Day: February 11, 2019

PENINSULA A RUTHLESS performance by Long Island has seen them dismiss Main Ridge for just 70 runs in the first day of their two day clash. Main Ridge’s openers combined for just 12 runs, and their top scorer put only 16 runs on the board. After 46 overs, Main Ridge were dismissed and were left with a lot of work to do with ball in hand. Long Island came in to bat and finished at 4/97 at stumps, ensuring a first innings win. Pubudu Edirisinghe top scored for the day with 41 runs. At Eric Bell Reserve, Pines played well…

SOCCER LANGWARRIN kicks off the most anticipated season in the club’s recent history when it hosts Melbourne City at Lawton Park on Saturday at 3pm. The spotlight has shone on the local club ever since it made the surprise announcement last August that Scott Miller had been appointed head coach. Few expected the former Fulham assistant manager and Newcastle Jets boss to step down from professional to semi-professional ranks but his appointment raised the bar markedly in terms of expectations for the 2019 season. Langy has backed Miller with a host of new signings and the establishment of the club’s…

BLAIRGOWRIE boxer Jayde Mitchell returns to the ring on Saturday 30 March for the final send-off of one of Australia’s greatest boxers. The current world number nine super-middleweight boxer, Jayde Mitchell, will line-up on the undercard of his sparring partner and former world champion, Sam Soliman, who will step into the ring for the final time. In a phenomenal career spanning more than 20 years, Sam Soliman will bow out against another former world champion, Manny Siaca, at the Melbourne Pavilion. While Mitchell’s opponent is yet to be confirmed, he said to be on the final card of one his…

MORNINGTON has a new up-and-coming racehorse trainer in its midst with the former New Zealander Joe Waldron setting up base opposite the racecourse late last year. The former travelling foreman for champion New Zealand trainers Murray Baker and Andrew Forsman has been training in his own right in New Zealand for the past three seasons but decided to make the move in search of greater prize money. Along with the majority of his client base in New Zealand being from Australia, Waldron has embarked on his next chapter of his training career which now sees him own a 40 box…

FRANKSTON Australia Clay Target Club (FACTC) shooters made their way to Brisbane for the ISSF National Trap and Skeet titles on Monday 14 January. Some of Australia’s best showcased their skills and put some stellar scores on the board in what was a full field in the Trap events as well as the introduction of the Trap Mixed Teams events. FACTC landed some top shots to return home with eight National and Commonwealth title medals across the trap and skeet competitions. Commonwealth Games gold medallist and FACTC member Laetisha Scanlan led the way in the Ladies Trap qualifiers shooting a…

WHILE returning from the funeral of his father at Hastings, last month, Mr John Ward was thrown from his vehicle and sustained a compound fracture of the leg. From enquiries made a few days ago it was ascertained that Mr Ward was still in the Melbourne hospital, and was progressing as well as could be expected considering the serious nature of his injuries. *** AT the last meeting of the Frankston and Hastings shire council, Constables Revell and Walker were appointed presenting officers. *** THE Shire Council has been notified that the following soldiers are returning from abroad: Private Jack…

LENA Taranto has come a long way in a long time. The mother of three, who enjoyed a 100th birthday lunch for family and friends at a Mornington nursing home last week, was born in the town of Waltham, Massachusetts, US, on 7 February 1919. When she was just four her Italian family pulled up stakes and returned to Italy. Then, in 1927, they again set out “for a better life”, this time migrating by ship to Australia. Two more children were born in Melbourne with the family of seven running a fruit shop in Glenferrie Road, Malvern. Money was…

A DEVELOPER’S bid to build 10 apartments on a 1003 square metre block in Mornington comes as Mornington Peninsula Shire holds a series of public meetings aimed at guiding future development across residential areas and reinforcing what makes areas “special”. The proposed apartments, in Williams Road, have been knocked back by the shire as an “overdevelopment of the site and out of character for the area”, prompting developer Kencole to appeal to the Victorian Civil Administrative Tribunal. The outcome of the appeal could be seen as a test case on how far developers will be able to go on the…

A FIBREGLASS cabin cruiser (pictured) was stolen from Westernport Trailers in Marine Parade, Hastings, over the Australia Day long weekend. Detective Tony Woolcock, of Somerville CIU, said offenders cut the padlock on the front gate and drove off with the $40,000 2004 Mustang 2400 boat. It is blue and white and the registration number is Q0710.  Anyone with information is urged to call Crime Stoppers 1800 333 000. First published in the Southern Peninsula News – 12 February 2019

TWO fires started when “sparkler bombs” were set off in a Mornington park last week are being investigated by police. Detective Leading Senior Constable Alex Montgomery, of Somerville CIU, said youths taped the sparklers to aerosol cans and lit them in a playground in Tallis Drive, 11pm, Tuesday 5 February and 6.30pm, Wednesday 6 February. The resulting explosions scorched timber edging and a tree in the park, opposite Mornington Secondary College, on days of moderate fire danger. There is no CCTV footage but youths were seen in the area. “It is a bit concerning that the explosives were set off…

It may have been the calamari for breakfast or just the chance to nab a spot in the sun near the water’s edge. Whatever the impulse to come ashore, the New Zealand fur seal lying on the beach at Dromana quickly began to draw a crowd. Some sat on the seawall to get a view of the seal, which obligingly lolled about, waving its flippers in the air. But it was the woman out for a swim that caused the most concern for volunteer seal monitor James Clemens. Not content with swimming past, the woman came ashore and tried to…

THE Labor party is yet to name its candidate for Flinders in the May federal election. Last week news broke that Tracee Hutchison would contest the seat held by Liberal Greg Hunt since 2001. But this week the Rosebud born broadcaster and journalist said she would not be a candidate. “There’s been much speculation over this past week about my reported foray into federal politics, unfortunately none of it has come from me and the story in your article [“Hunt under pressure of coup fallout” 5/2/19] about me being the Labor candidate is incorrect,” Ms Hutchison told The News. The…

During the holidays, 85-year-old grandmother Joy Gray (nee Bird) and her family visited Point Nepean National Park, Portsea. Ms Gray told park rangers that she had some recollection of a personal history in the area, but did not know much more than that she had been born in Gunners Cottage. In 1933, Ms Gray’s father Ernest William Bird was the army cook for Fort Nepean. He lived in Gunners Cottage with his wife Victoria Blanche Bird and five children – Ray, Jack, Alan, Teddy and Joy. The family’s relationship to Point Nepean is now assured with references to the Bird…

SOUTHERN Peninsula Rescue Squad members are being run off their feet by the number of calls for help. From Christmas through to the end of January, the squad has answered 42 rescue calls involving 150 people on the water. The areas covered have ranged from Martha Cove to Dromana, Rosebud, Rye, Blairgowrie, Sorrento, Portsea, Queenscliff, St Leonards and even out into Bass Strait. Types of craft in trouble have included motor boats, yachts, jet skis and kayaks, as well as snorkelers and divers. Problems encountered were flat batteries, running out of fuel, mechanical problems, changing weather conditions, tidal influences, and…

A rubbish dumper has been fined $3509 plus $420 costs for leaving “renovation materials” on a roadside at Tootgarook. Mornington Peninsula Shire says the fine levied by Dromana Court backs its “zero-tolerance approach” to illegal rubbish dumping. On 10 January, a peninsula resident was found guilty of aggravated littering, sentenced with conviction, fined $3509 and ordered to pay council’s $420 clean-up costs. The shire says the offender was “caught in the act unloading renovation materials from a trailer at a Tootgarook roadside”. Illegal dumping can incur penalties of up to $9500. “Council spends more than $700,000 at a cost to…

DUNKLEY MP Chris Crewther has said he would be “happy to support” a trial of a cashless welfare card system in Frankston. The system being trialled interstate sees 80 per cent of money from Centrelink payments received by welfare recipients placed onto a card, where it cannot be withdrawn. The money on the card also cannot be used to buy alcohol or on gambling products. The card has been trialled in four regions across Queensland, South Australia, and Western Australia. Mr Crewther said “the program helps kids get their school books and makes sure money is not used on drugs…

UNSUCCESSFUL Liberal Party candidate for Frankston Michael Lamb , left, has been suspended from his position with Victoria Police after being charged with disclosing police information without reasonable excuse. Mr Lamb has been suspended with pay, and will face charges over four separate incidents that allegedly occurred in 2018. A Victoria Police statement stated that “a police officer has been charged with unauthorised release of information by Professional Standards Command. “The Senior Sergeant from Southern Metro region has been charged with four counts of disclosing police information without reasonable excuse.” Mr Lamb was comfortably defeated at the 24 November state…

Social researcher Hugh Mackay wants a “radical culture shift” in Australia towards compassion to minimise the damaging consequences of social isolation, renowned social researcher. In his 2019 Australia Day Address Mr Mackay said looking after our neighbours was a good starting point. The Officer of the Order of Australia recipient says the biggest social challenge the nation faces is “preserving our social cohesion”, as we focus on ourselves rather than showing greater responsiveness to those around us. Mr Mackay will be in Mornington this week to discuss his thoughts outlined in his latest book, Australia Reimagined. “We are facing some…

SORRENTO and Mt Martha beaches recorded the highest number of offences by jet skiers during the Water Police’s Operation Jetwash. Thirty-one offences were detected at each of those beaches in the operation which targeted unsafe behaviour over the holiday period. Twenty-five offences were detected at Rye, 24 at Martha Cove and 22 at Frankston during the six-day blitz. As the name of the operation suggests, the police’s major focus was on jet skis and their owners’ behaviour. More than 220 infringements were issued including 53 for speeding – the most common offence. This included 39 for exceeding five knots within…

DESPITE work about to start on the footpath and road upgrade in Coppin Road, Sorrento, the gulf between those wanting it and those opposed is as wide as ever. Geoff Allen says the project was “ill-conceived, poorly planned and administered, and a significant waste of ratepayers’ money”, while Cr Hugh Fraser says it will “benefit residents, businesses and visitors; the Sorrento community is looking forward to seeing [it] come to fruition”. Works will start on the up-scaled $900,000 project next month, after almost four years of claim and counter claim. It will take four months to complete. Money has come…