PENINSULA MAIN RIDGE have had a tough afternoon in day one of their clash against Somerville. Main Ridge came in to bat first, and had difficulties. First drop batsman Chris Parker was their best performer with a half century, but he got no help from the rest of the top order. They ended up bowled out for 133, with 26 overs left to play for the afternoon. Jayde Herrick took seven wickets. Somerville had no trouble chasing down their target, and ended up at 1/148 at stumps, securing them the first innings win. Brenton Alp was electric with bat in…
Day: November 18, 2019
SOCCER THANK goodness Lisa Jones likes soccer. Her husband has been immersed in the sport since childhood, their two sons are following in their father’s footsteps, their oldest daughter already has played for Victoria and the matriarch of the family is a team manager at one of this state’s elite women’s clubs. Then there is Mia, the youngest Jones sibling. She doesn’t play soccer. Writing and acting are her passions and like her brothers and sister she is talented in her chosen pursuits. It should come as no surprise that the soccer-playing Jones’ children excel at sport. They were genetically…
HORSE RACING MULTIPLE Group One winning jockey, Stephen Baster, has finished his career as a winner with his final ride aboard the Logan McGill-trained Gold Fields at Sandown on Saturday 16 November. After more than 13,000 rides across his 28-year career, the retiring 44-year-old got the most out of the last-start Sale Cup winner, Gold Fields, to score a narrow short half head victory in the Group Three Sandown Stakes. The victory brought up Baster’s 1,256th winner and topped off what has been a remarkable career in the saddle. “I was a bit overwhelmed early,” the 14-time Group One winning…
MESSRS Peebles and Strong, the local horse breakers, received from the hands of a client last week, a horse with a most unenviable reputation. They undertook to have him running in their milk cart inside a week. The equine outlaw with a Queensland record, provided lively entertainment for the first day or two but very soon he became amenable to reason, and was driven to Somerville and back on the second day. He may now be seen being driven through the streets like any other reasonable horse. Messrs Peebles and Strong fulfilled their contract. *** POLICE Court report and other…
MORNINGTON Art Show has signed up German-born sculptor Rudi Jass for its January Art show. In his Mornington Peninsula studio, Jaas designs and crafts sculptures characterised by clean-flowing lines and elegant forms. Working mostly in stainless steel, corten steel, and copper, his sculptures are often combined with accents of glass or stone. The pieces are all handmade in small or limited editions and are sought after by architects and landscape designers. Jass’s designs are displayed in small courtyards, gardens, balconies or amid modern architecture in urban and commercial developments. His kinetic sculptures move in the wind, adding movement to gardens…
CIVIC Reserve, Mornington’s new synthetic 400-metre athletics track and four-pitch soccer centre will be opened on Saturday 30 November. The ceremony will be 11-11.30am but those interested are welcome to stay to watch athletes using the sports grounds at 350 Dunns Road, Mornington. A community open day with a free sausage sizzle hosted by Mornington Peninsula Shire Council will celebrate the event and show off new facilities. The reserve’s newest member clubs: Mt Martha Soccer Club, Mornington Little Athletics Centre and Mornington Peninsula Athletics Club will make their debuts. “Let’s all get together as a community and celebrate the fantastic…
THE glamour of Sydney’s iconic Bondi Beach could be felt at Moorooduc Primary School last week when veteran lifeguard “Maxi” spoke to students about water safety. Maxi – Trent Maxwell – is a veteran of 11 seasons on Channel 10’s Bondi Rescue and ranks as one of its most popular personalities. He is the youngest professional lifeguard to work at Bondi. He spoke about water and beach safety, the importance of swimming between the flags, how to identify a rip, how to safely get out of a rip, how to call emergency services and use floatation devices to rescue those…
THE devastating impact of raging bushfires, especially in NSW and Queensland, has generated discussion about the effects of climate change and the dangers Australia faces in a warming environment. Politicians, depending on their political hue, either want to dampen debate on global warming in the emergency, saying it’s “not the right time to talk about climate change”, while others are keen to use the topic as a means of pressing their point on the “new reality”. Mornington Peninsula Shire’s Cr Simon Brooks said it’s “never a wrong time to speak about climate change”. “With the year-on-year trend of native forests…
ENGRAVER Perry Fletcher says he has always had a love of the “impressionist painters”, particularly Claude Monet and Vincent Van Gogh. While Fletcher’s most notable work, the engraving The Last Supper and Borders, took six years to complete, he has now completed 90 paintings reflecting the influence that Monet and Van Gogh had on his “direction in art”. These latest works were completed over 11 months, with Fletcher rising daily at 2.30am. The effects of Monet’s “colour” and Van Gogh’s “passion” on the Mt Martha-based Perry are being exhibited at Oak Hill Gallery until 28 November. The exhibition was opened…
A NEW way of reducing the breeding grounds of mosquitoes, such as in stagnant water, is being trialled in the fight against the flesh-eating Buruli ulcer on the Mornington Peninsula. The “source reduction method” is an alternative tactic to those proposed as part of the study aimed at reducing mosquito numbers and evaluating the effect on the spread of the ulcer which has infected dozens of residents since migrating from the Bellarine Peninsula over the past five years. The source reduction method involves mosquito experts going door-to-door to advise home and business owners on how to identify mosquito breeding sites…
THE Mornington Peninsula Vignerons Association had made “provenance” awards to wineries producing three vintages of the peninsula’s “hero” wines – pinot noir and chardonnay. This year’s awards saw the provenance awards go to Yabby Lake Winery, at Tuerong for its pinot noir and Paringa Estate, Red Hill South for chardonnay. “The Provenance awards were envisaged as a different way of assessing chardonnay and pinot noir, looking at three vintages of a wine in detail, and in the context of consistency of quality, vineyard character, and winemaking style,” show committee chairman Lindsay McCall said. “As the Mornington Peninsula focuses more and…
THE award-winning winery and restaurant Ten Minutes by Tractor is back in business since being forced to close by a fire 19 months ago. Some of the firefighters who fought the blaze were among the first to be welcomed by owners Martin and Karen Spedding at the Main Ridge restaurant’s re-opening on Saturday 9 November. The fire in February 2018, swept through sheds and a storage area, leading to the evacuation of diners and the loss of vintage wines and old tractors (“Wine, tractors lost in fire” The News 27/2/18). The Speddings say rebuilding the restaurant, with an extra 30…
A POLICE officer manning a booze bus on a Peninsula Link off-ramp at Bungower Road, Moorooduc, had to jump aside to avoid a truck on Friday night, 8 November. The white Toyota truck was stopped two kilometres down the road. The 60-year-old driver from Merton blew 0.267 and had his licence suspended on the spot. His truck was impounded for 30 days. Police noted that his wasn’t the first time he had been caught drink-driving as there was a Zero Alcohol condition on his licence. The man will receive a summons to attend court at a later date. “Fortunately this…
TWO dogs were seized by Mornington Peninsula Shire rangers after chickens and a sheep were mauled and killed on properties at Bittern last week. The kelpie-type dogs, one red and one black and tan, are being held at the pound while the council investigates attacks at three properties. Environment protection manager John Rankine said the rangers received reports of two dogs at large, Wednesday 13 November. “[The rangers] patrolled the area in search of the dogs and received further reports of serious dog attacks on a sheep and chickens,” he said. “Local residents assisted the officers to find the dogs.…
DOLPHINS spend a lot of time rounding up food and socialising but researchers were intrigued when they were spotted swimming among a large group of jellyfish. Common dolphins living near Mornington were photographed for identification purposes when they appeared to be playing with the blue blubber jellyfish. “It’s always a treat to witness their leaps and sometimes full somersaults, as they herd fish or just seem to play,” Dolphin Research Institute executive director Jeff Weir said. “Their eyesight is good both above and below water, so when they leap or spyhop they can most certainly see other dolphins and boats.…
MORNINGTON Peninsula Shire Council, Red Frogs Youth Support Program and police are planning to ramp up their services during Schoolies Week, 23-30 November. This includes setting aside a section of the Rye foreshore for school leavers during the notorious party week. The aim is to give shire officers and police a greater oversight of schoolies’ activities, particularly at night. Cr David Gill said the increase in services was needed to address the influx of visitors and heightened community concerns caused by last year’s episodes of anti-social behaviour. “While the shire is not promoting the Mornington Peninsula as a Schoolies destination,…
A INCREASING road toll has reinforced Mornington Peninsula Shire Council’s call for blanket speed limits rather than just on specific roads. Former mayor Cr David Gill said an 80kph limit should be trialled in dangerous areas in a bid to reduce road deaths which have spiked on the peninsula over the past 12 months. So far this year the toll stands at 13 dead and 100 seriously injured. The deaths include six drivers, a motorcyclist, four passengers and two pedestrians on freeways and country roads. Last year there were two deaths in line with the long-term average. Cr Gill wants…
SAM Hearn was elected mayor of Mornington Peninsula Shire 2019-20 at the Tuesday 13 November council meeting. His deputy is Cerberus Ward’s Cr Kate Roper. Cr Hearn, who represents Briars Ward, said that when he was involved in voluntary work through schools and other youth initiatives he “learnt that we live in an incredible place filled with amazing people”. “However, over the past three years in which I’ve been privileged to be part of the council, it has broadened my understanding of how many people we have who are constantly looking outside of themselves to give, serve and lead for…
SEAWINDS Boomerang Bags, Capel Sound has won the Tidy Towns Resource Recovery and Waste Management Award 2019. The award aims to encourage, motivate and celebrate sustainability achievements in rural and regional communities across Australia. It acknowledged the work of the Boomerang Bags group in linking with Uniforms 4U, a group created by Colleen Mackay, to help repair or alter donated school uniforms for families in need around Mornington Peninsula. During the past year they have helped hundreds of families clothe their children after repairing hems and zips, washing donated clothing and raising money from the sale of their bags to…