Day: August 3, 2020

Mornington Peninsula Total cases: 90 – Active cases: 18 – New cases today: 1 One new case on the peninsula in the last 24 hours. Businesses face shutdown due to Stage Four restrictions. Key facts from today’s Victorian COVID-19 update: Victoria has recorded 429 new cases of coronavirus since yesterday, with the total number of cases now at 11,937. The overall total has increased by 380, due to 49 cases being reclassified – largely due to duplication. Within Victoria, 36 of the new cases are linked to outbreaks or complex cases and 393 are under investigation. There have been 13 new deaths from COVID-19…

The Mornington Peninsula has had one new case of coronavirus in the last 24 hours. The peninsula has had a total of 90 cases, and 18 are still active. This is an increase of 9 cases in the last week, and an increase of 5 active cases in the last week. The City of Frankston had an increase of 30 cases in the last week taking its total cases to 107. City of Frankston’s active cases have jumped from 30 to 50 in the last week. The City of Casey has seen a jump of 178 cases in the last…

THE search is on for writers and photographers to express their “sense of place” relating to the Mornington Peninsula. Celeste Deliyiannis and Emily Westmoreland are planning to publish their annual PENinsula “literary journal” in October with a focus on nature. Its contents will include photographs “short fiction, nature writing and personal essays to showcase the secretly creative community and stunning wild landscape of the peninsula”. Deliyiannis and Westmoreland say they want their journal to “motivate and sustain” members of the peninsula’s creative community “during a time when they’re cut off from the Melbourne CBD’s artistic culture due to COVID-19”. “[It…

CAITLIN Parker is still chuckling at the memory of her first fight. The Safety Beach boxer, who’s been chosen to represent Australia at the now-2021 Tokyo Olympics, was aged 13 with two years’ ring experience when she fronted up to a 25-year-old opponent in a bout in Western Australia. “I was always big for my age, but it must have been a shock for her to see how young I was,” she says, laughing. “I think I stopped growing at 13.” Although there was no “winner” in that exhibition bout, Parker felt right at home and took to the sport…

AFTER months of indecision and appeals for public suggestions, Mornington Peninsula Shire Council was last week “thrilled” to announce it had decided on Yawa as the name of the $50 million aquatic centre being built at Rosebud. Describing it as “our milestone aquatic centre” the shire issued a news release saying the decision to call it the Yawa Aquatic centre was made after councillors took account of a community vote on five shortlisted names (“Yawa tops public pool poll” The News 28/7/20). The statement issued after the council’s Tuesday 28 July meeting made no reference to councillors in May rejecting…

MORE than 1700 people have signed an electronic petition supporting the building of a community cycling and walking path from Moorooduc station to Mornington. The proposed path is one of the 11 so-called “missing links” in the Bay Trail given priority status by Mornington Peninsula Shire as part of the overall objective of completing the trail. The Mornington Community Safelink Link Group’s Graeme Rocke said he had been working with peninsula state and federal MPs in a bid for government money for the path to “kick start the economy in a post-COVID-19 environment”. The group is aligning itself with Mornington…

EXCITED puppy Nelson was none the worse for wear after a potentially disastrous cliff plunge at Birdrock beach, Mount Martha, last week. The Australian terrier tumbled while running and fell 15 metres down the cliff while being exercised by owner Medha Murtagh on Saturday evening, 25 July. She said later on social media: “We were walking along Craigie Road when I tripped and fell and Nelson ran across Craigie Road and the Esplanade and then [fell] over the cliff. “I was beside myself. Thank you to everybody who stopped and helped and to our extraordinary emergency services. We live in…

A MAN has been charged with intentionally causing serious injury after a woman viewed an alleged assault on social media and reported it to police, 6.40pm, Monday 27 July. Although not confirmed by police, the incident at Hastings reportedly showed a man using a meat cleaver to cut another man’s hair while the victim was bound to a chair with gaffer tape. The 37-year-old victim, of Frankston, who detectives were trying to locate late last week, is believed to have received a “significant” wound to his head. Detective Senior Sergeant Miro Majstorovic, of Somerville CIU, said a 27-year-old Hastings man…

THE Flinders Cove Motor Inn at Flinders may be demolished to make way for a residential hotel, conference centre and restaurant. Retirement village pioneer Zig Inge is behind the planned $14.5 million two-storey proposal on residential land in Cook Street opposite his 1889 Flinders hotel. The project, if given the go ahead, could compete with existing conference venues attached to golf course and residential developments at Fingal (Peppers Moonah Links), Red Hill (Lancemore Lindenderry) and Cape Schanck (RACV). The neighbouring Wood Street corner is another of Mr Inge’s landholdings bought in 2015, when it was slated to become a service…

MORNINGTON Peninsula Shire will go online next month to explain its position regarding AGL’s proposed floating gas terminal at Crib Point. Although the shire does not have any power to approve or reject the plan it will be making a submission on the environmental effects statement prepared by AGL and now pen for public comment. The final decision on the plan to process imported liquified natural gas at Crib Point before being piped to Pakenham will be made by the state and federal governments. A news release issued by the shire last week stated that the project posed “potential environmental,…

A FOOD economy and agroecology strategy is designed to help shape the Mornington Peninsula’s agriculture and food industry. Mornington Peninsula Shire Council is researching and consulting on the strategy to support growth in the agriculture and food industry and build resilience to climate change through sustainable farming. The project will examine the peninsula’s agriculture, food and beverage industries at an economic, social and environmental level. It will consider the impact of recent drawbacks, such as the bushfires and COVID-19, on the industry. The mayor Cr Sam Hearn said the sector, worth about $1.3 billion, was a key contributor to the…

A GROUP of Somers residents is proving an early adaptor of a movement that started in England to improve mental health by making people happy. The recipe for Spoonville has its beginnings in the village of Winnersh and sees brightly painted wooden cooking spoons being planted in an accessible place. Some of the spoons are painted with the likenesses of cartoon characters, monsters, animals, politicians, celebrities and even Reese With-a-Spoon The Somers Spoonville joins similar ones at Frankston, Pakenham, Lilydale and Nunawading. “An anonymous group in Somers concerned about lifting the spirits of locals have spread these characters throughout the…

THE 90 cases (18 active) of COVID-19 recorded in the municipality by Monday (3 August), came three days after Mornington Peninsula Shire issued a statement that the peninsula was “winning the battle” against the coronavirus. The shire ranks 30 among the state’s 79 municipalities for the number of recorded coronavirus cases. Frankston, with 107 cases, is 25th. “Now that we’re at the half-way point of the current six-week lockdown, we can see how the responsible actions of local residents are paying off,” the mayor Cr Sam Hearn said. The statement was made two days before the state government declared a…

PENINSULA Community Legal Centre has been working to address urgent housing and homelessness challenges during the COVID-19 lockdown. CEO Jackie Galloway said Homelessness Week (2-8 August) highlighted that “everyone needs safe accommodation, including those sleeping rough, living in overcrowded conditions, such as rooming houses, or otherwise needing to self-isolate but without means to do so”. A specialist tenancy team from the centre, which has branches at Rosebud, Frankston and Cranbourne, has been helping people maintain their tenancies during the pandemic so they do not end up on the street. “We’ve been fielding a large number of inquiries from tenants about…

WEBINARS to help businesses rebuild and recover from the COVID-19 pandemic will cover topics, including commercialising new business ideas, finance fundamentals, taking businesses online, marketing and building business resilience. Mornington Peninsula Shire is promoting the free webinars which run online on Tuesdays throughout August. Finance Fundamentals, 6-8pm, 4 August, will show how to identify cash flow drivers and how to direct cash into the business areas needing it most. Taking Your Business Online, 6-8pm, 11 August, will show how to gain an understanding of online advertising, search engines, websites, blogs and social media through practical exercises and real-life examples. Learn…

MORNINGTON Peninsula Shire Council has welcomed the six-month extension given to the operation of the Mornington Centrelink office, but wants the arrangement to be permanent. The mayor Cr Sam Hearn said news the Centrelink/Medicare service centre in Main Street would remain open until March next year would “come as a relief to the many local residents who use the service”. “This is a crucial support for our community and to close it in the middle of a pandemic would have been disastrous,” Cr Hearn said. “Having that extra six months will ease concerns about the inadequacy of the new agency…

THE car park and road leading to Canadian Bay beach – described as the most popular in Mount Eliza – are a disgrace, according to the Mt Eliza Association for Environmental Care. Member Judy Smart said the “whole area is very run down, with car parking dominating the landscape, and the road barely driveable. The picnic area is sub-standard”. “We have been trying to get the shire to upgrade the car park and picnic ground because the whole area is very run down and ugly, and the road in has massive pot holes,” Ms Smart said. “It’s the only beach…

SOCCER WHEN it became clear that there would be no senior season this year Blake Hicks took it harder than most. He had high hopes for 2020. It was to the year that Rosebud made their mark in State League 5 by clinching promotion. “We really thought we were in with a good chance of going up,” said Hicks. “We’d had such a good pre-season and we’d gone undefeated. “I was on a goal a game and ‘Pags’ had scored in just about every appearance.” Mark Pagliarulo had been the club’s marquee off-season capture after joining from Somerville Eagles and…

HORSE RACING JASON Warren’s star mare Brooklyn Hustle returned in sensational fashion on Saturday 1 August with a dominant victory at The Valley. Reminiscent of her debut victory at the track as a two-year-old, Brooklyn Hustle settled at the rear of the field before storming past her rivals in a matter of strides to take out the benchmark 78 event by a comfortable 3.5-lengths. It wasn’t all smooth sailing for the Group class performed mare who had to overcome some traffic issues rounding the bend, but her electrifying turn of foot and a well-executed ride by jockey Dwayne Dunn paid…

IT’S done. Human culture has finally reached a point at which it can never be bettered. After thousands of years of evolutionary development that included the Renaissance and the Industrial Revolution, we can now take our collective foot off the pedal safe in the knowledge that things, put simply, have just reached a glorious high water mark that leaves us all better off. Somebody call Charles Darwin, because evolution is now officially complete. That’s because I’ve just seen a TV advert featuring Snoop Dogg for a food delivery service. This is a glorious development that should be celebrated by everyone.…

AFTER the physical tussle between Mornington and Frankston on the Saturday previous, a large contigent, including many ladies, journeyed by the special to Hastings on Saturday last in the expectancy of seeing a rattling game between Hastings and Frankston, but, whilst the Hastings people were joyful, the Frankstonites were as gloomy as a “a wet Saturday night.” Not that they begrudged Hastings the sweets of victory, but because they fought with a punctured side – you know, there were holes in it. These holes, figuratively speaking, of course, are usually stopped by the presence of six of the best –…