accept a revised pay offer from the government.

More support for those struggling in the face of the rising cost of living was this week announced by Treasury Minister David Ashford.

Works being carried out on the famous Laxey Wheel are behind schedule after it was discovered that additional repairs were needed on it.

There has been no policy change when it comes to ticketing vehicles parked on pavements, the infrastructure minister told Tynwald in response to a question from an MHK.

He also said he doesn’t see the traffic management in St Mark’s as a ‘big problem’.

Builder Christopher Alan Ballard, who got into a fight at a taxi rank, has been punished by a court.

Delays mean long waiting times to have imported vehicles examined for roadworthiness.

Garff MHK Daphne Caine calls the lack of completion date for the horse tram tracks a ‘disgrace’.

Labourer Jole Richard Moore has been punished for being drunk and disorderly.

Ground-breaking is set to start on the new airport technology centre in late July.

A planning application has been submitted to build a vet’s practice at stables in St John’s.

Joiner Marc Thomas Duncan who crashed his car on Douglas promenade and abandoned it was this week sentenced.

A sponsored one-mile fun run will take place in Port Erin on Sunday afternoon in aid of the RNLI.

Our fitness columnist Danny Kane writes about the chemicals in our brains that make us happy.

In our charity feature, we concentrate on the Manx Deaf Society.

A crisis has been narrowly averted at The Guild after West End stage star John Owen-Jones was struck down with illness on Tuesday. It’s the lead story in Island Life, which includes more details of the festival.

Our leisure and pleasure section also has photos from the Festival of Plays in the centre pages.

This weekend marks the final games of the domestic hockey season and with it the guarantee that all league titles will be decided.

There are 11 action-packed pages of sport in total.

There is also plenty of community news, a page of your letters, our puzzles pages, the gig guide and a seven-day television guide.

The Manx Independent is in the shops now.

But you don’t have to go to a shop to buy a copy.

Just click here to see how to read a digital edition of the Manx Independent.