CR HUGH Fraser will be one of several observers from the Mornington Peninsula at next month’s parliamentary elections in Timor-Leste. Along with members of the shire-backed Friends of Lospalos Community Committee Cr Fraser will be part of the Australia Timor-Leste Election Observer Mission 2018. The elections are being held less than a year after the July 2017 poll which failed to provide the country with a workable parliamentary majority. The estimated $4236 cost of sending Cr Fraser to Timor-Leste (East Timor) will come out of his $16,000 four-year term Conferences, Training and Seminars account of which he has already used…
Month: April 2018
A man drowned off Ranelagh Beach Mt Eliza this afternoon (Sunday 8 April). It is believed the man had been snorkling at the time. A witness said they heard the man shouting out but thought he was calling a friend on the beach. When they looked back they saw the person in the water but not moving, they rushed from the cliff top down some stairs to render assistance. A rescue boat was launched from Ranelagh Club and the man was brought to shore. He was unable to be revived. Police, Ambulance and SES attended. It is believed a number…
Police are appealing for public assistance to help locate missing 15-year-old Briley Dickson. Briley was last seen on 4 April in the Frankston area. Police have concerns for his welfare due to his age and the length of time he has been missing. Briley is 170cm tall with a thin build, fair complexion and dark brown hair. Briley is known to frequent the Hastings and Clarinda areas. Police have also released an image of Briley in the hope someone recognises him and can provide information regarding his current whereabouts. Anyone with information about Briley is asked to contact Mornington Police…
Police are appealing for public assistance to help locate missing teenager Matthew Vlahos. The 14-year-old boy was last seen at Spencer Street, Docklands on 10 March. Police and family members hold concerns for Matthew’s welfare due to his age. Matthew is described as about 178cm tall with a slim build, blue/green eyes and brown wavy hair with a long fringe. He has a lip piercing on the left-hand side of his lip. He is believed to frequent the Frankston CBD and railway station. Police have released an image of Matthew in the hope someone recognises him and can provide information…
AT the John Coleman coterie luncheon held on 26 March, Hastings Football Club stalwart John Watson was elevated to “legend” status. He is the third person to receive this honour, the previous two being Richard Everist and Peter Hibbert. John Watson played his first senior game with Hastings in 1961 and soon attracted the attention of VFL scouts, particularly Collingwood. However he remained with Hastings and played a total of 278 senior games which include three HFC premierships. He won two best-and-fairest awards, was captain/coach of the senior side, and served for 17 years as a MPFL director, advocate and…
THE YMCA’s Buxton Camp at Shoreham, which ran from 1925 to the early 1970s, was a place to relax for many boys having their first experience of nature: camping in the bush at the seaside. A feature of camp life after the war included services at the outdoor Cyril Young Open Air Memorial Chapel, which commemorated Cyril and Ivan Young, brothers and airmen who were killed in the war. Services at the chapel, sometimes at night and illuminated by flaming torches, were integral to the camp’s philosophy of emphasising a balance between mind, body and spirit. Now called Buxton Reserve,…
IT seems like it is finally game over for a long-anticipated $12.7 million upgrade to the Frankston Basketball Stadium after sensational comments made in Canberra last week by federal Dunkley Liberal MP Chris Crewther. Mr Crewther made several allegations under parliamentary privilege on Tuesday evening (27 March) about possible misconduct at the Frankston & District Basketball Association. In his parliamentary speech, Mr Crewther said Frankston Council was aware of several troubling matters involving governance at the FDBA and would no longer negotiate with the association over lease terms for an upgraded stadium to include four new basketball courts. He called…
“Alice, you have mail. From Her Majesty, Queen Elizabeth II.” Yes Alice Meyer, your long awaited card from The Queen has arrived to congratulate you on reaching the monumental milestone of 100 birthdays on 12 March. Alice, many years ago, promised her family that she intended “to be around long enough to receive a birthday card from The Queen”. And it has finally happened. Alice’s birthday was a great opportunity for her ever increasing family to enjoy a truly happy family reunion, to be able to share this special occasion and to celebrate with Alice. In December 1945, Welsh born…
Victoria Police and the Australian Federal Police have executed warrants at 20 properties across Victoria as part of a state-wide operation targeting those accessing online child abuse materials. Twenty people were arrested as a result of those warrants. Operation P2P was designed to identify and apprehend people involved in accessing, downloading and distributing child abuse material via Peer to Peer (P2P) networks on the world wide web. Police also conducted checks to see if any children were at risk or identified as victims of sexual abuse due to their connection with those arrested or the properties raided during the operation.…
PENINSULA Boxer Tyla McDonald has been crowned Australian champion for the second year running defeating usual rival and 2016 national champion Tameriah Barney-Sandy on Sunday 25 March. Tyla, 15, took out the junior under-54kgs national championships and was the only female Victorian boxer to claim back-to-back championships at the Australian Underage Titles in Perth. On top of the national crown, Tyla was part of the Junior Girls Team of the Year award, alongside fellow Victorian junior boxers, Dakotah Keane and Millicent Woods. Peninsula Boxing head coach Marcos Amado said the final was a highly competitive fight and was extremely proud…
MORNINGTON Cup day displayed the dominance of Victoria’s leading trainers as Darren Weir and the Lindsay Park operation took out four of the nine races at the metropolitan meeting on Saturday 24 March. Weir secured both of the feature races with Stellar Collision winning the $200,000 Listed Hareeba Stakes and the Mornington Cup favourite King’s Will Dream saluting in emphatic fashion in the $300,000 feature. King’s Will Dream eased down past the post to defeat Harrison and the Tasmanian visitor Fastnet Dragon by five-lengths and consequently bought up his fifth successive victory since arriving in Australia. With the Mornington Cup…
SOCCER DANIEL Attard expects Skye United to bounce back from losing the opening match of its 2018 campaign and mount a serious promotion push. The 23-year-old striker is the longest serving player in Billy Armour’s senior squad having first played for the club in 2011. Attard started playing as a six-year-old in midfield for Glen Waverley and his first 10 seasons were spent under the tutelage of John Frantzis. “He kept me interested in the game because there were a few times I thought about not playing,” Attard said. When he switched to Skye United he played as a left…
DIVISION TWO IF the opening quarter was any indication of what was in store for Rye in 2018, fans would have been battling to hold back the grins. In the only match for the weekend in Division Two, the Demons smashed Dromana in the first quarter 5.5 (35) to 1.1 (7) leaving the Tigers bedazzled. But Dromana, who had the advantage of being on home turf, were not prepared to tuck their tails and give up, and pushed back hard during the second quarter to be only 11 points down at the long break. The battle continued in the third…
DIVISION ONE THE newly configured Division One of the MPNFL started with gusto on Friday 30 March and the first round threw up some very close finishes. Of the four games played by Saturday night, three of them had ten points or less in them at the final sirens. Meeting on Good Friday, Frankston Bombers and Mt Eliza kicked off the season. Mount Eliza jumped out the of the blocks and kicked four goals to one in the opening term, leaving Frankston Bombers stunned and set for a struggle. The stage was set though, and the Bombers trailed all day,…
Chocolate Starfish – regarded as one of Australia’s best live bands of the 90s boasting two Top 10 albums and six Top 50 singles – has released their first full-length album in twenty years. SPIDERfeatures ten piping-hot, brand-spanking- new tracks. It’s classic rock ‘n’ roll and Chocolate Starfish at the top of their game. And what a game it is. Chocolate Starfish powered on to the Australian music scene in the early 1990s and quickly secured themselves a space as an influential force with their cover of Carly Simon’s ‘You’re So Vain’, original hit ‘Mountain’ and perennial favourite ‘Four Letter…
When 5-year-old Dot gets lost in the bush, she is rescued by a kangaroo who gives her magic ‘berries of understanding’ that allow her to follow the languages of all the animals and insects around her. With this new gift, Dot and Kangaroo set out on an action-packed adventure to return her home – an adventure that changes the way she sees the Australian bush and her place within it forever. But how long before this unique native wildlife disappears as humans encroach on their habitat? Creature invites you to enter the magical world of the Australian bush to explore…
The Mavis’s announce a special 20th anniversary tour for those much loved Pink Pills. Darlings of a time when Rage and Recovery were a staple in the TV diet and Triple J was the on speed-dial… The Mavis’s rode the radio waves with their singles ‘Naughty Boy’ and ‘Cry’ on high rotation while they frequented the Hey Hey it’s Saturday stage. From Ballarat babes to national treasures, a tour with Kylie – the Impossible Princess and headliners of the summer festival circuit, The Mavis’s were a force to be reckoned with… Their sound was like ABBA through a Rock N’…
IN the 387th casualty list published on Saturday, appear the names of F. Garlick, Mornington, wounded, and T. W. Birch, Langwarrin, seriously ill. We trust both these Peninsula soldiers will have a speedy restoration to health. *** SERGEANT W. M. Green, son of Mr and Mrs W. M. Green, of Mornington Junction, has, after a course at New College, Oxford, gained his commission. Lieutenant Green enlisted in March 1915, and saw service in Gallipoli, where he was awarded the Distinguished Counduct Medal, and also in France. *** THE adjourned meeting for the purpose of deciding what form the proposed memorial…
POLICE are searching for a thirsty thief who used a stolen bank card to make a number of purchases, including a strawberry milk drink. Investigators have been told an offender entered the female change rooms of a soccer club on Monterey Boulevard, Frankston sometime between 3-4.15pm on Sunday 25 March. It is believed they went through a bag and took a number of items, including a black Mimco wallet, Tiffany necklace, bank cards, ID cards and a small amount of cash. A bank card was used later that day between 4.15-4.40pm at a number of locations in Frankston, including a…
By Michael Cummings* AS Geoff Nyssen, a towering figure in a bright orange t-shirt with a loud hailer in hand, marshalled hundreds of walkers and runners near the start line, no one would have suspected his cancer has returned. The organiser of the MY Mt Eliza Run & Fun Festival on Sunday 25 March was a ball of enthusiastic energy at the event he founded in 2017 to raise funds for the battle against myeloma, the terminal blood cancer he was diagnosed with four years ago. The event – attended by about 800 with 600 registered participants – is a…
EXTRA spending on capital works and community services are features of the proposed Mornington Peninsula Shire Council’s 2018-19 budget released last week. The document, which is on public exhibition until Thursday 26 April, reflects the priorities identified by members of the community, the mayor Cr Bryan Payne said. “It provides ongoing service improvements and infrastructure enhancements within the current financial environment”. The state government has again capped rate rises at 2.25 per cent. The mayor said the waste service charge, based on full cost recovery, was proposed to increase by 10 per cent – to $217 – driven by an…
A STROLL along the beach has often been credited with providing food for thought. The lapping of the water and a sunset can be inspiring. The beach is a place often sought out by Joel Mielle, but in his case beach walks provide thought for food. Mielle is a chef who offers his recipes to the world rather than on a particular restaurant’s menu. Cooking and preparing meals has been part of Mielle’s life for as long as he can remember. His parents owned the Douce France restaurants in Frankston followed by Provence in Mornington and it seemed more than…
ART enthusiasts flocked to hear British antiques expert Paul Atterbury speak at the March meeting of the Australian Decorative and Fine Arts Society in Mornington. About 230 members and guests enjoyed a fascinating and well-illustrated presentation on The Canal Age, Mornington branch chairman Peter McGinley said. Mr Atterbury gave insights into the development of the network of canals in Britain, 1760s-1840s, that he said was at the heart of the Industrial Revolution. Their development was said to have had a major impact on artists such as John Constable and manufacturers such as Josiah Wedgwood. The talk looked at those who…
PET Therapy Pals are making hospital and nursing home stays more enjoyable for elderly patients on the Mornington Peninsula. One patient, Alan Wardley, describes his therapy pal, Spotless, as a “wonderful, wonderful friend”. Mr Wardley, who has dementia, was a patient at The Mornington Centre when staff realised he would benefit from Peninsula Health’s Pet Therapy Pal program. The weighted stuffed animals remind patients of the feeling they enjoyed holding and caring for their real pets. They keep patients company and – like real pets – are ready for a cuddle at any time. “Patients who are very confused, who…
RON Gilbert was a bit of a joker. He saw the bright side of things. He wasn’t afraid to poke fun at society’s sacred cows and was irreverent to the end. Mr Gilbert, 94, died on 28 October last year, just on eight years after posing for photographs at Mornington cemetery next to a headstone that bore his name. “I’ve got one foot in a grave,” he said at the time, with a twinkle in his eye. He now has two. Mr Gilbert was practical and gave a stonemason instructions to include his name on a headstone that was being…
MORNINGTON Peninsula Shire will develop a “comprehensive events policy” which should go some way towards preventing a possible clash of dates between competing events as occurred last month. The policy will draw on the shire’s experiences in the 3-4 March “double booking” which allowed the Sufferfest Triathlon to be held on the same day in Mt Martha as the 19th successive Clean-up Australia Day event. Briars ward’s Cr Sam Hearn – whose ward hosted both events – last week moved that shire officers conduct a briefing and councillor workshop on the policy by 30 June. This will provide for a…
UP to 500 southern Mornington Peninsula residents will benefit from yet another piece of world-class medical equipment supplied to Rosebud Hospital through the support of Rye Op shop. The new orthopantomogram (OPG) will be added to the hospital’s suite of medical imaging tools thanks to the op shop’s $225,000 donation. “This machine is a huge boost for the community,” the hospital’s head radiologist Damien Barbour said. “It means [patients will not need to take] more trips to Frankston Hospital or inconvenient drives to private providers on the peninsula; it will help considerably in speeding up treatment times in the emergency…
DOG owners will soon be able to legally let their dogs off the leash during winter on a 300 metre strip of beach at McCrae. Mornington Peninsula Shire last agreed to loosen restrictions at the beach outside of the daylight savings time. However, dogs will not be allowed on the beach 9am-7pm during daylight saving. The council has also been told that more research is needed into whether the 300 metre leash-free strip of beach should be extended by 350 metres. Notice of the changes at McCrae will be published in the Government Gazette and community newspapers. Meanwhile, the shire…