THE PARKDALE Gift will be revived after 54 years on the sidelines and is set to showcase some untapped indigenous talent with two sprinters from far north Western Australia making the journey down south. The Gift which is set to return to the Gerry Green Reserve on Saturday 24 March has come to fruition through the efforts of former professional Parkdale runner Tim Mason who pursued the idea just over two years ago. “I ran at the Stawell Gift and now coach my daughter Georgia and we went down to the reserve a couple of years ago and thought it…
Year: 2018
RIDING track work since the age of 12, Mornington-based horseman Clayton Douglas has risen through the ranks of the racing industry to ride his first Victorian metropolitan winner at Moonee Valley on Friday 2 February. It’s been no ordinary journey for the rider as he began his racing career on the picnic circuit just over seven years ago before finding his feet over the jumps. Douglas often works about 15 horses each morning before travelling across the state to pick up rides for numerous trainers but originally thought he would be too heavy to make the light weight needed to…
SOCCER LANGWARRIN’S victory against high-flying Dandenong City and FFA Cup wins to Mornington and Peninsula Strikers highlighted last weekend’s local action. Langy went into Saturday’s league clash at Lawton Park as a pronounced underdog having come off a 4-1 thumping from Springvale White Eagles and facing the big-spending second-placed team in NPL2. But Gus Macleod’s men defied the odds and stunned the Croatian-backed visitors with a 2-1 triumph in front of a large crowd. “I keep telling people that we’re three years behind all these other NPL clubs,” Macleod said, a reference to the league’s inception in 2014. “We go…
SUB-DISTRICT By Mr & Mrs IT Gully DROMANA is on fire heading into the MPCA Sub District finals after belting Ballam Park on Saturday by more than 100 runs. The Tigers will host Carrum Downs in the first semi-final, while Carrum will host Tootgarook in the other final. The winners will play off in the grand final. Dromana scored 192 batting first against Ballam Park on Saturday, Blake Pappas top scoring with 54 and fellow opener Daniel Byatt contributing 40. Ballam Park’s Justin Moore was the pick of his team’s bowlers with 3/14, while Gabriel Lawrence picked up 3/27 off…
DISTRICT By Mr & Mrs IT Gully BADEN Powell flexed its muscles at the right time leading into the MPCA District semi-final, recording a seven-wicket victory over Rye. Baden Powell batted first at the beautiful RJ Rowley Reserve and set Rye 183 for victory after scoring 182 for the loss of three wickets. Craig Entwistle hit 85 off 109 balls while Tom Kellerman hit 30 runs off 46 balls. In the chase Matt Whelan top scored with 44 for Rye while Dean Collins scored 35 and Andrew Dunn 29. No other Rye player hit double figures and consequently, they were…
PENINSULA By Mr & Mrs IT Gully IT was always going to be a really tight finish in MPCA Peninsula Cricket, and that proved to be the case on Saturday. The cricket has been hot in this division all season and picking a top four at any stage was always fraught with danger. However, Flinders came out on top with 108 points, while Main Ridge were second with 98, Long Island third on 90, Moorooduc fourth, also on 90. To highlight the closeness of the season Somerville just missed out on 86 points, as did Pines with 78 and Red…
PROVINCIAL By Mr & Mrs IT Gully LANGWARRIN will meet Mornington in this weekend’s MPCA Provincial semi-final after finishing on top of the ladder. The other Semi Final will be played between neighbours Mt Eliza and Peninsula Old Boys. The Kangas will head into the semi-final with great confidence after knocking over the Doggies by 38 runs in the final home and away one-day game at Lloyd Park. It is a remarkable effort by the Kangas considering many experts believed they would fail to make the top four. However, they have proved that relentless pressure in the field and with…
TWO miles out of Mornington, the body of an unknown man was found on Tuesday afternoon by Constable Kerr. Nearby were discovered two packets of strychnine, one of which had apparently been used. On the body was a ticket for a Bay street issued that morning, but there was nothing that would lead to identification. Deceased had a heavy bushy moustache; and was dressed in a grey sac suit, black woollen socks elastic “slip-on” boots and a cotton shirt and singlet. *** PROFOUND regret was expressed when the news of the death of Sir John Madden, Chief Justice of Victoria…
PARENTS, pupils and staff at Tootgarook Primary School were in shock on Friday after learning of the death of eight-year-old Brodie Moran. The body of the popular grade 2 pupil was found at his Alma Street home, 1.30pm, Thursday 8 March. Floral tributes and cards from grieving school friends and parents covered the front yard and pupils were being offered counselling. Seven police cars and 13 officers rushed to the house following a 000 call reportedly made by his mother, Joanne Finch. Ms Finch, 42, appeared at an out-of-sessions hearing at Melbourne Magistrates’ Court later that day charged with one…
AN old TV set, ceramic pipe, umbrella, bike helmet, 900-amp jump starter and two plastic drums were added to the 28 bags of general rubbish collected by BERG Mt Martha members at last week’s Clean-Up Australia Day event. Also picked up were another 20 bags of discarded underclothing, dirty wipes, beer and soft drink bottles and takeaway wrappings at popular The Pillars rock jumping site. Spokesman Barry Morris said 82 volunteers turned up to help in the mass annual clean-up – including 54 adults (31 females and 23 males), 28 children, and nine BERG members, with others helping at Bird…
A SELL-OUT exhibition at Oak Hill Gallery, Mornington, was the first held by 92-year-old Chris Colquhoun. As a result of her first solo show the Merricks-based artist has received three commissions – including one from Copenhagen, Denmark. “A love of maps led Chris to a career at a drawing desk and, after studying technical drawing at RMIT, she worked at the Titles Office and later at the Division of National Mapping,” gallery director Yvonne Watson said. “Travel, marriage and children followed, and then, in retirement at Merricks, she began drawing and painting as a hobby. The lovely bushland and coastal…
MORNINGTON Peninsula Shire Council will continue childcare services formerly offered by Mornington Community Contact. Parents were left wondering where to take their children last week after liquidators moved in and closed the centre (“Parents baffled by childcare loss” The News 6/3/18). The shire, in a news release sent at 5pm Friday, says it is working “to support the childcare programs on a temporary basis to ensure continuity of services for the community and staff while exploring longer term options with the community and other stakeholders regarding ongoing management of the centre”. As from today (Tuesday 13 March) the shire will…
ALTERNATIVE car parking spaces will be made available to commuters while Frankston train station is redeveloped. Works will see 120 spaces at the Beach Street end of the station car park unavailable from last Sunday (10 March) until late this year. The Old Law Courts car park, at the corner of Playne and Young streets, will have 120 free all-day parking spaces and Frankston Council will make 50 free all-day spaces at the Mechanic’s Institute car park available. The Level Crossing Removal Authority will lease 50 parking spaces at Bayside Shopping Centre for construction workers and LXRA staff. LXRA has…
TWO brothers out fishing in a “tinnie” two kilometres off Mornington are lucky to be alive after being rescued by the crew of the racing yacht Phoenix, Saturday 3 March. The Mornington men, in their 20s, were in the water for about 30 minutes after capsizing in the afternoon’s windy weather and feared they would drown. Luckily, a crewman on the Mornington yacht, skippered by Bill Bennet, saw them waving and the boat hurriedly changed course to pick them up. Spotting the men in the rough conditions was made even more difficult by the glare from the late-afternoon sun. Mornington…
ROAD rules were ignored near the epicentre of Sunday’s Mt Martha Triathlon. There was little evidence of the normal courtesies or cautions shown by cyclists, motorists and pedestrians at the corner of Watson Road and the Esplanade. VicRoads has told The News that it gave no permission for road rules to be ignored, but as the photographic evidence shows, in just 15 minutes one young boy was nearly run over by a cyclist (who did yell out a warning) and had to be comforted by his mother; several cars were driven through the supposedly blocked street; cyclists and walkers ignored…
THE triathlon which turned Mt Martha’s main road into a racetrack last weekend was described as an overwhelming success by organisers and a blow to business by traders. “It was a sell-out with 650 competitors – including 100 kids on the Saturday – and we couldn’t have fitted any more in,” said Sufferfest owner Scott Hollow, who runs similar events all over Australia. “We have got feedback from competitors and just about all said it was one of the best they had been in – on perhaps the best course in Australia.” The triathlon saw the Esplanade between Mt Martha…
MORE than 200 volunteers were on hand to help 75 surfers spend time among the waves at Point Leo on Saturday 4 March. The surf day was the second held this year by the Disabled Surfers Association Mornington Peninsula. It will also be the last event before completion of a viewing platform and wheelchair ramp now taking shape between two sand dunes near Point Leo Lifesaving Club. As usual, teams of volunteers (“blue shirts”) formed a human channel to the shore within which the surfers could safely travel to the beach. The surfers lay, sat and stood on the surfboards…
POLICE fired three shots at a stolen car during a dramatic pursuit along back roads in Red Hill, Dromana and Teurong, Friday 2 March. Two men in the car – and two others arrested earlier – were believed to have been involved in a carjacking and robbery the day before as well as another robbery, both in Rosebud. In the first incident, two teenage boys were allegedly run off Waterfall Gully Road by a stolen Toyota four-wheel-drive about midnight, Thursday 1 March. They were chased away and their car, as well as wallets, phones and power tools were stolen. The…
KANGAROOS and wallabies may be more safely crossing Mornington Peninsula roads at night thanks to a trial of electronic signs warning road users to their presence. Mornington Peninsula Shire’s traffic transport office has agreed to install temporary signs at high risk zones on Purves Road, Arthurs Seat and Jetty Road, Boneo. Similar speed indicator signs are being used for the second year running to caution motorists on the Esplanade, Mt Martha about pedestrians visiting The Pillars rock jumping site. Results of the wildlife trial will be evaluated and, if acknowledged as a success, may lead to permanent and more informative…
SHEY Osborne “still doesn’t have words” to describe her emotions after searching for, and finally meeting, her father Michael Thorne for the first time on Sunday 25 February. The joys of that day at a Sorrento cafe continued into the next week she was introduced to all her new found aunts and uncles, nieces and nephews. It has been a long but fruitful search for the 31-year-old hairdresser who began looking for her “lost” dad 11 years ago after being told about him by her mother. Mr Thorne had had a relationship with Ms Osborne’s mother in Sorrento all those…
MORNINGTON Peninsula residents are being asked their views on future uses of land within the green wedge zone. The zone accounts for 70 per cent of the Mornington Peninsula and, according to the mayor Cr Bryan Payne, is “one of Melbourne’s most important long-term assets”. Although it has a green wedge management plan – now under review – the state government and its planning minister can overrule the shire. The green wedge includes many properties that are not large enough to be run as profit-making farms but can be economical if used for other commercial activities. Land within the green…
A TOOTGAROOK mother with a sick daughter is training for a gruelling 120 kilometre walk to raise money for the charity Ronald McDonald House. Barb Hilder, coincidentally of Ronald Street, will take part in the five-day El Camino Trek for the Kids, Spain, 10-19 May, in support of the service which provides emergency accommodation for seriously ill children and their families. Ms Hilder’s daughter Katelyn, 17 next week, was unwell from birth. “At five weeks we had a call to say she had cystic fibrosis – an incurable, life shortening chronic disease. “We lived at Kyabram and had to attend…
Police are investigating after their van was rammed by a vehicle in Hastings earlier this morning. Officers attempted to intercept a black Holden Commodore after it failed to obey a stop sign on Hodgins Road about 2.30am. The vehicle pulled over a short distance in front of police on Curacoa Drive, before reversing into the van and fleeing the scene. It then continued travelling along Curacoa Drive. No injuries were sustained by police officers. The car was later located abandoned on Ovens Court and no arrests have yet been made. Police are appealing for anyone with information or who witnessed…
A teenage girl has died in hospital following a crash in Carrum Downs on Friday. It is believed a car crashed into a stationary truck on Boundary Road just after 7.30am. The 19-year-old Clyde woman, who was a passenger in the car, was taken to hospital in a critical condition however died this morning. The 50-year-old male driver and a second 19-year-old female passenger, both from Clyde, were not injured. The truck driver, a 24-year-old Epping man, was also not injured. Major Collision Investigation Unit detectives are investigating the crash. Anyone with information, who witnessed the crash or has dash…
Homicide Squad detectives have charged a 41-year-old woman following the death of a child in Tootgarook yesterday (8 March). Police attended an Alma Street address and located the eight-year-old boy’s body shortly after 1.30pm. A 41-year-old woman was arrested at the scene and has been charged with one count of murder. She appeared at an out of sessions court hearing last night and has been remanded to appear at Melbourne Magistrates’ Court today (9 March).
Homicide Squad detectives are investigating the death of an 8-year-old boy in Tootgarook this afternoon. Police attended the Alma Street address and located the boy’s body shortly after 1.30pm. A 41-year-old woman was arrested at the scene and is currently assisting police with their enquiries. It is believed that both parties were known to each other. Homicide Squad detectives are en route to the scene. Police are yet to establish the exact circumstances surrounding the death however it is being treated as suspicious at this stage. Investigators are not looking for anyone else in relation to the incident. Anyone with…
Police are appealing for public assistance to help locate missing Rosebud woman Alanna Johnstone. The 20-year-old was last seen at a Mount Martha address on 13 February but hasn’t made contact with anyone since. Police and family members hold concerns for Alanna’s welfare due to a medical condition. She is described as having a medium build and short dark brown hair. Police have released an image of Alanna in the hope someone recognises her and can provide information on her current whereabouts. Alanna is known to frequent the Frankston and Melbourne areas. Anyone with information is urged to contact Rosebud…
THE metal sculpture, pictured, representing the nest of Bundjil, the creator of the Boon Wurrung people, can now be seen as the incubator for knowledge about Aboriginal culture. The growth of interest in learning about the history and lives of the Boon Wurrung can be traced back to 2015 when teachers from Balnarring Pre-school, Balnarring Primary school and Balnarring early learning centre recognised the importance of the children learning about first peoples’ culture. “In the first year of the project a metal sculpture was created that represents Bundjil’s nest,” Karen Anderson of Balnarring Pre-School said. “The children spent time with…
PLANNING is underway to link the existing Red Hill Rail Trail to a new trail running through Merricks, Balnarring and Bittern. Three concept designs have been drawn for a walkers, cyclists and horse riders to share a path between Bittern station and Merricks Station Reserve connecting with the existing seven-kilometre track. Mornington Peninsula Shire is holding an “interactive drop in session” to gather community feedback on the proposed route and design of the trail, including signs, pedestrian crossings, furniture, planting and materials. The mayor Cr Bryan Payne said council is committed to “developing a connected and mobile community through council’s…
MUSICIANS, comedians and circus performers will perform at The Briars historic property, Mt Martha at the end of March in the second annual Peninsula Buskers Festival. “We had about 20,000 people come through last year over three days, probably around 40 performers, 25 food trucks, kids amusements and an outdoor cinema,” organiser Scott Hollow said. “This year we’re looking to have more than 100 performers, with those same outdoor cinemas and kids amusements.” Hollow expects at least 25,000 people will come along to watch the shows. “The Briars is really an untapped resource when it comes to events and we…