Day: December 1, 2015

THE White Ribbon Day march in Hastings Wednesday showed the depth of support for the campaign to end violence against women. More than 230 people made their way along High St to show their resolve to fight the scourge which takes the life of a woman in Australia every week. Marchers assembled at the Hastings post office car park, Victoria St, before moving along High St to the library steps to hear speakers and enjoy a barbecue. Hastings Respectful Relationships secretary Wendy Gamble described the march as “fantastic”. “We were most impressed by the large turn-out,” she said. “And we…

THE row over public access to the new Somerville police complex continues, with Opposition Police Spokesman Ed O’Donohue saying original ground floor drawings for the station “clearly show a front counter and rooms for interviews”.    He says comments by Detective Senior Sergeant Nick Vallas (The News, 17/11/2015) that the Somerville station was “never designed to be staffed by uniform police” are incorrect. Ground floor drawings of the station “clearly show the front counter and rooms for interviews”, Mr O’Donohue said. A letter from then Chief Commissioner Ken Lay to former Police Minister Kim Wells, in October 2014, says the…

MORE than 100 people were at Hastings foreshore on Sunday to make it clear they want the federal government to do more about climate change. Towels of all types were placed on the grass spelling out 100%RET, the renewable energy target they want the government to adopt. The group at Hastings represents a small part of a global movement pressuring world leaders attending this month’s climate change talks in Paris. Protesters wearing angel costumes who last month clambered onto the roof of Flinders MP and Environment Minister Greg Hunt office in Hastings have already been highly visible in Paris, where…

A MULTI-GOLD medal winner at competitions run by the International Natural Bodybuilding Association since 2007 became interested in fitness only in her late 20s. At 56, she is “as driven as ever”. Monika Greich, of Hastings, says she only started “strength” type gym training at 39 to “tone up” her upper body. “What began with nine years of walking eventually turned into running, martial arts, strength training and barefoot running,” she said. “I was quite lean from running, so didn’t have the issue of wanting to lose weight which is the reason most people join gyms. “Little did I know…

SOMERVILLE Rise pupil Aiden Hinson has his sights set on success at this week’s annual School Sport Australia track and field championships in Canberra. Believed to be the first Somerville junior to compete at this level, he will be among more than 100 junior athletes from schools all over the country. Aiden will compete in the long jump and medley relay, which includes two 200 metre, a 100 metre and a 300 metre race. His best long jump is 5.04 metres. The grade 6 pupil, 12, has competed locally for Western Port Little Athletics Club for the past seven years…

A BUSINESS case for expanding the Port of Hastings should include compensation the owners of property affected by dredging in the bay. Experts estimate 24 million cubic metres of spoil will be dredged from alongside wharfs and in shipping channels, severely affecting Western Port’s marine environment and increasing coastal erosion. The call to establish a compensation fund was included in a submission by the Preserve Western Port Action Group (PWPAG) to a select committee hearing into the state government’s proposed leasing of the Port of Melbourne. Funding for the government’s plan to reduce the number of rail level crossings is…