Day: May 6, 2019

Marine Investigation Unit detectives are investigating following the death of a diver in the bay yesterday (5 May). A 41-year-old man from Carrum Downs contacted police and was subsequently arrested in Mordialloc today. The incident happened when a diver, a 29-year-old Blackburn man, was allegedly struck by a speed boat in the bay between Frankston and Mornington just before 1pm. The injured diver and his dive partner were picked up out of the water by a passing boat and were conveyed to the Frankston pier. Paramedics performed CPR on the man but unfortunately he died on the pier. The second…

DIVISION ONE PINES have gone another game without a defeat this season, after just beating the Frankston Bombers past the post on Saturday. The Bombers proved they could be a threat to the reigning premiers with a strong first quarter. Frankston Bombers went into the first break with a 14 point advantage. Pines worked their way back into the lead by half time, but the momentum swung again in the third quarter. Heading into the final term, Pines would have to overcome a nine point deficit to keep their unbeaten start to the year intact. Despite their best efforts throughout…

DIVISION TWO CHELSEA restricted Brendan Fevola to just one goal on Saturday to secure an impressive win over Hastings at Thomas Barclay Reserve. Fevola hit the scoreboard with a goal just over a minute into the game, but failed to make an impact after that. He managed four behinds for the rest of the afternoon. Chelsea had to work hard and trailed at every break of play, but only by less than a goal. The Seagulls saved their best for last as they stormed home in the final quarter. They scored three unanswered goals to establish a buffer, which Hastings…

SOCCER PENINSULA Strikers are back on the promotion trail after a stunning 7-0 thrashing of Heatherton United at Centenary Park on Saturday. Heatherton had gone into this State 2 South-East contest with just one loss this season but a first-half hat-trick from the outstanding John Prescott had secured the points by half-time. Second half doubles from Josh Calle and Anton Vulic completed the whitewash. Strikers had lost three games heading into this clash and although they are just five points off the pace head coach Danny Verdun believes that there still is a lot of work ahead. “While we’re pleased…

MORNINGTON-based racehorse trainer David Brideoake took out the Group One Australasian Oaks (2000m) in South Australia on Saturday 4 May with his classy filly Princess Jenni. Despite a pre-race delay, the three-year-old daughter of High Chaparral scored a decisive one length victory to land Brideoake’s third career Group One win. With champion jockey Damien Oliver on board, Princess Jenni weaved her way through the field to defeat the Archie Alexander-trained Mirette and John Sargent-trained House of Cartier. The victory was the first of two Group One wins for Oliver on the day, and his fourth Australasian Oaks win. Brideoake’s racing…

A MEETING of the Frankston Progress Association was held on the 2nd May when the following gentlemen were present: Messrs Jolly (president) Brody, F. Wells, Jacobs, P. Wells, McMurtrie, Wood, Lawrey, Jennings, Hyndes, W. W. Young and Mrs Burton. The secretary reported; that the Hallam-Berwick drainage scheme was in abeyance pending the completion of certain other water works; that the petition re Kananook creek was being well-signed at the various busness places; that the Health Officer had asked to be supplied with a specific case of sickness caused by the Kananook creek; that the Railway Commissioners said no alteration could…

THIS legendary Irish folk music duo began in 1975 when Mick Foster & Tony Allen formed their duo FOSTER & ALLEN. For three years they toured cabaret venues in Ireland and the UK. Their big break-through came in 1978 when they released the single A Bunch of Thyme in Ireland which stayed in the Irish Charts for an unbelievable 53 weeks. However, at this stage their success was only known to Ireland and it was not until 1982 that A Bunch of Thyme was released in the UK. It was played by all the radio stations in Britain and…

AFTER accepting what it terms a “peer review” a national retailers’ organisation has slammed the proposed Kaufland bid for Mornington as “confirming the worst fears of local small and family businesses” in Mornington Peninsula Shire. Employer industry association MGA Independent Retailers, representing grocery, liquor and hardware retailers, says a recent economic impact assessment had found that Kaufland’s potential effect on “local businesses will be permanent and ongoing”. The giant German-owned retailer is eyeing six sites in Victoria – including a 4000-metre site in Mornington near the corner of Nepean Highway and Oakbank Road. State planning minister Richard Wynne has overridden…

THE finding of Matthew Flinders’ grave during excavations for the London railway inspired historians to hold a small ceremony in Mornington to mark the navigator and cartographer’s links to the Mornington Peninsula. His remains were officially identified in January by archaeologists excavating a former burial ground near Euston railway station. Captain Matthew Flinders led the second circumnavigation of New Holland in the early 1800s, which he later named “Australia or Terra Australis” and identified it as a continent. The first circumnavigation was by Abel Tasman in 1642-43, who also charted its north coast in 1644. Flinders’ return to England was…

MORNINGTON archer Zach Tonizzo had great success at the Youth National Archery Championships at Armidale, NSW, 12-16 April. As a member of the Frankston Archery Club he and teammates Jai Crawley, Elizabeth Ainge and Tian Mortimer brought home 11 medals: three gold, three silver and five bronze. Zach, 17, came second in Target in under-20 Male Recurve; third in Field and third in Short Range. Asked what he enjoyed most about the tournament he said: “It’s hard to pick a single event as they were all so much fun. It would have to be the field course because, not only…

ARGUABLY Australia’s best Elvis impersonator Rick Charles together with his son Adrian as Freddie Mercury of Queen are star attractions at a Variety charity fundraiser at Mornington Yacht Club from 7.30pm on Saturday 18 May. “A Musical Affair with a King and Queen” has been organised by Variety Bash stalwarts John Crossin and John Mackie of Mornington as they prepare for another wild ride across Australia in August, from Melbourne to Geraldton in WA, in Car 86, their Ford Fairlane LTD that once carried Prime Minister Malcolm Fraser around Canberra. This will be John Crossin’s 16th Bash and the 15th…

By Barry Morris A MORNINGTON church group wants Australia’s political leaders to increase overseas aid which has dropped to an all-time low. St Macartan’s Catholic Church social justice group says the lack of commitment to foreign aid is a “disgrace”. The group has sent an open letter to Prime Minister Scott Morrison, Opposition Leader Bill Shorten, Nationals leader Michael McCormack and Greens leader Richard di Natale. As well as publishing the letter in St Macartan’s parish bulletin, it has sent the letter to peninsula church newsletters and bulletins in the hope of alerting all people of goodwill on the dire…

A P-PLATE driver from Skye who rolled his 2000 Toyota ute, above, at Somerville Secondary College oval, 11pm, Saturday 13 April, told police his friends had “egged him on” to drive faster. After asking police to call his mother, the driver admitted to doing doughnuts and skids alongside his two friends before losing control of his vehicle. He was one of two hoon drivers caught by Hastings police with help from Hastings and Somerville eyewitnesses. In a similar incident, a P-plater from Bittern rolled his 1995 Nissan Patrol, above, in the Hastings marina car park about 11pm, Tuesday 26 March,…

WORK has stopped on the controversial $80 million redevelopment of the Continental Hotel at Sorrento while the developers chase finance. Joint-venture partner Julian Gerner said last week a “gap between funding arrangements” had forced the shutdown at the historic watering hole before Easter. He said the amount being sought was around $40 million. Mr Gerner said he was being “fiscally responsible” in waiting until the money had been secured before continuing work, but gave reassurances that “all is going well”. He and property group Steller are redeveloping the 1875 four-storey limestone building into bar, function, fine dining and residential areas…

THE plight of a homeless woman living alone in a Mornington Peninsula foreshore toilet block has evoked sympathy from nearby residents as well as a little hostility. The middle-aged woman, of Asian appearance, has been at the block since Christmas after moving from the Rye foreshore. (The News is not disclosing the site to help ensure the woman’s safety). The woman has gathered possessions, including a sleeping bag, case and umbrella, and told a source her phone had been stolen. She reportedly becomes abusive if toilet users look at her or query her presence. Mornington Peninsula Shire Council’s family services…

IT is fair to say that to some extent the finished works by artist Charles Wilcox are predetermined by events that happened many years before and well beyond his knowledge or control. A painter and sculptor, Wilcox is an avid collector of driftwood and a fan of old advertisements, in newspapers and on billboards. He attributes some of his “sculptural creativity” to his engineering studies. His approach to painting to his art studies throughout his schooling and, later, graphic design. The Mt Martha-based artist is in Florence, Italy, this week where he is one of five international artists invited to…

Barry Morris THE Hastings-based Dolphin Research Institute is hoping to widen its support base to help safeguard the lives of the entertaining aquatic mammals. Its adopt-a-dolphin program aims to have 100,000 people involved in ‘i sea i care communities’ by 2020 through citizen science, dolphin ecology and health and education. DRI director Jeff Weir last week told a meeting organised by BERG MM at Mt Martha House that the communities were launched in June last year with the Western Port community of Tooradin followed by Mornington on Port Phillip. Programs are run in schools, businesses and there are community events…

MORNINGTON Peninsula Shire has run into the equivalent of a brick wall in its efforts to improve bus services on the peninsula. Despite seven months of lobbying the state government and working closely with bus company Venturer, there have been no improvements. “Our advocacy efforts and those of the community have not resulted in any significant upgrades to bus services on the peninsula,” the mayor Cr David Gill said. He said 82 per cent of the peninsula had no public transport. “For $20 million a year we could fix the bus services on the peninsula. It’s a public service that’s…

A COMMUNITY group and several political pressure groups are out to grab the spotlight to influence voting in the Flinders electorate before the Saturday 18 May federal election. While lines outside pre-polling booths throughout Flinders show many have already decided where their votes will go, influencers such as the left-leaning GetUp and Save Westernport are making sure that climate change and the environment remain uppermost in voters’ minds. The right-wing lobby group Advance Australia said in early April that it would warn voters in Flinders about the “dangers of voting for independents backed by left-wing activist groups” (“Hunt gets support…

A RED Hill restaurateur is reconciled to spending as much as $200,000 fighting a Mornington Peninsula Shire Council knock-back of an application for a permit to alter a septic tank system. Red Gum BBQ proprietor Melissa Goffin calls the shire “short-sighted” and “infuriating” for refusing her permission to dispose of what the shire estimates will be more than 5000 litres of wastewater a day from the Arthurs Seat Road venue after patronage is increased to 140 seats. Ms Goffin said the greywater would be suitable for a neighbouring orchard, on Nash’s Lane, which she said was in desperate need of…

RYE’S Amy Foster is one of many new mums celebrating their first Mother’s Day on Sunday 12 May. It’s even more special now that her new-born baby Sonny is home after spending a month in the special care nursery at Frankston Hospital. “Sonny was teeny tiny – only 1762 grams (three pounds eight ounces) when he was born,” Amy said. “He was born at 34 weeks but he was only 31 weeks in size – so he has had a bit of catching up to do.” The first few weeks of Sonny’s life were challenging for the family as Amy…

Homicide Squad detectives are investigating the circumstances surrounding the death of a man in Hastings last night (5 May). Emergency services were called to an address on Salmon Street about 7.45pm after reports a man had been stabbed with an unknown object. The man, who is yet to be formally identified, was taken to hospital but died en route. A second man was arrested at the scene and is currently assisting police with their enquiries. The investigation is ongoing. Anyone with any information to contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000 or submit a confidential report online at www.crimestoppersvic.com.au